Clinician-teachers’ self-assessments versus learners’ perceptions

Understanding how clinician-teachers’ self-assessments compare to learners’ impressions can serve to help educators place each of these evaluations in the appropriate context. Past participants of the Johns Hopkins Faculty Development Program and other physician-teachers were surveyed in 2002 regarding their teaching skills and behaviors. We surveyed their learners to compare teacher and learner assessments of teaching proficiency, behaviors, enjoyment, and career satisfaction. In each area, learners’ ratings were statistically significantly higher than their teachers’ self-ratings. Though it is unclear whether teachers’ or learners’ assessments are a more accurate reflection of the truth, the more positive learner ratings should promote self-confidence in clinician-educators regarding their teaching abilities. This paper was presented at the Society of General Internal Medicine’s National Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 29 to May 5, 2003, as “A Comparison of Teachers’ Self-assessments with Learners’ Perceptions.”     

Laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy via a reverse-’’V’’ approach with four ports:Initial experience and perioperative outcomes

AIM:To evaluate the feasibility,safety,and efficacy of laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy(LPD) using a reverse-“V” approach with four ports.METHODS:This is a retrospective study of selected patients who underwent LPD at our center between April 2011 and April 2012.The following data were collected and reviewed:patient characteristics,tumor histology,surgical outcome,resection margins,morbidity,and mortality.All patients were thoroughly evaluated preoperatively by complete hematologic investigations,triple-phase helical computed tomography,upper gastrointestinal endoscopy,and biopsy of ampullary lesions(when present).Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography was performed for doubtful cases of lower common bile duct lesions.RESULTS:There was no perioperative mortality.LPD was performed with tumor-free margins in all patients,including patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(n = 6),ampullary carcinoma(n = 6),intra-ductal papillary mucinous neoplasm(n = 2),pancreatic cystadenocarcinoma(n = 2),pancreatic head adenocarcinoma(n = 3),and bile duct cancer(n = 2).The mean patient age was 65 years(range,42-75 years).The median blood loss was 240 m L,and the mean operative time was 368 min.CONCLUSION:LPD using a reverse-“V” approach can be performed safely and yields good results in elective patients.Our preliminary experience showed that LDP can be performed via a reverse-“V” approach.This approach can be used to treat localized malignant lesions irrespective of histopathology.     

Legionnaires’ Disease

Infection with Legionella spp. is an important cause of serious community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia, occurring sporadically and in outbreaks. Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease have recently received considerable media attention, and some factors indicate that the problem will increase in future. Infection with Legionella spp. ranks among the three most common causes of severe pneumonia in the community setting, and is isolated in 1–40% of cases of hospital-acquired pneumonia. Underdiagnosis and underreporting are high. Only 2–10% of estimated cases are reported. Detection of a single case should not be considered an isolated sporadic event, but rather indicative of unrecognized cases.There are no clinical features unique to Legionnaires’ disease; however, suspicion should be raised by epidemiologic information commensurate with the diagnosis and the presence of headache, confusion, hyponatremia, elevated creatine kinase and/or severe pneumonia. An arterial oxygen partial pressure <60mm Hg on presentation and progression of pulmonary infiltrates despite appropriate antibacterial therapy should always alert clinicians to this cause.Macrolides, fluoroquinolones and rifampin (rifampicin) are the most widely used drugs in treatment. Fluoroquinolones or azithromycin are the treatment of choice in immunosuppressed patients and those with severe pneumonia. Incorporation of the legionella urinary antigen test in emergency departments in hospitals and progressive improvement in this test will, in the near future, permit appropriate diagnosis and treatment of this frequent, sometimes severe, illness.     

Patients’ perspective: lupus in patients’ drawings

This is the first report from a qualitative research on lupus patients' perspective expressed in the disease drawings. The aim of the study was to examine the variety of ways of illness perception and experiences among systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. The goal was also to assess the utility of drawing as an unconventional research method as well as a therapeutic means. Participants were 38 women with SLE. Patients attended 'My life' courses addressed to the lupus patients held in 2000-2002. During the psychological group sessions, subjects were asked to draw their disease and then to comment on their pictures. There were no time limits. The participants were ensured that their drawing abilities had no meaning. Despite initial hesitation, all of the patients drew their pictures. This report presents three lupus patients' drawings. Analysis of disease pictures reveals that they are the priceless source of information on patients' perspective and make many dimensions of living with the disease uncovered, especially psychological. This unconventional, nonverbal method allows patient to know and realize one's emotions and feelings. From health professionals' point of view, the advantage of drawing as a research method is the possibility of gaining much information that cannot be gained from interview or traditional tests alone. Drawing is a 'good beginning' to talk, it makes the patients open up to share their emotions, views, and experiences. Thus, it can be the useful therapeutic method. It can also prevent health professionals from schematization in approach to the patients with the same diagnosis.     

Legionnaires’肺炎

Legionnaires′肺炎是近年来逐渐受到注意的一种急性呼吸道传染病。首先 Fraser 报导在美国 Philadelphia,PennsylVania 举行美国退伍军团集会(American Legion Convention1976)时,与会代表四千多人中,发生的一次肺炎暴发性流行,累及一百多人,故取名Legionnaires′病(军团病),Legionnaires′肺炎是军团病的一种类型。随后 Chandler 通过动物实验和分离培养,发现致病菌是一种以往不认识的 Gram 阴性杆菌。根据血清学的回顾性调查,认为本病自1965年起已有多次流行。Eickhoff 和 Cordes 综合至1979年的资     

Patients’ Beliefs and Preferences Regarding Doctors’ Medication Recommendations

Background An estimated 20–50% of patients do not take medications as recommended. Accepting a doctor’s recommendation is the first step in medication adherence, yet little is known about patients’ beliefs and preferences about how medications are prescribed. Objective To explore patients’ beliefs and preferences about medication prescribing to understand factors that might affect medication adherence. Methods Fifty members from 2 health plans in Massachusetts participated in in-depth telephone interviews. Participants listened to an audio-vignette of a doctor prescribing a medication to a patient and were asked a series of questions related to the vignette. Responses were reviewed in an iterative process to identify themes related to participants’ beliefs and preferences about medication prescribing. Results Participants’ beliefs and preferences about medication prescribing encompassed 3 major areas: patient–doctor relationships, outside influences, and professional expertise. Important findings included participants’ concerns about the pharmaceutical industry’s influence on doctors’ prescribing practices and beliefs that there is a clear “best” medication for most health problems. Conclusions Patients’ beliefs and preferences about medication prescribing may affect medication adherence. Additional empiric studies that explore whether doctors’ relationships with pharmaceutical representatives impact medication adherence by affecting trust are indicated. In addition, it would be worthwhile to explore whether discussions between patients and doctors regarding equipoise (no clear scientific evidence for 1 treatment choice over another) affect medication adherence. Presented at the Annual HMO Research Network Meeting Portland, OR March 21, 2007.     

Crohn’s disease: a patient’s perspective

Aim As healthcare providers for Crohn’s disease, we assume that we have a good understanding of the disease progression and its symptoms. The aim of this study was to gather information about what patients with Crohn’s disease think are relevant to their symptoms and what helps them cope with this lifelong benign disease. Materials and methods A questionnaire was sent to all patients with a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease seen in the Digestive Disease Center in the last 5 years. The returned forms were downloaded into a database and sent for analysis. Results Sixty-two percent of respondents were female. One third were between the ages of 35 and 50 years. Seventy percent were married. Thirty-eight percent had a graduate degree, 19% were unemployed. Fifty percent still smoked, half of them less than one pack a day. Sixty-eight percent said that their symptoms affected work, and one fourth changed jobs due to this. Foods worsened symptoms in 60%, with a decrease in symptoms while on low fiber foods and white meats. Lifestyle change worsened symptoms in 66%. A change in the caregiver was not a significant stressor. More than half used Remicade, with one third stating that it was helpful. Eight percent had never used steroids. Alcohol increased symptoms in 40%. Factors that did not cause a significant change were children at any age, pregnancy, menopause, and hormone replacement therapy. Surgery caused half the patients to improve for many years, although one third felt a lowered self-esteem postoperatively. Conclusion Patients with Crohn’s disease should be managed in a more comprehensive manner to provide optimal care. Thus, a team approach that includes a dietician and counselor should be considered as an integral part of this team. This will allow patients to have enhanced skills to cope with changes in their symptoms, whether they are due to the disease itself or the changes in their routine.     

La mesure du monoxyde d’azote dans l’air expiré chez l’enfant

If it can be confirmed that variations in the level of nitric oxide (NO) in expired air tells us something about the different physiological processes in which this molecule is involved (bronchomotor, vasomotor, immunoregulation), then we will have available a non-invasive technique that would be useful in conditions as varied as asthma, sickle cell anemia, mucoviscidosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension. This technique can be used routinely to the analysis of the concentration of NO in a single expired breath. However, analysis of the concentration of NO in several expired breaths, which is possible from the age of 8–9 years, also makes it possible, using a method that is now standardized, to determine the bronchial production of NO and its alveolar concentration, thus providing a method for differentiating the respective contribution of these two compartments. Other techniques now being developed should soon allow us to calculate even more precisely events during normal ventilation, which will then allow us to make these measurements in babies, in young children, and in patients on artificial ventilation. The aim of this present paper is to discuss the theoretical basis and the techniques of these different approaches.     

L’hypo-albuminémie contribue-t-elle à l’aggravation de l’insuffisance cardiaque ?

BackgroundHypoalbuminemia has now emerged as a powerful prognosticator in heart failure regardless of age, clinical presentation, left ventricular ejection fraction and usual prognostic markers. Growing evidence is that this prognostic value persists after adjusting for causative factors for hypoalbuminemia such as malnutrition, inflammation and liver dysfunction.ObjectiveTo address the prognostic relevance of hypoalbuminemia in frail elderly patients with well-characterized cardiogenic pulmonary edema at high risk for adverse outcome, beyond causative factors for low serum albumin levels. Serum albumin was measured after clinical stabilization to avoid hypervolemia.ResultsIn all, 67 patients with a mean age of 86 years were included. Hospital mortality was 30%. Patients who died and who survived were similar in age, ejection fraction, BNP concentration, serum creatinine, serum hemoglobin, total bilirubin and prealbumin. Patients who died had lower serum albumin levels (P < 0.001), higher blood urea nitrogen (P = 0.03) and higher C-reactive protein (P = 0.02). In multivariate analysis, serum albumin was the sole independent predictor of hospital death (P < 0.01), after adjusting for malnutrition (prealbumin P = ns), inflammation (C-reactive protein P = ns) and liver dysfunction (total bilirubin P = ns).ConclusionSerum albumin is a powerful prognosticator in frail elderly patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema even after adjusting for main causative factors. These results suggest that hypoalbuminemia may contribute to the worsening of heart failure given the physiological properties of serum albumin that includes antioxidant activity and plasma colloid osmotic pressure action. Further studies are critically needed to address the relevance of prevention and correction of hypoalbuminemia in heart failure.     

Cushing’s disease

Cushing’s disease, i.e., pituitary ACTH-secreting adenoma causing excess glucocorticoid secretion, is a rare disease with significant mortality and morbidity. Timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment can alter the course of the disease and are therefore mandatory. First step of the diagnostic work-up is the endogenous glucocorticoid excess by measurement of urinary free cortisol, cortisol circadian rhythmicity or suppression by low doses of dexamethasone. In patients with equivocal results, second line tests, such as the dexamethasone-suppressed CRH test and desmopressin stimulation, usually enable the diagnosis to be confirmed. Measurement of plasma ACTH then allows the distinction between ACTH-dependent (e.g., pituitary or extrapituitary neuroendocrine tumors) and ACTH-independent causes (e.g., adrenal tumors). The last step in the diagnostic algorhythm is often the most fraught with problems as the distinction between Cushing’s disease and ectopic ACTH secretion relies on judicious interpretation of several diagnostic procedures. Positive responses to stimulation with CRH and inhibition by high doses of dexamethasone, if concurrent, enable a pituitary origin to be established whereas conflicting results call for inferior petrosal sinus sampling, the latter to be performed in experienced centres only. Visualisation of the tumor at pituitary imaging is helpful but not required for the diagnosis, as microadenomas often remain undectected by MRI and/or CT scan and, on the other hand, visualisation of a non-secreting incidentaloma may be misleading. Surgical removal of the pituitary tumor is the optimal treatment choice and should be attempted in every patient. Surgical failures as well as relapses can be treated by radiotherapy, medical therapy or, if necessary, bilateral adrenalectomy. Finally, patients cured of Cushing’s disease require long-term monitoring given the risk of relapse and clinical burden of associated ailments.