Screening behavior of women after a false-positive mammogram.

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of a false-positive mammogram that leads to open surgical biopsy on subsequent screening mammography behavior in women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was performed with a retrospective cohort design, and data were collected by means of telephone interview. All participants were women aged at least 50 years, with no history of breast cancer. Study patients (n = 43) were women who had an abnormal mammogram followed within 6 months by benign excisional breast biopsy. Control subjects (n = 136) were randomly selected: They included women with a normal mammogram who had not undergone biopsy, as well as women with an abnormal mammogram and the recommendation to undergo 6-month follow-up mammography. RESULTS: Two differences between the study and control groups were statistically significant. Study patients were more likely than control patients to believe they had increased susceptibility to breast cancer (P = .039). Study patients were also more likely than control subjects to intend to undergo screening mammography annually in the future (P = .036). CONCLUSION: A false-positive mammogram that leads to open surgical biopsy does not inhibit most women from undergoing subsequent screening mammography. In fact, such an experience may increase their intentions to undergo regular screening.

The value of clinical findings in the detection of normal pressure hydrocephalus.

We conducted a retrospective study of 627 individuals with dementia to determine whether clinical characteristics could identify individuals with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) on computed tomography (CT) brain scanning. Fifty (8%) individuals had classical clinical characteristics of NPH: dementia, urinary incontinence, and gait disturbance. When this clinical trial was present, 12% of individuals had NPH on CT scan; when absent, only 3% had NPH. The clinical findings identified individuals with a 4-fold increase (p less than .001) of NPH on CT scan. Of the 50 individuals with the clinical trial, 6 had both clinical and CT scan findings consistent with NPH; 2 of these had shunt surgery, and 1 improved clinically. None of the 577 individuals without clinical findings had shunt surgery performed, including those with CT scan abnormalities consistent with NPH. We conclude that clinical characteristics can be used to identify individuals who need CT scanning for detection of NPH.

Observer error in systolic blood pressure measurement in the elderly. A case for automatic recorders?

Measurement of systolic blood pressure (BP) in the elderly can be inaccurate due to observer errors such as terminal digit preference and expectation bias. Efforts to reduce these errors include use of trained observers, random-zero sphygmomanometers, and automatic BP recorders. To evaluate the value of an infrasonic recorder, the infrasonde, we compared simultaneous systolic BP determinations obtained directly by intra-arterial measurements, and indirectly by a standard cuff-mercury sphygmomanometer using clinic nurses (casual and serial measurements), a trained physician assistant (PA), and the Infrasonde in 36 elderly hypertensive men. All the indirect measurements correlated positively with the direct measurement. A terminal digit preference for zero occurred more frequently in the casual and serial readings compared with the Infrasonde and PA cuff readings: 45% and 51% vs 21% and 22%, respectively. Our data suggest that the Infrasonde is a reliable, alternative device for systolic BP measurement that eliminates observer biases associated with standard cuff BP recordings.

Overestimation of diastolic blood pressure in the elderly. Magnitude of the problem and a potential solution.

Indirect sphygmomanometric blood pressure measurement is the established method of diagnosing and monitoring hypertension, but it may overestimate the true blood pressure in certain elderly patients leading to unnecessary or excessive treatment. The authors studied 36 elderly (aged 60 years or older) hypertensive men and compared direct intraarterial diastolic blood pressure (DBP) measurements with indirect DBP measurements obtained concurrently by a standard mercury sphygmomanometer and also by an automatic blood pressure recorder to: assess the presence and degree of overestimation of DBP by indirect cuff measurement, and evaluate an alternative noninvasive method. The difference between sphygmomanometric and intraarterial DBP was 10 mmHg or greater in 14 of 36 patients, whereas that between the automatic recorder and intraarterial DBP was 10 mmHg or greater in 14 of 36 patients, whereas the between the automatic recorder and intraarterial DBP was 10 mmHg or greater in only three of 36 patients (P less than 0.05). Fourteen patients (39%) had a DBP of greater than or equal to 90 mmHg by the mercury sphygmomanometer compared with five patients (14%) by intraarterial measurement (P less than 0.05); only seven patients (19%) had a DBP of greater than or equal to 90 mmHg by the automatic recorder (P = .7). Thus, in the authors' patient population: indirect sphygmomanometer overestimated the frequency of elevated DBP by nearly threefold compared with intraarterial measurements, and the automatic recorder closely approximated intraarterial values offering a more accurate, noninvasive measure of DBP in the elderly.

The role of lumbar puncture in the evaluation of dementia: the Durham Veterans Administration/Duke University Study.

The use of lumbar puncture (LP) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis in the routine, initial evaluation of patients with dementia continues to be questioned. This is especially true in the investigation of infectious causes of dementia. To explore this question further, the authors performed a retrospective analysis of 672 hospitalized patients specifically evaluated for dementia. LP and CSF analysis were performed on 402 patients (60 per cent); routine bacteriologic, acid-fast, and fungal cultures were also obtained for 333 of these patients. Most patients were white (64 per cent) and male (63 per cent), their mean age being 66 +/- 11 years. Four patients were diagnosed as having meningitis--two with Cryptococcus neoformans, one with apparent Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and one with coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus. These patients were characterized by a subacute change in mental status, fever or meningismus, and CSF pleocytosis with abnormal CSF chemistries. None of the patients were found to have newly diagnosed neurosyphilis. The authors conclude that LP and CSF analysis should not be part of the routine evaluation of patients with dementia and should be performed only in the presence of such indications as a subacute duration of dementia, fever, and signs of meningeal irritation.