BACKGROUND Health care databases provide a widely used source of data for health care research, but their accuracy remains uncertain. We analyzed data from the 1985 National DRG Validation Study, which carefully reabstracted and reassigned ICD-9-CM diagnosis and procedure codes from a national sample of 7050 medical records, to determine whether coding accuracy had improved since the Institute ...

The Timed "Up & Go" (TUG) is a representative mobility test for assessing the falling risk of the elderly. Although several tests have been developed, including the TUG, these do not include a "tripping" element, and tripping is a major cause of falling. This study examined the influence of various obstacle heights on test performance in the TUG test and test-retest reliability. Twenty-two heal...

Doppler ultrasound was used to measure left renal artery blood flow velocity and pulsatility index on the first, third, and seventh day of postnatal life in 18 very low birthweight small for gestational age (SGA) infants. The values were compared with those from 18 weight matched and 18 gestation matched controls. SGA infants had significantly lower blood flow velocity than their gestation matc...

Chiari malformations (CM) are a group of posterior fossa abnormalities affecting the cerebellum, brainstem and the spinal cord. An in-depth understanding of the radiological findings is highly imperative for the early accurate diagnosis of CM in the developing fetus and the adult alike. We report here a case each of Type I and II CM presenting with the classical MRI imaging findings of CM Type ...

OBJECTIVES To present the aesthetic and functional outcomes of nasal alar reconstruction in Asian patients and to propose a working surgical algorithm. METHODS Seventeen patients underwent nasal alar reconstruction at a university-based facial plastic surgery practice from March 1, 1998, through February 28, 2010. The male-female ratio was 10:7, with a median age of 59 years (range, 34-78 yea...

The understanding of corrosion behavior in NiTi is critical for the devices using this shape-memory alloy. In order to improve the surface properties of NiTi such as corrosion resistance, plasma source ion implantation (PSII) technique was employed with oxygen as incident ions at three levels of implantation dose (5x10(16), 1x10(17) and 3x10(17) ions/cm(-2)). Pitting corrosion and wear-corrosio...

BACKGROUND This study compared 2 psychosocial approaches for the treatment of cocaine dependence: contingency management (CM) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). METHODS Patients with cocaine dependence who were receiving methadone maintenance treatment (n = 120) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: CM, CBT, combined CM and CBT (CBT + CM), or treatment as usual (ie, methadone main...

UNLABELLED Concomitant medication (CM) use may result in Phase I cancer clinical trial ineligibility due to concern for potential CM-investigational drug interactions or alteration of investigational drug absorption. Few studies have examined the impact of CM use on trial eligibility. METHODS We reviewed records of 274 patients on Phase I trials at a single academic institution. Demographics,...

We present a case of giant abdominal aortic aneurysm greater than 17 cm complicated by an endoleak, demonstrating the natural history of an untreated Type 1 endoleak.

BACKGROUND Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) improves survival in persons with cryptococcal meningitis (CM) and AIDS, ART frequently elicits HIV immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), an exaggerated and frequently deadly inflammatory reaction that complicates recovery from immunodeficiency. The pathogenesis of IRIS is poorly understood and prediction of IRIS is not possible. ...