Medical care use by treated and untreated substance abusing medicaid patients.

Medicaid reimbursement costs for county residents at least 18 years old who used a treatment service (n = 1043) and residents who were Medicaid enrollees with a substance abuse diagnosis but who did not receive treatment (n = 2125) were compared. Untreated patients were more likely to be male (47% vs. 39%), white (56% vs. 45%), and older (39.7 yrs. +/- 13 SD vs. 35.5 yrs +/- 10 SD). The average monthly Medicaid costs ($257) for the untreated were higher in the year prior to identification than were costs ($207) for the treated. The monthly costs in the six months following identification were $761 for the untreated and $373 for the treated. The costs in the next six months returned to near the original for the treated ($224), while those for the untreated remained higher at $340. Medicaid enrollees with untreated substance abuse pose a significant cost to the Medicaid system.

Evaluation of acetaldehyde-modified hemoglobin and other markers of chronic heavy alcohol use: effects of gender and hemoglobin concentration.

The present study examined whether measurement of hemoglobin-acetaldehyde (HbA1-AcH) using an improved methodology may be useful as a biological marker of alcohol abuse. Red blood cell hemolysates of 182 patients consecutively admitted to the drug and alcohol treatment unit of our institution were analyzed for HbA1-AcH concentration using cation exchange HPLC. Mean HbA1-AcH of those who claimed to drink > or = 6 drinks/day [mean = 0.055 (% total hemoglobin), SD = 0.051] was significantly higher than the mean of those who drank < 6 drinks/day (mean = 0.026, SD = 0.0174). The greatest sum of sensitivity (67%) and specificity (77%) came with a cut-score of 0.030 area% of total hemoglobin. A cut-score of 0.080 produced a 100% specificity, but lowered the sensitivity to 20%. The Pearson product moment correlation (r) between HbA1-AcH and reported drinks per day was r = 0.30 (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the association of HbA1-AcH and reported drinking between males and females, and the small difference observed was shown to be entirely associated with differences in hemoglobin levels between the sexes. Cocaine use did not significantly alter the correlation between reported drinking and HbA1-AcH levels. Hemoglobin levels were shown to have a significant correlation with HbA1-AcH independent of drinking. HbA1-AcH was shown to have a better sensitivity and specificity than gamma-glutamyltransferase, ALT, AST, or mean corpuscular volume in this population. The results suggest that HbA1-AcH may be a useful marker to help detect alcohol abuse, especially in populations where other markers have been shown to fail.

Involuntary treatment of substance abuse disorders.

The authors argue for the extension of mandatory treatment to persons gravely disabled by substance abuse. The problem is examined from ideological, clinical, legal, economic, and ethical perspectives.

Total joint replacement and golf.

Definitive characterization of the effects of golf on a total joint replacement remains elusive. However, from our study of active golfers and solicitation of the opinions of orthopedists who specialize in joint replacements, and from a careful review of the literature regarding exercise and total joint replacement, it appears possible for patients to remain active golfers with no significant increase in either symptoms or rates of revision of implants following total hip, knee, or shoulder replacement.

Improved separation of acetaldehyde-induced hemoglobin.

A fast-eluting minor variant of hemoglobin A, designated as HbA1-AcH, appears elevated after the incubation of red blood cell hemolysates with acetaldehyde (AcH) and has been proposed as a diagnostic marker for alcoholism or as an indicator for heavy drinking. We have developed an improved HPLC separation of this peak and others elevated by AcH using a polyaspartic acid column (PolyCAT A, PolyLC, Inc.) and a nonlinear buffer gradient with pH changes from 6.6 to 6.8. Saline-washed red blood cells were treated with sodium acetate buffer (pH 5.5) to remove unstable Schiff bases, and then hemolyzed by addition of an equal volume of H2O and 0.4 volumes of CCI4. HbA1-AcH and several others, including two peaks in the HbA1a+b cluster, Hb Pre-A1c, and HbA1d3 were significantly increased by AcH incubation, and the changes were only partially reversible with time. Improved resolution of these peaks allows more accurate quantitation of AcH adducts of hemoglobin.

Surgical considerations and planning for acetabular and femoral deficiencies in revision hip replacement.

Cementless revision total hip arthroplasty provides a method for augmenting and restoring the remaining bone stock in a failed total hip arthroplasty. Careful preoperative planning, precise intraoperative technique and an adequate prosthetic inventory are required. Classification systems for bone deficiencies aid in planning grafting and prosthetic needs and in reviewing postoperative results. New cementless technology should provide even more satisfying results.

Biplane radiographic measurements of reversible displacement (including clinical loosening) and migration of total joint replacements.

UNLABELLED: We studied nineteen total knee replacements and thirty-three total hip replacements with simultaneous biplane radiography to measure in vivo micromotion at the cement-bone interface. Spherical cobalt-chromium markers were embedded in the cement and cortical bone. Relative motion of the cement-markers was measured with respect to the markers in the cortical bone. Reversible displacement (relative motion during a change from non-weight-bearing to weight-bearing) and migration (relative motion over time from one non-weight-bearing study to another) were calculated. The resolution of the measuring system was 0.2 millimeter. The range for symptomatic reversible displacement was 0.4 to 4.5 millimeters, while that for asymptomatic reversible displacement was 0.3 to 1.9 millimeters. All reversible displacement of less than 0.4 millimeter was asymptomatic. Migration of as much as 2.1 millimeters occurred without concomitant reversible displacement. All radiolucent lines correlated with measured reversible displacement. Half of the patients who were evaluated two weeks postoperatively had measurable reversible displacement. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Our findings were based on a small series from a selected population. The incidence of measured reversible displacement (75 per cent) was based on in vivo techniques and included symptomatic and asymptomatic reversible displacement; therefore, it was higher than the incidence of clinical loosening (9.6 per cent in our series). Simultaneous biplane radiography may become an important adjunct in the postoperative management of patients with a total joint replacement.

Breast cancer detection utilizing biostereometric analysis.

Twelve female patients participated in a study designed to employ computer-assisted biostereometric analysis for the detection of breast masses. All breast masses were previously documented by physical examination and followed by xeromammography, stereophotography, and histopathologic confirmation of tumor type. "Contour mammograms" were produced from the biostereometric photographs. These data were analyzed first for tumor detection and location by visual inspection. A second analysis employed a computed algorithm designed to locate and measure surface aberrations that suggest the possibility of underlying breast tumor. Visual analysis yielded the exact location of breast tumors in eight of the ten malignancies; computer analysis exactly located nine of the ten malignancies. In the computer analysis, one malignancy not exactly located by quadrant was, nevertheless, located in the correct breast. The results of the study suggest that the biostereometric process may have future use in screening or prescreening procedures for breast cancer detection. It is noninvasive, applicable to large numbers of women and with suitable refinements, and capable of being fully automated.