Psychosocial and background factors in emotional abuse of children.

Seven parents legally established as emotionally abusing their children were compared with a closely matched control group of seven 'problem' parents in a day nursery. The experimental group parents showed significantly more psychosocial and background factors associated with undifferentiated abuse or physical abuse and neglect; specifically, these factors included poor coping skills, difficulty in building relationships, and poor child management techniques. In addition, the emotionally abusing parents reported a significantly higher incidence of behavioural deviancy in their children than the control caregivers.

Post-yersinial arthritis in Cleveland, England.

Four cases of post-yersinial reactive arthritis are described. All patients presented with an acute lower limb arthropathy with features of an associated enthesopathy. Two patients had restriction of axial skeletal movements.

Will chromosome karyotyping of meningiomas aid prediction of tumour recurrence?

Cytogenetic studies over many years have established absence or deletion of chromosome 22 as a common finding in meningiomas. Enormous karyotypic variation is recognised: an abnormal hyperdiploid clone can occur in a histologically benign meningioma. The cytogenetic, histopathological and macroscopic findings in 13 meningiomas of a prospective study are presented.

Bone age estimation: a comparison of methods.

Bone ages assessed by the TW2 method and the GP atlas were compared in 97 children radiographed for trauma. Bone age assessed by the TW2 method was slightly closer to chronological age than the GP estimate, but TW2 was slightly less reproducible between observers. Given the relatively laborious and time-consuming nature of the TW2 method, there seems little point in promoting its use in the general hospital setting.

Disappearing hypertrophic osteoarthropathy.

A case is presented in which florid hypertrophic osteoarthropathy regressed clinically and radiologically when a Celestin tube was removed.

Methylprednisolone therapy in multiple sclerosis: a profile of adverse effects.

A retrospective analysis of 350 treatment courses using high dose pulsed intravenous methylprednisolone for relapses of multiple sclerosis revealed a low number of adverse effects. This study confirms that high dose methylprednisolone is a safe therapeutic option in multiple sclerosis.

Loop diuretics cause less postural hypotension than thiazide diuretics in the frail elderly.

Seventy frail elderly patients attending a day hospital were studied to investigate the incidence of postural hypotension in control patients on no diuretic treatment (n = 30), patients on loop diuretics (frusemide) for mild cardiac failure (n = 20) and patients on thiazide diuretics for mild cardiac failure (n = 20). The results showed that patients on thiazide diuretics had a higher incidence of postural hypotension (reduction in systolic blood pressure greater than 20 mmHg on standing after 2 minutes) than patients on loop diuretics (12 out of 20 vs 4 out of 20, p less than 0.05).

Should we use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs?

Both the relative efficacy and inefficacy of non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) contribute to their use in chronic rheumatic diseases. There are also sociological trends in patients, and in the population as a whole, increasing demand for treatment. In view of the risks of such treatment, the most rational approach to prescribing would be the use of a scientific risk-benefit analysis.

Cyclic oculomotor palsy: description of a case and hypothesis of the mechanism.

An unusual case of cyclic oculomotor palsy is described where the probable cause was a supraclinoid aneurysm. A mechanism is suggested by which the features of cyclic oculomotor palsy can be explained solely by a peripheral lesion.