[PrefCheck: patient-centered treatment planning with older multimorbid patients. Method and design]. / PräfCheck: Patientenzentrierte Behandlungsplanung mit älteren multimorbiden Patienten. Methodik und Design.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study is to develop and test a consultation guide (PrefCheck) for general practitioners (GPs) based on geriatric assessment results. The goal of the consultation guide is to facilitate priority setting and treatment planning based on building a partnership with geriatric patients with multiple chronic diseases. METHODS AND AIMS: The mixed method study consists of three complementary parts: (A) health and treatment priorities of 32 patients and their 8 GPs are determined and explored on the basis of assessment results. These findings lead to the development of the consultation guide, which is subsequently tested in a cluster-randomized controlled intervention study (B) with 40 GPs and 320 patients. The aim of this study is to assess whether PrefCheck results in improved agreement in the number of health and treatment priorities between patients and their doctors. The study concludes with an evaluation study (C) with 5 GPs and 15 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Results will be presented in a future publication. In particular it will be demonstrated whether the consultation guide can strengthen the position of older patients in the doctor-patient relationship, increase the level of information on both sides, and contribute to a shared and holistic treatment planning.

[Subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma metastatic to the eyelid]. / Lidmetastase eines subkutanen Leiomyosarkoms.

BACKGROUND: Metastatic eyelid lesions are rare. Most metastatic lesions to the eyelid are carcinomas. Leiomyosarcomas are soft tissue sarcomas arising most commonly in the uterus and gastrointestinal tract, whereas dermal leiomyosarcomas are less frequent. Dermal leiomyosarcomas metastatic to the eyelid have not been reported so far. CASE REPORT: A 28-year-old female patient presented with a rapidly growing tumor of her right lower eyelid. A subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma of the neck had been excised 21 months before with subsequent radiotherapy. Seven months later metastases to the lung, liver, and left upper arm were detected. The patient received chemotherapy. The eyelid tumor was completely excised. Histologically the lesion consisted of spindle cells arranged in fascicles with perinuclear vacuoles and myofilaments. There was a strong immunoreactivity for smooth muscle actin, and negative staining for cytokeratin and S100. CONCLUSION: Cutaneous and subcutaneous leiomyosarcomas occur at almost any age, but are most common between the 5th and 7th decades. They are more common in men and usually occur at the extremities. The prognosis of cutaneous/subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma correlates with the depth of the tumor. To our knowledge this is the first presentation of a subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma metastatic to the eyelid. Presumably, parenchymatous metastases of this tumor occur before dermal metastases arise.

[Functional results after anatomically successful surgery for stage III/IV macular hole]. / Funktionelle Ergebnisse nach anatomisch erfolgreicher Makulaforamen-Stadium-III/IV-Chirurgie.

PURPOSE: To report the functional results after anatomically successful surgery for stage III/IV macular hole. METHODS: Follow-up examinations (ETDRS charts, Birkhäuser near visual acuity charts, OCT) were carried out in 29 patients 11+/-5 months after surgery for stage III/IV macular hole (hole size >400 microm); in all cases the foveal contour had been restored postoperatively . The surgery performed also included cataract surgery (n=26), vitrectomy, ICG-assisted ILM peeling (in which perfluorcarbon liquid was used to prevent ICG from coming in contact with the retinal pigment epithelium) and tamponade with intraocular gas (n=16) or silicone oil (n=13). Silicone oil had been removed by the time of the follow-up evaluation. RESULTS: Preoperative mean BCVA was 0.2 (0.64 logMAR+/-0.24) and postoperative BCVA, 0.5 (0.3 logMAR+/-0.19). None of the patients experienced any deterioration in sight; the average improvement in visual acuity was 3.5+/-2 lines. In 70% (n=20) of the patients the postoperative BCVA was > or =0.5. Visual acuity for near sight was 0.45+/-0.2. In 66% (n=19) a visual acuity of > or =0.4 was achieved for close work. The improvement in visual acuity was not related to the kind of endotamponade or to the size of the macular hole. Patients with macular hole diameters of 400-800 microm (n=20) gained 3.5+/-2.,4 lines, while in patients with macular hole diameters of 800-1135 microm the average gain was 3.6+/-1.3 lines. CONCLUSIONS: Anatomically successful macular hole stage III/IV surgery with ICG-assisted ILM peeling and protection of the retinal pigment epithelium from contact with ICG by perfluorcarbon liquid can yield good functional results.

[Radial optic neurotomy for central retinal vein occlusion -- how deep should it be?]. / Wie tief muss die radiäre Optikusneurotomie zur Therapie des retinalen Zentralvenenverschlusses sein?

PURPOSE: Most of the studies on radial optic neurotomy (RON) have not defined the depth of the incision. Complications following a deeper incision have been described. This histological study was performed to evaluate the required depth for RON. METHODS: Serial sections of the area of the optic nerve head were performed in 19 eye bank eyes. The distance between the inner surface of the optic disc and the outer limit of the cribriform plate was measured. Ten additional eye bank eyes underwent 2 mm deep experimental RON using the Spaide CRVO Knife (DORC, Netherlands). The cutting depth was assessed histologically by serial cuts. RESULTS: The distance between the inner surface of the disc and the outer limit of the cribriform plate measured 1.35+/-0.3 mm (shrinkage-revised value: 1.45 mm). The experimental RON showed cutting depths of 1.53+/-0.3 mm (shrinkage-revised value: 1.65 mm). CONCLUSION: Based on normal eyes, a cutting depth of 1.45 mm is sufficient to cut through the cribriform plate. This might change during central retinal vein occlusion because possible papillary edema due to central retinal vein occlusion has to be considered. Even under controlled experimental conditions RON leads to great variation in incision depths. The development of a knife with a fixed penetration depth would be helpful.

Associations between adiposity, family history of CHD and blood pressure in 3-8 year-old children.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between overall and central adiposity, a family history of coronary heart disease (FHCHD), and blood pressure (BP) in young children. We were specifically interested in determining whether the relationship between adiposity and BP was modified by a FHCHD. Subjects were 130 (68 males, 62 females) young children (mean age 6.0 years). Indicators of adiposity included the body mass index, waist circumference, skinfold thickness, and body composition determined by dual energy X-ray absorbtiometry (DXA). BP was measured by standard procedures. FHCHD was reported by the parent on a questionnaire. Approximately 19% of the total sample was classified as overweight and almost 50% were classified as prehypertensive (22.4%) or hypertensive (24.8%). In the total sample, 21 of 27 correlations were significant and ranged from 0.03 to 0.52. Correlations for systolic blood pressure appeared to be stronger in female subjects. Most of the correlations for diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure were significant in both sexes and, in general, ranged between 0.30 and 0.50. Overweight status was significantly associated with high BP (crude odds ratio=3.65, 95% confidence intervals 1.40-9.49). There were no significant associations between a positive FHCHD and BP, and the correlations between BMI, WC, and BP were similar in magnitude in subjects with and without a FHCHD. In conclusion, both overall and central adiposity are important determinants of resting BP in young children. A FHCHD was not associated with BP and nor were the associations between adiposity and BP modified by a FHCHD.

High frequency of pro-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults with secondary leukemia with 11q23 abnormalities.

To evaluate the frequency and cytogenetic and immunophenotypic features of therapy-related, precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 152 cases of immature B-cell ALL were reviewed. These were compared to the frequency of therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML) during the same time period. Eight ALL cases with a prior diagnosis of malignancy were identified, including six (4.0%) with prior therapy considered to be therapy-related ALL (t-ALL). The t-ALL cases followed treatment for breast carcinoma (two cases), lung carcinoma (two cases), lymphocyte predominance Hodgkin's disease and follicular lymphoma with a latency period of 13 months to 8 years. All t-ALL cases had a pro-B (CD10-negative) immunophenotype with significantly higher expression of CD15 and CD65, compared to the de novo CD10-positive ALL cases. All six t-ALL cases had MLL abnormalities by fluorescence in situ hybridization, and four showed t(4;11)(q21;q23). These represented half of all 11q23-positive adult ALL cases. During the same time period, 4.9% of all AML cases were considered t-AML. There was a 16.7% frequency of 11q23 abnormalities in the t-AML group. Despite the similar frequency in therapy-related disease among ALL and AML cases, there were differences in the frequency of the diseases and t-ALL represented 12% of all therapy-related leukemias. However, t-ALL represented 46% of all 11q23-positive therapy-related leukemias. The immunogenetic features of t-ALL appear distinct and may aid in identifying more cases of this disease type in the future.

Production of IgG antibodies and enhanced response of nude mice to DNP-AE-dextran.

DNP-AE-dextran, prepared by the binding of DNP-epsilon-aminocaproyl residues to animoethylated dextran (predominantly alpha-1,6-linked), induced a T-independent anti-DNP antibody response in mice. However, certain differences were observed between the response to this antigen in normal andnude mice. Thus, the antibody titers of nu/nu mice from day 10 to 38 after immunization were significantly higher than those of nu/+ controls. Furthermore, DNP-AE-dextran induced a weak secondary response in nu/+ but not in nu/nu mice. For both thymusless and normal mice the production of IgG in addition to IgM antibodies to DNP-AE-dextran could be established. The former included antibodies of the IgG1 subclass which were considered to be particularly thymus dependent (1). The higher response of nu/nu mice was reflected mainly in the increased production of IgG antibodies. Under the influence of a graft-vs-host reaction, a 10-fold increase in antibody titers to DNP-AE-dextran was observed, due entirely to an enhanced IgG response.