Doctors' views on the impact of the absence of an in-person rheumatology service at a major New Zealand hospital.

Aim: To describe the views of doctors in one hospital service about the impact of the lack of an in-person rheumatology consultation service and to identify service improvements informed by those views and services at comparable district health boards (DHB).

Methods: Qualitative study using focus groups of resident and senior medical officers (RMOs and SMOs) from the general medical service at Wellington Regional Hospital. A national survey of DHB heads of rheumatology was also used.

The clinical utility of Memorial Symptom Assessment-Short Form and Condensed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale in Turkish lung cancer patients.

Introduction: Symptom assessment is essential in the palliative care of patients with cancer. We studied the Memorial Assessment Scale Test-Short Form (MSAS-SF) and Condensed Memorial Assessment Test (CMSAS) in Turkish lung cancer patients.

Material And Method: Fifty-one patients with lung cancer (47 non-small, 4 small cell) were staged according to the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2007 and filled the MSAS-SF.

Pleural complications of pulmonary hydatid disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and diagnostic features of pleural manifestations of pulmonary hydatid disease.

Methodology: Patients with pleural pathology in association with surgery for pulmonary hydatid disease over an 8-year period were evaluated.

Results: Twenty-nine (6%) of 474 patients with histologically confirmed pulmonary hydatid disease had pleural abnormalities.