Biomedical subjects

R Kerr

Publications and source records attributed to R Kerr.

131 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

MR imaging in tarsal tunnel syndrome.

Magnetic resonance imaging was used to demonstrate the normal anatomy of the tarsal tunnel in two volunteers and to evaluate 33 feet in 27 patients with tarsal tunnel syndrome. The tarsal tunnel is a fibroosseous channel extending from the ankle to the midfoot, through which the medial tendons and the posterior tibial neurovascular bundle pass. Tarsal tunnel syndrome is a compression neuropathy of the posterior tibial nerve or one of its branches and may be caused by a variety of pathologic lesions. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a mass lesion in five feet, dilated veins or varicosities in eight feet, fracture or soft tissue injury in five feet, fibrous scar in two feet, flexor hallucis longus tenosynovitis in six feet, and abductor hallucis muscle hypertrophy in one foot. Six feet were normal on MR imaging. The findings of MR imaging were confirmed in 17 of 19 patients that went to surgery. Magnetic resonance is useful for localizing lesions within the tarsal tunnel and for determining the lesion extent and relationship to the posterior tibial nerve and its branches.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Magnetic resonance imaging and the evaluation of tarsal tunnel syndrome.

The bones, soft tissue contents, and boundaries of the tarsal tunnel can be imaged with sufficient detail to show all the major structures within it. Pathological conditions affecting these structures can also be identified. The purpose of this paper was to determine the ability of magnetic resonance imaging to help in the evaluation of tarsal tunnel syndrome. Thirty-three patients with 40 feet were used for this study. All patients presented with complaints of pain along the course of the posterior tibial nerve or its branches and a positive Tinel's sign. Nerve conduction studies were obtained on 29 feet. All feet were evaluated with a magnetic resonance imaging study of the tarsal tunnel. Twenty-one feet eventually required surgery. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an inflammatory or mass lesion in the tarsal tunnel in the majority of cases. The magnetic resonance imaging findings were confirmed at surgery in 19 patients. The information provided by magnetic resonance imaging can enhance surgical planning by indicating the extent of decompression required.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Calculating nursing turnover in NSW.

A study of nursing staff turnover is being carried out by the Nursing Research Team from the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education for the New South Wales College of Nursing and the New South Wales Department of Health. The general aim of the study is to provide information about the annual rate of loss of registered nurses from public hospitals and licensed private hospitals in NSW. This paper provides background details about the project and recent attempts to understand the problem of nursing staff turnover. Brief mention is made of Australian and overseas literature and recent calls for methodological and conceptual precision in calculation nursing turnover. Reference is made to 'Nursing Turnover Indices' and other statistical descriptors used to guide this research.

Databases, Factual↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome: a reappraisal in Queensland with special reference to prevention.

The Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome occurs most frequently in alcoholic patients when they become thiamin deficient. First admissions to psychiatric units with the chronic component of this syndrome, Korsakoff's psychosis, peaked in Queensland in 1975-1976. The fall in hospital admission rates since this time could relate to a decline in per-capita alcohol consumption in Australia, or to more awareness of the thiamin needs of drinkers. Alternatively, the improvement may be illusory: although many cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy are being diagnosed, many of these patients are not receiving psychiatric assessment and treatment, perhaps because admission to psychiatric hospital beds is more difficult than it was formerly. Patients who are diagnosed as having Korsakoff's psychosis fare badly in the community, and have a greatly increased mortality rate than do such patients in hospital. Optimal care for such patients is necessarily costly of medical resources. Of available preventive measures, evidence is presented to support the fortification of beer with thiamin and the provision of community educational programmes. The fortification of flour with thiamin may have little impact on the thiamin-deficiency syndromes that arise in problem drinkers in Queensland.

Alcohol Amnestic Disorder↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Commissioning conferences: a consultative approach to purchasing.

In 1991 the South East London Health Authority developed a process called 'commissioning conferences' to help them purchase services. The first commissioning conference was used to produce a specification of service for people with diabetes mellitus. For this, 120 local people and 15 independent experts were consulted in a structured way.

Congresses as Topic↗