One hundred plastic surgeons responded to a survey on opinions toward facial plastic surgery for individuals with Down's syndrome. Twenty-four of the surgeons had performed the surgery. Surgeons indicated appropriate circumstances for the surgery, consent requirements, degree of understanding expected of the patient, and degree of discomfort…

A study confirmed the notion that preparing a child psychologically for surgery benefits not only the child but also the entire medical process. The study also confirmed significant statistical reduction of fear resulting from the effectiveness of psychological preparation and the use of films showing the surgical procedure. (Author/LB)

A study compared time required for evaluation of 468 academic group practice outpatients by surgeon and resident with that required for 216 patients seen by the surgeon alone. On average, 24.2 minutes were added for resident examination and discussion, suggesting a time cost for both patient and surgeon. (Author/MSE)

This commentary reviews studies of children with Landau-Kleffner Syndrome (LKS) and autistic regression (AR) and concludes that they are two distinct entities with different epileptic profiles and that the treatment modalities used in LKS cannot be expected to yield a therapeutic effect in AR. Multiple Subpial Transection is discussed. (Contains…

We describe the age-specific outcomes for patients hospitalized with newly diagnosed congestive heart failure using administrative hospital abstracts from Alberta, Canada, from April 1, 1994, to March 31, 2000. Seniors (aged 65 years and older) constituted about 85 per cent of the 16,162 patients. Both co-morbidity and severity of illness tended…

Throughout history, certain members of nearly all cultures have deliberately altered their body's natural appearance. Today, people live in a time when medicine can cure the body and also reshape it. Hence, many people use biomedical means, such as steroids and hormones to alter their bodies. Additionally, cosmetic surgery is becoming increasingly…

This study aimed to evaluate a new automatic tracheostoma valve: the Provox FreeHands HME (manufactured by Atos Medical AB, Sweden). Data from four laryngectomee participants using automatic and also manual occlusion were subjected to acoustic and perceptual analysis. The main results were a significant decrease, from the manual to automatic…

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the learning outcomes expressed in the core medical curriculum at a Swedish university and how these were interpreted by, and related to, teachers' teaching goals. Additionally, we wanted to find out how these teaching goals relate to the development of expertise, a key value in…

To curb the epidemic of obesity in the United States, revised Medicare policy allows support for efficacious obesity treatments. This review summarizes the evidence from rigorous randomized trials (9 lifestyle trials, 5 drug trials, and 2 surgical trials) on the efficacy and risk-benefit profile of lifestyle, drug, and surgical interventions aimed…

Consonant production following the sensory restoration of audition was investigated in 22 prelinguistically deaf French children who received cochlear implants. Spontaneous speech productions were recorded at 6, 12, and 18 months post-surgery and consonant inventories were derived from both glossable and non-glossable phones using two acquisition…

This self-instructional model, written for registered nurses, is divided into three sections: (1) anatomy and physiology of the patient before and after laryngectomy; (2) eating and nourishment following the total laryngectomy; and (3) two options for speech following a total laryngectomy--the electrolarynx and esophageal speech. The manual…

The assumption that after the appropriate educational event, patient care audits (PCA) can demonstrate improvement in physician performance was examined in a study that reaffirmed earlier findings that the apparent improvement in doctor performance after a PCA may be improvement that was already occurring, with no greater improvement occurring…

Early clinical trials (observational or randomized) hasten the prompt evaluation of new operations. Early clinical surveillance facilitates the design and implementation of randomized clinical trials when they are necessary. Long-term surveillance of operations allows continuing evaluation when their use becomes widespread. (BB)

Until the eighteenth century, doctors were reluctant to use chemicals to alleviate pain because they accepted the religious/moral beliefs of their day, claiming that pain was beneficial for the body. Traces technical developments in the control of pain, discussing relationships of anesthesia to social, cultural, and scientific factors and…

This retrospective study examined the effectiveness of an inpatient multidisciplinary program for treatment of severe feeding refusal. Nineteen infants and toddlers recovering from medical and surgical disorders which had required non-oral feeding were studied. A modified method of rapid introduction of oral feedings resulted in conversion to…