Smallpox: an historical review

The first protection against smallpox, a disease known already in old China and India, consisted in rubbing infectious material from smallpox patients into the scratched skin of children. Lady Montagu brought this method from Turkey to England in 1721. This "variolation", however dangerous, was adopted in Europe during the eighteenth century mainly by the aristocracy. But it was Edward Jenner (1749-1823) who in 1796 used cowpox to protect against smallpox without the risk of acquiring the disease. During more than 60 years the "vaccination" was carried out from "arm to arm" with a certain risk of transmission of syphilis. From 1864 on the vaccine was mainly produced on cows to avoid this risk. The WHO managed in 1978 to eliminate smallpox from the planet by vaccination. The smallpox outbreaks, the inoculation, the vaccination and the production of cowpox vaccine in Luxembourg are described.     

Decision-making and paediatric pain: a review

The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the literature on the factors influencing decision-making in the nursing care of children in pain. To that effect published and unpublished references were reviewed. The most frequently cited factors influencing the assessment and management of pain in children are summarized and discussed. Finally recommendations are made where further research is warranted.     

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome: a review

Experiments were performed in a tissue microwave-equivalent phantom gel to quantitatively examine the volumetric heating produced by a microwave antenna with a peripheral cooling system for the transurethral prostatic thermotherapy. Based on previous research, expression for the specific absorption rate (SAR) of microwave energy in the gel was extended to three dimensions, which includes its dependence on radial, angular, and axial direction. A theoretical heat transfer model was developed to study the temperature distribution in the gel by introducing this proposed SAR expression. The parameters in this expression and the convection coefficient due to the chilled water running around the antenna were determined using a least-square residual fit of the theoretical temperature predictions to the experimentally measured steady-state temperature field within the gel. The analytical expression of the three-dimensional SAR distribution obtained in this study will help provide a better understanding of the microwave heating pattern in the prostatic tissue and, thus, to aid in designing improved applicators. It can also be used in the future as an accurate input to heat transfer models which predict temperature distributions during the transurethral microwave thermotherapy.     

Genetic markers in the blood of animals: a historical review

One-photon emission computed tomography (OPECT) was used to examine 87 patients with the epileptiform syndrome. Eighty five patients had impaired drug distribution which was suggestive of varying degree cerebral circulatory disorders. OPECT with a Tc-99m-gm-pao used in patients with the epileptiform syndrome revealed the morphological substract of brain structures. OPECT findings in the patients suggested the brain structural microcirculatory changes to be diffuse and focal, of varying magnitude. There was no clear correlation between clinical manifestations and OPECT and CT findings.     

Ophthalmology in Toronto from 1887 to 1946: a historical review

Although rarely, several conditions may cause malabsorption through lymphatic obstruction. Primary lymphangiectasia, a genetically determined disease characterized by diarrhoea, steatorrhoea and protein-losing enteropathy, is one of these conditions. The Authors report their experience in three cases of small bowel lymphangiectasia occurring in adults and discuss diagnostic and therapeutic problems of the disease.     

Suggestibility of the child witness: a historical review and synthesis

The field of children's testimony is in turmoil, but a resolution to seemingly intractable debates now appears attainable. In this review, we place the current disagreement in historical context and describe psychological and legal views of child witnesses held by scholars since the turn of the 20th century. Although there has been consistent interest in children's suggestibility over the past century, the past 15 years have been the most active in terms of the number of published studies and novel theorizing about the causal mechanisms that underpin the observed findings. A synthesis of this research posits three "families" of factors--cognitive, social, and biological--that must be considered if one is to understand seemingly contradictory interpretations of the findings. We conclude that there are reliable age differences in suggestibility but that even very young children are capable of recalling much that is forensically relevant. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of expert witnesses.     

Labor-induced bladder injuries: historical observations]

Eleven cervical intervertebral space calcifications were studied in ten children (5 boys, 5 girls), with mean age of 9.4 years. The aetiology, symptoms, roentgenographic clinic features were analyzied. All ten patients showed evidence of calcification of the cervical intervertebral disc. One had calcification in two disc spaces of the cervical spine and associated with subluxation of C1,2. Two patients had calcification protruded into the spinal canal without symptoms of spinal cord compression. One had symptom of nerve root irritation. Eight of ten patients had symptoms which disappeared in two weeks after treatment. Eight patients had been followed over one year. The calcification disappeared from 2 to 8 months. The diagnostic criteria for the syndrome of this study are: (1) pediatric age group only; (2) local or referred pain; (3) limited cervical spine motiion; (4) evidence of inflammation; (5) visible calcification of the cervercal intervertebral disc on roentgenogram; (6) self-limited course; (7) good result after conservative treatment and good prognosis.     

Anterior interosseus nerve syndrome

A prolonged period of illness in a patient showing symptoms of reflexdystrophy is described. After going through several examinations and finally being referred to a pain clinic the patient demanded a second opinion from an orthopaedic surgeon. Her symptoms turned out to have been caused by a compression syndrome of the anterior interosseus nerve.     

The Charles Bonnet syndrome: a review

OBJECTIVES: To discuss the advantages of different methods of determining the effectiveness of healthcare interventions, to evaluate the basis for the assumption that right heart catheterization is effective, and to consider how right heart catheterization may fail to improve outcomes in some circumstances. DATA SOURCE: Published English language literature on right heart catheterization and patient outcomes. DISCUSSION: We recently reported an association between the use of right heart catheterization in the initial care of critically ill patients and increased risk of death. This finding is troubling and warrants future study. In this article I address the role of randomized controlled trials and observational studies in the evaluation of the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. I discuss the basis in the published literature for assuming that right heart catheterization improves outcomes. Finally I present a variety of problems with right heart catheterization which might allow this procedure, which logically should help patients, to fail to achieve a beneficial effect for some patients. CONCLUSION: We must do appropriate prospective studies to determine who benefits from right heart catheterization and who does not. We owe our patients nothing less.     

An animal model of neuropathic pain: a review

Recent work has succeeded in producing models of painful peripheral neuropathies in laboratory animals. There is evidence that the animals experience both abnormal spontaneous pain and abnormal evoked pains (allodynia and hyperalgesia). Experimental analyses of these models have demonstrated potential pathophysiologic mechanisms in both the peripheral and central nervous systems; it is likely that the model neuropathic pain syndromes are due to several different mechanisms. One line of evidence suggests that these pain states gradually become centralized due to an excitotoxic effect on spinal cord dorsal horn inhibitory interneurons. The role of the sympathetic nervous system appears to vary, depending on the type of nerve injury and the temporal evolution of the syndrome. There is evidence indicating that the abnormality of cutaneous temperature regulation that often accompanies painful peripheral neuropathy is not necessarily due to the activity of sympathetic vasomotor efferents.     

Delay of reinforcement: A historical review.

The independent variable of delay of reinforcement is traced from its early empirical history through the systematic treatment provided by Hull and Spence. The empirical findings and theoretical implications of recent experimental studies are noted. The effects of delay of reward and delay of punishment on the learning process are considered, the comparative studies with human Ss are reported, and the relevance of delay of reinforcement to abnormal behavior and personality is summarized. (103 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anterior lenticonus and Alport's syndrome

A case of anterior lenticonus is reported in a 26 year old man with hemorrhagic nephritis related to familial Alport's syndrome. Anterior lenticonus is seen only as a part of Alport's syndrome. The authors describe its clinical, histologic and therapeutic aspects. They also discuss the other ocular manifestations, the nephritis and the sensorineural deafness.     

Anterior interosseous nerve syndrome presenting with pronator teres weakness: a case report

Anterior interosseous nerve syndrome (AINS) has been well described. A key muscle to examine clinically and on electromyography is the pronator teres, as this can differentiate between forearm and more proximal entrapment sites. We present a case of AINS with marked weakness and denervation of pronator teres. At operation the anterior interosseous nerve gave rise to the nerve to pronator teres and was entrapped by a fibrous band from the deep head of pronator teres.     

Embryotomy. A historical review

Destructive operations are the oldest type of bloody operation in obstetrics and possibly in the (written) history of Medicine. The name "embryotomy" is already mentioned in the hippocratic literature. The indication and technique of this "two-tempi" operation (embryotomy or reduction of the fetus and embryulcia or extraction of the reduced foetus) were thoroughly mentioned, described and coded for the first time by Soranos of Ephesos. Soranos was also the first to mention clearly by their names the instruments used. Only the Arabic physicians, especially Albucasim, transmitted to us the first image of their collection of instruments. The author elucidates the many--medical and ethical--aspects relating to embryotomy, which has been practised till after W.W.II.     

Measurement and assessment of postoperative pain: a short review

How to measure pain is a great challenge to those who desire to control adequately such a complex experience. Standardized instruments that take into consideration the patient's own account, have been developed in order to make such a task easier. In this article we carry out a revision of the instruments used mostly for measuring postoperative pain, and we point out some of the advantages and disadvantages. We emphasize the need for specific research focusing on the measurement of surgical pain, taking into consideration the multiple dimensions of a painful experience.