Cystic changes at supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendon insertion sites: association with age and rotator cuff disorders in 238 patients.

PURPOSE: To retrospectively determine the frequency of posterior and anterior cystic abnormalities at rotator cuff insertion site on the greater tuberosity and to determine their relationship to patient age and rotator cuff disorders. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional review board approval was given; informed consent was waived. The study was HIPAA compliant. In 238 patients with rotator cuff diagnoses at surgery, preoperative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies were reviewed to localize osseous cystic changes as anterior (supraspinatus insertion site) or posterior (infraspinatus insertion site) on the greater tuberosity. If rotator cuff tear was present, tendon retraction and location of partial tear (articular or bursal surface) were recorded. Two radiologists reached conclusions by consensus. Locations of cysts were correlated to surgical cuff diagnoses: no tear, tendinopathy, partial-thickness tear, and complete tear. Prospective interpretations from original MR reports were compared with surgical results. Statistical analyses included one-way analysis of variance, chi(2), Fisher exact, and Student t tests, as well as logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve comparison. RESULTS: There were 238 consecutive patients (150 men, 88 women; mean age, 43 years). Cysts were located at or near footprint of cuff tendon and demonstrated fluid or soft-tissue signal intensities. Posterior cysts occurred in 56.7% of shoulders and showed no statistical correlation to age or cuff diagnosis. Anterior cysts occurred in 22.7% of shoulders and were strongly associated with cuff disorders (P<.001). Controlling for cuff disorders, there was no relationship between anterior cysts and age (P>.50). Anterior cysts were more common in partial-thickness articular (48%) than in bursal (13%) tears (P<.001). CONCLUSION: Posterior cysts were more common than anterior cysts and showed nearly random distribution among patients, regardless of age and cuff diagnosis. Anterior cysts were closely associated with cuff disorders.

Predictors of short-term success of antiretroviral therapy in HIV infection.

OBJECTIVES: The success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in HIV infection may be influenced by numerous host factors. There is a lack of data presenting a combined assessment of a variety of these parameters for treatment efficacy in clinical routine practice. METHODS: Different indices of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) were evaluated prospectively in the context of self-reported adherence, health-related quality of life and social determinants, as measured by a questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 210 individuals were studied between 2002 and 2004, 77% were males, mean age was 44 years, mean CD4 count was 336 cells/mm3 and 63% had a viral load < 50 copies/mL. In univariate analysis, baseline viral load, unscheduled drug levels, a 4 h pharmacokinetic profile (PK-P) at a scheduled visit and self-reported complete adherence within the previous 2 weeks were significantly associated with virological success of HAART at 12 weeks. At 24 weeks, only baseline viral load, the 4 h PK-P and adherence were significantly associated with HAART efficacy. In multivariate analysis, baseline viral load, adherence, unscheduled drug levels, trough levels at a visit with appointment as well as the 4 h PK-P were significantly associated with virological success at 12 weeks. At 24 weeks, only adherence was significantly linked to outcome. The other parameters were not found to have an impact on treatment efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: TDM and self-reported adherence were independently predictive of short-term HAART success in this prospective study. Unscheduled drug measurements provided similar diagnostic information as a 4 h PK-P. Thus, we propose the use of unscheduled drug level monitoring and self-reported adherence to help identify patients with elevated risk of virological failure.

Performance of clinician versus self-report measures to identify obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to study agreement between clinician-rated measures and self-report measures previously used in epidemiologic studies to identify obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in youth and to determine the adequacy of self-report measures as screening instruments. METHOD: Leyton Obsessional Inventory-Child Version (LOI-CV) survey form self-report and Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) clinician-report measures were compared in a sample of 81 OCD-affected youths diagnosed using structured diagnostic interviews and the best-estimate method. Sensitivities and agreement between tests are determined for different cutoff scores. RESULTS: The LOI-CV survey form total (item+interference) score is correlated with KSADS-E OCD severity (r=0.37, p=0.001) but not clinician-rated GAF scores (r=-0.18, p=0.12). LOI-CV survey form sensitivities at cutoff scores of 15, 20, 25, and 30 are 55%, 36%, 28%, and 19%, respectively. CY-BOCS scores are correlated with subject-rated interview severity (p<0.001) and clinician-rated GAF scores (por=0.03), but correlate with the CY-BOCS compulsion subscore. CONCLUSIONS: The clinician-rated CY-BOCS measure using parent and child reporting performs superiorly to the subject-rated LOI-CV measure using child reporting to identify pediatric OCD in a clinically referred population. Because self-report measures have been used in epidemiological studies, youth OCD prevalence rates may be higher than previously reported.