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Biomedical subjects

D Hulbert

Publications and source records attributed to D Hulbert.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

The new consultant survey 2005.

BACKGROUND: Consultants in emergency medicine have to deal with a wide range of problems, many of which they will not have encountered during their training. One way to assess the adequacy of specialist training is to ask recently appointed consultants whether or not they feel adequately prepared for their role. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent out to 60 newly appointed consultants in emergency medicine in January and February 2005 and the results analysed. RESULTS: Many respondents feel that there should be greater emphasis on acquiring clinical skills, partly by greater consultant supervision and partly by providing more experience of anaesthetics and intensive care. New consultants also feel inadequately prepared for their management responsibilities, and this is a source of great stress. CONCLUSIONS: Specialist training in emergency medicine needs to pay more attention to the acquisition of clinical skills and to preparation for management responsibility.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Ectopic pregnancy.

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Diagnostic Errors↗

'Bats below the bridge': is a potentially treatable neurovascular disorder being underdiagnosed in accident and emergency departments?

Basilar artery thrombosis (BATS) is a progressive disorder which may present with fluctuating neurological signs of varying degrees of severity. Unless the diagnosis is considered, the confused young patient may be thought to be under the influence of drugs or to be psychologically ill, and indeed the Munchausen syndrome may be considered. The more elderly patient may be diagnosed simply as having had a cerebrovascular accident. This paper presents the cases of three patients admitted through the accident and emergency (A&E) department of St Mary's Hospital, London with basilar artery thrombosis during a 6-month period. All these patients demonstrated the classic triad for this syndrome of: (1) long tract neurological signs, (2) impaired conscious level, and (3) complex ocular signs. The concern is that, for patients with more subtle signs, a diagnosis of BATS may not be considered, and a neurological opinion may be thus delayed and no treatment with anticoagulants or thrombolytic agents would be given. Two of the three patients were treated with anticoagulants and improved, while in the third patients anticoagulation was judged inappropriate and the patients died from progression of the disease with respiratory complications.

Aged↗

Screening for carbohydrate intolerance in pregnancy: a comparison of two tests and reassessment of a common approach.

The usefulness of glycosylated hemoglobin as a prenatal screening test for carbohydrate intolerance was studied in 806 consecutive subjects by correlating glycosylated hemoglobin to 1-hour post-50 gm Glucola plasma glucose levels, 3-hour oral glucose tolerance tests, and perinatal and maternal outcomes. Sixty-seven subjects whose 1-hour post-50 gm Glucola plasma glucose levels were greater than or equal to 150 mg/100 ml underwent 3-hour oral glucose tolerance tests; 12 were diagnostic of carbohydrate intolerance. Compared to carbohydrate-tolerant control subjects, gravid patients with carbohydrate intolerance were older, more obese, had higher 1-hour post-50 gm Glucola plasma glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels, and infants with increased birth weight percentiles, depressed 5-minute Apgar scores, and an increased incidence of shoulder dystocia and perinatal mortality. Three of 10 carbohydrate-intolerant patients who were evaluated post partum were found to have previously undiagnosed diabetes. Division of measurements of 1-hour post-50 gm Glucola plasma glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin into normal, borderline, and suspicious groups demonstrated a reduction in discriminatory capability of glycosylated hemoglobin as compared to the 1-hour post-50 gm Glucola plasma glucose. We conclude that laboratory screening for carbohydrate intolerance should be a standard element of the prenatal evaluation; gravid patients found to have carbohydrate intolerance should be reevaluated post partum to rule out overt diabetes, and the 1-hour post-50 gm Glucola plasma glucose test is the preferred means of routine screening for carbohydrate intolerance in pregnancy.

Adult↗