Nitroimidazoles have been shown to be the drugs of choice to treat women with bacterial vaginosis, but the recurrence rate is high. Some workers have suggested that the recurrence of symptoms may in fact be reinfection by male consorts, but no controlled studies have been undertaken to confirm this. In an international, multicentre, randomised, double blind trial, the recurrence rate was studie...

Breast cancer risk increases with age and about a third of female breast cancers are diagnosed in patients aged older than 70. Breast cancer in the elderly has, however, poorer outcome with lower survival rate compared to younger subjects. This may be partly explained by the delay in diagnosis and the 'under-treatment' of elderly breast cancer patients. In this review I try to provide recommend...

In the past, most brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) announced their presence by hemorrhage (70% at diagnosis), sometimes devastating, with important long-term morbidity and elevated case-fatality (combined 10-year morbidity and mortality: 27%).1 Such figures seemed ample justification for any invasive treatment attempt, either partially or in toto. However, these assumptions are largely ...

AIMS The aim of this study was to assess public preferences on sources of help and treatment, and perception of prognosis for alcohol dependence. METHOD A household survey was administered in 2002 to a probabilistic sample of 500 individuals, all residents of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, with ages ranging from 18 to 65. A vignette in colloquial language describing an individual with alcohol...

KEY POINTS Habit cough is most commonly characterised by a repetitive loud barking cough that persists for prolonged periods.The cough interferes with normal activity and substantially decreases the quality of life.The sine qua non is the total absence of this troublesome cough once asleep.The age distribution ranges from 4 years to late adolescence, with 85% of cases occurring from 8 to 14 yea...

The laparoscopic excision of ovarian endometriomas appears to increase the chances of spontaneous conception, but the value of this treatment in women selected for IVF-ICSI cycles is debated. Studies recruiting women with unilateral disease and comparing ovarian responsiveness in the affected and contralateral intact gonads indicate that excision of endometriomas is associated with a quantitati...

The search is on for meaningful psychopharmacological and cognitive/behavioral interventions for neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Findings in this area are emerging rapidly, and in the absence of integrating frameworks, they are destined to emerge chaotically. Clear guidelines for testing neurocognitive interventions and interpreting results are critical at this early stage. In this ar...

TO THE EDITOR: Incorrect items or errors and gross mistakes or blunders in textbooks occasionally appear and are usually quickly detected and attended to. However, some blunders persist uncorrected for long periods. More than 100 years ago, Goode (1) stated, “It has been interesting to me for a number of years to notice how easily a blunder may be paraded and handed on from book to book in high...