Development of a body image assessment procedure for children and preadolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Researchers have identified eating disorders among prepubertal children; therefore, there is a need for the development of reliable and valid measures of body image in children. METHOD: In this investigation, a sample of 257 children ages 8 to 13 in Grades 3 through 7 were administered the Body Image Assessment Procedure for Children's (BIA-C) or the Body Image Assessment Procedure for Preadolescents (BIA-P) and the Children's Eating Attitudes Test (ChEAT). RESULTS: Support for the reliability and validity of the BIA-C and BIA-P was found. The study also found that separate norms were needed for the male and female BIA-C and BIA-P procedures. DISCUSSION: Examination of dieting behaviors and eating attitudes of these subjects highlights the fact that children at very young ages have acquired a clear preference for a thin body size; thus, there is a need for continued development of assessment measures for this population.

Does level of ligation influence results in a murine biliary obstruction model?

BACKGROUND: Despite advances in perioperative management, patients with extrahepatic biliary obstruction still experience a high rate of complications and death after surgery. The rat is commonly used as an experimental animal for research in obstructive jaundice. Ligation of the rat bile duct high in the liver hilum is assumed to produce a more severe model of biliary obstruction than low ligation. The differences are attributed to the ability of the rat bile duct to dilate. Differences in level of ligation may, thus, explain some discrepancies between studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To test this hypothesis, female Lewis rats underwent high ligation (HL), low ligation (LL), and sham celiotomy. Colloidal carbon clearance, bilirubin, total serum bile acids, and hematocrit were measured 12 days later. Liver and spleen weight, presence or absence of ascites, infection, and adequacy of ligation were noted and the liver was processed for routine histology and electron microscopy. RESULTS: Although bilirubin levels were higher after HL than after LL, liver and spleen weight, total serum bile salts, and phagocytic constants K and alpha were not different between these two groups. Gross, histologic, and ultrastructural appearance did not differ between HL and LL groups. CONCLUSION: High ligation causes greater hyperbilirubinemia than low ligation, but does not alter other parameters including phagocytic constants. The present study does not confirm the hypothesis that HL creates a more severe model than LL; therefore, it is unlikely that differences in level of ligation explain variability in results between studies.

The anatomy of appendicitis.

Acute appendicitis is a common disorder and, ideally, should be diagnosed prior to the onset of gangrene or perforation. Nonetheless, the goal of early diagnosis remains elusive. In a prospective study, 100 appendectomies were performed for suspected acute appendicitis over 19 months. The location of the appendix was noted by the operating surgeon and was listed as anterior intraperitoneal, retrocecal, pericolic gutter, retroileal, pelvic, or retroperitoneal. The latter four positions were regarded as sites in which the appendix was hidden from the anterior parietal peritoneum. Fifteen patients did not have appendicitis. Of the 85 inflamed appendices, 25 were indurated, 19 were suppurative, and 41 were gangrenous or perforated. Patients with gangrene or perforation were more likely to have pain and tenderness at a site other than the right lower quadrant and had a higher mean heart rate on admission than patients with simple appendicitis, but there were no other differences in symptoms, signs, or laboratory findings among the groups. The appendix was in a hidden location in 15 per cent of patients with simple appendicitis or without appendicitis, compared with 68 per cent of patients with gangrenous or perforative appendicitis (P < 0.001). Complications were more frequent, and hospital stays were longer in patients with advanced appendicitis (P < 0.001). Patients and physicians were equally responsible for delays in treatment, but the high incidence of hidden appendices in those with advanced appendicitis resulted in less severe symptoms and signs than expected. Anatomic variations in the location of the appendix are often responsible for delays in the diagnosis of appendicitis.