Selective Recertification of Pilots Who Have Undergone a Cardiac Transplant.

From 2007, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) permitted pilots who have had a heart transplant to be considered for recertification under special issuance at the third-class level. The objective of this study was to evaluate certification safety and determine if any adverse outcome occurred in this airman group as a consequence of this policy. Methods involved collecting data from the FAA Document Imaging Workflow System to identify airmen undergoing cardiac transplantation since 2007, and examining medical and safety-related outcomes through the National Transportation Safety Board-related accident database and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Death Index.

Recurrent Stroke Risk in Pilots with Atrial Fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common cardiac arrhythmias in the general population and is considered disqualifying aeromedically. This study is a unique examination of significant outcomes in aviators with previous history of both AF and stroke. Pilots examined by the FAA between 2002 and 2012 who had had AF at some point during his or her medical history were reviewed, and those with an initial stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) during that time period were included in this study.

A CBCT comparison of anterior root resorption in SureSmile and conventional edgewise treatments.

Aim: To utilize cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) to analyze the amount of linear root resorption that occurs in maxillary and mandibular permanent incisors during orthodontic treatment when comparing the SureSmile technique with conventional edgewise treatment. In addition, patient and treatment factors that may be correlated with root resorption were studied.

Methods: The records of 28 patients (14 SureSmile and 14 edgewise) treated in an orthodontic office were used for this study.

Socio-environmental factors associated with pubertal development in female adolescents: the role of prepubertal tobacco and alcohol use.

Purpose: Alcohol administered to laboratory animals has been shown to suppress puberty-related hormones and delay puberty by interfering with ovarian development and function. The effects of early substance use on human pubertal development are relatively unexplored.

Methods: This cross-sectional study of 3,106 female adolescents, aged 11-21 years, evaluated the association between prepubertal alcohol and tobacco use and the onset of puberty.

Smokeless tobacco and prevalence of cardiovascular disease.

Introduction: Few studies have examined the possible increased risk of cardiovascular disease with smokeless tobacco. Existing studies have yielded inconsistent results and have been based on limited populations. The purpose of this study was to assess whether the use of smokeless tobacco increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and to identify higher risk groups.

A comparison of meningococcal carriage by pregnancy status.

Neisseria meningitidis is the second leading cause of invasive meningitis. A prerequisite for infection is colonization of the nasopharynx, and asymptomatic carrier rates are widely reported in the range of 10-15%. Recent reports have indicated an increased likelihood that a pediatric admission for Neisseria meningitidis will have a mother who is pregnant in the home.

The effect of digital cervical examination on group B streptococcal culture.

Objective: We sought to evaluate whether group B streptococcus (GBS) detection is altered by the digital cervical examination.

Study Design: A total of 302 women undergoing the clinical GBS culture had a digital cervical examination and a repeated GBS culture. Statistical comparison of pre-post culture results were performed with kappa and McNemar tests.

Evaluation of outcomes after transabdominal cervicoisthmic cerclage.

Purpose: To evaluate maternal and neonatal outcomes after transabdominal cerclage.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 15 patients receiving transabdominal cerclage. Using the patient's prior pregnancy as her own control, we assessed the effect of this procedure on gestational age and neonatal survival.

Effect of breastfeeding education and support on promoting breastfeeding: a literature review.

Despite the widely documented benefits of breastfeeding, initiation rates and duration of breastfeeding lag behind the goals set in Healthy People 2010. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of breastfeeding education and support, which aim to encourage women to initiate and continue breastfeeding according to The Healthy People 2010 objectives; articles published in the United States from January 2000 to July 2005 are included. Effects of these interventions on different demographic groups are reviewed to assess the importance of each intervention in particular focus group.

An update on breast cancer in Oklahoma and the dietary changes women make after diagnosis.

Context: The breast cancer (BC) death rate in Oklahoma exceeds that of the United States. Women commonly experience weight gain after diagnosis and soy isoflavones may interfere with effect of tamoxifen.

Objective: To assess dietary changes of BC survivors and to determine if the women desire information about diet from physicians.

Disparities in the prevalence of medication therapy for hyperlipidemia in the elderly.

Objective: To explore differences in the prevalence of therapy with antihyperlipidemic drugs in patients older than 75 years of age, as compared with patients between the ages of 55 to 74, and other variables.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: Two Oklahoma state-paid pharmacy drug-claims databases.

Comparison of outcome measures in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva treated with surgery or primary chemoradiation.

Objective: To review outcome measures including overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), and patterns of recurrence in patients with advanced vulvar cancer managed by primary surgery (PS) or primary chemoradiation (PCRT) as well as population characteristics for the two groups.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with stage III and IV squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva from 1990 to 2006 were identified for retrospective analysis at a single institution. Charts were abstracted for clinical and pathologic findings, treatment modalities, complications, recurrence, and follow-up.

A LEEP cervical conization is rarely indicated for a two-step discrepancy.

Objectives: The current indications for conization of the cervix include a 2-step discrepancy between cervical cytological and histological findings. We sought to determine the utility of a loop electrocautery excision procedure (LEEP) cone for a 2-step discrepancy.

Methods: A retrospective institutional review board-approved chart review was performed on all women recommended to undergo a LEEP secondary to a discrepancy between a referral high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion cytological finding and a subsequent colposcopic biopsy result revealing either normal or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1 histological finding; CIN 2 was excluded from the study.

Gynecologic Oncology Group risk groups for vulvar carcinoma: improvement in survival in the modern era.

Objective: Patients with vulvar cancer were stratified into risk groups for survival based on surgicopathologic findings from a prospective study conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group from 1977-1984. The purpose of this study is to reassess these risk groups in patients treated in an era of contemporary management.

Methods: Patients with vulvar carcinoma were identified from 1990-2005 for retrospective analysis.

Does participation in a nurse visitation programme reduce the frequency of adverse perinatal outcomes in first-time mothers?

Children First (C1), a nurse home visitation programme for first-time mothers, was implemented statewide in Oklahoma in mid-1997. The objective of this study was to compare the risks of low (< 2500 g) and very low birthweight (< 1500 g), preterm (< 37 weeks) and very preterm (< 30 weeks) deliveries and infant mortality between mothers participating and not participating in C1. All 239,466 Oklahoma birth certificates were reviewed.

Lead sources, behaviors, and socioeconomic factors in relation to blood lead of native american and white children: a community-based assessment of a former mining area.

Lead poisoning prevention requires knowledge of lead sources and of appropriate residential lead standards. Data are severely lacking on lead sources for Native American children, many of whom live in rural areas. Further, the relation of mining waste to blood lead concentrations (BPbs) of rural children is controversial.