Saccadic eye movements as indicators of cognitive function in older adults.

Older adults appear to have greater difficulty ignoring distractions during day-to-day activities than younger adults. To assess these effects of age, the ability of adults aged between 50 and 80 years to ignore distracting stimuli was measured using the antisaccade and oculomotor capture tasks. In the antisaccade task, observers are instructed to look away from a visual cue, whereas in the oculomotor capture task, observers are instructed to look toward a colored singleton in the presence of a concurrent onset distractor.

Feasibility of resectoscopic operative hysteroscopy in a UK outpatient clinic using local anesthetic and traditional reusable equipment, with patient experiences and comparative cost analysis.

Study Objective: To assess procedural success, patient acceptability, and cost-saving potential of operative hysteroscopy using conventional equipment and local anesthetic in an outpatient clinic.

Design: Feasibility study/service evaluation (Canadian Task Force classification II-3).

Setting: Outpatient (office) clinic in a large UK teaching hospital.

Twin pregnancies in Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan over four decades: natural twinning is on the increase.

Objective: To assess trends in twinning over four decades using a population-based registry.

Design: Ecological study to conduct trend analysis of twin pregnancies in a geographically defined area over 40 years.

Setting: All pregnancies in the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan area of South Wales from 1965 to 2004, as recorded in the Cardiff Birth Survey (CBS) database.

Case report: ropivacaine neurotoxicity at clinical doses in interscalene brachial plexus block.

Purpose: To describe a case of ropivacaine toxicity following an ultrasound guided interscalene block and discuss the possible mechanisms involved.

Clinical Features: A 76-yr-old woman with multiple myeloma was scheduled for open reduction and internal fixation following a pathological fracture of her left upper humerus. She developed central nervous system toxicity with ropivacaine 15 min after a carefully placed ultrasound-guided interscalene catheter.