ABSTRACT
A decade of empirical work in brain imaging, genomics, and other areas of research has yielded new knowledge about the frequency of incidental findings, investigator responsibility, and risks and benefits of disclosure. Straightforward guidance for handling such findings of possible clinical significance, however, has been elusive. In early work focusing on imaging studies of the brain, we suggested that investigators and institutional review boards must anticipate and articulate plans for handling incidental findings. Here we provide a detailed analysis of different approaches to the problem and evaluate their merits in the context of the goals and setting of the research and the involvement of neurologists, radiologists, and other physicians. Protecting subject welfare and privacy, as well as ensuring scientific integrity, are the highest priorities in making choices about how to handle incidental findings. Forethought and clarity will enable these goals without overburdening research conducted within or outside the medical setting.
Subject(s)
Brain Diseases/diagnosis , Diagnostic Imaging/standards , Incidental Findings , Physician-Patient Relations/ethics , Brain/pathology , Brain/physiopathology , Brain Neoplasms/diagnosis , Brain Neoplasms/therapy , Clinical Protocols/standards , Clinical Trials as Topic/ethics , Clinical Trials as Topic/standards , Confidentiality/standards , Consent Forms/standards , Diagnostic Imaging/ethics , Disclosure/standards , Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System/diagnosis , Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System/therapy , Humans , Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations/diagnosis , Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations/therapy , Patient Care Team/ethics , Patient Care Team/standards , Referral and Consultation/ethics , Referral and Consultation/standardsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To measure and compare care for adults with MS across managed care and fee-for-service (FFS) health systems. METHODS: The authors sampled adults with MS having physician visits over a 2-year period from a group model health maintenance organization (HMO) in southern California, from a midwestern independent practice association (IPA) model managed care plan, and from the FFS portion of the practices of a random sample of southern California neurologists. The authors mailed surveys to subjects in mid-1996; 930 of 1,164 (80%) of those eligible responded. The authors measured sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, management of recent changes in mobility, bladder control, and fatigue, use of a disease-modifying agent, assessment of general health symptoms and issues, and unmet information needs. The authors adjusted comparisons between systems for comorbidity, disease severity, and disease type. RESULTS: The groups differed on most sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. There were few differences in symptom management; differences that did exist tended toward more referrals or treatment for the FFS group. Access to the disease-modifying agent available at the time of the survey did not differ across systems, although patients' perceptions of the rationale for not using the drug did vary. General health issues and symptoms were more often assessed in the FFS and IPA systems than in the HMO, but improvement was needed across all three systems of care. There were substantial unmet information needs in all groups and especially high ones in the FFS and HMO samples. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies to improve care for people with MS should be developed and evaluated, particularly in areas like symptom assessment and meeting patient information needs. Where variations in service delivery exist, longitudinal studies are also needed to evaluate the potential impact on outcomes and to evaluate reasons for variation.
Subject(s)
Fee-for-Service Plans , Managed Care Programs , Multiple Sclerosis/economics , Multiple Sclerosis/physiopathology , Activities of Daily Living , Health Maintenance Organizations/economics , Humans , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
The extent and distribution of N-glycosylation and the nature of most of the disulfide bond linkages were determined for bovine lactoperoxidase through proteolytic and glycolytic digestions combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric analysis. In addition, 98% of the primary sequence of the protein was confirmed. All five of the asparagines present in sequons were found to be glycosylated, predominantly by high mannose and complex structures. Six disulfide bonds were assigned, including Cys 32-Cys 45, Cys 146-Cys 156, Cys 150-Cys 174, Cys 254-Cys 265, Cys 473-Cys 530 and Cys 571-Cys 596.
Subject(s)
Carbohydrates/analysis , Disulfides/analysis , Lactoperoxidase/analysis , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Cattle , Glycopeptides/chemistry , Glycosylation , Hydrolysis , Indicators and Reagents , Molecular Sequence Data , Protein Conformation , Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization , TrypsinSubject(s)
Disclosure , Informed Consent , Managed Care Programs , Bioethics , Delivery of Health Care/economics , Employment , Gatekeeping , Health Care Rationing , Humans , Informed Consent/legislation & jurisprudence , Liability, Legal , Moral Obligations , Physician Incentive Plans , Physician-Patient Relations , PhysiciansSubject(s)
Anticonvulsants/therapeutic use , Epilepsy/diagnosis , Status Epilepticus/diagnosis , Age Factors , Child , Child, Preschool , Diazepam/therapeutic use , Electroencephalography , Epilepsy/classification , Epilepsy/drug therapy , Female , Humans , Male , Neurologic Examination , Risk Factors , Status Epilepticus/drug therapySubject(s)
Empirical Research , Jurisprudence , Suicide, Assisted/legislation & jurisprudence , Supreme Court Decisions , Freedom , Humans , Pain , Palliative Care , Personal Autonomy , Physicians , Public Policy , Right to Die/legislation & jurisprudence , Social Change , State Government , United StatesABSTRACT
Shakespeare was a consummate dramatist and profound observer of human behavior. He vividly described many clinical disorders, including those of sleep. His characters suffered from somnambulism, sleep apnea, insomnia, and nightmares. Sleep, to Shakespeare, was a blessing denied to many of his protagonists.
Subject(s)
Drama , Medicine in Literature , Sleep Wake Disorders , Dreams/psychology , Humans , Sleep Apnea Syndromes/etiology , Sleep Apnea Syndromes/physiopathology , Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/etiology , Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/physiopathology , Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/psychology , Sleep Wake Disorders/physiopathology , Somnambulism/physiopathologyABSTRACT
We present a case of cat-scratch disease in a 9-year-old girl, complicated by encephalopathy and seizures. Bartonella (formerly Rochalimaea) henselae is the causative agent in cat-scratch disease; methods now available for detection of this pleomorphic, gram-negative bacterium, including polymerase chain reaction amplification and indirect fluorescence antibody testing, may lead to changes in standard criteria used to verify a diagnosis of cat-scratch disease.
Subject(s)
Brain Diseases/diagnosis , Cat-Scratch Disease/diagnosis , Bartonella henselae/isolation & purification , Brain Diseases/microbiology , Cat-Scratch Disease/microbiology , Child , Female , Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect , Humans , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Seizures/diagnosisSubject(s)
American Medical Association , Ethics, Medical , Managed Care Programs/legislation & jurisprudence , Cost Control/legislation & jurisprudence , Disclosure , Humans , Managed Care Programs/economics , Quality Assurance, Health Care/economics , Quality Assurance, Health Care/legislation & jurisprudence , Reimbursement, Incentive/economics , Reimbursement, Incentive/legislation & jurisprudence , Resource Allocation , United StatesABSTRACT
Pediatric experience with gabapentin (GBP), a new antiepileptic drug (AED), is limited. We described 3 learning disabled children, 1 aged 7 and 2 aged 10 years, with intractable partial seizures who developed severe behavioral problems while receiving modest doses of GBP. The children became hyperactive and had explosive outburst consisting of aggressive and oppositional behavior. The behavioral problems were sufficiently severe to require discontinuation of GBP despite moderately improved seizure control.
Subject(s)
Acetates/adverse effects , Amines , Anticonvulsants/adverse effects , Behavior/drug effects , Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acids , Epilepsy, Complex Partial/drug therapy , Seizures/drug therapy , gamma-Aminobutyric Acid , Affect/drug effects , Aggression , Child , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Gabapentin , Humans , Male , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Sample stacking is used to improve the detection limits of capillary zone electrophoresis coupled to continuous flow fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry for the analysis of DNA adducts. It was found that, with stacking, the concentration detection limit of deoxynucleotide adducts could be improved by as much as 3 orders of magnitude, thereby bringing it into the 10(-8) M range. In addition, the mass spectrometric mass detection limits of a model acetylaminofluorene deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate adduct were found to be in the low picomole range for full scanning and the low femtomole range for multiple reaction monitoring of a selected fragmentation. The techniques have been applied to the analysis of adducts formed in the in vitro reaction of N-acetoxy-N-acetyl-2-aminofluorene with DNA.