Critical appraisal of reports on the treatment of perioral dermatitis.

Background: Presently, problems exist with the rationale of oral therapy and the nature and indication of topical and accompanying treatment of perioral dermatitis.

Objective: Providing the basis to overcome these problems by a quality evaluation of treatment reports and assessment of the consistency of treatment experience.

Methods: Sources were Medline (1964-2004), Embase (1966-2004), the Cochrane Central (1971-2004) and 526 references of 3 textbooks, 2 recent reviews and 30 papers on perioral dermatitis.

How to identify and assess tasks and challenges of Medical Image Processing.

Research in Medical Image Processing (MIP) is mainly driven by a technology-oriented point of view. However, as an application-oriented field, MIP research should always be able to give an answer to the question of what is the potential benefit of a solved MIP problem or a newly developed MIP-based system supporting a diagnostic or therapeutic process, in terms of outcome criteria like e.g.

[Quality management with information systems].

Three information systems are described, whose data are simultaneously used for quality management and others tasks. They show, that the completeness of documented diagnoses is dependent of their appraisal of the physicians. The support of coding by information technology brings an essential improvement.

[OPS-301/ICPM: experiences and problems].

For over 2 years, the classification of procedures OPS-301 has been uniformly used in all German hospitals. The ICPM in German extension has 5-6 digits and is totally compatible with the OPS-301 restricted to operations. This ICPM is qualified for scientific documentation beyond efficiency control.

Azithromycin versus penicillin V for the treatment of early Lyme borreliosis.

In a randomized multicenter therapeutic trial, 32 patients with erythema migrans received oral azithromycin 500 mg once daily and 33 patients received phenoxymethylpenicillin (penicillin V) 1 million U three times daily for 10 days. Follow-up was for a median of 17 (range 3-32) months. Four weeks after initiation of therapy, 20 (62%) patients given azithromycin and 17 (51%) patients given penicillin V were completely free of all signs and symptoms and did not develop new ones subsequently (no significant difference).

Recommendations of the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology for education and training in medical informatics.

In the fields of health care and medicine there is an immense demand for a systematic application of methods of information processing and for the use of computers. Obviously, to that end well-trained scientists and qualified personnel must be available. With the present recommendations on education and training in medical informatics the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS) proposes structure and contents of medical informatics curricula and courses.

A randomized trial of ceftriaxone versus oral penicillin for the treatment of early European Lyme borreliosis.

In a prospective randomized multicenter trial for the therapy of erythema migrans, 40 patients received ceftriaxone 1 g daily for 5 days and 33 patients obtained phenoxymethylpenicillin, 1 million units 3 times daily, for 12 days. Follow-up was for a mean of 10 +/- 5 months. Eight oral penicillin recipients (24%) and six ceftriaxone recipients (15%) developed minor consecutive manifestations.

[Peri-operative preventive use of antibiotics in abdominal hysterectomy].

In patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy, the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis was compared to no treatment. Additional studies on the influence of risk factors such as D&C, conisation and IUD's on post-operative morbidity were evaluated. 144 patients were recruited into the study and prospectively randomised into one of four groups.

[Genital infections and the course of pregnancy: a prospective study].

The reported study investigates the relationship of genital infections, pathobiochemical findings and demographic data to preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes (PROM) and premature delivery. The predictability of chorioamnionitis, puerperal and neonatal infections by these parameters was evaluated concurrently. 301 patients were included in this study between July 1985 and June 1986.

Antibiotic therapy of early European Lyme borreliosis and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans.

In a study on 121 consecutive patients with erythema migrans, 65 patients obtained oral penicillin, 36 tetracyclines, and 20 amoxicillin-clavulanic-acid. Follow-up was carried out for a median of 29, 17, and 7 months, respectively. In another limited trial on 29 patients with acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA), 14 patients received oral penicillin, 9 parenteral penicillin, and 6 tetracyclines.

[Condition and satisfaction of patients after gynecologic surgery].

The effects of gynaecological operations on the well-being and satisfaction of patients can be viewed as important supplements to quality assurance which is mainly based on clinical parameters and medical ratings. In the present study 215 patients undergoing gynaecological operations assessed different components of their subjective health status at times of admission to the hospital, at discharge and six weeks after discharge. Additionally, the patients gave satisfaction ratings at discharge.

Antibiotic therapy in early erythema migrans disease and related disorders.

Between December 1978 and July 1985, we used various antibiotics for the treatment of 97 adult patients with early erythema migrans disease (EMD). Six patients with borrelial lymphocytoma (BL) and 20 with acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) were treated similarly. Follow-up was for a median of 20, 14, and 12 months, respectively.

Computer-aided formulation of physician's reports and storage of ERCP data.

In the 2nd Medical Dept. of the Technical University of Munich, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) reports are written with the aid of a computer. The doctor doing the examination enters the ERCP data into screen masks.

[Perioperative antibiotic prevention with cefoxitin in cesarean section. Management and uses].

Antibiotic prophylaxis and febrile morbidity following non-elective Caesarean section were studied retrospectively. Febrile morbidity was found to be 5.4% in the treated group as compared to 20% in the untreated group.

[Pancreatic secretion in domestic sprue].

Pancreatic function was determined (using the secretin-pancreozymin test) before the use of gluten-free diet in 22 patients with endemic (celiac) sprue. Water and bicarbonate secretion were within normal limits, if anything there was a trend to high-normal values. Remarkable and apparently characteristic for celiac sprue was the only slight contraction of the gallbladder after intravenous injection of submaximal doses of cholecystokinin-pancreozymin (CCK).

[Computer-oriented documentation of quantitative and qualitative data in gastroenterology (author's transl)].

Computer-oriented documentation of quantitative and qualitative data obtained from patients with gastroenterological diseases is described as an example of a method when considering a relatively small number of patients. All qualitative and quantitative features are entered uncoded in a data booklet and subsequently on port-a-punch cards. After extensive computerized error check - and correction, as need arises, - the data are transferred to a data base and stored on magnetic disk.