PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Brook

Publications and source records attributed to A Brook.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Bowel distress and emotional conflict.

A psychodynamic assessment of 60 women with functional bowel disorder seen at St Mark's, a specialist hospital for disorders of the colon and rectum, has shown that most were trapped in severe emotional conflicts with which they were unable to cope. In many the bodily illnesses appeared to be an expression of these conflicts as well as a defence against experiencing them. The illnesses were then partly, or entirely, emotional conflicts that had become medicalized--emotional conflicts in illnesses clothing. The illnesses, usually precipitated by significant life events, often had their roots in emotional conflicts in infancy or childhood at which time a high proportion of the women had experienced a severe life trauma. The study also indicated that the conflicts that appeared to contribute to the illnesses were associated with emotional difficulties in fulfilling themselves as women.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Streptococcus faecalis arthritis.

Septic arthritis due to Streptococcus faecalis is rare. We describe a case in which synovial biopsy was required for diagnosis and a new longterm antibiotic combination using ciprofloxacin and amoxicillin was successful in treating the infection. Comparison is made with previous reported cases and the usual poor outcome in this condition.

Amoxicillin↗
PubMed1989

The consequences of marijuana use on intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning in black and white adolescents.

We examined the effects of marijuana use on adolescent personality, attitudinal, and behavioral attributes, perceived parent-adolescent relations, and perceived peer factors. Volunteer high school students (292 Blacks, 401 Whites) of middle-class backgrounds filled out questionnaires in their classrooms first when they were in the 9th and 10th grades and again 2 years later when they were in the 11th and 12th grades. Results suggest that regular use of marijuana may lead to lower achievement, increased tolerance of deviance, and more deviant behavior, and greater rebelliousness. Regular use also appears to interfere with adolescents' relationships with their parents and to lead them to associate with more deviant and drug-using friends. The consequences of marijuana use for intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning were for the most part similar in the different sex and age groups, although there were some ethnic differences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Reproducibility of multiple-observer scoring of radiologic abnormalities in the hands and wrists of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Forty-one coded radiographic films from 16 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were read by 13 observers, using 4 different methods for scoring abnormalities. Although absolute scores differed widely among individual observers, correlation coefficients were greater than 0.850 for approximately 2 of 3 comparisons. When films were ranked, using the median rank of all readers, 72% of individual ranks were within 10% of the median ranks. Among serial films on individual patients, 92% of comparisons between early and late films were interpreted as demonstrating progression of abnormalities when mean standardized scores showed an increase in scores of 15 units or greater. Films with lesser changes were interpreted inconsistently. This study shows good general agreement among readers in scoring radiologic abnormalities of hands and wrists, when applied to a film set showing a broad spectrum of severity, and defines the sensitivity of radiologic detection of disease progression.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

How many joints in the hands and wrists should be included in a score of radiologic abnormalities used to assess rheumatoid arthritis?

Numerous methods for reading abnormalities of rheumatoid arthritis in hand and wrist radiographs have been proposed over the past several decades. There are many differences among these methods, one of the more striking of which is the variation in the number of joints that are scored. In this study, we tested the number of joints that need to be read in order to represent abnormalities accurately and reproducibly, using the scores of multiple observers. Thirteen rheumatologists and radiologists each read a set of 41 hand and wrist films from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Ten of 13 readers scored 27 joints in each hand and wrist; the other 3 readers scored fewer areas. Fourteen combinations of joints were selected based on the frequency of involvement and the technical adequacy of routine films in assessing a given area. After testing these 14 different combinations, 1 scheme, which included 17 areas read for erosions and 18 areas read for joint space narrowing, was tested further. The correlation coefficients for 10 intraobserver scores derived from this modified scheme compared with the original scores were between 0.981 and 0.997. Seventy-one of 78 interobserver comparisons were better using the new scheme than using the original scheme. These data indicate that the simplified scheme, using a combination of 17 joints to score erosions and 18 to score joint space narrowing, more accurately reflects the extent of abnormalities perceived by a panel of experts than does the original scheme. This abbreviated number of joints shortens the amount of time required to read a set of films and simplifies the scoring of films, since a number of areas that are difficult to read are eliminated from radiographic assessment.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1977

Radiographic changes in early rheumatoid disease.

We have studied the radiological features in 94 patients with early rheumatoid disease followed prospectively for 5 years. The changes appeared very early and occurred in up to 71-3% of patients. Erosive changes occurred in the feet much more commonly than in the hands and considerably earlier. Erosive changes were present before there was joint-space loss. Frequent x-ray examination of feet and hands in the first 2 years after presentation is required if we are to identify patients at risk for serious joint damage.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1977

Relationship of radiological change to clinical outcome in rheumatoid arthritis.

Ninety-four patients with rheumatoid arthritis, seen within the first year after onset, have been followed prospectively with annual radiographs for a mean 63-1 months. An erosive arthropathy occurred in 72. The severity of the erosive changes showed a significant correlation with eventual clinical outcome. It is possible to predict a favourable outcome in those patients whose erosive changes become static at an early stage in the disease.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗