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PubMed1999

The winter bed crisis--quantifying seasonal effects on hospital bed usage.

Winter bed crises are a common feature in NHS hospitals, and have given rise to great concern. We set out to determine the relative contribution of seasonal effects and other factors to bed occupancy in a large teaching hospital over one year. There were 190,804 occupied bed-days, which we analysed by specialty groupings. There was considerable variability in bed occupancy in each specialty. A significant winter peak occurred for general medicine and orthopaedics together with a significant increase on 'take-in' days. Virtually all specialties showed a significant variation in occupancy between weekdays. Geriatric Medicine had a high and fairly constant occupancy, with some seasonal effect. We conclude that seasonal trends in bed occupancy occur in 'front door' specialties and are predictable. In these specialties, admission policies also make a contribution to bed usage and are amenable to modification. There is no surge in occupancy in the immediate post-Christmas period, except that attributable to the seasonal trend. In the 'elective' specialties, bed occupancy fluctuates widely, with reduced occupancy at weekends and at Christmas. These differences are entirely amenable to modification. More effective bed management would make a very significant contribution to avoiding winter bed crises.

Bed Occupancy↗
PubMed1979

Complicated intestinal atresias.

In this group of 45 intestinal atresia patients (duodenum, 16; jejunum, 24; ileum five) at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, individual hospitalizations ranged up to 245 days. Twelve patients required multiple operations, and the overall mortality rate was 22% (ten patients). While the patients with duodenal atresia had the greatest incidence of other congenital anomalies, including Down's syndrome, the patients with jejunal atresia presented with the most challenging surgical problems. Of the 24 jejunal atresia patients, only three had a single, simple area of obstruction. The remainder were complicated by other gastrointestinal lesions (five patients), by multiple areas of atresia (seven patients) including those in one surviving patient with 22 separate atretic segments, and by the Christmas tree deformity (nine patients). Intraoperative management of the complicated atresia should include: 1) grouping of multiple atresias during resection, 2) adequate resection of the dilated proximal atonic loop, 3) end-to-end anastomoses, 4) avoidance of intraluminal catheters, 5) additional resection of a segment of the distal loop in the Christmas tree deformity and 6) consideration of the shish kebab technique for multiple atretic webs. Postoperative management should involve early intravenous nutrition and repeated exploration for continued obstruction.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed2001

Influenza diagnosis and treatment: a view from clinical practice.

Influenza is a descriptive term for respiratory epidemic disease presenting with cough and fever. Influenza viruses are probably the most important of the pathogens that cause this condition. Clinical influenza occurs almost every winter in England and Wales and the outbreaks last 8-10 weeks. In recent years, influenza B virus outbreaks have occurred in January and February, whereas influenza H3N2 virus outbreaks have generally started long before Christmas. Influenza H3N2 virus outbreaks pressurize health service resources in winter more than influenza B viruses, that do not have the same impact in elderly people. Infections with influenza H1N1 viruses are also usually less severe in their impact than those with influenza H3N2 viruses, but, unlike influenza B viruses, influenza H1N1 viruses have a pandemic potential along with influenza H3N2 viruses. A diagnosis of respiratory infection in primary care is based on the presenting symptoms set within the context of the current pattern of consultations of patients with similar illness. Measurement of temperature, inspection of the throat and examination of the chest or ears add a little to the diagnostic process, but in general these procedures do not help in identifying the organism. However, if it is known that influenza viruses are circulating in the community, the probability of influenza as the cause is greatly increased, as was shown in clinical trials of neuraminidase antivirals. Maximum confusion occurs when respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza cocirculate. Although RSV infection can occur throughout the winter in young children, it assumes more of an epidemic character just before Christmas in children and possibly in adults just after. During seven of the last 20 winters, influenza has been prevalent around Christmas/New Year. In routine virological surveillance of influenza-like illness in the community during the winters of 1997, 1998 and 1999, ca. 30% of swab specimens yielded influenza viruses and 20% RSV. Given the limitations for routine surveillance, including variations in the interval between illness onset and specimen capture, the quality of swab, delays in transport, the growth properties of virus culture methods, etc., these figures probably underestimate the impact of both viruses in the community. The impact of influenza is considered against the background of total respiratory infections presenting to general practitioners over the last 10 years and some comparisons are made with the 1969 pandemic experience. Lessons relevant to pandemic planning are drawn. Current options for investigation and treatment are compared with those available in 1969. These include near-patient tests for assisting with diagnosis, widespread use of vaccination as a preventive in patients at increased risk, the availability of amantadine and the newer neuraminidase inhibitor antivirals and changes in the delivery of health care. Major advances in the understanding of influenza and improvements in investigation and treatment have taken place over the last 30 years. However, there are many obstacles before these can be translated into effective management of influenza sufferers and control of major epidemics.

Antiviral Agents↗
PubMed1989

Attributional style and depressive mood reactions.

According to the reformulated learned helplessness model of depression, individuals who characteristically attribute negative events to internal-stable-global causes become depressed when confronted with negative life events. This proposition was tested in a field and a laboratory study in settings with an interpersonal, socially relevant character. In the field study, the attributional style of 86 female college students was investigated before Christmas, and their mood was recorded both before and after Christmas. The laboratory study recorded the mood of 46 female students before and after either success or failure. In both studies changes in depressive mood were predicted by the Attribution X Outcome interaction. The direction and form of the interaction were in line with the diathesis-stress model. In the field study, but not the laboratory study, outcome was a significant predictor of changes in depressive mood.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Haemorrhagic problems in obstetrics and gynaecology in patients with congenital coagulopathies.

OBJECTIVE: To review the obstetric and gynaecological problems in women with congenital coagulopathies. DESIGN: Retrospective review. SETTING: Regional Adult Haemophilia Unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary. SUBJECTS: All women in contact with the Unit over a period of 30 years, comprising eight with von Willebrand's disease, 18 obligate carriers of haemophilia A and five obligate carriers of Christmas disease. Each woman was interviewed and details of their obstetric and gynaecological histories were obtained and their case records were reviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Haemostatic changes associated with pregnancy and gynaecological problems. RESULTS: In 14 pregnancies in seven patients with von Willebrand's disease, there were four primary and four secondary post-partum haemorrhages and a large perineal haematoma complicating an episiotomy. These problems arose despite the endogenous rise in factor VIIIc seen with pregnancy. All women seen with von Willebrand's disease complained of menorrhagia and had been referred to gynaecologists. Treatment included danazol, tranexamic acid and the contraceptive pill. Diagnostic curettage resulted in severe haemorrhage in one woman and two women with pelvic pain and dyspareunia were found to have spontaneous broad ligament haematomas, one requiring surgery. In 43 pregnancies in obligate carriers of haemophilia A and Christmas disease there were five post-partum haemorrhages and a large perineal haematoma. CONCLUSION: In von Willebrand's disease it should be noted that adequate laboratory correction of factor VIIIc levels does not ensure clinical haemostasis; hence platelet function should also be measured. Patients with congenital coagulopathies pose particular problems for the obstetrician and gynaecologist and should be managed in close association with the local haemophilia centre.

Blood Coagulation Disorders↗
PubMed2002

Seasonality of coronary artery deaths in New South Wales, Australia.

BACKGROUND: Complex temporal variations in coronary deaths, including diurnal, weekly, and seasonal trends, have been reported worldwide. OBJECTIVE: To describe the magnitude of seasonal changes in coronary artery deaths in New South Wales, Australia. DESIGN: Hospital morbidity data, mortality statistics, and meteorological data were modelled using time series techniques to determine seasonality of coronary deaths. Data were also analysed to determine whether there was an increase in deaths before or after the Christmas and New Year holidays. RESULTS: A clear seasonality of coronary deaths was shown, with a peak in July. A mean of 2.8 excess coronary deaths per 100 deaths was estimated to occur from June to August each year, with a mean annual excess of 224 winter deaths a year. Mortality data did not show an increase in coronary death ratios before (p = 0.626) or after (p = 0.813) the Christmas and New Year holidays in December. CONCLUSIONS: There is a higher incidence of coronary deaths in winter, which may reflect winter respiratory infections, the direct effect of cold, seasonal changes in lipid concentration, and other factors associated with winter. Hospitals should have contingency plans during the winter months to manage larger numbers of cardiac admissions.

Coronary Artery Disease↗
PubMed1960

The possible relationship between the antiheparin activity of serum and thrombosis.

Stored serum reduces the anticoagulant effect of heparin on the clotting times of normal plasma. This is also well marked with sera from patients with Christmas (factor IX) deficiency, with factor VII-deficient sera, and in sera derived from patients treated with phenindione with a gross defect in thromboplastin generation. The possible relationship between antiheparin activity of serum and heparin resistance in recent thrombosis is discussed. The antiheparin agent resembles factor VII and Christmas factor in being present in excess in serum, adsorbed and subsequently eluted from alumina. Unlike these, however, it does not appear to be appreciably reduced by phenindione treatment. It appears to have some properties in common with those described for the thrombotic agent of serum described by Wessler and his colleagues. It may play a part in the increased coagulability associated with thrombosis from the release of serum products into the circulation, although its relationship to the production of thrombosis in man remains to be established.

Blood Coagulation↗
PubMed1993

Seasonal variation in survey and sales estimates of alcohol consumption.

Time variation of drinking is substantial and has an effect on aggregate estimates of consumption. In this article it is shown that because of a considerable seasonal variation in consumption (+/- 20%) a serious bias in annual consumption estimates can be expected in surveys with a limited time frame. The present study analyzes drinking data collected in the general population of the Netherlands from March 1985 through December 1985 (including Christmas and New Year's Eve). Since it was expected that sensitivity to temporal fluctuations might not be equal for different methods of measurement, several indices of consumption were compared. Although the assessed seasonal effect varies indeed across types of measurement, across male and female subsample and across types of alcoholic beverage, the general tendency is for consumption to be highest in the spring season and lowest in the autumn. Sales figures fluctuate accordingly. It is evident that the risk of biased estimates is larger the shorter the time frame of the survey. Seasonal variation was highest in the frequency domain. Furthermore, exclusion from the time frame of collective holidays, during which people drink more often and more per occasion (viz., Christmas), increases the risk of biased estimates. Even estimates of abstention, but also regular heavy drinking among women, appear to vary considerably over the three seasons in this study. The main conclusion is that results of comparisons of survey data on drinking, particularly those over time, are more or less invalid if the respective time frames of the surveys do not correspond.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Factors affecting the decision to place a relative with dementia into residential care.

AIM: To find out the reasons why carers might decide that they could not continue caring for a relative with dementia at home. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews with carers of relatives who have dementia, before placing their relative into residential care and then again four months after that placement. n = 4. RESULTS: Wandering, aggression, incontinence and physical dependency in people who have dementia are factors that might lead carers to consider placing their relative into residential care; stress associated with Christmas can be another influencing factor. CONCLUSION: Carers looking after a relative who has dementia would benefit if the relative was provided with increased day care and home respite sitting services; services should be increased at Christmas; and support staff should be knowledgeable about the specific needs of people who have dementia and their carers.

Caregivers↗
PubMed1975

Clinical observations and their relationship to laboratory findings in the haemophilias.

Continuous observations in shcool terms have been made on the frequency of spontaneous bleeding episodes in a group of adolescent boys suffereing from haemophilia (39 cases), Christmas disease (9 cases), and von Willebrand's disease (2 cases). The observations suggest that in haemophilia other factors, besides the deficient factor VIII, affect the bleeding frequency. In the two boys with von Willebrand's disease, the lower level of factor VIII was associated with the milder symptoms; whereas in boys with Christmas disease clinical severity and laboratory results seemed to be correlated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Cytological detection of spermatozoa: comparison of three staining methods.

Sperm detection can be an important factor in confirming sexual assault in cases of rape. This paper compares three of the most commonly used staining methods cited in the scientific literature: Christmas tree. hematoxylin-eosin, and alkaline fuchsin. The population studied was composed of 174 consenting women seen at the Male Infertility Center in Toulouse. France. The date of their last sexual intercourse was accurately known. Alkaline fuchsin did not seem effective in detecting spermatozoa in vaginal samples. Compared with hematoxylin-eosin, Christmas tree stain appeared to be the most useful test in the first 72 h. Two external factors were associated with decreased detection of spermatozoa: time since in tercourse and sperm volume.

Coloring Agents↗
PubMed2001

Increasing safety, managing risk.

Before criminal background checks became standard industry practice, a long term care administrator in Illinois paid $15 per inquiry for such checks on potential hires for his facility. Management ordered the inquiries halted for budgetary reasons. A few months later, facing holiday staff shortages around Christmastime, the administrator hired two new aides to help round out a skeletal staff. "I did the registry checks, the reference checks, everything came in fine," recalls the administrator, who asked to remain anonymous in our reportage. "I came back in on Monday--Christmas was on Sunday--and got a report from [a resident's] family members that their mother had been sexually abused Christmas night." A year later, in legal proceedings over the incident, the administrator was summoned to give a deposition about the center's hiring practices. In fact, it had been discovered that one of the aides hired did have a record of abuse. Because the administrator cited that he was not permitted to perform criminal background checks, a decision with which he disagreed, he became a key witness for the plaintiff. Management admitted liability and paid $1 million in damages awarded the plaintiff.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Rash orientation in pityriasis rosea: a qualitative study.

Rash orientation in pityriasis rosea (PR) has been described as Christmas-tree pattern, inverted Christmas-tree pattern, fir tree pattern, parallel to the ribs or along skin cleavage lines. We retrieved clinical photographs of 11 patients diagnosed as having PR over a two-year period for qualitative study of rash orientation. We found that Langer's cleavage lines are the most appropriate description. All three components of these lines on the trunk, i.e. V-shaped pattern on upper chest and upper back, circumferential pattern around the shoulders and hips, and transverse pattern on the lower anterior trunk and lower back, are demonstrated by most patients. We believe with the present state of knowledge, the mechanism for PR following Langer's lines is best considered unknown. We advocate abandoning other descriptions which might cause confusion to students and trainee physicians.

Exanthema↗
PubMed1995

The gift of compassion.

Christmas Day in a hospital is always different from Christmas Day anywhere else. For one thing, there is a sense of isolation; family and friends are elsewhere and every patient who can be discharged, even temporarily, leaves for the day.

Accidents↗
PubMed2004

Effects of carvedilol on left ventricular remodelling in chronic stable heart failure: a cardiovascular magnetic resonance study.

BACKGROUND: The ability of beta blockers to improve left ventricular function has been demonstrated, but data on the effects on cardiac remodelling are limited. OBJECTIVE: To investigate, using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), the effects of carvedilol on left ventricular remodelling in patients with chronic stable heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction caused by coronary artery disease. DESIGN: Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled study. SETTING: Chronic stable heart failure. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTION: 34 patients with chronic stable heart failure and left ventricular systolic function taking part in the CHRISTMAS trial (double blind carvedilol v placebo) underwent CMR before randomisation and after six months of treatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Left ventricular remodelling at six months. RESULTS: The carvedilol and placebo groups were well balanced at baseline, with no significant intergroup differences. Over the study period, there was a significant reduction in end systolic volume index (ESV(I)) and end diastolic volume index (EDV(I)) between the carvedilol and the placebo group (carvedilol -9 v placebo +3 ml/m2, p = 0.0004; carvedilol -8 v placebo 0 ml/m2, p = 0.05). The ejection fraction increased significantly between the groups (carvedilol +3% v placebo -2%, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of chronic stable heart failure with carvedilol results in significant improvement in left ventricular volumes and function. These effects might contribute to the benefits of carvedilol on mortality and morbidity in patients with chronic heart failure.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
PubMed1995

Policy and poverty. Child and community health in Philadelphia, 1900 to 1930.

On a fall day in 1913, a man sat on a crowded wooden bench with a little boy on his lap. He waited all day, only to be told that the physician who would treat his son was not working in the public clinic that day. The next morning he learned that if he returned at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, he would stand a better chance of seeing the physician. Since the family home was a shack and even food was scarce, he could ill afford the loss of another day's pay. His son had infantile paralysis, though, and the father believed that the physician could help, so he kept trying. The boy died during the Christmas holidays. "Is it simply that there are not enough public clinics, enough doctors willing to help care for the people who come to them?" asked the social worker who told this story. "Or is there something wrong with the system?"

Child↗
PubMed2001

Determining the probability of pesticide exposures among migrant farmworkers: results from a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Migrant and seasonal farmworkers are exposed to pesticides through their work with crops and livestock. Because workers are usually unaware of the pesticides applied, specific pesticide exposures cannot be determined by interviews. We conducted a study to determine the feasibility of identifying probable pesticide exposures based on work histories. METHODS: The study included 162 farm workers in seven states. Interviewers obtained a lifetime work history including the crops, tasks, months, and locations worked. We investigated the availability of survey data on pesticide use for crops and livestock in the seven pilot states. Probabilities of use for pesticide types (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc.) and specific chemicals were calculated from the available data for two farm workers. The work histories were chosen to illustrate how the quality of the pesticide use information varied across crops, states, and years. RESULTS: For most vegetable and fruit crops there were regional pesticide use data in the late 1970s, no data in the 1980s, and state-specific data every other year in the 1990s. Annual use surveys for cotton and potatoes began in the late 1980s. For a few crops, including asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, strawberries, plums, and Christmas trees, there were no federal data or data from the seven states before the 1990s. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that identifying probable pesticide exposures is feasible in some locations. However, the lack of pesticide use data before the 1990s for many crops will limit the quality of historic exposure assessment for most workers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Angel-shaped phalango-epiphyseal dysplasia (ASPED): identification of a new genetic bone marker.

We describe a "new" mild malformation of the phalanx, which we call the "angel-shaped phalanx" (ASP) because of its resemblance to the little angels used for the decoration of Christmas trees. A particular middle phalangeal type of ASPs is found in a distinct variety of multiple epiphyseal dysplasia with marked retardation of bone age and severe coxarthrosis in adult life, previously reported as "hereditary peripheral dysostosis" [Bachman, 1967: Proc R Soc Med 60:21-22; Giedion, 1969: Fortschr Rontgenstr 110:507-524]. However, these authors overlooked the unique configuration of the middle phalanges. We renamed the condition "angel-shaped phalango-epiphyseal dysplasia (ASPED)", which may be transmitted in an autosomal-dominant manner. Six new patients are added, bringing the total to nine patients (two families and two isolated patients). ASPs were seen in five of six children. The ASPs grew into inconspicuous brachydactyly after physeal closure (3/3). The most important additional radiological finding is late and dysplastic development of both femoral heads (5/5), leading to Perthes-like and osteoarthritic changes and severe hip pain in the early thirties (2/2 adults, having reached this age). The marked retardation of carpal bone age may lead to unnecessary clinical evaluation for endocrine disorders. Less frequent clinical manifestations of ASPED are hyperextensibility of the interphalangeal joints (7/9) and hypodontia (4/7). Other types of ASPs are observed in brachyphalangy type C, spondylo-megepiphyseal-metaphyseal dysplasia, and other conditions. The concept of mild bone abnormalities as specific markers for genetic disease, as with cone-shaped epiphyses and now evident in ASPED, may also be useful for ASPs in general.

Adolescent↗