The CT appearance of bronchogenic cysts is well known. In addition, CT is useful in evaluating cases of suspected superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome. Although most cases of SVC syndrome are caused by malignant diseases, certain benign disorders such as granulomatous infections may be the underlying cause. A case of a bronchogenic cyst causing SVC occlusion is presented here.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Response to patients' death and bereavement in dental practice.

Coping with patient deaths and family bereavement has received minimal attention in dental education and literature. This study was conducted to determine how frequently dentists experience patient deaths, how they cope with the knowledge of a patient's death, and if they demonstrate need for emphasis in the dental curricula in the areas of death and bereavement. A survey adapted from Chiodo and Tolle (1988) was sent to all 2091 dentists in the State of Kentucky. The response rate was 47.68% (997 returned surveys). Findings include: (1) General dentists (GDs) have a significantly higher number of patients who die each year than do specialists (S) (GD = 7, S = 1.5); (2) coping behaviors range from sending sympathy cards (63%) to attending the funeral (23%); (3) patient deaths cause stress, most stress occurring when patients die unexpectedly; (4) the greatest stress was encountered when talking with the patient's family; and (5) most dentists (58%) believed that bereavement education should occur in dental school. In conclusion, this research adds to the limited literature on appropriate coping behaviors by dentists when patients die and suggests that death and bereavement education should occur in the dental school setting to prepare practicing dentists for coping with patient loss due to death, and to provide family bereavement support mechanisms.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnosis by the bit: a method for evaluating the diagnostic process.

The extent to which a diagnostic observation or test contributes to a diagnosis is usually represented by a conditional, or Bayesian, probability. According to information theory, the contribution of a diagnostic observation can also be measured in bits of information. This offers a representation of the Bayes rule which may be useful in comparing and evaluating diagnostic sequences, since the diagnostic contributions of the various tests, expressed as bits of information, are additive, providing a simple and graphic representation of the diagnostic process.

Bayes Theorem↗

PubMedDate not supplied

On the clinical significance of the S-phase fractions of tumors.

The S-phase fraction of a tumor cell population is often viewed as a general indicator of the clinical aggressiveness of that tumor. Actually, the S-phase fraction of a cancer should be interpreted as no more than an indicator of the mean duration of its mitotic cycle. The S-phase fraction of a solid tumor is difficult to measure accurately, but in principle it is a powerful predictor of the duration of the recurrence-free interval. However, since the duration of the mitotic cycle does not correlate with malignancy, the S-phase fraction cannot be used to diagnose malignancy. It is of little value in making therapeutic decisions because the duration of the mitotic cycle is not a predictor of invasion and metastasis.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Predictive value and informational value of diagnostic test results.

If clinical quality assurance and cost-effectiveness of diagnostic testing are to be measured, some sort of measurement of the clinical value of a test result is needed. The predictive value of a test result is not a real measure of its clinical value, and, particularly, when used in the later stages of a diagnostic workup, it can be misleading. Using the same data that go into a calculation of predictive value, the clinical value can be determined according to the amount of useful information that is provided by a test result. Cost-effectiveness can be expressed as dollars per bit of diagnostic information.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗