Clinical use of a shortened alcohol withdrawal scale in a general hospital.

Background: Multi-item scales for monitoring alcohol withdrawal reactions have been used since the 1970s, and since 1985 we have used a modified version of the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment (CIWA) in our general hospitals. This study was conducted to determine whether a shorter version of the scale would prove easier to use without loss of accuracy.

Methods: A simultaneous 'crossover' clinical audit using two hospitals.

Absence of adverse early quality of life outcomes of radiation therapy in breast conservation therapy for early breast cancer.

The New South Wales Breast Radiation Oncology Group has completed a prospective multicentre study of the impact of radiation therapy (RT) on acute toxicity and quality of life (QoL) in women with early breast cancer treated with breast conservation therapy. The patient group received adjuvant breast tangential RT after wide local excision of breast cancer. Acute toxicity and cosmesis was assessed quantitatively and qualitatively.

Impact of radiation therapy on acute toxicity in breast conservation therapy for early breast cancer.

Aims: To document the acute toxicity experienced by women receiving radiation therapy as part of breast-conservation therapy (BCT) for early breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review was undertaken of the medical records of 234 consecutive women managed with radiation therapy for BCT over a 2-year period. A policy of formal acute toxicity documentation was present during this period with descriptive measures as well as the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) acute toxicity scoring system.