[Monitoring in acute cerebral infarction].

Background: Cerebral ischaemia is potentially reversible during the first few hours. Monitoring of physiological variables such as temperature, blood pressure, heart rhythm, oxygen saturation and cerebral blood flow may be important for efficient treatment and reduction of the infarct volume.

Material And Methods: This article is based on a review of relevant articles in international journals over the last 15 years on the pathophysiology of acute ischaemic stroke and treatment in intensive stroke units compared with conventional stroke units.

[Organisation of palliative care in and outside hospital].

Patients with advanced, incurable disease need easy access to qualified care. Basic palliative care should be provided in all clinical hospital departments and in community care. In addition, palliative care units in hospitals and nursing homes, and ambulatory, multidisciplinary, palliative care teams have a supportive role by providing teaching, advice, and care, also in primary care.

[Instructing patients in the correct use of inhalation devices].

Background: Limited knowledge is available on to what extent doctors and nurses know the correct use of various inhalation devices. We wanted to examine this skill among 25 doctors and 25 nurses randomly selected from the departments of pulmonology, internal medicine and surgery at a university hospital.

Design: Two technicians asked them to demonstrate the correct use of a metered-dose inhaler (MDI), Turbuhaler and Diskus.

[The physician, classical literature and the psychiatric patient].

The physician and in particular the psychiatric resident is regularly confronted by the humanistic dimension of psychiatry. Impressions from classical literature can be seen as a special inspiration and an enriching factor for acquiring understanding. The literary classics represent the earliest "documentation" of the psychology and psychopathology of humankind.

[Do patients with ventricular septal defect need endocarditis prophylaxis?].

Background: Patients with ventricle septal defect are considered at higher risk of infectious endocarditis than the population in general. According to guidelines, these patients should receive prophylactic antibiotics prior to invasive procedures. Recently, several studies have been published that challenge this view.

[Molecular diagnostic techniques in gynaecologic cancer].

Background: Our understanding of the genetic basis of gynaecologic cancer has increased. Still this is a major cause of death. Based on a review of the literature, we present molecular diagnostic tools no available for the prevention and characterisation of cancers in the ovaries, uterus and cervix.

[Hereditary endocrine tumour diseases].

Background And Method: The paper reviews inheritable endocrine tumour syndromes based on recent literature and the experience of the authors.

Results And Conclusions: A number of inheritable endocrine tumour syndromes are caused by mutations in proto-oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes. These include multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN), familial non-MEN neoplasia, Von Hippel-Lindau's disease and familial medullary thyroid carcinoma, pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma.

[Fluid management and the risk of cerebral oedema in children with diabetic ketoacidosis].

Background: Cerebral oedema is a rare but life-threatening complication of diabetic ketoacidosis in children.

Material And Methods: This paper presents a case report on an infant with diabetic ketoacidosis and in an extreme hyperosmolar and hypernatremic state. Considerations regarding appropriate fluid management and the osmotic role of serum sodium are discussed.

[Sense and sensibility in delivery care].

The organisation of delivery care engages both professional and laypersons. When the Norwegian princess Märtha Louise in 2005 chose to give birth at home instead of in hospital, the intensity of the debate in media increased. Some professionals claim with great persuasion that among selected low-risk women, birth at home or in small midwifery units is as safe as in larger delivery units in hospitals.

[Can ear temperature measurement be used in a hospital?].

Background: There are two principle means of infrared thermometry: tympanic thermometry and ear canal thermometry. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of these ear thermometers compared with the digital rectal thermometer.

Material And Methods: We used two different infrared ear thermometers in this study; one type measured the tympanic temperature, the other the temperature in the ear canal.

[Percutaneous cervical cordotomy in intractable cancer pain].

Percutaneous cordotomy by the lateral high cervical approach may be indicated in the treatment of intractable nociceptive or neuropathic cancer pain below the C5 dermatome. A description of the technique and two case studies are presented.

[Survival of children with cancer].

Survival data for all consecutive paediatric cancer patients (age 0-15) diagnosed between 1 January 1992 and 31 December 2001 are presented. The patients came from a catchment area in Norway with a population of approximately 1 million. During the period under review, the most intensive paediatric cancer treatment regimen up until now was given.

[Conjunctival primary acquired melanosis].

Background: Pigmented lesions of the conjunctiva may represent primary acquired melanosis. If histological examination reveals atypical melanocytes in the epithelial layer of the conjunctiva, there is a close to 50% risk of transformation to a conjunctival malignant melanoma. A combination of surgical excision and cryotherapy is the most widely recommended treatment for conjunctival primary acquired melanosis with atypia.

[A four-year-old boy with swollen cheek after a fall].

A four-year-old boy had fallen from a tree in nursery school and had minor symptoms immediately after the trauma. He was admitted to the local casualty clinic the same night, but no signs of local injury were detected. The next morning he was admitted to the department of oto-rhino-laryngology at the local hospital due to increasing local swelling and pain in the cheek.

[Research positions for junior physicians as research resource].

Background: Positions for junior doctors specially designated to research serve to promote this mission at university hospitals.

Material And Methods: A questionnaire was sent to nine leading Norwegian hospitals in order to assess the status of junior doctors' research positions as well as plans and strategies for such positions. The answers involved both the hospital leadership and the individual departments.

[Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease].

Background: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease is a bilateral panuveitis associated with exudative retinal detachment. This disease typically affects young adults, and occurs most frequently among Asians. Meningeal signs, dysacusis, poliosis and vitiligo are usual features of the condition.

[Are mood stabilizers beneficial in the treatment of schizophrenia?].

Background: Antipsychotic agents are the drugs of choice in the treatment of schizophrenia. However, some patients profit only modestly from such therapy and thus represent a clinical challenge.

Material And Methods: This article is based upon a review of relevant literature on treatment with the mood stabilizers lithium, carbamazepine, valproate and lamotrigine in patients with schizophrenia.

[Treatment of burns in general practice].

Smaller burns for which wound management is uncomplicated are mostly treated by general practitioners. However, general practitioners working in locations far from a hospital need skills in primary assessment and management of larger burns as well. For burns with limited depth and surface area it is recommended to choose a polyurethane dressing when the wound is exudative.

[Fabry disease--a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge].

Background: Fabry disease, unlike most other metabolic diseases, is prone to familiar and regional clustering because of X-linked inheritance and normal fertility in affected men. Affected individuals can be offered intravenous enzyme replacement therapy.

Materials And Methods: In two counties in western Norway there are 41 affected individuals, giving a minimum prevalence of the disease of 1 in 17,000.