Postgraduate Medical Journal articles from December 2001

Postgraduate Medical Journal archives from December 2001

Training of junior doctors: the responsibility of consultants and trainers.(Editorial)
December 1, 2001... With 31 000 doctors currently in training programmes or placements and 23 000 consultants (1) it should not be considered surprising that the vast majority of consultants working in the National Health Service (NHS) are involved in training....

Moderate alcohol consumption and coronary heart disease: a review. (Reviews).
December 1, 2001... Consumption of alcoholic beverages has been a prominent feature of many cultures since the ancient civilisations. Throughout history, the pros and cons of alcohol have been debated. Although the original debates stemmed from the public...

Progress in the understanding and treatment of chronic anal fissure.
December 1, 2001... Abstract Background--Chronic anal fissure is a common and painful condition associated with internal anal sphincter hypertonia. Reduction of this hypertonia improves the local blood supply, encouraging fissure healing. Surgical...

Hypokalaemia and hyperkalaemia.
December 1, 2001... Abstract Disturbances in potassium homoeostasis presenting as low or high serum potassium are common, especially among hospitalised patients. Given the fact that untreated hypokalaemia or hyperkalaemia is associated with high morbidity and...

A survey of the dose of ACE inhibitors prescribed by general physicians for patients with heart failure. (Original Articles).
December 1, 2001... Abstract Aim--To describe the pattern of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor doses prescribed by general physicians for patients with chronic heart failure and to review the current evidence favouring the use of higher doses. ...

Clinical presentation, natural history, and cumulative death rates of 230 adults with primary cryptococcal meningitis in Zambian AIDS patients treated under local conditions.
December 1, 2001... Abstract Setting--Inpatient medical wards, Department of Medicine, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia. Objective--To define the natural history, clinical presentation, and management outcome of microbiologically confirmed...

What is the prevalence of rheumatic disorders in general medical inpatients?
December 1, 2001... Abstract It has been suggested that rheumatological disorders are underdiagnosed in patients with medical problems and that this might be rectified by incorporating a standard brief screening examination as part of the routine assessment...

Determinants for the course of acute sinusitis in adult general practice patients.
December 1, 2001... Abstract Background--Although the prognosis of acute sinusitis is important, little is known about it and the factors predicting its course in a general practice population. Objective--To determine the course of acute sinusitis and...

Giant abdominal aortic aneurysm secondary to intimomedial mucoid degeneration. (Images in Medicine).
December 1, 2001... A 69 year old African women presented with a one year history of vague abdominal and lower back pains. Over recent months she had become more aware of a pulsatile mass in the left side of her abdomen. Apart from a history of poorly controlled...

Adult small bowel Dieulafoy lesion. (Case Report).
December 1, 2001... Abstract A 47 year old woman presented with melaena and haemodynamic instability. Preliminary investigations failed to locate the source of bleeding. At laparotomy an arteriovenous malformation was identified in the distal ileum. Histology...

Pulmonary nodules and splinter haemorrhages. (Self Assessment Questions).
December 1, 2001... A 42 year old man developed upper respiratory symptoms that were accompanied by a marked decrease in appetite, severe fatigue, and the later appearance of arthralgia of the ankles and of drenching night sweats. He was admitted in January 2000,...

An unusual cause of trash feet. (Self assessment questions).
December 1, 2001... A 65 year old man presented to the accident and emergency (A&E) department with complaint of patchy mottling of both his feet. The following day this progressed to painful blisters and then to ulcers and gangrene (see fig 1). Three weeks...

Breathlessness after percutaneous biliary drainage. (Self assessment questions).
December 1, 2001... A 77 year old woman presented with painless progressive jaundice and weight loss. She also had generalised pruritus and was passing dark urine and pale stools. On examination there was a palpable right upper quadrant abdominal mass. Plasma...

Episodic weakness in a young woman. (Self assessment questions).
December 1, 2001... A 37 year old women presented with a 10 year history of episodes of weakness and palpitations. On one or two occasions each year she was admitted to her local hospital where her serum potassium concentration was always below the reference range...

From cutaneous ulceration to chronic diarrhoea. (Self assessment questions).
December 1, 2001... A 48 year old woman presented with a 10 day history of painful red nodules over her face, trunk, and limbs which rapidly enlarged before developing central ulceration. She was otherwise well with no complaints. She had received four days of...

Multiple small opacities of metallic density in the lung. (Self assessment questions).
December 1, 2001... A 24 year old young man presented with sudden onset of chest pain, dry cough, and shortness of breath of five days' duration. He denied trauma, fever, chills, or haemoptysis. A physical examination was unremarkable. Chest auscultation revealed...

Unusual cause of an abduction deficit in a 14 year old girl. (Self assessment questions).
December 1, 2001... A 14 year old girl presented with sudden onset of diplopia and slurred speech with no fever. A week previously, she had a headache, cough, and rhinorrhoea. However her symptoms resolved a few days before admission. Eye examination confirmed an...

An unusual cause of acute bacterial meningitis. (Self assessment questions).
December 1, 2001... A 31 year old man was admitted after a 24 hour febrile illness with headache and confusion. On examination he was unwell, pyrexial at 39.4[degrees]C, tachycardic, and uncooperative. He became increasingly confused and agitated and exhibited...

Construction of London's victorian sewers: the vital role of Joseph Bazalgette. (History of Medicine).
December 1, 2001... Until the early 19th century, London's River Thames, contained relatively clean water. Some 200 years before this, Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) realised that drainage and sewage disposal would sooner or later prove a major problem in an...