[Evaluation of a screening programme for diabetic retinopathy (DODIA study)].

Context: In France, 43% to 63% of diabetics have an annual fundoscopy. Do the new screening tools, coupled with teletransmission of the images, allow for satisfying ophthalmological screening? It is an important matter given the foreseeable reduction in the number of French ophthalmologists in the forthcoming years.

Objectives: To measure the quality of screening for diabetic retinopathy (DR), in the framework of a network, by the provision of a retinograph by numeric camera (with teletransmission of the images and centralised interpretation), in a screening centre located in town.

The treatment of negative symptoms and deficit states of chronic schizophrenia: olanzapine compared to amisulpride and placebo in a 6-month double-blind controlled clinical trial.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of olanzapine (5 and 20 mg/day) over a 6-month period in chronic schizophrenic patients experiencing predominantly negative symptoms.

Method: Two hundred and forty-four patients participated in a 6-month multicenter double-blind trial of placebo (n = 34), olanzapine 5 mg/day (n = 70), olanzapine 20 mg/day (n = 70), or amisulpride 150 mg/day (n = 70). Primary measure was the scale for the assessment of negative symptoms.

Cost-effectiveness of drotrecogin alfa (activated) in the treatment of severe sepsis with multiple organ failure.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the expected cost and clinical benefits associated with the use of drotrecogin alfa (activated) (Xigris; Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis, IN) in the French hospital setting.

Methods: The recombinant human activated PROtein C Worldwide Evaluation in Severe Sepsis (PROWESS) study results (1271 patients with multiple organ failure) were adjusted to 9,948 hospital stays from a database of Parisian area intensive-care units (ICUs)-the CubRea (Intensive Care Database User Group) database. The analysis features a decision tree with a probabilistic sensitivity analysis.

Evaluation of a screening program for diabetic retinopathy in a primary care setting Dodia (Dépistage ophtalmologique du diabète) study.

Objectives: The aim of this observational study was to evaluate the screening for diabetic retinopathy (DR) using eye fundus photography taken by a nonmydriatic camera and transmitted trough the Internet to an ophthalmological reading centre, as compared to a dilated eye examination performed by an ophthalmologist.

Methods: A total of 456 and 426 diabetic patients were included by two different groups of primary care physicians (PCPs), 358 being screened with the non-mydriatic camera (experimental group) and 320 with dilated eye fundus exam (control group).

Results: The proportion of screened patients for whom PCPs received a screening report within the 6-month follow-up period was 74,1% for the experimental group and 71,5% for the control group.