Postgraduate Medical Journal articles from October 2003

Postgraduate Medical Journal archives from October 2003

Healthcare development in the former Soviet Union: lessons to learn in both directions.(Healthcare Development)
October 1, 2003... A journey on the Moscow Metro is a rich and mixed experience. The trains are efficient, and many of the stations provide staggering examples celebrating Russian design and architecture across the centuries. At Ploschad Revolyutsil station,...

Future of primary healthcare education: current problems and potential solutions.
October 1, 2003... This review examines the origins of primary care and the pressures currently faced in terms of patient expectation, regulation, accountability, and work force shortages. It recognises the appropriateness of adding to the burden in primary care...

Neuropsychiatric non-motor aspects of Parkinson's disease.
October 1, 2003... Parkinson's disease is often recognised as a motor disease characterised by rest tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural disturbances. However, there are several non-motor aspects of the disease that are of at least equal importance in the...

Terminal care in paediatrics: where we are now.
October 1, 2003... As in adults, palliative care in children is a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach to care that seeks to enhance the life of children and families living with life limiting conditions. It involves a holistic approach embracing symptom...

Serous effusions: diagnosis of malignancy beyond cytomorphology. An analytic review.
October 1, 2003... In this brief review, the role of various ancillary techniques to detect malignancy in effusion fluid are evaluated and discussed. The data were collected from a large number of research articles published in various medical journals. The role...

Prostate cancer management: (1) an update on localised disease.(Best Practice)
October 1, 2003... Prostate cancer is receiving ever more publicity with the result that more men are having their prostate specific antigen checked and a greater proportion of men are diagnosed with potentially curable localised disease. Advances in the...

Performance of clinical referral criteria for bone densitometry in patients under 65 years of age assessed by spine bone mineral density.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Background: A case finding strategy based on a number of established risk factors has been suggested by Royal College of Physicians' (RCP) guidelines to optimise bone densitometry referrals for assessment of osteoporosis. Objective: The...

Inpatient management of diabetes: survey in a tertiary care centre.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aims: Good glycaemic control in hospitalised patients with diabetes mellitus improves wellbeing and aids recovery. This survey aimed to: (1) assess glycaemic control in patients with diabetes admitted to hospital for reasons other than...

Examination of the hands: an insight into the health of a Welsh population.(Short Report)
October 1, 2003... When asked to examine a patient in a clinical examination, undergraduates and postgraduates characteristically begin with a painstaking observation of the hands. It was of concern that this is done mainly for the benefit of the examiners and...

Role of frozen section histology in diagnosis of infection during revision arthroplasty.(Audit)
October 1, 2003... The accurate diagnosis of deep infection in total joint arthroplasty is difficult. No single test on its own is entirely reliable. Frozen section histology has been used for the last two decades as an adjunct to diagnose infection with variable...

"Osler's phenomenon": misdiagnosing Cushing's syndrome.(Case Reports)
October 1, 2003... The clinical manifestations of Cushing's syndrome can be quite variable and are frequently mistaken, with consequent dalayed diagnosis and significant morbidity and mortality. Harvey Cushing described the typical signs and symptoms of Cushing's...

Multiple brain abscesses in a patient with bilateral pulmonary arteriovenous malformations and immunoglobulin deficiency.(Case Report)
October 1, 2003... A 34 year old Chinese man presented with grand mal seizures complicating multiple brain abscesses caused by mixed oral flora. Because of persistent hypoxaemia contrast spiral thoracic computed tomography was done, which revealed bilateral...

Hereditary hyperferritinaemia-cataract syndrome and differential diagnosis of hereditary haemochromatosis.(Case Report)
October 1, 2003... Hereditary hyperferritinaemia-cataract syndrome (HHCS) is a rare differential diagnosis of hereditary haemochromatosis. It should be suspected in patients with raised ferritin levels, but no evidence of iron overload, and in the absence of...

Systemic absorption of FD&C blue dye associated with patient mortality.(Case Report)
October 1, 2003... Postgrad Med J 2003;79:602-603 The addition of FD&C blue dye to enteral feeds is a common practice in hospitals to detect aspiration. However, the degree of systemic absorption and safety of this dye in critically ill patients has not been...

Present treatment options for atrial fibrillation.(Letters)
October 1, 2003... I read with interest the recent article by Lairikyengbam et al. (1) The AFFIRM, (2) RACE, (3) and most recently the STAF pilot (4) study have now all been published. These three studies in addition to the previously published PIAF (5) study...

Perichondritis after elective surgery.(Letters)
October 1, 2003... I read with interest the description of perichondritis after ear piercing by Yahalom and Eliashar. (1) As well as the increasing incidence of perichondritis after piercing of auricular cartilage, it can also be a problem after elective surgery....