Feasibility and acceptability of a remote, hands-free cognitive battery for adults with traumatic spinal cord injury.

Purpose/objective: To evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of testing the cognitive abilities of adults with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) via teleconference.

Research Design: Data were collected prospectively at two study sites from 75 adults living with TSCI. Participants completed a series of self-report measures via an online survey platform, in addition to a brief battery of cognitive testing administered via audio-video teleconference.

Academic-Practice Partnerships: A Win-Win.

Partnerships between academia and practice can lead to improved patient care and health system innovations. Nurse educators in both academia and practice are positioned to facilitate opportunities for students and practicing nurses to be involved in evidence-based practice (EBP) care initiatives involving academic-health care partners in clinical and/or community-based systems. Best practices in collaborative partnerships have demonstrated the significance of their far-reaching impact on patients, students, direct care nurses, and health systems.

Potential impact of drugs of abuse on mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

This report is a summary of a symposium entitled "Mother-to-Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV and Drugs of Abuse in Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) Era," organized by The National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland, October 13, 2009. In the pre-HAART era, the prevalence of MTCT of HIV was about 25% and exposure of pregnant mothers to drugs of abuse (illicit drugs and tobacco smoking) was a significant factor in MTCT. However, with the introduction of HAART, the rate of MTCT of HIV has decreased to less that 2%.

Reduction mammaplasty: a review of managed care medical policy coverage criteria.

Background: Insurance companies evaluate the medical necessity for breast reduction surgery based on internal company medical policies, but the correlation of insurance company criteria to the scientifically established indications for reduction mammaplasty has never been studied. The authors obtained 90 insurance company medical policies for reduction mammaplasty to determine whether the criteria on which coverage determinations are made are consistent with published data regarding the indications for this procedure.

Methods: The authors reviewed the medical literature on reduction mammaplasty and identified what conclusions can reasonably be drawn from this literature on the common insurance criteria used to determine medical necessity for reduction mammaplasty.

Reduction mammaplasty: defining medical necessity.

The authors evaluated existing and new criteria for defining the medical necessity for breast reduction surgery. Two cohorts of women (those requesting breast reduction surgery [N = 266] and a group of controls [N = 184]) completed a questionnaire including breast-specific symptom severity, the Short Form 36, the EuroQol, the McGill Pain Questionnaire, and the Multidimensional Body Self Relations Questionnaire. To evaluate prediction validity, the most widely accepted decision criteria and a new definition of medical necessity were applied to the data set to determine whether women meeting the definition had more favorable outcomes than those who did not as measured by validated self-report instruments.

Clinical outcomes in reduction mammaplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies.

This systematic review and meta-analysis were undertaken to determine whether reduction mammaplasty improves measurable outcomes in women with breast hypertrophy. A systematic review of the literature in 5 languages from 1985 until March 1999 was performed, and data were compared for meta-analysis. Eligible studies were both experimental and observational and involved women with preoperative physical and/or psychosocial signs and symptoms who underwent reduction mammaplasty for breast hypertrophy.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma arising in a thoracotomy scar.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma arises most commonly de novo and rarely from sites of chronic inflammation. The authors present a case of malignant fibrous histiocytoma arising in a thoracotomy hypertrophic scar. The patient required large local excision of the tumor down to and including the muscle layer with postoperative radiation treatment.

Silicon analysis of breast and capsular tissue from patients with saline or silicone gel breast implants: II. Correlation with connective-tissue disease.

The silicone breast implant controversy rages on. Recent work has demonstrated that normal or baseline breast tissue silicon levels in women who had had no prior exposure to any type of breast implant may be as high as 446 microg/gm of tissue. These data ranged from 4 to 446 microg/gm of tissue, with a median of 27.

Reduction mammaplasty: an outcome study.

Outcome studies of the value of reduction mammaplasties have only recently appeared in the literature. Medical directors of insurance companies and managed care plans have been reluctant to pay for reduction mammaplasties, citing the uncertainty of the medical necessity of the procedure. They have defended their position by stating that the medical literature is devoid of studies documenting that reduction mammaplasty is medically beneficial to the patient.

Determination of silicon in breast and capsular tissue from patients with breast implants performed by inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. Comparison with tissue histology.

A method for analysis of silicon in tissue was developed to determine silicon content in breast parenchymal and periprosthetic capsular tissues of patients with silicone or saline implants and to compare levels in tissues from normal (nonaugmented) breasts. It is of interest to determine whether increased silicon content in tissues can be associated with morbidity in patients who have received silicone implants. This manuscript addresses the issues involved in analysis of breast tissue samples for silicon and compares silicon levels with tissue histologic findings and patient morbidity.

Silicon analysis of breast and periprosthetic capsular tissue from patients with saline or silicone gel breast implants.

The ubiquitousness of silicon is well known. Recent work has demonstrated measurable baseline levels of silicon in nonaugmented cadavers, subsequent to numerous reports of significant elevations of such levels within patients with silicone breast implants and even more reports alleging a causal relation between silicone gel prostheses and connective-tissue diseases. Despite the lack of scientifically substantiated data that such a relation exists, the calamitous silicone breast implant controversy has ensued.

A second look at the second-look technique in face lifts.

Hematoma remains a problematic complication of face lift surgery. Sequelae of hematomas may include temporary skin irregularities, a prolonged postoperative recovery period, skin necrosis, and a compromised final result. Attempts to maximize intraoperative and postoperative hemostasis and thus prevent postoperative hematoma formation have focused on the use of local anesthetics with epinephrine modifications, topical thrombin, bed rest, blood pressure control, local anesthetics with intravenous sedation rather than general anesthesia, and the use of the "second-look" technique popularized 30 years ago.

Striae distensae after augmentation mammoplasty.

Three cases of striae distensae of the breast after augmentation mammoplasty are presented. The patients were all in their early 20s and nulliparous. The striae developed in the first few months after surgery.