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Colchicine for primary biliary cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Colchicine has been used for patients with primary biliary cirrhosis because of its immunomodulatory and antifibrotic potential. The therapeutical responses to colchicine in randomised clinical trials were inconsistent. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the beneficial and harmful effects of colchicine in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. SEARCH STRATEGY: We identified trials through electronic searches of The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Register, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials on The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE (September 2003), and manual searches of bibliographies. We contacted authors of trials and pharmaceutical companies. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised clinical trials comparing colchicine with any kind of control therapy were included irrespective of language, year of publication, and publication status. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The primary outcomes were the number of deaths and the number of death and/or patients who underwent liver transplantation. Dichotomous outcomes were reported as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). We examined intervention effects by using both a fixed effect model and a random effects model. Heterogeneity was investigated by subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses. MAIN RESULTS: Eleven randomised clinical trials involving 716 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis fulfilled the inclusion criteria. No significant differences were detected between colchicine and placebo/no intervention on the number of deaths (RR 1.21, 95% CI 0.71 to 2.06), the number of deaths and/or patients who underwent liver transplantation (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.49), liver complications, liver biochemical variables, liver histological measurements, and adverse events. Trial methodology was generally low and some trials had high drop-out rate. A best-worst-case-scenario analysis showed no significant effect of colchicine on mortality (RR 0.59, 95%CI 0.30 to 1.15), while a worst-best-case-scenario analysis showed a significant detrimental effect of colchicine on mortality (RR 2.28, 95% CI 1.17 to 4.44). Colchicine significantly decreased the number of patients without improvement of pruritus (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.87). However, this estimate was based on only 156 patients from three trials. The effect of the combined treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid was not significantly different from that of colchicine alone. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS: We did not find evidence either to support or refute the use of colchicine for patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. As we are not able to exclude a detrimental effect of colchicine, we suggest that it is only used in randomised clinical trials.

Cholagogues and Choleretics↗

Gas gangrene.

Gas gangrene is not a disease of the past. Despite improved awareness, earlier care of trauma victims, new antibiotics, and advanced monitoring techniques, histotoxic clostridia continue to cause loss of life and limb. A 20-year literature review on gas gangrene (Part I) indicates that a combined therapy approach with early recognition, surgical intervention, appropriate antibiotics, and hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) provides optimal care. Part II, a 15-year clinical experience, appears to be the largest English-language series reported using the combined therapy of antibiotics, surgery, and hyperbaric oxygen. One hundred thirty-nine patients (95 males and 44 females), average age, 38 years, were admitted with clostridial myonecrosis. Sixty-seven were in shock at admission and the 27 deaths occurred in this group. One hundred twelve patients (81%) survived the infection. There was a 5% mortality in post-traumatic extremity clostridial myonecrosis. Age and concurrent disease increased the mortality rate, as did delay from time of diagnosis to aggressive combined treatment.

Adolescent↗

Evaluating rehabilitation using cost-consequences analysis: an example in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To use cost-consequences analysis to evaluate rehabilitation, and to discuss some practical limitations. DESIGN: Case study of a cost-consequences analysis. SETTING: Day hospital. SUBJECTS: People with Parkinson's disease without major cognitive loss, and their carers. INTERVENTION: A programme of multidisciplinary rehabilitation, delivered for one day per week over six weeks, and including 2 h of individual therapy (physical, occupational, speech and language, specialist nurse) and group activities on each occasion. MAIN MEASURES COSTS: direct and overhead costs of treatment; participant travel. CONSEQUENCES: patient outcomes (mobility, speech and language, disability, psychological well-being, health-related quality of life); carer outcomes (psychological well-being, health-related quality of life, strain); social service utilization; satisfaction. RESULTS: In this example the main costs were facility's overheads and hospital-provided transport. The consequences of the intervention were improved immediate outcomes for patients that diminished over four months, discovery of unmet social services need, high satisfaction. No benefits for carers were observed. CONCLUSION: A cost-consequences analysis provides a clear descriptive summary for decision-makers that is easier to interpret than cost-effectiveness, cost-utility and cost-benefit analysis. It is a useful technique in rehabilitation research where multiple outcomes and several perspectives (health service, patient, carer) are relevant. However limitations remain: it is difficult to capture all consequences because of data deficiencies and long-term effects; evaluations of individual interventions are partial and do not guarantee economic rationality; local studies may not be generalizable; fixed protocols impede the evaluation of alternative service configurations.

Aged↗

Treatment of systemic hypertension in patients with pulmonary disease: COPD and asthma.

We present a two-part review of the English-language literature pertaining to drug therapy for systemic high BP in patients with pulmonary diseases. Part I examines the literature pertaining to the use of antihypertensive drugs in patients with systemic hypertension and coexisting pulmonary conditions, especially COPD and asthma. Part II of the series reviews studies assessing the relationship between sleep-disordered breathing (including the role of the sympathetic nervous system) and systemic hypertension, and presents an approach to the management of these patients. It is the aim of both parts of this review to make qualified conclusions and recommendations applying a methodologic critique to assess the current literature. In the first part of this series, we review the demographics of hypertension in patients with COPD. This is followed by an extensive review of the use of specific classes of antihypertensive drug therapies in patients with pulmonary disease. The antihypertensive agents reviewed include diuretics, calcium antagonists, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin II receptor antagonists, beta-adrenergic blocking agents, and alpha-beta-blockers and other non-beta-blocker classes. Additionally, the renin angiotensin system is briefly reviewed, with a discussion of how angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors induce cough, especially in pulmonary and congestive heart failure patients.

Antihypertensive Agents↗

Speech-language pathologists' opinions on the management of velopharyngeal insufficiency.

A 16-item questionnaire designed to survey opinions on the management of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) was distributed to all members (N = 296) of the American Cleft Palate Association who were speech-language pathologists. Questionnaires were completed by 173 respondents (58.4 percent). There were differences of opinion among speech-language pathologists on various management issues related to VPI, including the value of instrumental assessment of VPI, the importance of oral examination of velopharyngeal function, and the effectiveness of speech therapy in the treatment of VPI. The implications of these findings for clinical training in VPI are discussed.

Adenoidectomy↗

Direct angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction. A review of outcomes in clinical subsets.

PURPOSE: To review the usefulness of angioplasty done early in the course of an acute myocardial infarction without preceding thrombolytic therapy. DATA SOURCES: The English-language literature was searched from 1983 through October 1991 using MEDLINE; bibliographies from selected articles were searched by hand. STUDY SELECTION: Series reporting results for direct angioplasty without preceding thrombolytic therapy were reviewed. Twenty-three articles describing a total of 4368 patients were found. DATA EXTRACTION: After duplicate patient series were eliminated, weighted average short- and long-term mortality rates were calculated for the remaining 2073 patients in 10 series and for selected clinical subsets. RESULTS OF DATA SYNTHESIS: Average hospital mortality for patients with acute myocardial infarction having direct angioplasty was 8.3% (95% Cl, 7.1% to 9.5%). Patients in cardiogenic shock had the highest mortality (44.2%; Cl, 35.9% to 52.5%); patients with one-vessel disease had the lowest (1%; Cl, 0% to 2.3%). For patients in cardiogenic shock, data on direct angioplasty appeared superior to data for similar patients receiving thrombolytic therapy. Although few data exist, a survival advantage was also suggested for patients with a history of previous bypass surgery (hospital mortality, 11.1% [Cl, 4.4% to 17.8%]). CONCLUSIONS: Direct angioplasty has an overall mortality similar to that of thrombolytic therapy. Patients who may benefit more from mechanical revascularization than from thrombolytic therapy include those at increased risk for thrombolytic therapy (uncontrolled hypertension, recent major surgery, cerebrovascular accident, prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or bleeding diathesis), and those with cardiogenic shock. The efficacy in several other patient subsets (age greater than 65 years, previous coronary artery bypass grafting, prolonged delay before reperfusion) warrants further study.

Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary↗

Learning styles of allied health students using Kolb's LSI-IIa.

The purpose of this study was to assess the learning style preferences of students enrolled in various allied health professional programs. Five professions were examined: nursing, physician assistant (PA), occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech-language pathology (SLP). The assessment instrument used was the Kolb Learning Style Inventory LSI-IIa. The study included 89 subjects from the various allied health care programs enrolled at a small midwestern university. Findings indicated similar learning style preferences between nursing, OT, PA, and SLP student groups. Students from these groups exhibited a close balance between all four learning styles. The nursing and SLP groups showed a slight preference for concrete experimentation, whereas the OT and PA groups preferred abstract conceptualization. The learning style of the PT students was that of converger, with a strong tendency toward active experimentation versus reflective observation. An emphasis needs to be placed on student learning styles and its impact in the educational process. An understanding and incorporation of learning styles in the education of health care providers could have a positive impact not only on the teaching and learning process but also on the effectiveness of interdisciplinary team interactions and the patient educational process.

Allied Health Personnel↗

Evaluation on the therapeutic effects of digital acupoint pressure for obstetric spastic cerebral palsy.

To probe the evaluation methods for effects of TCM treatment of cerebral palsy through clinical observation on the digital acupoint pressure in treating obstetric spastic cerebral palsy. From 1998-2003, 40 cases of spastic cerebral palsy were treated with digital acupoint pressure therapy. Ten indexes including intelligence, language, salivation, hand-grasping, thumb-adduction, turnover, sitting, standing, walking, and scissors-gait were divided into the 4 grades of normal, mild abnormal, moderate abnormal, and severe abnormal (dysfunction), respectively marked as 6, 4, 2, and 0 point, with 2 points increased for improving each grade of each item after the treatment. Meanwhile, the ranges were recorded and evaluated before and after the treatment on shoulder-abduction, elbow-extension, wrist-extension, forearm-backward-rotation, hip-abduction, straight-leg-lifting, knee-extension, and ankle-dorsiflexion. Those with the improvement of 10 degrees, 15 degrees, 20 degrees, 25 degrees, and 30 degrees in the range of movement of their contractured joints would obtain respectively 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 points. There were significant differences before and after the treatment in the 18 items under observation except for intelligence, with obvious improvement shown after the treatment (P<0.01), the effective rate being 92.5%. The therapeutic criteria set in this research are well established in reflecting the functional improvements of the patient.

Acupressure↗

Constraint-induced therapy of chronic aphasia after stroke.

Patients with chronic aphasia were assigned randomly to a group to receive either conventional aphasia therapy or constraint-induced (CI) aphasia therapy, a new therapeutic technique requiring intense practice over a relatively short period of consecutive days. CI aphasia therapy is realized in a communicative therapeutic environment constraining patients to practice systematically speech acts with which they have difficulty. Patients in both groups received the same amount of treatment (30 to 35 hours) as 10 days of massed-practice language exercises for the CI aphasia therapy group (3 hours per day minimum; 10 patients) or over a longer period of approximately 4 weeks for the conventional therapy group (7 patients). CI aphasia therapy led to significant and pronounced improvements on several standard clinical tests, on self-ratings, and on blinded-observer ratings of the patients' communicative effectiveness in everyday life. Patients who received the control intervention failed to achieve comparable improvements. Data suggest that the language skills of patients with chronic aphasia can be improved in a short period by use of an appropriate massed-practice technique that focuses on the patients' communicative needs.

Adult↗

Treatability of different components of aphasia - insights from a case study.

In this phase I clinical rehabilitation study, we investigated the effects of phonological rehabilitation for alexia and aphasia in an individual 54 years after a left-hemisphere ischemic infarction. In the context of a single-subject design, we studied whether treatment would improve phonological processing, reading, and generalization to untreated behaviors. While results showed a lack of generalization to real-word reading aloud, improvement was present in phonological processing, language function (Western Aphasia Battery Aphasia Quotient, Boston Naming Test, Reading Comprehension Battery for Aphasia), and auditory processing (Revised Token Test). Improvement in the lexical-semantic system was attributed to informal forced-use language treatment. We concluded that phonological therapies are unlikely to be successful unless a minimum initial level of phonological sequence knowledge exists; therapies that pressure subjects to use verbal communication can achieve clinically important gains in communicative ability that generalize to untreated behaviors. This study also demonstrates the importance of a careful analysis of the patient's language ability before a therapeutic strategy is chosen.

Aged↗

[Onset of language development in general developmental delay at age 5].

The course of development of a 5-year-old boy with a serious developmental retardation and massive behaviour problems who spoke only a few words is documented and described with psychometric tests and spontaneous language samples up to the age of 8-9. Inspite of this developmental retardation and poor care, the child reached until then an average to above-average intelligence in nonverbal functions. The symptoms were reduced only to a specific language impairment. At the age of 11, this disorder as well had practically disappeared. Such a course of development after the age of 5 is not common, whereas a specific language impairment normally remains a deficit. Possible causes for this favourable development are discussed.

Child↗

Normal language skills and normal intelligence in a child with de Lange syndrome.

The subject of this case report is a 2-year, 7-month-old girl with de Lange syndrome, normal intelligence, and age-appropriate language skills. She demonstrated initial delays in gross motor skills and in receptive and expressive language but responded well to intensive speech and language intervention, as well as to physical therapy. This favorable outcome provides an important example of the beneficial effects of therapy, even for clients with conditions generally believed to have a poor prognosis.

Child, Preschool↗

Speech pathology & Parkinson's disease in the home environment.

Those with Parkinson's Disease often suffer speech limitations distinct from other neurological diseases and stroke. Symptoms of dysarthria, the clinical term of impaired, uncoordinated, and weakened speech musculature, include reduced volume, breathiness, monotone pitch, accelerated rate of speech, and inability to communicate effectively over the telephone, in groups, and even in quiet one-to-one settings. The author discusses the voice, speech, and related deficits encountered by individuals with Parkinson's Disease and the speech-language pathologist's role in addressing these deficits.

Aged↗

[Language development in children with cleft palate].

Children with cleft palate often suffer from hearing and speech and language problems. Detailed knowledge about the long-term outcome of various therapeutic strategies including velopharyngoplasty or speech therapy seems mandatory to design an efficient rehabilitation plan for affected children. In this follow-up study 417 children with cleft palate (excluding isolated cleft lip) were examined in an interdisciplinary approach by maxillofacial surgeons, orthodontists, otolaryngologists, audiologists and speech and language pathologists. We found that 92% of the children had speech or language disorders. 80% of those children frequently had mild or severe conductive hearing loss, with or without clinical signs of otitis media with effusion. In 58 children (14%) with rhinolalia aperta not being improved by speech therapy for at least 1 year, velopharyngoplasty with a cranially based pharyngeal flap was performed. Language skills did not correlate with the type of cleft palate, but with the frequency and degree of hearing loss. Using this interdisciplinary approach for early detection and therapy of disorders related to cleft palate, only 49% of affected children had to undergo speech and language therapy. Based on the results of this follow-up study presented here we propose that otologic examination, such a thorough audiometric testing, and a detailed speech and language evaluation are important cornerstones in the rehabilitation management of children with cleft palate.

Adolescent↗

Predicting spoken language level in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Thirty-five children who received an autism spectrum diagnosis at the age of 2 years (24 with autism, 11 with PDD-NOS) were re-evaluated 2 years later to examine factors related to the development of spoken language. Child variables (play level, motor imitation ability and joint attention) and environmental variables (socioeconomic status and hours of speech/language therapy between ages 2 and 3) were used to predict an aggregate measure of language outcome at age 4. After controlling for age 2 language skills, the only significant predictors were motor imitation and number of hours of speech/language therapy. Implications of these results for understanding the early developmental course of autism spectrum disorders and the effects of intervention are discussed.

Autistic Disorder↗

[Verbal dyspraxia: its clinical characteristics and treatment with speech therapy].

INTRODUCTION: Verbal dyspraxia is a specific developmental language disorder that is characterised by a deficit at different levels of speech processing: in phonological planning, in phonetic planning and in the implementation of the speech motor programme. DEVELOPMENT: In this study we review the criteria for differential diagnosis, the tests that are useful to achieve this and the possible lines of speech therapy treatment.

Apraxias↗