Assessing bilingual and monolingual Latino students with translations of the MMPI-2: initial data.

This article presents the results of 2 studies conducted with Spanish versions of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) with Latino students. Study 1 compared the results of 2 administrations of the MMPI-2, one in English and the other in Spanish. Study 2 compared the results of administrations of 2 Spanish versions of the MMPI-2, the official Mexican adaptation and the Version Hispana. In both cases, scale score differences were not found. Comparability, as operationally defined by test-retest reliability, was found to be higher for the group that was administered the English and Spanish versions than the group administered the 2 Spanish versions. Overall, the results were found to suggest correspondence. Yet, the authors warn against concluding "perfect" correspondence because other key groups need to be studied, including psychiatric patients and persons from the Latino community. Also, the determination of linguistic equivalence needs further refinement.

Chemotherapy-related - late occurring - Philadelphia chromosome in AML, ALL and CML. Similar events related to treatment with DNA topoisomerase II inhibitors?

Therapy with DNA topoisomerase II inhibitors has been shown to result in an increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), often presenting balanced translocations to chromosome bands 11q23 and 21q22. Also other balanced aberrations, more rarely observed in therapy-related AML (t-AML), such as t(15;17) and inv(16) have been associated with these drugs. Recently we observed a case of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with t(9;22) after therapy of a germ cell tumor with etoposide, cisplatin and bleomycin. Based on this case and a review of chemotherapy-related leukemias with t(9;22) from the literature, we suggest a causal relationship between therapy with DNA topoisomerase II inhibitors and development of various types of leukemia carrying the Philadelphia chromosome.

[Hemoglobinopathy in the county of Copenhagen]. / Haemoglobinopati i Københavns Amt.

In Copenhagen County, haemoglobinopathy was centralized to the Department of Haematology L, Herlev University Hospital from January 1995. All pregnant women of relevant ethnic origin admitted to the obstetric departments of the Country in 1995, were examined by haemoglobin electrophoresis. furthermore, we performed haemoglobin electrophoresis on immigrants admitted on suspicion of haemoglobinopathy. 24 (4.8%) of 505 examinations in pregnant women were abnormal. 12 reflected a carrier condition for either beta-thalassaemia or sickle cell disease; 53 of 82 examinations in non-pregnant patients were abnormal; 29 had beta-thalassaemia minor and the rest included the haemoglobin variants C, D, E, H and S, mostly in a heterozygous from. The genetic lesions, all of which were mutations, were characterized by molecular genetic analysis in 13 cases with demonstrated beta-gene disorder. The gene frequency of haemoglobinopathies among immigrants to Denmark is common. The Danish health care system must therefore be prepared to address this problem including the clinical aspects, screening and molecular biological examinations, prenatal diagnosis and genetic counselling.

[Shore-term stimulation with myeloid growth factors expands bone marrow hematopoiesis. A magnetic resonance spectroscopic study]. / Korttidsstimulering med myeloide vaekstfaktorer ekspanderer knoglemarvens haematopoiese. En magnetisk resonans-spektroskopisk undersøgelse.

The present study is intended to investigate the expansion of haematopoiesis by localised volume selective proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) during treatment with myeloid growth factors. Six consecutive patients were treated with daily subcutaneous injections of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF, n = 2) or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF, n = 4) for five days before marrow harvest. MRS investigations were performed prior to treatment (day 0), day 5 and day 12. The patients responded with a rise in blood absolute neutrophil count from median 3.3 x 10(9)/l (range 1.3-7.3 x 10(9)/l) before to 15.6 x 10(9)l (range 6.8-22.0 x 10(9)/l) after treatment. Concomitantly an increase in bone marrow cellularity and myeloid:erythroid ratios documented the stimulation of myelopoiesis. During priming, the light-density cell proliferation rate in marrow samples increased from median 21.9 (range 4.5-31) x 10(3) cpm to 54.7 (range 13.9-94) x 10(3) cpm and the total number of myeloid progenitors enumerated as day 7/14 GM-CFUs per volume aspirated marrow increased from median 11/8 x 10(3) (range 4.0-87.5/2.2-103.0) to 64/76. x 10(3) (range 28.4-1180.6/23.2-2850.0). MRS detected a significant increase in bone marrow "relative water content" day 12, one week after myeloid growth factor treatment was stopped, from median 30.5% (range 16-45) to 79% (range 56-93) (p < 0.05). Haematopoiesis was concommittantly detected in new areas of femur.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Comprehensive evaluation of specialist training: an alternative to board examinations in Europe?

Demands for specialist examinations grow in a new Europe with open borders for labour force, including medical doctors. Significant mechanisms stimulating this development are outlined. In the light of an analysis of the purpose of evaluation of postgraduate medical education, a warning is expressed against simplistic approaches and solutions. The measurement of clinical competence is complex and requires clarification of concepts, unveiling of needs, understanding of methodology, acceptance of consequences, and consideration of resource aspects of the different types of evaluation available. In order to emphasize the educational purpose of specialist training, a comprehensive formative evaluation process is suggested as an alternative to specialist examinations. This should involve both the trainee and the institution. Europe should not automatically imitate North America, and a supernational examination system with its many pedagogical, methodological, legal, and resource problems may not be the right approach to the assurance of quality in postgraduate medical education in Europe.

[Hemoglobinopathies. Current therapeutic possibilities]. / Haemoglobinopatier. Aktuelle behandlingsmuligheder.

In recent years, the number of immigrants has increased considerably in Denmark. Consequently, a series of new clinical pictures has appeared in the Danish health care system. Typical examples are the genetic diseases, the haemoglobinopathies. Most of the immigrants come from areas, where the gene frequency of these disorders is widely distributed, for instance the Mediterranean countries, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa. Most frequent are the heterozygous thalassaemias, but also the number of patients with severe thalassaemia and other clinically important haemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell anaemia has also increased in recent years. The clinical problems concerning these patients focus on two important topics, namely genetic counselling of heterozygous individuals (in some cases combined with prenatal diagnostics) and the treatment of patients with clinically severe haemoglobinopathy. The only curative treatment of the haemoglobinopathies is allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, but this treatment can only be offered to a few of these patients. However, a variety of therapeutic options exist which can improve their prognosis and quality of life. Since the number of patients with these diseases will probably increase over the next years we find it relevant, based on typical case stories, to give a review of the present therapeutic possibilities for these disorders.

[Future collaboration in medical education in Scandinavia]. / Det fremtidige samarbejde om laegeuddannelse i Norden.

The Nordic Federation for Medical Education is in the process of re-organisation. Owing to increasing cooperation with the remainder of Europe, it is desirable that the Nordic countries unite to preserve the structure of Nordic medical education.