RESUMEN

This study compared the sensitivity and specificity of computed tomography (CT) scan and ventilation-perfusion (V-P) scan in detecting pulmonary embolism (PE) with pulmonary angiogram (AG) as the reference standard. Following a comprehensive search of the indexed medical literature, CT scan studies related to PE diagnosis were systematically evaluated to select those using AG as the reference standard and meeting specified methodologic criteria. Studies were further grouped by those reporting results for central PE findings only versus central and peripheral PE combined. A composite analysis of data derived from seven selected publications yielded sensitivity and specificity estimates for CT scan in detecting PE, which were statistically compared to the published results of a multi-center study reporting the sensitivity and specificity of the V-P scan with pulmonary AG as the reference standard. The calculated CT scan sensitivity was 77% for central PE only data and 81% for central and peripheral PE combined data, and the CT scan specificity was 91% and 98%, respectively. High-probability V-P scan sensitivity was 41% and specificity 97%; high- and intermediate-probability V-P scans combined yielded sensitivity 83% and specificity 52%. The sensitivity for PE detection was significantly greater for CT scan than for high-probability V-P scan; CT scan sensitivity was equivalent to V-P when high- and intermediate-probability scans were considered together. CT scan specificity for central and peripheral PE combined was equivalent to that of the high-probability V-P scan, but significantly greater than that of high- and intermediate-probability V-P scans considered together. Considering that only a small proportion of patients with suspected PE yield high-probability V-P scan results (which are usually indicative of PE), while as many as one-half of patients may yield intermediate-probability results (which are commonly not useful in PE diagnosis), our results suggest the CT scan may be an appropriate study for use by Emergency Physicians in the clinical evaluation of suspected PE.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

This study represents the second phase in a longitudinal study of the development of caring ability in registered nurses. A nationwide sample of female graduates of US baccalaureate nursing programs was resurveyed 3 years after the phase-one survey taken during nursing school. The purpose of the study was to continue an evaluation of several variables contributing to the development of professional caring ability. Previously validated instruments were used to measure caring ability (Caring Ability Inventory), maternal and paternal care (Parental Bonding Instrument), and the caring climate of the respective nursing schools (Charles F. Kettering Ltd. School Climate Profile). Although parental bonding scores remained unchanged from the initial survey, caring ability scores significantly increased after entry into practice (paired student's t test, P < .001). The strongest predictor of postgraduate caring ability was student caring ability scores (r = .58, P < .001). When student caring ability scores were excluded as a potential predictor during stepwise multiple regression analysis, school climate scores were the strongest predictor of postgraduate caring ability (r = .17, P < .05). This suggests that development of professional caring ability is related to caring school environments. Furthermore, caring ability as a student predicts further development of caring ability after entry into practice.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Axillary dissection remains a standard component of the treatment of invasive carcinoma of the breast. The presence of metastases to the regional lymph nodes guides adjuvant therapy and aids in determining prognosis. Mammography results in the discovery of small and often node-negative carcinomas of the breast. STUDY DESIGN: This 15-year, retrospective analysis investigated whether certain patients with small tumors could be spared the morbidity of axillary dissection. RESULTS: Medical records showed that from January 1980 to May 1995, 4,543 needle localization biopsies were done at York Hospital because of abnormalities detected on mammograms. Of these, 703 (15.5 percent) proved to be carcinoma. Of the carcinomas, 68 percent were infiltrating ductal carcinoma, 26 percent were ductal carcinoma in situ, and 5.4 percent were infiltrating lobular carcinoma. Axillary dissection was done on 588 patients, and 88.1 percent of the patients had no metastases to axillary lymph nodes. No axillary metastases were present in 109 patients with ductal carcinoma in situ who underwent axillary lymph node dissection or in 21 patients with microscopic invasive tumors. Only two of 54 patients with a T1a tumor (tumor [T], < or = 0.5 cm) had positive axillary nodes. Only one of 29 patients with a well-differentiated T1b tumor (T, > 0.5 to < or = 1 cm) had metastatic axillary nodes. In the presence of negative axillary lymph nodes, 19.2 percent of patients with a T1a tumor, 33.7 percent of patients with a T1b tumor, 60 percent of patients with a T1c tumor (T, > 1 to < or = 2 cm), and 78.9 percent of patients with a T2 tumor (T, > 2 cm) were given adjuvant chemotherapy or hormonal therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ductal carcinoma in situ and microscopic invasive tumors do not require node dissections. Possibly patients with T1a tumors and patients with well-differentiated, estrogen-receptor positive, progesterone-receptor positive, T1b tumors can also be spared axillary node dissection. By following this approach on occasion, patients with positive nodes might not undergo axillary lymph node dissection, but they may still be offered adjuvant therapy.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To determine (1) reliability and validity estimates of three modalities used to assess open thoracotomy procedural competency and (2) the effect of computer practice on procedural performance as measured by the three assessment modalities. METHODS: An experimental, sequential assessment design with volunteer examinees completing all three assessment modalities (paper, computer, pig model) was implemented at the animal support facilities of a university medical school with an affiliated emergency medicine residency program. Level of physician training (student, resident, faculty) and type of computer practice (thoracotomy, cricothyrotomy) were independent variables. Procedural competency scores were determined for each modality; scores were defined in terms of performance time and performance accuracy for three thoracotomy procedures (opening the chest, pericardiotomy, and aortic cross-clamping). RESULTS: Thoracotomy performance on the pig reliably discriminated among examinees known to differ in level of training. However, computer simulation performance did not significantly differ among examinees with different levels of training. Computer simulation practice significantly improved later performance on the computer assessment (P < .05) but not on the pig assessment. The greatest predictor of procedural competency (time and accuracy) on the pig assessment was the ability to sequentially order procedural steps. CONCLUSION: This study establishes the pig model as superior to the paper and computer models as the criterion standard for open thoracotomy assessment. Psychometric properties support the pig model as the most reliable and valid model yet described for assessing thoracotomy procedural competency. Computer simulation practice using visual images (complex anatomy) and the sequential ordering of procedural steps through paper modeling show promise for teaching and assessment of prerequisite skills required to develop psychomotor procedural competency.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

To document the incidence of low-level bacteremia in the patient population of this study, two blood culture sets were collected from symptomatic patients weighing more than 80 pounds. Each blood culture set consisted of a lysis-centrifugation tube and three bottles containing different culture broths, each inoculated with 10 mL blood. Pathogens from 63 (26.4%) and 48 (20.1%) of the 239 culture-positive patients were recovered from only one and two of the eight culture devices, respectively, representing low-level bacteremia. Isolates from another 60 (25.1%) of the 239 patients were recovered from all eight of the culture devices, representing high-level bacteremia. Whether patients had low-level or high-level bacteremia, there were mostly insignificant differences in the types of species recovered, in the percentages of patients for whom therapy was initiated or changed following the laboratory's reports, and in the clinical signs, symptoms, and characteristics of the patients. Clinically documented, low-level bacteremia is relatively common in this community hospital's patient population. Culturing of up to 80 mL of blood was required for detection of all pathogens from patients weighing more than 80 pounds.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Duplicate endocervical swabs were collected for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis by PCR (Roche Diagnostics). One swab was swirled in Specimen Transport Medium (Roche) for PCR testing and discarded. A saline aliquot from the other specimen, sent as a dry swab to the laboratory, was Papanicolaou stained to determine specimen adequacy, and the remainder was PCR tested. Significantly more (24%) PCR-positive results (118 versus 95; P < 0.001) were obtained with the dry specimens than with the swirled specimens when first tested. In addition, PCR-positive results were obtained with 107 (10.6%) of 1,007 microscopically adequate specimens but with only 3 (0.9%) of 341 inadequate specimens (P < 0.001).

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

The recovery of pathogens and the speed of their detection were determined for our conventional blood culture system (an Isolator [Wampole] and a 100-ml Thiol bottle [Difco]) compared with automated ESP aerobic and anaerobic bottles (80 ml each; Difco). Each of the four culture devices was inoculated with approximately 10 ml of blood from symptomatic patients weighing more than 80 lb (ca. 36 kg). From 7,070 sets of cultures for 2,841 patients, 607 clinically significant isolates were recovered: 456 (75.1%) from the Isolator, 353 (58.2%) from Thiol, 377 (62.1%) from ESP aerobic bottles, and 346 (57.0%) from ESP anaerobic bottles. Of the 607 isolates, 149 (24.5%) were detected only with the conventional system (Isolator and/or Thiol), and 65 (10.7%) were detected only with the ESP two-bottle system (P < 0.001). Our conventional system allowed for detection of significantly more isolates of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae (P < 0.001), Staphylococcus aureus (P < 0.01), Staphylococcus spp. (coagulase-negative) (P < 0.01), and Enterococcus spp. (P < 0.05), and ESP facilitated detection of significantly more isolates of S. pneumoniae (P < 0.01). When all four devices in a culture set were positive for the same isolate, no microbial species or group was detected significantly earlier ( > or = 24 h) by either blood culture system. The Isolator contamination rate (4.8%) was > or = 6 times the rate for any of the bottles. Of pathogens detected by the Isolator, 50% were recovered in counts of < or = 1.0 CFU/ml and 18% were recovered only as a single colony. The ESP system offered an automated, less labor-intensive blood culture system for which routine subcultures were not required, but the important considerations of culturing large volumes of blood and of obtaining at least two sets from each patient in our population were reemphasized.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

OBJECTIVE: In clinical practice, thoracotomy and other critical emergency procedures are rarely required. Consequently, medical students and residents have difficulty acquiring procedural competency in these critical procedures. The authors developed objective written, computer, and animal-model assessments of thoracotomy procedural competency to permit comparison of the reliability and validity of these three procedural assessment modalities. METHODS: Thoracotomy procedural competency was evaluated for 18 persons at three levels of training (medical student, resident, faculty), using written, computer, and animal-model assessments. A prospective, sequential assessment design was used, with the examinees serving as their own controls. Procedural competency was defined in terms of performance time (animal time scale) and performance accuracy (written accuracy, computer accuracy, and animal accuracy scales) for three thoracotomy procedures (opening the chest, pericardiotomy, and aortic cross-clamping). Level of training was the independent variable, and procedural competency scores were the outcome measures. Confounding variables included previous thoracotomy and computer experience. RESULTS: Computer and animal-model assessments produced reliable results (Chronbach's alpha > 0.50). The animal time scale and computer accuracy scale best reflected the expected skill differences among levels of physician training, providing support for construct validity. In contrast, written and animal accuracy scale scores did not significantly differ by level of physician training. Moreover, previous thoracotomy experience (i.e., number of procedures previously performed) was not a significant predictor of procedural competency. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that critical emergency medicine procedures can be evaluated reliably and validly using computer simulation and animal-model assessments. Neither previous thoracotomy experience nor knowledge of procedure content adequately predicts thoracotomy competency.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Our purpose was to study the individual fetal growth patterns of infants who were born small-for-menstrual-age. Growth in the second and third trimester was assessed in 98 small-for-menstrual-age infants, using individual fetal growth curves generated by the growth model: P = c(t)k+s(t). Growth indices were compared with those previously reported for that method in infants with normal growth. The small-for-menstrual-age infants were distributed into four growth patterns, ie, infants with either normal or decreased second-trimester growth indices, who, by the time of birth, succeed or fail in fulfilling their individual growth potential. These four growth patterns appear to be associated with different pathophysiological mechanisms and incidences of perinatal complications. Individual fetal growth assessment identifies differences in genetically determined growth and differentiates between fetuses who achieve their growth potential and those with growth failure who are at greater risk for fetal compromise.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

In 1975 the National Board for Respiratory Therapy (currently the National Board for Respiratory Care) was named as a defendant in a class action suit field on behalf of three individuals seeking relief for alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the Sherman Antitrust Act. Although a pretrial settlement was reached, the conduct of this case demonstrates the potential vulnerability of credentialing examinations to complaints regarding discrimination and the necessity for credentialing organizations to be socially responsible for the potential use of test results by employers. The board has since instituted a systematic five-step research and development process that is used for all of its examinations to ensure and document that they are fair, valid, and defensible. This article recounts the salient aspects of the class action suit, discusses implications and current applicable technical standards and legal guidelines, and describes the components of the "Five Step Examination Development Process."

Asunto(s)