One balloon, one stent: an effective cost-containment strategy for elective stent deployment.

A cost-containment strategy to reduce stent procedure-related resources utilizing an integrated system comprised of a Stablizer guide wire, a Brite-Tip guiding catheter, and a single Titan balloon catheter for both lesion predilatation and poststent deployment was compared to a conventional strategy utilizing a nonintegrated guide wire, guiding catheter, and balloon components. Both groups were comparable with respect to demographics, number of lesions stented, and stents deployed per lesion. No differences in lesion length or pre- and poststent minimal luminal diameter were observed. Balloon use was significantly reduced using the integrated strategy when compared to the conventional strategy (1.3 +/- 0.5 vs. 2.1 +/- 1.1; P < 0.01); overall nonstent-related resource utilization was significantly reduced ($747 +/- $401 vs. $1,093 +/- $467; P < 0.01). Procedural success rates were identical in both groups (100%), and no patient sustained subacute stent thrombosis or required target vessel revascularization at 1 mo follow-up. We conclude that the use of a single Titan balloon catheter as part of an integrated cost-containment strategy for both lesion predilatation and poststent deployment results in considerable cost savings while maintaining high procedural and clinical success rates.

A baseline study on mental disorders in Guiné-Bissau.

Adults attending general health facilities in Guiné-Bissau were screened for the presence of mental disorder; minimum estimate of definite mentally ill cases was found to be 12%. The proportion correctly identified by general health workers was low: only one of every three patients with a mental disorder was recognised and of every 100 non-cases 12 patients were wrongly diagnosed by the health worker as suffering from psychiatric illness. On the basis of these results health workers are now being taught how to detect mental illness.