Health status and quality of life of people with multiple sclerosis.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to ascertain the health status and quality of life of a community based cohort of people with multiple sclerosis.

Method: A postal questionnaire with self-completed measures of impairment, disability, physical dependency and quality of life was sent to a random sample of 203 people with multiple sclerosis from a population register. The sample was stratified according to five disease courses.

Developing a disease-specific quality of life measure for people with multiple sclerosis.

Objectives: To develop a patient-completed disease-specific measure of quality of life in multiple sclerosis and to validate the measure in a community-based population of people with multiple sclerosis.

Methods: The items in the scale were selected in focus group sessions of people with multiple sclerosis. The initial scale included 25 items and was tested in subgroups of 150 people from a population register of people with multiple sclerosis in Leeds.

Castleman's disease of the erector spinae muscle.

Castleman's disease, angio-follicular lymph node hyperplasia, is a relatively rare benign tumour. It typically arises in the mediastinum. We report a unique case arising in the erector spinae muscle.

Transition from paediatric to adult-orientated care for adolescents with cystic fibrosis.

Adolescence is a time of major physical and psychological change. Young teenagers need to become comfortable with their developing sexuality, to begin moving towards independence with a greater reliance on peer group acceptance, to face the future and to make important decisions about their education, career and goals. Difficulties inherent in all of these steps to adult life are magnified by chronic ill health.

An audit of trauma documentation.

Research into aspects of the care of the injured depends on accurate and complete documentation. Inadequate records make audit almost impossible and are unacceptable medico-legally. An audit was made of the standard of trauma documentation in the Yorkshire region before the introduction of trauma charts in 1992.

An assessment of the comparative utility of functional and molecular level analyses in the investigation of patients with thrombophilia.

Aim-To determine the relation of the low anticoagulant response phenotype with the Factor V Q506 (Leiden) mutation in a cohort of patients with thrombophilia.Methods-Fifty four patients with either a personal or family history of deep vein thrombosis were investigated both for their anticoagulant response by the activated protein C resistance test (APCR) and their genetic status in respect of the Leiden mutation by means of a PCR-RFLP method.Results-Low APCR ratios do not necessarily predict possession of the Leiden mutation.

Soluble E-cadherin concentrations in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome and multiorgan dysfunction syndrome.

We have assessed the role of the cell-cell adhesion molecule, E-cadherin, in the pathogenesis of multiorgan failure in 24 intensive care patients with sepsis and varying degrees of organ dysfunction, compared with 21 healthy subjects. Plasma soluble E-cadherin (sE-cadherin) was measured by enzyme immunoassay. The median concentration of sE-cadherin in normal subjects was 3.

Commodes: inconvenient conveniences.

Objectives: To investigate use of commodes and attitudes of users and carers to them.

Design: Interview with semi-structured questionnaire of subjects supplied with commodes from Leeds community appliance centre.

Subjects: 140 users of a commode and 105 of their carers.

Harvest of palmaris longus tendon: technique.

We present a modification of Bunnell's technique for harvest of the palmaris longus tendon. Using a 0.5 cm distal incision and a proximal stab incision the tendon is harvested with minimal scarring and, in our experience of over 30 cases, no morbidity.

Somatostatin binding in human gastrointestinal tissues: effect of cations and somatostatin analogues.

This study characterises the somatostatin binding site in human gastrointestinal cancer and mucosa in terms of cationic specificity and relative affinity for three somatostatin analogues. Competitive displacement assays were performed on plasma membranes from human gastric and colonic tissues using radiolabelled somatostatin-14 as ligand. Comparison was made with the somatostatin binding site in rat cerebral cortex.

Diagnostic dilemmas in acutely ill elderly people.

The atypical and non-specific clinical presentations of disease in elderly people may produce diagnostic confusion. Laboratory investigations can be especially important in achieving the correct diagnoses in the older age group. Accurate interpretation of laboratory data from elderly patients necessarily requires a knowledge of the effects of ageing on the biochemical and haematological parameters of healthy individuals, so that involutional changes are not misinterpreted as representative of disease and, conversely, significant deviations from normal values are not attributed to the ageing process.