Assessment of the likelihood of hypothyroidism in dogs diagnosed with and treated for hypothyroidism at primary care practices: 102 cases (2016-2021).

Background: There is a possibility that an incorrect diagnosis of hypothyroidism could be made in euthyroid dogs, and the prevalence of hypothyroidism in the dog population remains unknown.

Objectives: To retrospectively assess the percentage of dogs diagnosed with, and treated for, hypothyroidism at first opinion practice which are likely to be hypothyroid and require levothyroxine supplementation.

Animals: One hundred two client-owned dogs were included in this study.

Bronchial collapse and bronchial stenting in 9 dogs.

Background: Principal and lobar bronchial collapse is increasingly recognized as an isolated entity.

Objective: Retrospectively describe the procedure and outcomes of dogs undergoing bronchial stenting at a single referral hospital.

Animals: Nine client-owned dogs with variable degrees of collapse of the left principal bronchus (LPB), lobar bronchus 1 (LB1), and lobar bronchus 2 (LB2), and with clinically relevant signs of respiratory dysfunction.

Canine thyroid carcinoma prognosis following the utilisation of computed tomography assisted staging.

Background: Metastatic disease is frequently present at the time of diagnosis of canine thyroid carcinoma; however, utilisation of computed tomography (CT) alone for staging pre-treatment has been rarely reported in the veterinary literature.

Methods: The aims of this retrospective study were to stage affected dogs using CT findings of the cervical and thoracic regions, combined with histopathology/cytology results, in order to assess whether metastatic disease/WHO staging was of prognostic significance.

Results: Fifty-eight dogs were included in the study.

Eltrombopag treatment of a dog with idiopathic aplastic pancytopenia.

Idiopathic aplastic pancytopenia is an uncommon disease in dogs which results in pancytopenia and for which an immune-mediated etiology is suspected. A small number of affected dogs reported in the veterinary literature have responded to immunosuppressive medication but the prognosis generally is considered poor with a reported mortality rate of 80%. Reported response rates to immunosuppression alone in affected people are low with overall and complete responses of 65 and 10%, respectively.

Comparison of axillary, tympanic membrane and rectal temperature measurement in cats.

Objectives: Rectal temperature (RT) is routinely used to assess body temperature in cats but has limitations and can be poorly tolerated. Axillary temperature (AT) and tympanic membrane temperature (TMT) are reported alternatives. This study aimed to determine the differences between RT and AT, and between RT and TMT in cats.

Improving access to health care for homeless people.

Homeless people have the poorest health outcomes in our society and the number of people who are homeless is increasing. This article explores the effect that homelessness has on health, provides details of organisations that offer services to the homeless population of London, and highlights the role of nurses in advocating for improved services for homeless patients. The need to understand and address inequalities in access to health care is also discussed.

Comparison of rectal, tympanic membrane and axillary temperature measurement methods in dogs.

The aim of this study was to compare axillary and tympanic membrane (TM) temperature measurements to rectal temperature in a large group of clinical canine patients. We also sought to ascertain whether certain factors affected the differences between the measurements and to compare the ease of measurement. Axillary temperatures were easy to obtain but tended to be lower than rectal readings (median difference 0.

Measurement of the radioactivity in the excreta of cats treated with iodine-131 for hyperthyroidism.

When hyperthyroidism is treated with radioiodine, up to 75 per cent of the injected dose is excreted in the faeces and urine, which poses hazards to handlers. Three groups of hyperthyroid cats were treated with 120, 150 and 200 megabecquerel (MBq) of radioiodine, and samples of faeces and urine-soaked litter (USL) were collected over a 24-hour period, once a week, for four weeks. The amount of radioactivity in each homogenised sample was then measured using a sodium iodide detector.

Dementia and Medicare at life's end.

Objective: To determine the effect of a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or related dementias (ADRD), and the timing of first ADRD diagnosis, on Medicare expenditures at end of life.

Data Sources: Monthly Medicare payment data for the 5 years before death linked to the National Long-Term Care Survey (NLTCS) for decedents between 1996 and 2000 (N=4,899).

Data Extraction Methods: Medicare payment data for the 5 years before death were used to compare 5-year and 6-month intervals of expenditures (total and six subcategories of services) for persons with and without a diagnosis of ADRD during the last 5 years of life, controlling for age, gender, race, education, comorbidities, and nursing home status.

Medicare cost effects of recent U.S. disability trends in the elderly: future implications.

Objective: The authors examine how trends in disability prevalence and in inflation-adjusted per capita, per annum Medicare costs, 1982 to 1999 and 1989 to 1999, affected total Medicare costs projected to 2004 and 2009.

Method: To describe disability trends, the authors applied grade of membership analyses to 27 measures of disability from the 1982 to 1999 National Long Term Care Surveys (NLTCS). This identified seven disability profiles for which individual scores were calculated.

Standardize concepts, not tools for quality improvement.

Pay for performance has become a new mantra in the ongoing efforts to improve the quality of healthcare and stabilize healthcare costs. In response to complaints of employers and others, numerous organizations have emerged to try and standardize the tools used to measure quality. This article maintains that such an approach will not lead to improvement in quality.

Change in chronic disability from 1982 to 2004/2005 as measured by long-term changes in function and health in the U.S. elderly population.

Changes in the health and functioning of the Medicare-enrolled population aged 65+ are tracked by using the 1982-2004/2005 National Long-Term Care Surveys. We found a significant rate of decline in the prevalence of chronic disability that accelerated from 1982 to 2004. These declines are significant for both persons with less severe chronic disability, which might be compensated by modifying the built environment and providing assistive devices, and for persons with more serious disability, which may be affected by reductions in the incidence and severity of disease through biomedical interventions.

National Occupational Standards in clinical embryology: implementation in 2005?

In 2001 the UK Department of Health initiated the National Occupational Standards Project in Healthcare Science. This project incorporates the 43 disciplines of healthcare science with the aim of developing a framework for competent performance in all areas of healthcare science, thereby standardising the delivery of services in this area. The whole of the project relies on the concept of function, and using the process of functional analysis each discipline is broken down into key work areas.

No evidence for paternal mtDNA transmission to offspring or extra-embryonic tissues after ICSI.

There is a risk that ICSI may increase the transmission of mtDNA diseases to children born after this technique. Knowledge of the fate and transmission of paternal mitochondrial DNA is important since mutations in mitochondrial DNA have been described in oligozoospermic males. We have used an adaptation of solid phase mini-sequencing to exclude the presence of levels of paternal mtDNA >0.

Changes in contraceptive use in Bulgaria, 1995-2000.

Comparison of results from national surveys conducted in Bulgaria in 1995 and 2000 reveal little overall change in use of modern contraceptives. Dramatic increases occurred, however, among women younger than 25 who entered their reproductive period after the end of the state socialist period. This finding suggests that contraceptive gains in the country will come largely as a cohort-replacement process.

A postal survey of embryo transfer practice in the UK.

In this postal survey a questionnaire was sent to all unit directors in the UK to determine their attitudes to the factors influencing embryo transfer practice. They were requested to rate each step on a scale of 1-10, where 1 was irrelevant and 10 very important. A total of 80 practitioners from 40 units replied.

Hospitalization in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE): rates, concomitants, and predictors.

Background: The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) replicates the model of comprehensive, community-based geriatric care pioneered by On Lok, that enrolls frail older adults who meet states' criteria for nursing home care, and that uses interdisciplinary teams to assess the participants and to deliver care in appropriate settings. As managed care, PACE receives capitated payment from Medicare and Medicaid. Thus, PACE's fiscal incentives are thought to be aligned with the goals of optimizing health, function, and quality of life through the delivery of effective primary, preventive, restorative, supportive, and palliative care and through the avoidance of inappropriate and expensive hospital and nursing home utilization.

Participants in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) demonstration: developing disease-impairment-disability profiles.

The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) builds on On Lok's community-based care and financing model for disabled elderly people who are state certified as eligible for nursing home care. Yet PACE's diverse population has not been fully described. We obtained data for a complete cross-section of PACE participants from early 1997 (N = 2,917).

Amplification of DNA sequences in polar bodies from human oocytes for diagnosis of mitochondrial disease.

When a preovulatory oocyte reinitiates meiosis, it sheds a cytoplasmic fragment containing mitochondria and a redundant set of chromosomes. We have detected DNA sequences from both the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes in polar bodies from unfertilised human oocytes, demonstrating the feasibility of diagnosing mitochondrial diseases before conception.

Access to family planning clinics--a local experience.

Teenage pregnancy is unacceptably high in the UK. The family planning services in the London borough of Harrow dramatically increased access to teenagers during a period of financial constraints and difficult political and ideological changes in the 5 years from 1992/93 to 1996/97. This was carried out through reconfiguration of clinical services, retraining the multidisciplinary staff, development of clinical guidelines and proformas, outreach activities, reducing wastage, and income generation.

Gender differences in correlates of disablement among the elderly in Egypt.

The purpose of this paper is to examine gender-specific models to determine whether different combinations of correlates are associated with male and female disablement, using a sample of noninstitutionalized elderly persons in Egypt. Because women and men have different work, family, and household roles, as well as different health risks, it is reasonable to assume that there may be differing correlates for disablement for elderly males and females. The dichotomous dependent variable indicates problems, or the inability, in performing at least one of six activities of daily living (ADL).

A cross-national study of quality of life factors associated with patterns of elderly disablement.

This study examines individual-level data of non-institutionalized elderly from Bahrain, Burma, DPR Korea, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Tunisia. The Grade of Membership multivariate procedure is used to determine profiles of disablement, based upon functional disability and depression items, and to examine socio-demographic and quality of life covariates associated with such profiles. The analysis yielded six profiles or types of disablement: functionally and emotionally healthy, functionally healthy with some depressive symptoms, some strength problems, severely depressed, mobility problems and functionally frail.

Dirofilaria immitis: depression of endothelium-dependent relaxation of canine femoral artery seen in vivo does not persist in vitro.

In heartworm-infected dogs, circulating filarial factors appear to be responsible for the seasonal depression of endothelium-dependent responses seen in the in vivo femoral artery. The effect of heartworm infection on vascular responses of the femoral artery in vitro, when the vessel is not constantly exposed to circulating factors, is unknown. Experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that in vivo exposure to circulating filarial factors leads to changes in the magnitude and mechanism of endothelium-dependent relaxation that are demonstrable in vitro.