Plastic bullet arterial embolization following gunshot injury to the heart. Case report and review of the literature.

A plastic bullet penetrating the heart through the right ventricle embolized to the right profunda. Suture of the heart and extraction of the bullet resulted in uneventful recovery. The literature revealed 21 instances of embolization following proven heart penetration, in two cases through the right ventricle.

Reproducibility of normal corneal power measurements with a keratometer, photokeratoscope, and video imaging system.

To determine the reproducibility of currently available instruments for measuring corneal power, two investigators measured comparable locations on 18 normal human corneas using a keratometer (Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY), the Corneascope (Kera Corp, Santa Clara, Calif), and the Corneal Modeling System (Computed Anatomy Inc, New York, NY). (For the two keratoscopes, average powers around rings at comparable locations were used.) Comparisons made between instruments at the significance level of .

Combining refractive error and uncorrected visual acuity to assess the effectiveness of refractive corneal surgery.

Residual refractive error and uncorrected visual acuity are two frequently measures used to assess the effectiveness of refractive corneal surgery. Nordan and colleagues have suggested a Visual Function Index which combines these two measures in one quantitative measure. This article presents a Visual Function Score for radial keratotomy which includes a set of qualitative categories (excellent, good, fair, poor) and specifies the clinical values for refractive error and visual acuity in each category.

Results of the Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy (PERK) Study 4 years after surgery for myopia. Perk Study Group.

The Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy Study is a nine-center clinical trial of a surgical technique to reduce simple myopia by making incisions in the cornea. There were 435 patients (one eye per patient is reported) enrolled in the study with a 91% follow-up rate at 4 years after surgery. After surgery, uncorrected visual acuity was 20/40 or better in 76% of eyes.

Effects of intranasal cocaine on human learning, performance and physiology.

The behavioral and physiological effects of intranasally administered cocaine (placebo, 48, 96 mg/70 kg) were examined in eight recreational cocaine users under controlled laboratory conditions. The 48 and 96 mg doses of cocaine significantly improved subjects' performance on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test above levels observed either prior to drug administration or when placebo was administered. These effects were discernible for up to 120 min after cocaine administration.

Accuracy and precision of keratometry, photokeratoscopy, and corneal modeling on calibrated steel balls.

Surgical manipulation of corneal shape requires an accurate and precise method of measuring anterior corneal curvature from apex to limbus. We evaluated the accuracy and precision of the Bausch & Lomb Keratometer, Kera Corneascope, and Computed Anatomy Corneal Modeling System by measuring comparable locations on four calibrated steel test balls. The Keratometer and Corneal Modeling System were more accurate and precise than the Corneascope.

Accuracy and reproducibility of KeraScanner analysis in PERK corneal topography. PERK Study Group.

The measurement of the corneal radius of curvature centrally and in the corneal periphery is exceedingly difficult because of variables in photography and data acquisition. We present a technique of Automated image scanning of corneal photographs which provides a more accurate and reproducible analysis of the paracentral corneal contour. We analyzed the sources of error of corneal topography measurement.

Instrument reliability and validity: how much needs to be published?

Although the 20 studies reviewed from Heart & Lung are methodologically sound and quite sophisticated, just as in less well-designed research, the results of these studies are not able to rise above the quality of the instrumentation used and reported. Regardless of the actual quality of instrumentation used in a study, unless it is supported by at least minimum descriptive, reliability, and validity information, the data and results should not be assumed to have any merit. Only when the instrumentation is described in such a way that the consumer of the research knows what type(s) of instrumentation was used, how accurate it has been and was in this study, and the extent to which it measured the intended variables, should the results of research be given credence.

Serum lipoprotein levels fail to predict postangioplasty recurrent coronary artery stenosis.

A prospective study to explore the role of serum lipoproteins in the development of recurrent stenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty was conducted on serum samples from 103 patients. Serum was collected at the time of angioplasty and evaluated for total cholesterol, total triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoproteins A1 and B. In addition, LDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratios and apolipoprotein B/A1 ratios were calculated for each sample.

Symmetry of refractive and visual acuity outcome in the Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy (PERK) study.

In the Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy (PERK) study, the symmetry of refractive and visual acuity outcome was analyzed in 269 patients with bilateral radial keratotomy with a single operation in each eye. Patients were required to wait 1 year after surgery on the first eye before having surgery on the second eye. At 1 year after surgery on the second eye, 98% of patients had 3.

Socialization of R.N. to B.S.N.

The Nurse's Professional Orientation Scale and Schwirian's Six-Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance (Six-D Scale) were used in a five-year, longitudinal study of the professional socialization of the Registered Nurse/Bachelor of Nursing Science (RN/BSN) (n = 30) and generic baccalaureate students (n = 193) in a nursing program in the Southeast United States. Program exit socialization scores between RN/BSN and generic graduates were not significantly different. Using an ANCOVA, significantly higher socialization scores were found for the generic graduates.

Morning-to-evening change in refraction, corneal curvature, and visual acuity 2 to 4 years after radial keratotomy in the PERK Study.

The authors previously reported morning-to-evening changes in ophthalmic measurements at 3 months and at 1-year after radial keratotomy in a self-selected group of patients in the Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy (PERK) study. Fifty-two patients included in the earlier study were examined again between 2 1/2 and 4 years after surgery before 10:00 AM and after 5:30 PM on the same day to determine if the changes persisted beyond 1 year after surgery. Between the morning and evening examinations, 31% of the eyes had an increase in minus spherical equivalent power of the manifest refraction of 0.