Autoimmune Diseases and Oral Health: 30-Year Follow-Up of a Swedish Cohort.

Oral infections up-regulate a number of systemic inflammatory reactions that, in turn, play a role in the development of systemic diseases. We investigated the association between oral health and autoimmune diseases in a cohort of Swedish adults. Hypothesis was that poor oral health associates with incidence of autoimmune diseases. Overall 1676 subjects aged 30-40 years old from Stockholm County (Sweden) participated in this study in 1985. Subjects were randomly selected from the registry file of Stockholm region and were followed-up for 30 years. Their hospital and open health care admissions (World Health Organization ICD 9 and 10 codes) were recorded from the Swedish national health registers. The association between the diagnosed autoimmune disease and the oral health variables were statistically analyzed. In all, 50 patients with autoimmune diagnoses were detected from the data. Plaque index was significantly higher in the autoimmune disease group (≥median 35 (70%) vs. ˂median 872 (54%), p = 0.030). No statistical difference was found in gingival index, calculus index, missing teeth, periodontal pockets, smoking or snuff use between patients with and without autoimmune disease. Our study hypothesis was partly confirmed. The result showed that subjects with a higher plaque index, marker of poor oral hygiene, were more likely to develop autoimmune diseases in 30 years.

Inter-observer agreement of paranasal sinus computed tomography scans.

CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated considerable inter-observer variation in certain surgically important structures. This would indicate the significance for consultation when evaluating sinus CT scans of CRS patients for planned advanced sinus surgery. OBJECTIVES: After the failure of medical treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), the need for surgery and the pre-operative planning of safe surgery is based on computed tomography (CT) findings. The aim of this prospective study was to compare inter-observer agreement of anatomical and surgical structures of sinus CT scans. The hypothesis was that the agreement between observers is good. METHODS: Of these 57 CRS patients, Lund-Mackay (LM) scores and 43 other structural parameters were analyzed blinded. The reproducibility of the findings between three observers, a radiologist, an Ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon, and an ENT resident, were compared. RESULTS: In general, there was moderate inter-observer agreement of the structures by Cohen's kappa coefficient. Poor reproducibility was observed in the following structures: optic nerve, insertion of the uncinated process, anterior ethmoidal artery, and Keros class.

Antidepressant or Antipsychotic Overdose in the Intensive Care Unit - Identification of Patients at Risk.

It is often advised that patients who have ingested an overdose of antidepressants (AD) or antipsychotics (AP) are monitored with continuous ECG for minimum of 12-24 hr. These patients are often observed in an ICU. Our aim was to identify the number of patients with AD and/or AP overdose without adverse signs at hospital admission that turned out to need intensive care treatment. The effect of the antidepressants overdose risk assessment (ADORA) system was evaluated in patients with antidepressant as well as antipsychotic overdose. Our hypothesis was that patients with low ADORA do not need intensive care treatment. This retrospective study was conducted in adult patients admitted to the ICU at Odense University Hospital after an overdose with AP and/or AD between 1 January 2009 and 1 September 2014. Patients with predefined adverse signs in the emergency department were excluded due to obvious need of intensive care. Of the 157 patients included, 12 patients (8%) developed events during the ICU stay. Only 3 patients received intubation, vasoactive drugs and/or dialysis. None developed ventricular dysrhythmias. There were no fatalities. All the patients with low-risk assessment by ADORA within the first 6 hr did not develop events within the first 24 hr after hospital admission. The vast majority of patients with AD and/or AP overdose and no adverse signs at admission did not require intensive care treatment. Low-risk ADORA identified patients with antidepressant as well as antipsychotic overdose who would not require initial intensive care treatment. This is the first time the ADORA system has been evaluated in patients with antidepressant as well as antipsychotic overdose.