PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Hickey

Publications and source records attributed to A Hickey.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Individual quality of life in patients undergoing hip replacement.

Quality of life (QoL) assessment is becoming increasingly important for measuring the impact of illnesses, diseases, and their treatment and for deciding priorities when allocating resources. We developed a novel method to measure QoL from the perspective of the individual patient. The schedule for the evaluation of individual quality of life (SEIQoL) was devised from the technique known as judgment analysis to measure patients' level of functioning in five self-nominated facets of life and the relative weight or importance attached to these areas. We applied this method, together with traditional measures of health status, in a prospective intervention study of 20 patients undergoing unilateral total hip-replacement surgery with six-month follow-up by comparison with matched, non-patient controls. Health status was significantly improved by hip replacement on the McMaster health index questionnaire (p less than 0.001) and the arthritis impact measurement scales (p less than 0.001). Individually measured QoL was significantly increased after surgery when measured by SEIQoL (p less than 0.02). The individual nature of QoL was reflected in the variety of life areas nominated as important by individual patients, the differences in relative weights attached to these areas, and the complex nature of the changes that occurred postoperatively. Our data not only highlight such individuality but also show that SEIQoL provides a means by which this can be assessed scientifically.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Prosthodontic consideration in the treatment of patients with maxillary and mandibular deficiencies.

Despite advancements in surgical osteotomy repositioning procedures for congenital and developmental intermaxillary deficiencies, prosthetic rehabilitation remains a viable alternative in some patients. In developing a treatment plan, the advantages and disadvantages of both surgical and prosthetic rehabilitation must be weighed. The interdisciplinary team approach is best for treatment planning. The treatment options are presented with a variety of treatment philosophies. Maxillofacial surgical and/or prosthetic treatments must be carefully coordinated to ensure the best results for patients with moderate to severe "jaw" discrepancies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Computed tomography in malignant external otitis.

Malignant external otitis is a severe infection of the external auditory meatus occurring predominantly in diabetics and usually caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The infection may spread along several routes: directly by bony erosion into the adjacent mastoid bone, anteriorly into the parotid gland and temporomandibular joint and inferiorly into the soft tissues of the infratemporal fossa. We present four cases of malignant external otitis that illustrate the typical patterns of spread of this disease and the role that radiology, and in particular computed tomography, plays in its diagnosis and management.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Assessing the quality of life of the individual: the SEIQoL with a healthy and a gastroenterology unit population.

Current methods of measuring quality of life (QoL) impose an external value system on individuals, rather than allowing them to describe their lives in terms of those factors which they consider important. The Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life (SEIQoL) was developed to overcome such limitations. The QoL of 42 healthy attenders at an international immunization clinic was assessed using SEIQoL. Judgement reliability was high (r = 0.74) and individuals' judgement policies accounted for a large percentage of the variance in overall QoL (R2 = 0.75) demonstrating the construct validity of judgement analysis in this context. In a second study of QoL of out-patient suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (N = 20) or peptic ulcer disease (PUD) (N = 20) was assessed using SEIQoL. Judgement reliability was lower (r = 0.54) although statistically highly significant (P less than 0.01), and the variance in overall QoL judgements explained was high (R2 = 0.74). SEIQoL is an acceptable, reliable and valid technique for measuring individual QoL that takes greater account of individual perspectives than traditional measurement approaches.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1986

Coronary angioscopy in patients with unstable angina pectoris.

To visualize intracoronary lesions in patients with different clinical expressions of coronary disease, we performed coronary angioscopy during coronary-artery bypass surgery in 10 patients with unstable angina and 10 patients with stable coronary disease. We examined a total of 32 vessels, using flexible fiberoptic angioscopes. Twenty-two vessels had no acute intimal lesion; three had complex plaques, six had thrombi, and one had both. Coronary angiography correctly identified the absence of complex plaque and thrombus in 22 vessels, but it detected only one of four complex plaques and one of seven thrombi. On angioscopy, none of the 17 arteries in the patients with stable coronary disease had either a complex plaque or thrombus. In the "offending" arteries of the patients with unstable angina, all three patients with accelerated angina had complex plaques and all seven with angina at rest had thrombi. We conclude that angioscopy frequently reveals complex plaques or thrombi not detected by coronary angiography. Our observations suggest that anginal syndromes that are refractory to medical treatment can be caused by unstable pathologic processes in the intima. Ulceration of plaques may increase the frequency and severity of effort angina, and the subsequent development of partially occlusive thrombi may cause unstable rest angina.

Adult↗