Biomedical subjects

S P Vahl

Publications and source records attributed to S P Vahl.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1986

Designing for reduced operating costs in a maternity unit.

Operating costs of hospitals make great demands on resources. This paper describes the possibility of using the methodology of linear systems to find ways for designing for reduced operating costs in a maternity unit in England. The organizational framework of the United Kingdom National Health Service, and its capital planning processes are outlined. Capital cost control methods used in building English hospitals are explained and then the early stages of an experiment in which the step response of an injection of capital to a capital building project are described. The project itself is in a maternity unit. Maternity has been chosen because it is particularly suitable for this kind of experiment having a relatively well defined input and output, and well established indicators of clinical outcome. It is hoped that insight into the step response will shed light on new ways of designing for reduced operating costs.

Capital Expenditures↗

PubMed1979

Prospective study of ultrasonography in chronic pancreatic disease.

Grey-scale ultrasonography was used in 212 unselected patients in whom the presence or absence of pancreatic disease was subsequently confirmed by other means. Ultrasonographic criteria were established in the first 92 patients and by reference to previous experience. The remaining 120 patients were studied prospectively. The accuracy and clinical impact of the ultrasonographic diagnosis were judged alongside a standard clinical assessment. Clinical diagnoses were tentative and inaccurate. Ultrasound failed in three cases; otherwise it detected all the 33 patients with chronic pancreatic disease and correctly distinguished cancer from chronic pancreatitis. The ultrasonographic diagnosis of a normal pancreas was always correct, but four false-positive diagnoses were made in patients subsequently judged to have no pancreatic disease. Ultrasonography gave more accurate or more confident and accurate information than the clinical assessment in 57 of the 98 patients studied as problems in diagnosis. With this degree of accuracy ultrasonography should be the first imaging investigation in patients suspected of suffering from pancreatic disease. In our gastrointestinal unit the combination of grey-scale ultrasonography with techniques designed to outline the duct systems (such as endoscopic pancreatography) provides precise diagnosis and documentation of pancreatic disease.

Chronic Disease↗

PubMed1978

The role of ultrasound scanning in the diagnosis of thyroid swellings.

This study has determined the ability of grey scale ultrasound to assess if a thyroid is normal or abnormal, if the appearances of the gland are specific for one disease and if the probability of malignancy can be determined. One hundred patients were studied, 65 with histologically confirmed diagnoses. It was found that the normal gland was distinguished from the abnormal with 99 per cent accuracy, simple cysts were diagnosed with 100 per cent accuracy and a specific disease diagnosis was given with 84 per cent accuracy. It was correctly stated in 87 patients that the disease was definitely benign, but in the remaining 12 patients (3 with cancer) it was stated that malignancy could not be excluded.

Cysts↗

PubMed1974