Primary care physicians' refusal to care for patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

We conducted a telephone survey of a random sample of office-based primary care physicians in Los Angeles County to determine their practice experiences with patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Telephone interviews included questions related to the physicians'' experiences evaluating patients for HIV infection during the past 6 months and the presence of HIV-infected patients in their practices. Those without HIV-infected patients were asked if this was because they had not encountered such patients, because those patients had died, or because the physicians had chosen to refer these patients elsewhere or the patients had gone elsewhere for care. Of physicians who participated in the survey, 78% had evaluated a patient for HIV infection in the past 6 months; 34% were currently providing primary care for infected patients; and 36% had elected to refer HIV-infected patients elsewhere, or their patients had elected to find other physicians. In all, 48% of physicians in the sample had elected not to care for, or said they would not provide care for, patients with HIV infection. Among Los Angeles County primary care physicians, 36% have refused to provide continuing care for HIV-infected patients and another 12% indicated their unwillingness to do so should such patients present themselves for care. As of 1991, the reservoir of primary care physicians in Los Angeles not yet involved with but willing to care for HIV-infected patients is relatively small (15%).     

Poem: the prophet in his own country

Although generalist physicians appear to be more likely than specialists to provide care for poor adult patients, they may still perceive financial and nonfinancial barriers to caring for these patients. We studied generalist physicians'' attitudes toward caring for poor patients using focus groups and used the results to design a survey that tested the generalizability of the focus group findings. The focus groups included a total of 24 physicians in 4 California communities; the survey was administered to a random sample of 177 California general internists, family physicians, and general practitioners. The response rate was 70%. Of respondents, 77% accepted new patients with private insurance; 31% accepted new Medicaid patients, and 43% accepted new uninsured patients. Nonwhite physicians were more likely to care for uninsured and Medicaid patients than were white physicians. In addition to reimbursement, nonfinancial factors played an important role in physicians'' decisions not to care for Medicaid or uninsured patients. The perception of an increased risk of being sued was cited by 57% of physicians as important in the decision not to care for Medicaid patients and by 49% for uninsured patients. Patient characteristics such as psychosocial problems, being ungrateful for care, and noncompliance were also important. Poor reimbursement was cited by 88% of physicians as an important reason not to care for Medicaid patients and by 77% for uninsured patients. Policy changes such as universal health insurance coverage and increasing the supply of generalist physicians may not adequately improve access to care unless accompanied by changes that address generalist physicians'' financial and nonfinancial concerns about providing care for poor patients.     

A new dental unit for both patients in wheelchairs and general patients

Objective: To develop a dental unit to accommodate both patients in wheelchairs and general patients, and to evaluate the acceptability of the new chair for patients and dentists. Design: To integrate a unit for patients in wheelchairs and a unit for general patients into a single dental unit. Results: (1) The newly developed dental unit could be used for both patients in wheelchairs and general patients and could be installed in nearly the same space as occupied by a conventional dental unit. (2) The dentists could take the home position because of the height‐adjusting and tilting mechanisms. (3) The patients could be treated with a sense of assurance because of the wheelchair immobilizer and the safety devices. (4) The dentists could perform patient treatment safely. (5) As patients did not need to be transferred from their wheelchairs, assistance was unnecessary. (6) From the questionnaires, both patients and dentists rated the newly developed dental unit favourable. Conclusions: The new dental unit for patients in wheelchairs and general patients permitted dentists to perform and patients to receive dental treatment safely and in a comfortable position. Also, as a single unit could be used for treatment of both types of patients, it required no extra space. Therefore, it has the potential to be installed in the clinics of general dental practitioners to treat both groups of patients.     

慢性肝病患者会员制管理方法的探讨

探索慢性肝病患者的管理方式,通过肝病患者的管理提高患者治疗的依从性,从而提高患者的治疗效果,改善患者生活质量,降低肝病患者死亡率,为患者提供更完善的医疗管理服务,为慢性疾病的管理提供新的思路。

     

Open access echocardiography in management of heart failure in the community.

OBJECTIVE--To assess the value of an open access echocardiography service. DESIGN--Study of new open access service for general practitioners, who were invited to refer patients taking diuretics for suspected heart failure, untreated patients with symptoms of possible heart failure, and asymptomatic patients with risk factors for left ventricular systolic dysfunction. SETTING--Regional cardiology centre. SUBJECTS--259 consecutive patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Presence or absence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction and consequent changes in clinical management. RESULTS--119 treated patients, 99 untreated patients, and nine asymptomatic patients were referred over five months. 32 were considered to be inappropriately referred. Among the treated patients, 31 had impaired left ventricular systolic function and five had valvular disease; angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors were recommended for 34 of these patients. In addition, 53 were thought not to need diuretics. Eight untreated patients had impaired systolic function and six valvular disease. CONCLUSIONS--The service was well used by general practitioners and led to advice to change management in more than two thirds of patients.     

Total and subtotal glossectomy: function after microvascular reconstruction

Twelve patients with advanced carcinoma of the floor of the mouth and tongue were treated with total (five patients) or subtotal (seven patients) glossectomy, partial mandibulectomy, and immediate reconstruction with the microvascular composite groin flap. The osteomusculocutaneous groin flap was used in eleven patients, and the osteomuscular flap was used in one patient. The groin musculocutaneous or muscle flap was designed to resemble the shape of the tongue for dynamic food transport, improved swallowing, and acceptable speech. Eight of the 12 patients who survived more than 1 year were evaluated for speech and swallowing. Eight patients were able to speak intelligibly, six patients could tolerate a soft/pureed diet, and two patients were limited to fluids. Cinefluorographic swallow studies using semisolid contrast material showed voluntary active intraoral transport and propulsive pharyngeal emptying without aspiration in six patients with complete flap to palate contact; the remaining two patients were unable to move the intraoral contrast material effectively for swallowing because of poor palatal contact.     

Usefulness of galactomannan detection in the diagnosis and follow-up of hematological patients with invasive aspergillosis

The usefulness of galactomannan detection using the Platelia Aspergillus test for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis was studied in 849 sera from 54 hematological patients with prolonged neutropenia, which were classified according to the risk for invasive aspergillosis. Three patients developed a proven invasive aspergillosis, one a probable invasive aspergillosis and 17 patients a possible invasive aspergillosis. Thirty-three patients showed no evidence of invasive aspergillosis. All patients with proven invasive aspergillosis had a high risk for invasive aspergillosis, while the one having probable invasive aspergillosis had intermediate risk. Detection of galactomannan in this study showed a sensitivity of 66.7% for patients with proven invasive aspergillosis and 50% for patients with proven and probable invasive aspergillosis. The specificity was 98% or higher in all groups studied. The predictive positive and negative values for patients with proven invasive aspergillosis were 66.7% and 98%, respectively. A rise in the concentration of galactomannan was observed in patients who failed to respond to the antifungal treatment. Galactomannan antigenemia preceded post-mortem histological diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis in two patients by 17 and 81 days, respectively. In conclusion, detection of galactomannan by the Platelia Aspergillus test allows for a specific and relatively sensitive diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis in hematological patients with a high and intermediate risk for invasive aspergillosis.     

Fromilide (clarithromycin) in eradication of Helicobacter pylori in patients with duodenal ulcer]

The results of two treatment regimes of duodenal ulcer associated with Helicobacter pylori are presented. The patients of the group I were treated with omeprazole, fromilid (clarithromycin) and metronidazole, the patients of the group II were treated with omeprazole, fromilid (clarithromycin) and furazolidone for 7 days. Then patients of both groups were treated with omeprazole for two weeks. Duodenal ulcer healing was registered for all 10 patients in the group I and for 8 patients (of 10 patients) in the group II. Eradication of H. pylori according to rapid urease test and PCR was confirmed for 9 and 4 patients in the group I and for all 10 patients in the group II.     

Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis: experience with 22 unselected patients with renal failure.

The present study describes our experience with CAPD in an unselected group of patients presenting with endstage renal failure. Twenty-three consecutive patients were offered CAPD, in-center, and home hemodialysis. Twenty-two patients selected CAPD, including 14 patients more than 60 years of age, four patients with diabetes, and one with multiple myeloma. CAPD training was performed in an out-of-hospital office facility. One patient returned to hemodialysis following the development of resistant Pseudomonas peritonitis, two patients died of a myocardial infarction, and one patient died with a GI bleed. The other 18 patients are doing well. Assessment of 17 patients maintained on therapy for four months or more revealed that the patients are less depressed, less organic, and have fewer physical symptoms than previously reported for a comparable group of patients maintained on hemodialysis for a similar period of time. In conclusion, CAPD can be successfully employed, at least for the initial months of therapy, to treat the vast majority of patients with endstage renal disease. CAPD training and follow-up care can be provided in an out-of-hospital office facility.     

Prospective evaluation of eligibility for thrombolytic therapy in acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVES--To determine the proportion of patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction who are eligible for thrombolytic therapy. DESIGN--Cohort follow up study. SETTING--The four coronary care units in Auckland, New Zealand. SUBJECTS--All 3014 patients presenting to the units with suspected myocardial infarction in 1993. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Eligibility for reperfusion with thrombolytic therapy (presentation within 12 hours of the onset of ischaemic chest pain with ST elevation > or = 2 mm in leads V1-V3, ST elevation > or = 1 mm in any other two contiguous leads, or new left bundle branch block); proportions of (a) patients eligible for reperfusion and (b) patients with contraindications to thrombolysis; death (including causes); definite myocardial infarction. RESULTS--948 patients had definite myocardial infarction, 124 probable myocardial infarction, and nine ST elevation but no infarction; 1274 patients had unstable angina and 659 chest pain of other causes. Of patients with definite or probable myocardial infarction, 576 (53.3%) were eligible for reperfusion, 39 had definite contraindications to thrombolysis (risk of bleeding). Hence 49.7% of patients (537/1081) were eligible for thrombolysis and 43.5% (470) received this treatment. Hospital mortality among patients eligible for reperfusion was 11.7% (55/470 cases) among those who received thrombolysis and 17.0% (18/106) among those who did not. CONCLUSIONS--On current criteria about half of patients admitted to coronary care units with definite or probable myocardial infarction are eligible for thrombolytic therapy. Few eligible patients have definite contraindications to thrombolytic therapy. Mortality for all community admissions for myocardial infarction remains high.     

Elderly and younger patients selected to undergo coronary angiography.

OBJECTIVE--To establish and compare the characteristics of older (greater than or equal to 70 years) and younger patients with chest pain selected to undergo coronary angiography and by analysis of their subsequent management to assess the value of coronary angiography for older patients with chest pain. DESIGN--Retrospective analysis of clinical case notes and coronary angiography reports. SETTING--Cardiology department with referral population of one million in an Edinburgh hospital. PATIENTS--134 consecutive patients with chest pain aged 70 years or over investigated by coronary angiography between 1978 and 1988; 134 randomly selected patients aged under 70 investigated over the same period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Clinical and angiographic features at time of angiography and management after angiography. RESULTS--Older patients represented a small, but increasing, proportion of those investigated. Older patients had more severe symptoms at the time of angiography, were taking more antianginal drugs, and had had their symptoms for longer than younger patients. At angiography more older patients had triple vessel coronary disease, left main stem stenosis, or left ventricular impairment. After angiography similar proportions of older and younger patients underwent coronary artery surgery, with more elderly patients requiring urgent operation; although operative mortality was higher for elderly patients, symptomatic benefit was similar to that in younger patients. CONCLUSIONS--Older patients with angina selected to undergo coronary angiography and subsequent coronary surgery have more severe symptoms and underlying cardiac disease. Earlier referral and investigation might yield a population with lower operative risk. Selection of patients for coronary angiography and coronary artery surgery should be based on the potential for benefit and should avoid "agism."     

外伤性颈椎骨折脱位的颈椎椎弓根螺钉内固定治疗及其临床疗效分析

目的：探讨颈椎椎弓根螺钉内固定治疗外伤性颈椎骨折脱位的临床疗效。方法：回顾性分析2010年6月至2012年7月我院采用颈椎椎弓根内固定治疗颈椎骨折脱位28例。损伤部位：C16例,C22例,C3～43例,C43例,C54例,C5～65例,C63例,C6～72例。脱位程度：I度脱位20例,II度脱位5例,III度脱位1例,Ⅳ度脱位2例。ASIA分级：A级2例,B级1例,C级3例,D级4例,E级17例。全部病例术前均行x线、CT及MRI检查并根据其结果行个体化椎弓根钉置入。术前和术后按ASIA神经功能评估方法评价手术疗效。结果：28例均获得8～18个月随访,平均随访12个月,随访期内无一例死亡。其中置入螺钉140枚,有128枚位置正确,12枚存在不同程度偏差,无手术相关并发症,无神经损伤加重。ASIA分级：A级3例中的1例恢复至D级,2例恢复至B级,B级1例恢复至C级,C级3例中的1例恢复至D级,2例恢复至E级,D级4例恢复至E级,E级17例仍为E级。结论：颈椎椎弓根钉内固定是治疗外伤性颈椎骨折脱位安全有效。     

重型肝炎低血糖的临床分析及防护对策

目的：探讨重型肝炎患者发生低血糖的临床意义,为针对性的防护提供依据。方法：检测20例健康献血员、44例急性肝炎、51例慢性肝炎及30例重型肝炎患者的空腹血糖水平进行比较,患者在发生低血糖症状时检测其血糖水平。结果：重型肝炎组的空腹血糖水平明显低于正常对照组、急性肝炎组及慢性肝炎组,在病程中低血糖发生率明显高于急性肝炎及慢性肝炎患者组,重型肝炎死亡组在病程中低血糖发生率明显高于存活组。结论：重型肝炎患者常发生低血糖,早期识别低血糖征兆,合理饮食,做好健康宣教是预防的关键;检测空腹血糖对判断重型肝炎危重程度和评估预后有重要意义。     

Myocardial Revascularization for Patients With an Ejection Fraction of 0.2 or Less—12 Year's Results

From 1969 through December 31, 1981, a total of 232 patients with an ejection fraction of 0.2 or less (normal 0.67) had myocardial revascularization. The in-hospital mortality in these patients decreased from 25 deaths in 82 patients (30%) from 1969 through 1972 to 10 deaths in 150 patients (7%) from 1973 through December 31, 1981. There was a 24% five-year survival for patients in congestive heart failure at the time of operation, a 40% survival at five years for patients successfully treated for failure before operation and a 60% five-year survival for those patients who had never been in failure. These results would appear to be better than those with cardiac transplantation, with neither the restrictions for operation nor the long-term immunotherapy required with cardiac transplantation.     

Eye lens and thyroid gland radiation exposure for patients undergoing brain computed tomography examination

This study aims to estimate the effective radiation dose and organ dose from head CT procedures. It was conducted in three main private hospitals in Khartoum State-Sudan, using Toshiba machines with 64 slices. The total number of patients included in this study was 142 patients (82 males and 60 females). The effective dose and organ dose were calculated by CT Expo software. The effective dose slightly varied among patients according to gender and age. The effective dose for female patients (5.99 mSv) was higher than that for male patients (5.84 mSv), and the pediatric dose (5.46 mSv) was lower than the adults’ dose (5.94 mSv).The dose for eye lens was found lower for male patients (89.117 mSv) than the dose for female patients (94.62) mSv). According to patients’ age: the dose received by the lens of the eye was much lower in pediatric (79.93 mSv) than the adults (92.41 mSv). The dose for thyroid in female patients (33.52 mSv) was higher than the male patients (28 mSv). The pediatric dose (28.34 mSv) was lower than the adults’ dose (30.64 mSv).Departmental imaging protocol and lack of training among hospital staff are expected to be responsible for these variations. Therefore, this study recommends that the CT technologists be trained on suitable strategies to achieve dose optimization. Moreover, patients’ doses must be monitored regularly.     

The application of the RT-PCR method for the staging of the prostate cancer progression

Molecular biology seems to bring more convincing markers for the detection of prostate cancer as well as the development of metastases than immunohistochemistry. The main goal of present work was to detect the expression of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSM) genes in the micrometastases by the RT-PCR to assess the progression of prostate cancer. We analyzed 50 patients: 28 patients with clinically localized or locally advanced prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy, 7 patients with clinically proven metastases, 8 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, and 7 healthy young men. The results of RT-PCR in the first group of 28 patients varied, however, they were in good correlation with the health status of the patients. Positive results of PSA and notably for PSM were good predictors of beginning metastasing process. Seven patients with metastatic disease had positive RT-PCR results both for PSA and PSM. All of the patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and healthy young men had negative RT-PCR results for PSA and PSM. The study showed that positive RT-PCR results for PSA and especially for PSM correlated well with the progression of the disease and negative results reflected good health status of the patients.     

Better Prognosis in Newborns with Trisomy 13 Who Received Intensive Treatments: A Retrospective Study of 16 Patients

Intensive treatment for newborns with trisomy 13 is controversial because of their lethal prognosis. We report the better life prognosis of patients with trisomy 13 who received intensive treatment. At our hospital, we provided an intensive management to such patients including resuscitation and surgical procedures as required. Herein, we present the results of a retrospective study (1989-2010) of 16 trisomy 13 cases who received an intensive treatment. None was diagnosed to have trisomy 13 before birth; 9 were delivered by C-section and oxygen was administered to all patients during postpartum resuscitation. Mechanical ventilation was used in 9 patients after tracheal intubation and tracheotomy was performed in 2 patients when withdrawing of extubation was difficult. Regarding prognosis, 9 patients died, 3 were referred to another hospital, and 4 were discharged from the hospital. Four and 7 patients died within 7 and 30 days after birth, respectively. Nine patients survived for >1 month, 7 for >180 days, and 5 for >3 years. Median survival for 16 patients was 733 days. The patients who received intensive treatments survived longer compared to the previous data. This study provides useful information concerning genetic counseling, especially from an ethical point of view, before providing intensive management to newborns with trisomy 13.     

Head injuries in three Scottish neurosurgical units. Scottish head injury management study.

The organisation of care for patients with head injuries in Scotland was investigated by studying retrospectively 785 patients admitted in 1974 and 1975 to neurosurgical units in Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee. The reasons for the injuries and the patients'' clinical conditions were similar in each unit. The referral practices at the hospitals containing the units were compared and found to be different from that of the unit in Edinburgh. It is concluded that patients in the Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee units, which operate a similar policy for head-injured patients, are in general similar. Transferring to a neurosurgical unit only selected patients rather than all patients with head injuries is safe practice only if policies are agreed with primary surgeons and patients can be transferred without delay.     

Hypophysectomy for palliation of breast cancer with especial reference to surgical technique

In a series of 19 patients who had hypophysectomy for palliation of cancer of the breast, all had striking relief of pain. Objective evidence of remission of disease was observed in ten patients. The survival time after operation averaged 19.8 months for patients who had remission and 2.1 months for patients who did not. Results were better in patients who had had cancer for a long time before operation than in those who had had the disease a relatively short time. Also it was noted that results were better in patients who had had preoperative response to endocrine therapy than in those who had not. Hence these factors may be considered in selection of patients for hypophysectomy.     

Panniculectomy in preparation for renal transplantation: a new indication for an old procedure to reduce renal transplantation-associated wound complications

End-stage renal disease patients who have lost a significant amount of weight are increasingly being evaluated for kidney transplantation. An abdominal panniculus, almost uniformly observed, creates an area predisposed to wound complications. Consequently, a panniculus may limit a patient's candidacy for transplantation. The authors describe their preliminary experience utilizing panniculectomy as a prophylactic procedure to reduce wound complications following kidney transplantation in patients whose panniculus would exclude them from renal transplantion. A single-institution chart review was conducted of nine patients with end-stage renal disease who underwent a panniculectomy in preparation for transplantation. Clinical outcomes and complications were reviewed. The nine patients included three men and six women with a mean age of 54.5 years and a mean body mass index of 28.3 kg/m. Four patients had diabetes. All patients underwent an uncomplicated panniculectomy, with a mean resected weight of 3.0 kg, and a mean length of hospital stay of 1.75 days. No one required blood transfusions. All patients were followed postoperatively for 3 months. Complications included an abscess and a skin dehiscence treated with local wound care. After recovery, patients were referred to the transplant center for re-evaluation for kidney transplantation. Thus far, four of these nine patients have undergone transplantation. This case series suggests that panniculectomy can be performed safely in patients with end-stage renal disease. Furthermore, panniculectomy gives these otherwise unsuitable kidney transplant candidates access to a life-saving operation.