Biomedical subjects

D E Wallace

Publications and source records attributed to D E Wallace.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Periodontitis in a 13-year old: an illustration of a new periodontal classification.

This report describes a periodontal abscess and bone loss in a 13-year-old boy being treated as a patient in the Dental Benefit Scheme, a year after his entry to the Scheme. His condition illustrates well the rationale of a new classification for periodontitis. We suggest that periodontal screening is important so that instances such as this can be identified earlier; a small number of young patients require conventional, conservative periodontal treatment and ongoing monitoring of periodontal disease.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

The influence of experience and specialisation on the reliability of a common clinical sign.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the influence of experience and specialisation on clinical judgement by comparing accuracy in diagnosing anaemia between a consultant general surgeon, a consultant ophthalmologist and their registrars. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Conjunctival inspection of 101 patients, subsequent correlation with haemoglobin concentration. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of correct and incorrect diagnoses of anaemia. RESULTS: 54 patients were anaemic and 47 were not. Overall accuracy in diagnosing anaemia ranged from 0.61-0.69, sensitivity 0.52-0.65 and specificity 0.62-0.83. Agreements between pairs of examiners were 0.68-0.81, with kappa values of 0.36-0.60 when adjusted for chance agreement. CONCLUSIONS: Neither experience nor specialisation significantly influenced our ability to diagnose anaemia, based on conjunctival inspection. Without critical analysis of clinical signs, we are unaware of their diagnostic limitations.

Anemia↗

PubMed1998