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Familial aggregation of osteoarthritis: data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the familial aggregation of osteoarthritis (OA) in a cohort of healthy volunteers drawn from a community setting. METHODS: Hand radiographs obtained between 1978 and 1991 and bilateral standing knee radiographs obtained between 1984 and 1991 were read for changes of OA, using Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) scales. The hand sites were distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints, proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints, and first carpometacarpal (CMC1) joints. For each joint group, the presence of OA in at least 1 joint in a joint group, the number of affected digits in each joint group, and the sum of the K-L grade across all joints were analyzed. Polyarticular OA was recorded if there were OA findings in 2 of 3 hand joint groups plus 1 or both knees. Data from 167 families with hand radiographs, 157 families with knee radiographs, and 148 families with both hand and knee radiographs were analyzed for sib-sib correlations. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, sex, and body mass index, clinically relevant sib-sib common correlations were found for OA of the DIP, PIP, and CMC1 joints, for OA at 2 or 3 hand sites, and for polyarticular OA (r = 0.33-0.81) when OA was defined according to the number of affected joints or as the sum of the K-L grade across all joints. CONCLUSION: These results from a cohort of volunteers drawn from a community setting and ascertained without regard to OA status demonstrate familial aggregation of OA and contribute to the evidence for heritability of OA.

Adult↗

The Baltimore experience with laparoscopic management of acute cholecystitis.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has rapidly emerged as a popular alternative to traditional laparotomy and cholecystectomy. Acute cholecystitis has been considered to be a relative or absolute contraindication to laparoscopic surgery. After gaining extensive experience in laparoscopic biliary tract surgery, this procedure was attempted in 15 patients with acute cholecystitis. All patients were operated on within 72 hours of admission. In five patients, the laparoscopic procedure was converted to an open laparotomy; in one patient, a localized abscess was found, and in the other four patients, extensive inflammation and edema precluded a safe dissection of the vascular and ductal structures. Laparoscopic cholangiography was performed in 14 patients and proved valuable in demonstrating the ductal anatomy. Patients were discharged an average of 2.7 days after the laparoscopic procedure. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy may be safely performed by experienced surgeons in patients with acute cholecystitis. To ensure a low complication rate, a low threshold for converting the procedure to an open laparotomy must be maintained if the ductal and vascular anatomy cannot be safely demonstrated.

Acute Disease↗

On the design of the Health Sciences Library/Information Services building at the University of Maryland at Baltimore.

The architect provides his perspective on issues in designing a new library building, including: civic and urbanistic purposes of the building; the process of analysis and synthesis; and the place and meaning of 'library' today. Special attention is given to adjacencies, reader services, space devoted to the study of change, administration, and presentation and itinerary. A verbal floor-by-floor tour of the building is provided.

Architecture↗

The association between change in social network characteristics and non-fatal overdose: results from the SHIELD study in Baltimore, MD, USA.

BACKGROUND: Social network factors have been reported to be associated with non-fatal overdose. Yet, few studies have examined how changes in social network characteristics may influence overdose risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between changes in social network and non-fatal overdose. METHODS: Data for this study came from 659 participants enrolled in the Self-Help in Eliminating Life-Threatening Diseases (SHIELD) study, who reported details about their non-fatal overdose experience between enrollment and a follow-up visit. Social network characteristics were described at both time points and net change in network composition was calculated. RESULTS: The sample was predominately male (56%), African-American (96%) and unemployed (78%). Experience of non-fatal overdose between time points was reported by 15%. Older age was associated with non-fatal overdose. Interaction between incarceration status and drug use was statistically significant. Protective factors were having a denser network at baseline and a network that became denser after adjusting for gender, homelessness, incarceration, drug use and total network size. CONCLUSIONS: Drug users' social networks are an important target for overdose prevention interventions. Further research on overdose risk and movement of specific network members in and out of networks is warranted.

Adult↗

Cardiovascular features of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction versus nonfailing hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy in the urban Baltimore community: the role of atrial remodeling/dysfunction.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify cardiovascular features of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) that differ from those in individuals with hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy (HLVH) of similar age, gender, and racial background but without failure. BACKGROUND: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction often develops in HLVH patients and involves multiple abnormalities. Clarification of changes most specific to HFpEF may help elucidate underlying pathophysiology. METHODS: A cross-sectional study comparing HFpEF patients (n = 37), HLVH subjects without HF (n = 40), and normotensive control subjects without LVH (n = 56). All subjects had an EF of >50%, sinus rhythm, and insignificant valvular or active ischemic disease, and groups were matched for age, gender, and ethnicity. Comprehensive echo-Doppler and pressure analysis was performed. RESULTS: The HFpEF patients were predominantly African-American women with hypertension, LVH, and obesity. They had vascular and systolic-ventricular stiffening and abnormal diastolic function compared with the control subjects. However, most of these parameters either individually or combined were similarly abnormal in the HLVH group and poorly distinguished between these groups. The HFpEF group had quantitatively greater concentric LVH and estimated mean pulmonary artery wedge pressure (20 mm Hg vs. 16 mm Hg) and shorter isovolumic relaxation time than the HLVH group. They also had left atrial dilation/dysfunction unlike in HLVH and greater total epicardial volume. The product of LV mass index and maximal left atrial (LA) volume best identified HFpEF patients (84% sensitivity, 82% specificity). CONCLUSIONS: In an urban, principally African American, cohort, HFpEF patients share many abnormalities of systolic, diastolic, and vascular function with nonfailing HLVH subjects but display accentuated LVH and LA dilation/failure. These latter factors may help clarify pathophysiology and define an important HFpEF population for clinical trials.

Age Distribution↗

Baltimore Vision Screening Project.

PURPOSE: This study estimates the prevalence of common visual disorders (amblyopia, strabismus, refractive errors) in a group of inner-city school children. In addition, the study addresses the issue of access to care for vision-screening programs, specifically for children with recognized difficulties in obtaining routine medical care. METHODS: School children from an inner-city elementary school were enrolled into a prospective vision-screening program combining the identification arm (screening) and diagnostic/treatment arm (ophthalmic examination). The screening consisted of Snellen E optotypes presented at a 10-foot test distance. Each child failing the vision screening was examined by an ophthalmologist at the school using standard protocol. This allowed the authors to examine all children identified through the vision-screening program. RESULTS: Six-hundred eighty children were screened during the 1993 to 1994 school year. Eleven percent (76) failed the vision screening and were examined, 68 of whom failed the ophthalmic examination. The estimated prevalence of visual morbidity was as follows: amblyopia, 3.9%; strabismus, 3.1%, and refractive errors, 8.2%. CONCLUSION: Amblyopia, strasbismus, and refractive errors were found in relatively high frequencies for this population sample of inner city children. These findings underscore the necessity of comprehensive vision-screening programs that integrate follow-up care. Children with limited access to specialized eye care must be provided with a mechanism for obtaining these services.

Amblyopia↗

The clinic and elsewhere: illness, sexuality, and social experience among young African American men in Baltimore, Maryland.

This paper is concerned with how disclosure becomes self-production for young adults within the setting of the sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic. The STD clinic is a special medical environment where the process of disclosure is not just a way of accessing treatment; it is also a process through which illness, sexuality, and social experience become entangled in telling. Illness according to medical categories is reshaped in the social world, bringing a different set of criteria to bear on the definition of illness. The concern we raise regards how meaning is secured simultaneously through the experience of illness and social relations. Using data from a series of clinic-based ethnographic interviews, we examine the narratives of three young men. Together, the narratives demonstrate the interrelatedness of illness and self-production in various forms. In one case the tension between interpersonal violence and self-preservation is central. In another, the place of knowledge in family relationships renders the entire picture of the social unstable. The paper signals a number of issues absent in clinical and epidemiological depictions of vulnerability, particularly in the context of the urban United States.

Adolescent↗