[Clinical value of mammography, ultrasound and MR imaging during the first year after breast conserving therapy of breast cancer]. / Klinischer Stellenwert bildgebender Verfahren im ersten Jahr nach brusterhaltender Therapie des Mammakarzinoms.

PURPOSE: To compare the accuracy of lesion detection and characterization and to determine the agreement of observers, methods and timing of mammography (MX), ultrasound (US) and MR imaging (MRI) during the first year after breast conserving therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 20 patients diagnosed with breast cancer of stages equal or inferior to T2 N1bi M0 after breast conserving therapy and subsequent radiotherapy. Patients with any history of breast diseases in the affected or contralateral breast were excluded. Patients were examined before and at 3, 6 and 12 months after adjuvant radiotherapy with MX, US and dynamic MR mammography. Additional US and MRI were performed 3 months after radiotherapy. All 220 examinations were retrospectively read in a randomized order by two independent readers, blinded for the results of the other examinations. The outcome after 2.5 years of follow-up was used as gold standard. Histological examination was available in one case. Lesion detection and specificity were assessed including kappa values for different reliabilities between observers, timing and methods. The kappa values were used to characterize the degree of agreement as follows: > 0.8 very good; 0.6 - 0.8 good; 0.4 - 0.6 fair; 0.2 - 0.4 minimal; and < 0.2 negligible. RESULTS: Based on the interpretation of all available findings (clinical examination, MX, US, MRT and histology in one case), 20 patients observed for a mean period of 2.5 years had no evidence of intramammary recurrence. Therefore the sensitivity of the various methods could not be assessed. The reading of certainly no lesion was given by MRI in 43 %, by MX in 30 % and by US in 5 % of all examinations (p < 0.05). True negative findings were observed by MRI in 94.4 %, by MX in 90.4 % and by US in 82.5 %. Reliability between observers, timing and imaging methods was 0.496, 0.411, and 0.215 for lesion detection and 0.303, 0.282, and 0.030 for lesion characterization. CONCLUSION: Within the first year after breast conserving therapy, MRI was the most confident method for the exclusion of lesions and presented the highest true negative rate. The assessment of dignity of a particular lesion was difficult by all imaging methods, reflected by the weak agreement between observers, methods and timing. The difference between times of readings were marginal in the first year after therapy. Agreement between the different diagnostics methods was minimal to negligible.

[Radiologic-histopathologic correlation of microcalcifications from 11g vacuum biopsy: analysis of 3196 core biopsies]. / Radiologisch-histopathologische Korrelation von Mikrokalzifikationen in 11-G-Vakuumbiopsaten - eine Analyse von insgesamt 3196 Proben.

PURPOSE: To perform a statistical evaluation of microcalcifications (MC) from suspicious breast lesions detected by radiography and histopathology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Histological and radiological detection of calcifications were compared from 116 biopsies in 96 women. Lesions with identical description of calcifications detected in histopathology and radiography were considered concordant, patients with obvious discrepancies discordant. If histological and radiological groups of calcifications were identical in number but differed in location, the case was considered pseudo-concordant. RESULTS: Histopathology classified 24 of 116 lesions as malignant and 92 as benign. A total of 3196 core biopsies were examined, 851 of these contained groups of calcifications or single calcifications. Both modalities detected 579 calcifications, with 169 exclusively detected by radiography and 103 exclusively by histopathology. In 35 cases (30 %) radiologic and pathologic results were concordant, in 6 cases pseudo-concordant (4 %) and in 75 cases (65 %) discordant. The case-based Kappa coefficient was - 0.09 (- 0.24 to 0.07). The 122 calcifications not detected by histopathology were few or single calcifications at the edge of the core that were probably lost during processing, 18 were possible artefacts. Six cores contained calcium oxalate, 3 contained milk of calcium. In 6 cases malignant disease was found after the first examination, hence the cores were not searched thoroughly for the missing calcifications. In the remaining 14 cases, no calcifications were found despite complete processing of the tissue. In 49 of 103 cases of radiologically undetected microcalcifications, the retrospect analysis showed dense tissue areas that probably contained the calcification. The remaining 54 cases contained calcifications, which were too small to be detected radiologically. SUMMARY: Discordant results from pathological and radiological examinations of biopsies can mainly be explained by calcifications at the edge of the specimen lost during processing, which are therefore not detected in histopathology, and calcifications too small to be visualized radiologically.

The impact of progesterone receptor expression on relapse in the long-term clinical course of 93 benign meningiomas.

BACKGROUND: Previous clinicopathological observations have pointed towards an impact of progesterone receptor (PgR) expression on the clinical course of meningiomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: EXpression of PgR and the proliferation marker MIB-1 was assessed by immunohistochemistry in the primary tumours of 30 cases of benign, completely resected, recurrent meningiomas and compared with 63 cases of meningioma without recurrence for 14 or more years. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed a significantly higher risk for recurrence (odds ratio 3.533) for tumours with a low expression of PgR. A tendency for a higher risk for tumours with higher proliferation rate (odds ratio 6.889) was not significant. In 20 cases in which the primary tumour could be compared with its recurrence, no consistent changes of PgR expression were observed. CONCLUSION: Our findings support previous studies that found an association of low or absent expression of PgR with a higher risk of recurrence. This encourages attempts at a hormonal therapy for patients with PgR-positive meningioma.

[Not Available]. / Umfassendes Qualitätsmanagement in Klinikverbünden Bericht aus dem Demonstrationsprojekt "Qualitätsmanagement im Krankenhaus" (DemoProQM) : Bericht aus dem Demonstrationsprojekt "Qualitätsmanagement im Krankenhaus" (DemoProQM).

Within the demonstration project "Quality Management in Hospitals" (DemoProQM), 44 hospitals, organised in ten collaborative project groups, were supported by the German Ministry of Health from 1998 to 2001 in their methods for implementing total quality management. Their activities were monitored and evaluated by a staff of scientists and experts in the field. The main intention of the DemoProQM project was the implementation of quality management with special attention to patients and staff concerns, including all professions, hierarchies and hospital units. The second objective was to show other hospitals successful methods of implementing quality management and to demonstrate its benefits with special regards to the aspects of quality, economy and competition. To achieve these aims, the participating hospitals created adequate quality management structures and defined a quality policy as well as quality goals. In quality improvement projects, interprofessional teams tried to achieve these quality goals using the well-known methods of quality management. The successes and problems experienced by the participating hospitals are reported below.

Urinary bladder biopsies in spinal cord injured patients.

STUDY DESIGN: A series of 94 urinary bladder biopsies in spinal cord injured (SCI) patients were histopathologically and statistically analysed. OBJECTIVES: The following hypotheses were examined: (1) The number of clinical bladder infections per year in each patient does not influence the histopathological type of inflammation of the urinary bladder; (2) The duration of the spinal cord lesion does not have a strong effect on the type of inflammation; (3) The different neurological levels (upper and lower motor neuron lesions) do not relate to a specific histopathology. SETTINGS: All patients received their treatment at the Swiss Paraplegic Centre in Nottwil, near Lucerne (Switzerland). METHODS: The samples were taken from the bladder fundus during endoscopic urologic operations. Histopathological standard procedures were carried out. Statistical analysis including Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-square tests were performed. RESULTS: Histopathological analysis showed abnormal alterations of the urinary bladder mucosa in 86 SCI-patients: (91.5%). 63 cases (67.0%) showed a chronic type and 23 cases (24.5%) showed a subacute type of inflammation. A normal urinary bladder was found in eight cases (8.5%). The three hypotheses were statistically not rejected. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrated no correlation between the number of bladder infections per year, the period since injury, the neurologic level of the spinal cord lesion and the histopathology of the urinary bladder mucosa.

Bronchodilatory effects of salbutamol, ipratropium bromide, and their combination: double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study in cystic fibrosis.

The efficacy of inhaled sympathomimetic and anticholinergic agents on airway obstruction in cystic fibrosis (CF) has been proven in several studies. However, studies comparing combined therapy with monotherapy led to divergent results, probably due to different study designs, different dosages, and the small numbers of patients investigated. Therefore, we wanted to answer the question which inhalation has the best short term effect: a sympathomimetic or an anticholinergic agent, or the combination of both. We investigated 17 patients with CF on 4 successive days in the morning, using pulmonary function testing before and 30 min after inhalation. Each patient received aerosolized salbutamol (SB, maximum dose (max.) 2.5 mg), ipratropium bromide (IB, max. 0.5 mg), the combination of both, or placebo (normal saline) in a randomized, double-blind crossover design. The mean forced expiratory volume in the first second improved significantly (adjusted P-value < 0.017) after each treatment compared to placebo. Analysis of variance showed that SB and combination therapy with SB and IB were superior to IB alone, without significant difference between SB and combination therapy. Response of a patient to combined therapy was usually associated with response to SB. Long-term efficacy and side effects of treatment with bronchodilators still remain to be investigated after this short term study. We conclude that in CF patients bronchodilator therapy with sympathomimetic agents is usually sufficient. Only in cases with proven additional benefit from inhalation by anticholinergics should combination therapy be recommended.

Mortality after total knee arthroplasty in patients with osteoarthrosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a widely used procedure in the treatment of severe destruction of the knee joint because of osteoarthrosis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to explore whether there is an increased mortality in patients after TKA with the underlying diagnosis OA or RA compared with the general population. We studied a consecutive series of 422 primary TKAs with a hinged Blauth prosthesis in 330 patients (OA: 208 patients, 175 women, 33 men; RA: 122 patients, 109 women, 13 men) with a mean follow-up of 6 years (range 0-20 years). The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 70 years (range 29-87 years), being 72 years (range 46-87 years) for OA, and 66 years (range 29-84 years) for RA. Age standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for OA and RA. In patients with OA, the SMR was 1.03 (95% CI 0.76-1.37) for women and 1.14 (95% CI 0.68-1.80) for men. SMRs of patients suffering from RA showed a clear shortening of the life span (women: 2.92, 95% CI 2.17-3.85; men: 3.09, 95% CI 1.0-7.19). In spite of the risk of intra- and perioperative complications and further operative procedures necessary because of late complications, the implantation of a knee prosthesis per se does not necessarily significantly reduce the life expectancy in patients with OA. Patients with RA who require the implantation of a total knee prosthesis obviously represent a high-risk group with a high mortality rate.

An accurate method for sonographic estimation of the weight of very preterm fetuses.

This study was undertaken to test the accuracy of formulas we recently developed for the sonographic estimation of the weight of very preterm fetuses. The formulas were used to determine estimated weights from prenatal sonographic data for 62 premature infants born at 23-29 weeks of gestation, weight < or = 1,400 g. The mean absolute deviation of the actual birth weight from the estimated weight was 75.8 +/- (SD) 68.5 g, the mean percent deviation +0.60% and the absolute mean percent deviation 8.1 +/- (SD) 5.6%; 90.3% of the birth weights lay within 15% of the estimated weight. The model described represents an accurate method for prenatal estimation of the weight of very preterm fetuses.

A new formula for prenatal ultrasonographic weight estimation in extremely preterm fetuses.

A new formula for the prenatal estimation of the weight of extremely preterm fetuses was derived using ultrasound measurements and birth weights of 73 premature infants delivered before 30 completed weeks of pregnancy and weighing between 400 and 1,680 g at birth. The actual birth weight lay within +/- 15% of the estimated weight calculated with this formula in 92% of the cases. Preliminary testing of the reliability of the formula was performed on a further test group of 19 nonselected cases. The formula developed in this study offers a reliable and simple method of prenatal estimation of fetal weight between 23 and 30 weeks of gestation.

Simple computer-assisted diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in patients with acute thoracic pain.

In order to minimize the initial diagnostic uncertainty in patients suspected of having acute myocardial infarction, we prospectively extracted predictive variables from previous history, ECG, and clinical chemical parameters of 87 patients, who were admitted for acute thoracic pain. The variables thus extracted were: Thoracic pain in previous history, duration of pain, white blood cell count, blood glucose, creatine-kinase, and S-T elevation in the ECG. These parameters were used for formulating a mathematical model based upon univariate and multivariate statistical methods. The sensitivity of the model in the study population was 95% and the specificity 77%. Correct classification was achieved in 89% of cases. In a second phase, the prognostic index was prospectively evaluated in a second set of 122 consecutive patients. In this test population, the sensitivity was 89% and the specificity 86%. 87% of patients were classified correctly.

[Quality assurance exemplified by perinatology and surgery]. / Qualitätssicherung am Beispiel der Perinatologie und Chirurgie.

Quality assurance encompasses all activities which are necessary to obtain a demanded quality of medical care. Typically, a quality assurance process ("monitoring- and evaluation-process") includes the following steps: systematic observation of quality of medical care using quality indicators, assessment of quality by comparison with standards and recognizing problems, analysis of the most important problem, realization of appropriate problem solving strategies and evaluation, if the problem is successfully solved through the corrective action. The quality assurance programs in perinatology and surgery--established in all the states of the Federal Republic of Germany--support the hospitals in the application of this quality assurance process. Uniform documentation and preparation of quality relevant information (lists of complications, profiles, charts, etc.) help the hospitals to perform a self-evaluation, to recognize problems and to verify the elimination of the problems. Hence, comparisons with local results and with results of other hospitals are possible.

Delivery of very premature infants: does the caesarean section rate relate to mortality, morbidity, or long-term outcome?

A retrospective analysis of obstetric factors influencing mortality and morbidity of very premature infants (1500 g, less than or equal to 32 weeks' gestation) was undertaken. The study included 275 such infants born in the Department of Obstetrics of the University of Tübingen during the period January 1977 to June 1987. The caesarean section rate of very preterm infants increased from 28% during the period 1977-1982 to 87% during the period 1982-1987 (P less than 0.005), accompanied by an increase in survival rate from 63% to 70%. The improvement in survival rate was statistically significant for the group with birth weight 751-1000 g (P less than 0.01). The overall mortality rate was 31% after caesarean section and 36% after vaginal delivery. Amongst the causes of death of the non-survivors, acidosis was more frequent and amniotic infection syndrome less frequent in the infants delivered vaginally than in those delivered abdominally. The proportion of children with normal development at two years of age was significantly (P less than 0.02) greater amongst those born in 1982-1987 than in those born in 1977-1981. The interpretation of these findings is by no means clear but must include the hypothesis that the increased caesarean section rate may be incidental and in no way related to the improved outcome.

[Intelligence structure of hyperkinetic children: comparative study of 2,229 profiles of the Hamburg Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children]. / Die Intelligenzstruktur hypermotorischer Kinder: Vergleichende Untersuchung an 2229 HAWIK-Profilen.

A retrospective evaluation of the HAWIK (Hamburg-Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children) test profiles of 2229 children with hyperkinetic syndrome and/or minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) was used in a group comparison in order to contribute to the question whether the hyperkinetic syndrome can be regarded as an autonomous syndrome apart from MBD or not. A total collective of 3 groups were compared: a) hyperkinetic children without MBD, b) hyperkinetic children who were found to suffer from MBD, c) children admitted with the diagnosis of MBD with no symptoms of hyperactivity. The mean values and graphics showed differences in the test profiles of groups a) and c). As for the boys, there were clear differences between hyperkinetic boys with MBD, and boys with MBD without hyperactivity; the mean values were significantly lower in this group. The test results confirm the supposition that hyperkinesis does not increase the disabilities ("Leistungsschwäche") caused by MBD but to a certain extent rather affords a certain means of compensation- at least in the test situation. We can also assume that the incidence of minimal brain dysfunction differs in boys and girls.

Hospital information systems and quality assurance.

Hospital information systems may contribute in different ways to quality assurance activities such as assessing the quality of primary care, monitoring quality indicators, supporting clinical care evaluation studies, and auditing concurrently the ongoing process of care using reminders or decision support techniques. Examples of effective contributions are given. However, to meet all requests of quality assurance in real-world settings many efforts developing new technologies will still be necessary.

[Function of the right ventricle in patients with mitral valve diseases]. / Funktion des rechten Ventrikels bei Patienten mit Mitralvitien.

To investigate right ventricular function in mitral valve disease, biplane cineventriculograms of the right and left ventricle were performed in 96 patients-35 with mitral stenosis, 26 with mitral regurgitation, 12 with combined mitral valve disease, 14 with mitral stenosis and tricuspid regurgitation, and nine with mitral regurgitation and tricuspid regurgitation, compared to 18 normals (N). Right ventricular enddiastolic volume index was moderately elevated in patients with mitral stenosis and concomitant tricuspid regurgitation (111.6 +/- 35.3 ml/m2, no significance compared to N: 95.9 +/- 21.8 ml/m2) and with mitral regurgitation and tricuspid regurgitation (107.9 +/- 45.1 ml/m2, no significance compared to N). A reduced right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF less than or equal to 50%) was found in 40 of the 96 patients. Right ventricular ejection fraction was frequently reduced in patients with mitral regurgitation and tricuspid regurgitation (46.7% +/- 15.1%) and significantly reduced in patients with combined mitral valve disease (45.0 +/- 17.6%, compared to N: 58.0 +/- 7.1%, p less than 0.01). No significant correlations were found between right ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular enddiastolic volume or left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with mitral valve disease. Moreover, right ventricular ejection fraction did not correlate with systolic pulmonary artery pressure, mean pulmonary artery pressure or mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. Local wall motion (mean systolic shortening) was determined for the anterior, anteroapical, and inferior segment in the RAO-projection and for the right ventricular free wall in the LAO-projection. 63% of the patients (n = 25) with reduced right ventricular function (RVEF less than of equal to 50%) showed local wall motion abnormalities, preferably in the anterior segment of the RAO- projection (48%) and the right ventricular free wall (30%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)