A glass polyalkenoate cement carrier for bone morphogenetic proteins.

This work considers a glass polyalkenoate cement (GPC)-based carrier for the effective delivery of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) at an implantation site. A 0.12 CaO-0.

Determining priority for joint replacement: comparing the views of orthopaedic surgeons and other professionals.

Objective: To assess which patient characteristics influence the assessments of urgency for surgery by orthopaedic surgeons and non-orthopaedic professionals.

Design, Setting And Participants: Cross-sectional study of 80 patients requiring elective hip or knee replacement attending a public hospital orthopaedic outpatient clinic or orthopaedic surgeon's private rooms. Patients were interviewed after being placed on the surgery waiting list.

Waiting lists and elective surgery: ordering the queue.

In the Australian public health system, access to elective surgery is rationed through the use of waiting lists in which patients are assigned to broad urgency categories. Surgeons are principally responsible for referring patients to waiting lists, deciding on the appropriate urgency category, and selecting patients from the waiting list to receive surgery. There are few agreed-upon criteria to help surgeons make these decisions, leading to striking differences between institutions in proportions of patients allocated to urgency categories.

Fill-tube-induced mass perturbations on x-ray-driven, ignition-scale, inertial-confinement-fusion capsule shells and the implications for ignition experiments.

On the first inertial-confinement-fusion ignition facility, the target capsule will be DT filled through a long, narrow tube inserted into the shell. microg-scale shell perturbations Delta m' arising from multiple, 10-50 microm-diameter, hollow SiO2 tubes on x-ray-driven, ignition-scale, 1-mg capsules have been measured on a subignition device. Simulations compare well with observation, whence it is corroborated that Delta m' arises from early x-ray shadowing by the tube rather than tube mass coupling to the shell, and inferred that 10-20 microm tubes will negligibly affect fusion yield on a full-ignition facility.

Prioritizing patients for prostatectomy: balancing clinical and psychosocial factors.

Background: The aim of this study was to develop a points-based approach to prioritize patients for elective transurethral resection of the prostate and to determine the relative contributions that clinical and psychosocial characteristics should make to a measurement of urgency for surgery. Another objective was to measure the agreement between urologists, other medical practitioners and laypersons in assessing the major determinants of priority.

Methods: A focus group of urologists and epidemiologists developed a standard questionnaire identifying relevant clinical and psychosocial factors in men with benign prostatic hypertrophy.

Oesophageal propulsive force and its relation to manometric pressure.

A fixed volume capsule incorporating a force transducer and a side hole for manometric measurements was constructed and calibrated. Simultaneous measurements of the propulsive (aboral) force and the manometric pressure (intraluminal pressure) were made at 5, 10, and 15 cm above the lower oesophageal sphincter and in response to dry and wet (5, 10, and 15 ml) swallows. The propulsive force and manometric pressure waves had a simultaneous onset and were of similar duration.

Achalasia of the oesophagus: results of treatment.

Achalasia of the oesophagus is an uncommon neuromuscular disorder characterized by symptoms of dysphagia and regurgitation of undigested food. The results of treatment of 43 patients with achalasia over 10 years are presented. Clinical data on presenting complaints and duration, and all subsequent treatments, were recorded.

Pharyngeal pump and esophageal transit.

In deglutition the pharynx appears to act as a pump to "inject" boluses into the esophagus. A new method for measuring the velocity profile of the leading edge of a radionuclide bolus has been developed and applied to boluses of different viscosity--water and treacle--in nine normal volunteers. The results show that the more viscous bolus (treacle) acquires a slower initial "injection" velocity (152 mm/sec vs 236 mm/sec) that only propels it over the proximal half of the esophagus.

Oesophageal manometry: how well does it predict oesophageal function.

The variability in manometric measurements of oesophageal peristalsis was assessed in 10 volunteers. The amplitude, velocity and duration of the peristaltic waves resulting from 10 separate 10 ml boluses of water were measured at fixed distances above the lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS). After a 10 minute rest period with the manometry catheter still in situ peristaltic values in response to a second group of 10 10 ml boluses were measured.

Barrett's oesophagus and adenocarcinoma--a case report.

Since Barrett's original description of the columnar lined lower oesophagus in 1950, this condition has been linked with over 140 cases of adenocarcinoma in the English literature. To date the youngest reported cases are a 23 year old male and a 25 year old male. This report concerns what is believed to be the youngest reported case of adenocarcinoma in a Barrett's oesophagus.

Relationship among esophageal dysfunction, diabetic gastroenteropathy, and peripheral neuropathy.

Esophageal motor function was tested in 12 patients with a clinical diagnosis of diabetic gastroenteropathy by radionuclide transit (RT) studies. Other insulin-dependent diabetics with and without symptoms of peripheral neuropathy but with no symptoms of gastrointestinal disease were similarly studied. Eleven of the 12 patients with gastroenteropathy were found to have abnormal esophageal function, even though only five had esophageal symptoms.

Does surgery correct esophageal motor dysfunction in gastroesophageal reflux.

The high incidence of dysphagia in patients with symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux (GER) but no evidence of peptic stricture suggests esophageal motor dysfunction. Conventional methods for detecting dysfunction (radiologic and manometric examinations) often fail to detect abnormality in these patients. Radionuclide transit (RT), a new method for detecting esophageal motor dysfunction, was used to prospectively assess function in 29 patients with symptomatic GER uncomplicated by stricture before and three months after antireflux surgery (HILL).

Radionuclide transit: a sensitive screening test for esophageal dysfunction.

The purpose of this study was to extend existing nuclear medicine techniques for the diagnosis of esophageal motor disorders. A standard homogeneous bolus of 99mtechnetium sulfur colloid in water was swallowed in the supine position under the collimator of a gamma camera linked to a microprocessor. Bolus transit was recorded at 0.

Acute eosinophilic cholecystitis in association with hepatic echinococcosis.

A patient with acute eosinophilic cholecystitis is presented. This was in association with hepatic hydatid disease and was the presenting feature of that disease.