Disability retirement among former employees at the construction of the Great Belt Link.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate incidences of disability retirement among men who had been employed at the construction of a large traffic link in Denmark, which involved long working hours and long distances between home and work place. METHODS: Men aged 20-54 years at baseline who had been engaged in the construction of the Great Belt Link (n = 5882) were followed-up for disability retirements from 1996 to 2000. Age-standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated and compared with those of other construction workers (n = 117,157). All economically active men in Denmark were used as the standard population. RESULTS: The SIRs for the two groups were 2.29 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.95-2.67) and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.93-1.03), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The Great Belt construction workers had an elevated risk for disability retirement compared with other construction workers and with economically active men in general.

Metacarpal bone measurements in renal transplant recipients, in corticosteroid-treated patients with polymyalgia rheumatica and in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism.

Quantitative radiological measurements on the second left metacarpal bone were carried out in 23 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, 22 corticosteroid-treated patients with polymyalgia rheumatica and 40 renal transplant recipients treated with prednisone and azathioprine. Women with primary hyperparathyroidism and corticosteroid-treated women showed significantly decreased mean values of metacarpal bone compared to normal controls, probably due to a higher bone resorption than formation at the endosteal surface. Bone loss was more pronounced in corticosteroid-treated women than in women with primary hyperparathyroidism, partly due to age difference. In renal transplant recipients, bone loss took place during the initial period after renal transplantation, probably due to increased endosteal bone resorption. During this period a periosteal new bone formation took place in female renal transplant recipients. The quantitative radiological measurements make it possible to determine whether bone loss is due to a higher ratio of bone resorption than of bone formation at the periosteal and/or endosteal surface.

Familial cranial diabetes insipidus: a report of five families. Genetic, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects.

Five families were studied in which cranial diabetes insipidus occurred. In the pedigrees presented, the disease clearly followed an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. Linkage analysis was performed in one large family by calculating lod scores for linkage between loci for cranial diabetes insipidus and 18 polymorphic markers and chromosome heteromorphisms. No significant genetic linkage was found and only one of the polymorphic markers gave a positive hint of linkage. A water deprivation test was performed in nine patients from three of the families and in healthy control subjects. The plasma concentration of arginine vasopressin was very low or undetectable in the patients, and unlike the control subjects did not increase significantly during water deprivation. Arginine vasopressin and serum osmolality (Sosm) were significantly positively correlated in the controls, but not in the patients. The results indicated that an arginine vasopressin-level lower than 2 pg/ml strongly suggests a diagnosis of cranial diabetes insipidus if at the same time Sosm is higher than 295 mosmol/kg. Studies with different intranasal dosages of 1-deamino-D-arginine-vasopressin (DDAVP) given once or twice a day showed that 20 micrograms effectively reduced urinary output and that administration once a day could be sufficient.

Prolonged severe cholestasis induced by oxacillin derivatives. A report on two cases.

Two patients with osteomyelitis who developed reversible cholestatic jaundice during treatment with oxacillin derivatives are described. The clinical course as well as the biochemical pattern and the investigation of liver biopsy specimens enabled us to establish the diagnoses of drug-induced canalicular and hepatocanalicular cholestasis.