How unique is pure erythroid leukaemia? A retrospective analysis of seven cases and review of the literature.

Aims: Pure erythroid leukaemia (PEL) is a rare subtype of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and its clinicopathological features are not well-defined. The aim of this study was to describe the immunophenotypic, cytogenetic and clinical features of PEL and to compare these with cases of AML with ≥ 50% erythroblasts.

Methods: Cases of PEL according to WHO morphological criteria diagnosed at three institutions from 1997 to 2013 were included.

Surgery for scimitar syndrome: the Melbourne experience.

Objectives: To evaluate the outcomes associated with surgical repair of scimitar syndrome.

Methods: From 1974 to 2012, 21 patients with scimitar syndrome underwent corrective surgery. Outcomes included mortality, reoperation rate, hospital length of stay and long-term functional status.

Differentiating the frontal presentation of Alzheimer's disease with FDG-PET.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) can present with behavioral changes with this syndrome described as frontal variant AD (FvAD). Excess frontal pathology may explain this presentation. Neuroimaging with fluoro-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG- PET) can be used to examine the effects of pathology in FvAD.

Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life Among Patients With Myocardial Infarction.

This cross-sectional correlational study aimed to examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and its predictors among patients with myocardial infarction (MI). One hundred and twenty-eight outpatients with MI were recruited from a university hospital. The 12-item Short-Form Health Survey version 2, Myocardial Infarction Dimensional Assessment Scale (MIDAS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used to measure the study variables.

Genetic variants within the second intron of the KCNQ1 gene affect CTCF binding and confer a risk of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome upon maternal transmission.

Background: Disruption of 11p15 imprinting results in two fetal growth disorders with opposite phenotypes: the Beckwith-Wiedemann (BWS; MIM 130650) and the Silver-Russell (SRS; MIM 180860) syndromes. DNA methylation defects account for 60% of BWS and SRS cases and, in most cases, occur without any identified mutation in a cis-acting regulatory sequence or a trans-acting factor.

Methods: We investigated whether 11p15 cis-acting sequence variants account for primary DNA methylation defects in patients with SRS and BWS with loss of DNA methylation at ICR1 and ICR2, respectively.

Effects of synchronisation during SiPAP-generated nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in preterm infants.

Objective: The SiPAP flow driver (Care Fusion, Dublin, Ohio, USA) offers synchronised nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (sNIPPV) using an abdominal capsule. This study aims to describe the accuracy and effects of synchronised NIPPV using SiPAP in preterm infants.

Design: Ten infants, born <28 weeks' gestation, receiving synchronised SiPAP-generated NIPPV, in 'biphasic trigger' mode, were observed.

A partial hearing animal model for chronic electro-acoustic stimulation.

Objective: Cochlear implants (CIs) have provided some auditory function to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Although traditionally carried out only in profoundly deaf patients, the eligibility criteria for implantation have recently been relaxed to include many partially-deaf patients with useful levels of hearing. These patients receive both electrical stimulation from their implant and acoustic stimulation via their residual hearing (electro-acoustic stimulation; EAS) and perform very well.

R-CHOP with or without bevacizumab in patients with previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: final MAIN study outcomes.

Vascular endothelial growth factor is involved in lymphoma growth, suggesting a potential role for anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapies in hematologic malignancies. In this phase III study, patients with CD20-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma were randomized to rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone plus either placebo (R-CHOP) or bevacizumab (RA-CHOP). Treatment was administered every 21 (8 cycles) or 14 days (6 cycles plus 2 rituximab cycles) as per institutional practice.

Progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia: a 3-year longitudinal study.

Objective: To examine characteristics that predict the progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.

Methods: Of 970 patients recruited from nine memory clinics around Australia, 185 had mild cognitive impairment diagnosed. Measures of cognitive ability, functional ability, and neuropsychiatric symptoms were completed at baseline and over 3 years of follow up.

Neuroprogression in schizophrenia: Pathways underpinning clinical staging and therapeutic corollaries.

Objective: Whilst dopaminergic dysfunction remains a necessary component involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, our current pharmacological armoury of dopamine antagonists does little to control the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. This suggests other pathological processes must be implicated. This paper aims to elaborate on such theories.

Predictors of institutionalization in dementia: a three year longitudinal study.

Patients with dementia often require institutionalization when they can no longer care for themselves. The study examined demographic and clinical variables that predict the time until institutionalization in patients with dementia attending memory clinics. Of 970 patients recruited from nine memory clinics around Australia, 779 patients had dementia at baseline.

Red flags for persistent or worsening anxiety and depression after an acute cardiac event: a 6-month longitudinal study in regional and rural Australia.

Background: While early symptoms of anxiety and depression resolve for many patients soon after an acute cardiac event, the persistence or worsening of symptoms indicates increased mortality risk. It is therefore important to identify the predictors, or red flags, of persistent or worsening anxiety and depression symptoms. Most previous research has focussed on metropolitan patients, hence the need for studies of regional and rural dwellers.

Leisure activity, health, and medical correlates of neurocognitive performance among monozygotic twins: the Older Australian Twins Study.

Objectives: We aimed to examine associations between each of three leisure activities (Cognitive, Physical, and Social) and performance in selected cognitive domains (Speed, Memory, Verbal ability, and Executive functions) and global cognition. We also aimed to explore associations between medical and health factors and late-life cognition.

Method: Our sample comprised 119 pairs of monozygotic twins from the Older Australian Twins Study.

Tracking the relevance of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in legislation and litigation through the online resource, Tobacco Control Laws.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is increasingly referenced and incorporated into the objectives, definitions and provisions of domestic legislation worldwide. It is also relied upon by courts in interpreting and upholding strong tobacco control measures challenged by the tobacco industry. In this special communication, we describe these trends and explore the important new online resource-Tobacco Control Laws (http://www.

Three phases of the Pacific Islands Project (1995-2010).

The Pacific Islands Project (PIP), funded by AusAid and managed by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), has progressed through three phases from 1995 to 2010. During this time, it has sent over 520 teams to 11 Pacific Island Countries, providing over 60,000 consultations and some 16,000 procedures. In addition to this delivery of specialist medical and surgical services that were not previously available in-country, the project has contributed as a partner in capacity building with the Fiji School of Medicine and Ministries of Health of the individual nations.

Health literacy and beliefs among a community cohort with and without chronic low back pain.

Health literacy, the ability to seek, understand and utilise health information, is important for good health. Suboptimal health literacy has been associated with poorer health outcomes in many chronic conditions although this has not been studied in chronic low back pain (CLBP). We examined the health literacy of individuals with CLBP using a mixed methods approach.

Mirror image congenital esotropia and concordant hypermetropia in identical twins.

Purpose: To report the occurrence of mirror image congenital esotropia and concordant hypermetropia in a pair of monozygotic twins.

Methods: A pair of twins was recruited through the Australian Twin Registry. Zygosity was determined by questionnaire, physical appearance, and standard genotyping.

Can the specificity of the FDT for glaucoma be improved by confirming abnormal results?

Purpose: To determine whether the specificity of the frequency-doubling technology (FDT) perimeter in the screening mode for glaucoma can be improved by repeating abnormal screening results.

Methods: The FDT perimeter was used in C-20-5 screening mode, and the right eye was tested first. After both eyes were tested, the screening was repeated in eyes with any abnormal visual field defects on FDT perimetry.

Localization of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-II Receptors in Rat Brain by in vitro Autoradiography and Immunohistochemistry.

Insulin-like growth factor-ll (IGF-II) and its receptor, which is homologous with the mannose-6-phosphate (M6P) receptor, are found in high levels in adult rat and human brain, though their role remains unclear. In order to point to possible regional functions, we have mapped and quantified IGF-II/M6P receptors in sagittal sections of adult rat brain by in vitro autoradiography/computerized densitometry and immunohistochemistry. While in vitro autoradiography allowed mapping and quantitation, immunohistochemistry both confirmed mapping and allowed more detailed determination of cellular distribution of receptors.