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Biomedical subjects

D Hindley

Publications and source records attributed to D Hindley.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Diagnoses made in a secondary care "fits, faints, and funny turns" clinic.

AIMS: To investigate the diagnoses made for children referred to a "fits, faints, and funny turns" clinic. METHODS: Prospective study of 380 children referred to a dedicated secondary care clinic over an eight year period. RESULTS: Twenty three per cent of children were given a final diagnosis of one of the childhood epilepsies, with 48% of these having a specific epilepsy syndrome. Syncope was the commonest cause of a non-epileptic event (syncope and reflex anoxic seizures comprised 100/238, 42%) but there were a wide variety of other causes. Fifty three events (14%) were unclassified and managed without a diagnostic label or treatment. CONCLUSIONS: In children with funny turns referred to secondary care, the diagnostic possibilities are numerous; among non-epileptic events, syncopes predominate. The majority do not have epilepsy. Unclassifiable events with no clear epileptic or non-epileptic cause are common and can be safely managed expectantly.

Adolescent↗

A randomised study of "wet wraps" versus conventional treatment for atopic eczema.

AIMS: To compare two treatments in common usage for children with atopic eczema: "wet wrap" bandages versus conventional topically applied ointments. METHODS: A total of 50 children (age 4-27 months) with moderate to severe eczema were randomised to one or other treatment. Two research nurses supervised the study. The first gave advice and support, and the second, blinded to the treatment modality being used, scored the change in eczema severity over a period of four weeks using the SCORAD eczema severity scale. RESULTS: Both treatments gave a benefit in overall SCORAD scores (mean change for wet wrap group was 53 to 24; for the conventional group, 41 to 17). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of overall improvement at four weeks or in the timescale of improvements. The amount of topical of topical steroid used was similar in both groups. The wet wrap group suffered significantly more skin infections requiring antibiotics. Carers reported that wet wraps were less easy to apply than conventional treatment.

Administration, Cutaneous↗

Diagnosis of Down's syndrome in neonates.

The results of karyotyping for Down's syndrome in neonates were surveyed. From local data 36%, and from a national questionnaire, 32% of such samples were negative for Down's syndrome. To examine this, a subset of notes was reviewed for documentation of clinical signs of Down's syndrome. Some characteristics were often recorded, but other common discriminatory characteristics were noted less often or not at all.

Down Syndrome↗

Prophylactic oral acyclovir in recurrent genital herpes.

56 patients with frequently recurring genital herpes were treated in a randomised double-blind trial with either oral acyclovir 200 mg four times a day or placebo for 12 weeks. 29 patients received the drug and 27 the placebo. The mean recurrence rate per month of treatment was 1.4 in the placebo-treated patients and 0.05 in the acyclovir group. Median time to the first recurrence after the start of therapy was 14 days in the placebo group compared with 100 days in the acyclovir group. After the end of treatment the recurrence rate was similar in the two groups. Prophylactic oral acyclovir seems to be an effective treatment for patients with frequently recurring genital herpes.

Acyclovir↗