A cracking complication: Displacement of existing clavicle fracture complicating subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation

An 18 year old male with an incompletely healed clavicle fracture presented with unexplained syncope. Subsequent investigations were consistent with a diagnosis of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). A subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD) was successfully implanted and defibrillation threshold (DFT) testing performed as per standard protocol. Shortly following the procedure, the patient complained of pain and swelling over the left clavicle. A radiograph revealed aggravation and displacement of the underlying clavicle fracture. Surgical reduction and internal fixation was performed one week later.     

Two decades of wildlife rehabilitation in Greece: Major threats,admission trends and treatment outcomes from a prominent rehabilitation centre

The ultimate goal of Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres is to release wild animals back into the wild, after providing care and treatment according to protocol. The data collected during the process though, can be an invaluable resource of information, and act as a proxy of the anthropogenic impact on wild populations. They can even help to propose mitigation and conservation measures that could reduce pressure on wildlife. In the current study, we analysed the records of ANIMA, a prominent Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Athens, Greece, over a 17-year study period. Using a database of 54,445 animals representing 353 species from 104 families, we draw connections between the magnitude of admission causes and their predicted outcomes based on the animals admitted. We found that while many animals that are admitted as orphans or after living in captivity have good chances of being released, that is not the case for victims of electrocution or domestic animal attacks. Illegal shooting is clearly present in our data and seems to also affect wild populations negatively. We highlight the importance of Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres’ data towards understanding and defining human impact on wildlife, the importance of communicating the results to policymakers for biodiversity conservation and even proposing possible management directions. In that context, we also urge for more population monitoring field studies, so that admission data can be accurately combined and make meaningful predictions for the status of wild populations.     

Relative Risk of Involuntary Injuries Among Currently Employed Adults in the U.S.

It can be very informative to compare the risk of injury for different occupations, places where accidents happen, demographic variables, and other characteristics. However, most epidemiologic literature shows that multiple logistic regression or odds ratio were commonly used to compare the relationship between the variables on two or more levels. A multiple logistic regression could be used for multiple comparisons assuming that the model correctly reflects the situation at hand. But it might not be a true assumption. Assuming no model, we defined the relative risk to compare risks of injury for different occupations, and applied this method to the data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). This application showed that the relative risk of injury varied by occupation and by place of accident, sex, race, and age.