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M C Davis

Publications and source records attributed to M C Davis.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Quantitative sacroiliac scintigraphy. The effect of method of selection of region of interest.

Various authors have advocated quantitative methods of evaluating bone scintigrams to detect sacroiliitis, while others have not found them useful. Many explanations for this disagreement have been offered, including differences in the method of case selection, ethnicity, gender, and previous drug therapy. It would appear that one of the most important impediments to consistent results is the variability of selecting sacroiliac joint and reference regions of interest (ROIs). The effect of ROI selection would seem particularly important because of the normal variability of radioactivity within the reference regions that have been used (sacrum, spine, iliac wing) and the inhomogeneity of activity in the SI joints. We have investigated the effect of ROI selection, using five different methods representative of, though not necessarily identical to, those found in the literature. Each method produced unique mean indices that were different for patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and controls. The method of Ayres (19) proved superior (largest mean difference, smallest variance), but none worked well as a diagnostic tool because of substantial overlap of the distributions of indices of patient and control groups. We conclude that ROI selection is important in determining results, and quantitative scintigraphic methods in general are not effective tools for diagnosing AS. Among the possible factors limiting success, difficulty in selecting a stable reference area seems of particular importance.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Ultrasonic evaluation of radiation therapy ports.

Radiation therapy is useful in the palliative treatment of large, unresectable abdominal and pelvic malignancies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of B mode ultrasound scanning as an adjunct in radiation treatment planning of these patients. Fifty-one patients with large abdominal or pelvic masses had radiation therapy ports established using findings from surgery, radiographs, and physical examination. All the patients then had B mode ultrasound examinations. The position of the therapy ports was marked on the echogram. Thirty-one of the 51 patients studied (61%) had evidence of extension of tumor beyond the therapy ports. This was often due to "iceberging", i.e. when the deep portion of the tumor was considerably larger than the palpable margins of the superficial portion. B mode ultrasound scanning is a valuable adjunct in planning palliative radiation therapy of patients with large, unresectable, abdominal and pelvic malignancies.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The rehabilitation nurse's role in spiritual care.

For the ill or disabled patient, spiritual distress can prove to be a major nursing care problem that interferes with positive patient outcomes. This article explores major factors involved in spiritual distress and illustrates them through case studies and selected interventions. Nurses should be aware of the possibility that unidentified spiritual distress often is the culprit in an unsuccessful plan of care.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hostile attitudes predict elevated vascular resistance during interpersonal stress in men and women.

OBJECTIVE: Existing research indicates that hostility is associated with enhanced blood pressure responses during social stress, but little is known about the hemodynamic patterns underlying these blood pressure increases, particularly in women. The present study examined hemodynamic responses to a low-anger interpersonal stressor, testing the hypotheses that hostile individuals show enhanced vascular responses and that low hostile individuals show enhanced myocardial responses. METHODS: Eighty undergraduate men and women were categorized as high or low in hostility on the basis of median splits of Cook-Medley Hostility Scale scores. Participants discussed a controversial topic with a confederate who disagreed with them, and hemodynamic responses were assessed with impedance cardiography. RESULTS: High hostile individuals exhibited greater increases in diastolic blood pressure and total peripheral resistance and smaller increases in cardiac output during an interpersonal stressor than did low hostile individuals. Systolic blood pressure and heart rate increases were greater among high hostile relative to low hostile females and comparable among low and high hostile males. Affective responses and task perceptions were generally similar for high and low hostile participants, but the relationship between task perception and hemodynamic responses varied on the basis of hostility level. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that hostility in both men and women is associated with heightened vascular and dampened cardiac responsivity to interpersonal stress that is not deliberately anger provoking. Moreover, they indicate that the associations between task perception and hemodynamic responses vary between high and low hostile individuals.

Adult↗