Corticosteroid-induced pancreatitis: a case report demonstrating recurrence with rechallenge.

The existence of corticosteroid-induced pancreatitis remains controversial, despite the fact that more than 40 cases have been reported since its first description in 1955. No previous case reports have shown recurrence of pancreatitis after rechallenge with corticosteroids. This report describes a patient with stage IIIB Hodgkin's disease who received dexamethasone on three occasions for symptoms of spinal cord compression.

Scottish survey of chronically ill day patients: 3-year follow-up.

Chronically ill day patients were followed up 3 years after identification in the catchment areas of 13 psychiatric hospitals serving 54% of the Scottish population. Five per cent had died, 6% were in-patients, 56% remained day patients and 14% were supported by community psychiatric nurses or attended an out-patient clinic; contact had been lost with 19%. Over 3 years, 32% had had at least one admission to in-patient care; a wide range of other services was also used.

Comparison of stability provided to the unstable spine by the kinetic therapy table and the Stryker frame.

Loss of spinal alignment can lead to neurological compromise in individuals with unstable spine injuries. We compared the ability of the Roto-Rest bed and the Stryker frame to immobilize an unstable cervical and lumbar segment in a cadaver. The Roto-Rest bed was superior to the Stryker frame in the immobilization of both cervical and lumbar fractures.

Rehabilitation status: a measure of medicosocial dysfunction.

The Edinburgh Rehabilitation Status Scale (ERSS) measures four dimensions in which changes may occur in the course of a disabling illness or during rehabilitation: independence; activity; social integration; and effects of symptoms on lifestyle. It provides a profile of measures, the scores of which can be summated to indicate the overall level of performance of individuals or groups. Studies of its inter-observer reliability and of its application in various disability groups indicate that the ERSS reliably defines the characteristics of individual patients and of groups.

EMG activity with the jaw fixed of orbicularis oris superior, orbicularis oris inferior and masseter muscles of mild and moderate articulatory disordered children.

The peak amplitude of EMG activity was measured from the orbicularis oris superior, orbicularis oris inferior, and masseter muscles of 3 mild and 3 moderately articulatory disordered and 3 normal boys repeating a series of /p ae/ syllable trains with the jaw fixed. Analysis showed similar levels of peak EMG amplitude and variability of performance for all subjects across the three muscles. These data were interpreted to suggest that speech-motor equivalence for simple articulatory acts requiring compensation is functioning within normal limits for the disordered subjects studied here.

EMG activity of orbicularis oris superior, orbicularis oris inferior, and masseter muscles of mild and moderate articulatory disordered children.

The peak amplitude of EMG activity was measured from the orbicularis oris superior, orbicularis oris inferior, and masseter muscles for 3 mild and 3 moderately articulatory disordered and 3 normal children. The three groups showed similar levels of average peak EMG activity and variance across the three muscles, suggesting that the disordered children were free to vary their patterns of activity for these muscles when repeating a series of syllable tokens.

Spinal instability and the log-rolling maneuver.

Immobilization of the spine is of prime concern during transportation of trauma patients to prevent neurologic compromise. In an attempt to study certain techniques of prehospital thoracolumbar spine immobilization, we radiographically evaluated the motion of the thoracolumbar spine in a volunteer with a stable spine, a cadaver with an unstable thoracolumbar spine, and a patient with a T12-L1 fracture dislocation. Both the backboard and the Scoop stretcher offered adequate stabilization for thoracolumbar spine instability.

Selective effects of ECT on hypothalamic-pituitary activity.

The hypothesis that ECT produces selective effects on hypothalamic-pituitary activity was investigated by determining the effect of ECT on pituitary hormone release in nine depressed patients. After ECT there were massive and rapid increases in the plasma concentrations of nicotine- and oestrogen-stimulated neurophysin (NSN and ESN), prolactin (PRL) and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), smaller increases in plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) and cortisol, a significant decrease in plasma growth hormone (GH) concentration but no change in plasma thyrotropin (TSH). There was significant attenuation of PRL responses with repeated ECT.

Speech-motor equivalence in aging subjects'.

The peak amplitude of EMG activity was measured from the orbicularis oris superior (OOS), orbicularis oris inferior (OOI), and masseter muscles for three normal, geriatric women (range 70 to 75 yr.) and compared with prior data for a group of normal, 4- and 8-yr.-old children and young adults (range 21 to 29 yr.

Vocal reaction times to unilaterally presented concrete and abstract words: towards a theory of differential right hemispheric semantic processing.

Previous studies investigating hemispheric organization for processing concrete and abstract nouns have provided conflicting results. Using manual reaction time tasks some studies have shown that the right hemisphere is capable of analyzing concrete words but not abstract. Others, however, have inferred that the left hemisphere is the sole analyzer of both types of lexicon.

Distal tibial physeal injuries in children: a different treatment concept.

Fifty-six patients with Salter-Harris type II physeal fractures of the distal tibia were treated with a weight-bearing long leg cast for 4 weeks. Forty patients were followed clinically and radiographically for an average of 22 months. There were no nonunions or angular deformities.

EMG activity of the orbicularis oris superior, orbicularis oris inferior, and masseter muscles of a cleft-palate child.

The peak amplitude of EMG activity was measured from the orbicularis oris superior (OOS), orbicularis oris inferior (OOI), and masseter muscles of a cleft-palate child and compared to data obtained from a normal child. Both children evidenced similar levels of average peak EMG activity and variability of performance across the three muscles. These data were interpreted to suggest that limitations in the function of the OOS, OOI, and masseter muscles do not contribute to the articulatory anomalies exhibited by the cleft-palate child.

Orofacial dyskinesia, cognitive function and medication.

The presence of tardive dyskinesia in a sample of 43 patients with schizophrenia and 37 psychopaths who had been hospitalised for many years and exposed to large amounts of medication was assessed while testing their cognitive function. Subjects who showed no evidence of abnormal movements performed significantly better on the test of delayed recall, but there were no differences in performance on any of the other tests of cognitive function used. Multiple regression analysis revealed that age and the total lifetime dose of neuroleptic medication received (in chlorpromazine equivalents) were the only variables to predict the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale score, although a large amount of variance in this variable was unaccounted for.

Energetic charged particles in the uranian magnetosphere.

During the encounter with Uranus, the cosmic ray system on Voyager 2 measured significant fluxes of energetic electrons and protons in the regions of the planets magnetosphere where these particles could be stably trapped. The radial distribution of electrons with energies of megaelectron volts is strongly modulated by the sweeping effects ofthe three major inner satellites Miranda, Ariel, and Umbriel. The phase space density gradient of these electrons indicates that they are diffusing radially inward from a source in the outer magnetosphere or magnetotail.

Chronic painful subluxation of the metacarpal phalangeal joint extensor tendons.

Chronic subluxation of the extensor tendons of the metacarpal phalangeal joint has been documented in six patients on active duty in the United States Navy. These patients had painful full flexion and gripping in the knuckle, especially when they were performing their jobs. No extension lag was noted.

Naming reaction times to tachistoscopically presented pictures: some evidence of right hemisphere encoding.

The present study measured naming reaction times by normal subjects to unilaterally presented picture stimuli. Significant differences in picture-naming reaction time did not exist between left and right visual-field stimulations. The right hemisphere in the intact brain is capable of generating a verbal label for pictured stimuli.

Response competition in recognition memory in three amnesic groups.

Experimental studies have suggested that a feature of the memory defect in some amnesic conditions may be a failure to inhibit competing responses at retrieval. It is not known whether this feature is present equally in different syndromes involving amnesia. Employing a recognition memory paradigm with varying numbers of response alternatives (based on Miller, 1978), three amnesic groups (Korsakov's, senile dementia, and multi-infarct dementia) were compared using four types of test material.

Masking effects on formant frequency structure variability under selected speaking conditions.

Normal-speaking adults (3 M, 3F) produced 4 vowels (/a/, /i/, /u/ and /o/) in a carrier phrase under free and disruptive speaking conditions (masking and/or bite block). Formant frequency structure variability was not affected by speaking conditions; however, a difference among vowels was obtained. F1 variability for the vowel /a/ was significantly different from the other 3 vowels as was the vowel /i/ for F2.

Classification of severe school attendance problems.

Sixty-four children taken to court for failure to attend school were reliably classified into 4 groups, according to whether they exhibited the features of 'school refusal' and/or 'truancy'. About a fifth of them were found to exhibit 'school refusal'; a third showed 'truancy'; less than a sixth exhibited both 'school refusal' and 'truancy' combined; and over a third had the characteristics of neither condition. Differences between these categories were found in manifestations of psychiatric disturbance and in responsiveness to a court adjournment procedure.

Comparison of the cognitive effects of premedication with hyoscine and atropine.

An investigation was carried out comparing the nature and duration of the cognitive effects of atropine and hyoscine. Thirty patients undergoing a minor gynaecological operation were randomly assigned to one of three groups to receive hyoscine, atropine or placebo as premedication. A battery of psychological tests was administered before premedication, 30 min after premedication, and 1 and 3 h following operation.

Plasmodium berghei: the influence of blood volume changes on the malaria-induced anemia in Balb/C mice.

Malaria-induced anemia exceeds that attributable to direct parasite destruction of erythrocytes. Since spleen and liver weights increase significantly, hemodilution may account for part of this excessive anemia. To determine the role of hemodilution in the etiology of anemia, vascular volumes were measured with Evans blue and isotope dilution techniques.

Day-to-day mood changes after childbirth: further data.

The depression and lability of mood which have been previously reported on the fifth day after childbirth are largely restricted to women with high neuroticism scores. The pattern of day-to-day mood changes is the same after Caesarian section as after vaginal delivery, but there is no 'day five' phenomenon after hysterectomy. Post-partum mood disturbance is less prominent in women who return home 48 hours after delivery.

The measurement of psychiatric rehabilitation status. A review of the needs and a new scale.

The recognition of rehabilitation as a special interest in psychiatry, and its practice by professional teams, raises the need for some uniformity in examining patient outcome. The features required in a scale designed for this purpose are considered and the Morningside Rehabilitation Status Scales, which have been prepared specifically for psychiatric rehabilitation, have their development and use described. They measure the dimensions of dependency, inactivity in occupation and leisure, social integration/isolation, and current symptoms and deviant behaviour.

Complex dislocation of first metatarsophalangeal joint.

Dislocation of the first metatarsophalangeal joint is rare. Closed reduction is often impossible due to soft tissue interposition. A case is presented and the literature is reviewed with emphasis on normal and pathologic anatomy.