[Use of PET/CT for staging of Ewing's sarcoma. Report of one case].

The use of positron emission tomography with computed tomography (PET/CT) for adult cancer patients is widespread, however, its use in pediatric patients is limited by fear of radiation, monetary cost and lack of awareness of its greater sensitivity in the evaluation of some types of tumors. Ewing's sarcoma is one of the primary pediatric malignancies in which PET/CT with 18F-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) has demonstrated greater sensitivity in the evaluation of bone metastases compared to scintigraphy, as well as in the evaluation of treatment response. We report a 13 years old female consulting for retrosternal pain.

The dynamics of managed mental health care.

Presented here is an exploration of the motivations involved in the development and application of managed mental health care to the private practice of outpatient psychotherapy. The interaction of management policy and psychotherapy is conceptualized in a dynamic model designed to provide insights into effective care policies. The model is described first, then the development of managed care, which appears defensive and is becoming symptomatic to the point of needing significant change.

Cost-benefit analysis for the use of Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine in Santiago, Chile.

Cost-benefit analyses can be integral to the evaluation of interventions in developing countries. The authors compare the potential benefits to the Chilean Ministry of Health, in terms of treatment costs averted, by prevention of Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB) invasive disease, with the costs of adding HIB conjugate vaccine to the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) immunization routinely administered to infants. In their basecase model, over a 10-year period (1991-2000), vaccination against HIB will prevent 1,229 cases of HIB invasive disease, including 713 cases of meningitis, 107 of whom would suffer severe, long-term sequelae, and between 29 and 116 deaths.

Enhancement of apomorphine and l-amphetamine-induced behaviors by magnesium.

The behavioral effects of magnesium suggest that this divalent cation has psychomotor stimulant-like properties. Because deficiencies of this cation lead to reductions in drug-induced behaviors dependent on the levels of norepinephrine and dopamine, and numerous in vitro studies have demonstrated a relationship between magnesium and catecholamine activity, the present experiments investigate whether administration of magnesium will lead to increases in stereotyped and locomotor behaviors induced by apomorphine and l-amphetamine. Such changes would suggest that magnesium is increasing the activity of catecholamines in vivo.