Patients', healthcare providers', and insurance company employees' preferences for knee and hip osteoarthritis care: a discrete choice experiment.

Objective: To determine patients', healthcare providers', and insurance company employees' preferences for knee and hip osteoarthritis (KHOA) care.

Design: In a discrete choice experiment, patients with KHOA or a joint replacement, healthcare providers, and insurance company employees were repetitively asked to choose between KHOA care alternatives that differed in six attributes: waiting times, out of pocket costs, travel distance, involved healthcare providers, duration of consultation, and access to specialist equipment. A (panel latent class) conditional logit model was used to determine preference heterogeneity and relative importance of the attributes.

Streptococcus pneumoniae DNA load in blood as a marker of infection in patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Direct detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae DNA in blood adds to culture results in the etiological diagnosis of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Quantification of the amount of DNA, the bacterial DNA load (BDL), provides a measurement of DNAemia that may increase the understanding of the clinical relevance of S. pneumoniae DNA in blood.

Diagnostic yield of conventional and digital cephalometric images: a human cadaver study.

Objectives: To compare the clinical efficacy of digital and conventional cephalometric imaging.

Methods: Conventional and photostimulable phosphor cephalometric radiographs were obtained from three human cadavers at nine different exposure settings. Subjective image quality was assessed by six observers who evaluated six cephalometric landmarks.

The accuracy of spiral tomography to assess bone quantity for the preoperative planning of implants in the posterior maxilla.

When planning to place implants in the posterior region of the maxilla, the location of the maxillary sinus floor is influencing the available bone height and the implant length chosen. The aim of the present study was to evaluate in vitro the spiral tomographic technique that could be used for pre-operative implant planning. Tomographs were taken of 6 dry human skulls using the Cranex Tome multifunctional unit (Orion Corporation Soredex, Helsinki, Finland).

The subjective image quality of direct digital and conventional panoramic radiography.

One of the main advantages of digital imaging is the possibility of altering display options for improved image interpretation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the subjective image quality of direct digital panoramic images and compare the results with those obtained from conventional images. Furthermore, the effect of various filter settings on image interpretation was assessed.