PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Halpin

Publications and source records attributed to S Halpin.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

An overview of acute otitis media in Australian Aboriginal children living in remote communities.

Australian Aboriginal children experience early, persistent and severe middle ear infections. We conducted a review of the medical literature that addressed acute otitis media (AOM) in Australian Aboriginal children. Comparisons were made with the recent guidelines on the diagnosis and management of AOM prepared by the American Academies of Pediatrics and Family Physicians (AAP & AAFP 2004). Otitis media in Aboriginal children living in remote communities begins in the first 3 months of life following early bacterial colonisation. Young children with persistent signs of suppurative disease (bulging of the tympanic membrane or middle ear discharge) are probably most at risk of developing chronic suppurative otitis media.

Australia↗
PubMed2000

Menkes kinky hair disease: an unusual case.

Menkes disease is a rare X-linked recessive disease of copper metabolism. Clinical manifestations begin in the first few months of life or even in the neonatal period. Hypothermia, hypotonia, poor weight gain, seizures and neurodevelopmental delay or regression are seen. Outcome is poor, with death occurring usually by 3 years of age. A characteristic facial appearance with steely hair suggest the diagnosis. Neuroimaging usually shows cortical atrophy, extra-axial fluid collections and progressive and extensive degeneration of grey matter with secondary demyelination. We describe an atypical, but biochemically proven case of Menkes disease with atypical clinical and radiological features. Our patient had a large head, atypical electron microscopy appearances of the hair and predominant diffuse white matter involvement on neuroimaging, but a low serum copper level and a high 64CU uptake in fibroblasts (89.5 ng/mg of protein) confirmed the diagnosis.

Brain↗
PubMed2000

A risk factor screening and assessment protocol for schizophrenia and related psychosis.

OBJECTIVE: The Psychological Assistance Service (PAS) opened in Newcastle, New South Wales in 1997 as a clinical service for the assessment and treatment of young people at high risk of psychosis and those experiencing a first psychotic episode. The aim of this paper is to describe the assessment protocol of PAS, which is strongly influenced by the neurodevelopmental perspective on early onset psychosis. METHOD: The systematic assessment of patients referred to PAS using a protocol over a 2 week period is described. The protocol includes a narrative history, structured diagnostic interview, quantitative assessment of symptoms and other clinical features, a neurological examination and comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. RESULTS: The clinic has received over 250 referrals in a 2 year period and accepted 116 patients for a full assessment, of whom 60 were deemed to be 'at-risk' of psychosis and 56 were experiencing their first psychotic episode. Both groups were similar with respect to gender and there were minor age differences. The first-episode group experienced more reality distortion, schizotypal and negative symptoms. While both groups showed some neuropsychological and neurological impairment, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups on these variables except for a test of executive functioning in which the first-episode group was more impaired than the 'at-risk' group. A low rate of conversion to psychosis occurred in the 'at-risk' group. CONCLUSIONS: The minor differences between the two groups may have been related to relatively small sample sizes, although some similarities between the groups were to be expected. The low rate of conversion to psychosis in the 'at-risk' group is discussed. Further analyses using larger samples are necessary to determine the validity of the various 'at-risk' categories and this will involve following a sufficiently large sample over an adequate time. The most efficient way of doing this would be to pool data across centres with comparable early intervention programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Differential cognitive effects of colloid cysts in the third ventricle that spare or compromise the fornix.

A series of twelve cases, all of whom had received surgery for the removal of a colloid cyst in the third ventricle, was examined on a series of memory tests. The only consistent predictor of poor memory performance that could be detected from MRIs was the presence of bilateral interruption of the fornix, which occurred in three of the subjects. Although these three cases were poor on tests of learning and recall, there was evidence that recognition was less impaired. The subjects were also tested on a set of recognition and concurrent discriminations that closely matched tests given to non-human primates. Clear parallels were found between the apparent effects of fornix damage in these clinical cases and those observed following more selective surgery in non-human primates. These findings not only indicate that fornix damage is sufficient to induce anterograde amnesia but also support the validity of recent animal tests that are thought to capture aspects of episodic memory.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Notification and follow-up of Pap test results: current practice and women's preferences.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine women's knowledge of their Pap test results and predictors of accurate knowledge, adherence to follow-up recommendations for abnormal results, current methods of notifying women about their Pap test results, women's preferences for notification method, and women's satisfaction with the current notification system. METHOD: A telephone survey was undertaken of 315 women with a recent normal or abnormal Pap test result, drawn from pathology records in Sydney, Australia. RESULTS: Findings revealed that 61% of women with a normal result and 93% of women with an abnormal result self reported having been notified about their result. According to women's reports, 7% of those with abnormal results had not been notified and a further 11% of women with abnormal results were unaware that their result was abnormal, giving a total of 18% of abnormal results not communicated adequately to women. Self-reported adherence with follow-up recommendations among women with an abnormal result was less than optimal. The most common methods of notifying women of their results were initiated by the women such as the woman phoning the doctor or receptionist. However, women strongly preferred doctor-initiated methods, such as a written record from the doctor, the doctor phoning the woman, or consultation with the doctor. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that better methods of notifying and educating women about their Pap test results are necessary to improve women's knowledge and satisfaction and, even more importantly, to improve their level of adherence with follow-up recommendations for abnormal results.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Effectiveness of three community based strategies to promote screening for cervical cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of three potential methods for increasing Pap smear use: television media, television media combined with letter based recruitment, and television media combined with general practitioner based (GP based) recruitment. SETTING: A trial of each intervention was carried out in three postal regions in New South Wales, Australia-a rural locality (containing about 1000 women), a country town (about 3000 women), and a major rural centre (about 10,000 women). Three control regions were selected to be demographically similar to the corresponding intervention regions. METHODS: Outcome data on regional Pap smear rates were obtained from government health insurance claims for cervical screening, and from pathology service records. Expected Pap smear rates for the three months after the intervention were predicted from 45 pre-intervention months and were compared with observed rates for this period. RESULTS: Television media alone was associated with a significant increase in attendances for screening in one of the three regions where a trial was carried out: 13.3% in the rural centre. The media/letter based campaign was associated with a significant increase in attendances in two out of three regions: 52.7% in the rural locality, 43.2% in the rural centre. The media/GP based campaign was associated with significant increases in attendances in all three regions: 50.2% in the rural locality, 80.8% in the country town, 15.7% in the rural centre. All three interventions were associated with significant increases in the number of women attending for cervical screening above those observed in the control regions. Furthermore, these increases were not restricted to women at low risk. They were also found for older women (aged 50-69 years) and women who had not had a Pap smear within the past three years.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Does the occupational structure of the Hunter Region explain the high rates of ischaemic heart disease among its men?

To compare rates of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) among men in occupation groups defined by the new Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) and to investigate whether their high mortality rates from IHD in the Hunter Region of New South Wales (NSW) could be explained by its occupational structure, we used official death records and data from the World Health Organization MONICA Project conducted in Newcastle. The study population consisted of men aged 25 to 64 years in NSW and in the Hunter Region for whom occupational information was available. For deaths from IHD between 1984 and 1988 in NSW, indirectly standardised mortality and morbidity ratios (SMRs) were: significantly low for professionals, 66 (95% confidence interval (CI) 60-71) and managers and administrators, 79 (95% CI 74-83); intermediate for paraprofessionals (92), clerks (94) and salesmen and personal service workers (97); and significantly high for tradesmen, 113 (95% CI 107-118), labourers and related workers, 118 (95% CI 113-124) and plant and machine operators and drivers, 125 (95% CI 118-133). Broadly similar patterns were found for IHD deaths and for fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction in the Hunter Region. When occupation- and age-specific mortality rates from IHD were used to calculate SMRs for the Hunter Region, SMRs for all ASCO groups except paraprofessionals were over 100. Mortality rates for occupational groups classified by ASCO were consistent with well-established differences associated with socioeconomic status.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1989

A comparative study to evaluate the role of intra-articular adrenaline in double-contrast knee arthrography.

The addition of adrenaline to meglumine iothalamate (Conray 280) in double-contrast knee arthrography significantly improves meniscal coating, in both immediate and delayed films, when compared with iothalamate alone. The quality of coating is comparable to that with sodium meglumine ioxaglate (Hexabrix 320) without adrenaline. The addition of adrenaline to ioxaglate produces no significant improvement in arthrographic quality in either immediate or delayed films. The use of iothalamate with adrenaline is less expensive than ioxaglate alone, but this financial advantage has to be balanced against the significantly greater pain associated with the use of intra-articular adrenaline.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Magnetic resonance imaging of intraspinal cystic lesions: a pictorial review.

Magnetic resonance imaging is the imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of diseases of the spinal cord and its coverings primarily because of improved lesion detection and characterization. The differentiation of intramedullary pathologic conditions (arising within the spinal cord) from extramedullary lesions (lying either within the thecal sac (intradural) or outside it (extradural) is usually straightforward. Although many lesions may occur in more than one compartment or may extend to involve more than one compartment simultaneously, accurate positioning of a detected lesion within the spinal canal and the assessment of its signal characteristics may help differentiate many of the more commonly encountered lesions and aid preoperative diagnosis. This pictorial review discusses the imaging findings and distinguishing features of a variety of intramedullary and extramedullary intraspinal cystic lesions with the use of magnetic resonance imaging. The imaging appearances are correlated with histologic findings where available.

Cysts↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Os odontoideum.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Disappearance of cerebral calcification as a sign of tumor growth.

Calcification occurs in many benign and malignant neurologic disorders. We describe two patients with cerebral glioma, in whom the disappearance of cerebral calcification was evidence of local malignant change. We discuss the underlying chemical mechanisms that result in tissue calcification, and postulate that calcification may disappear in the presence of a malignant tumor because of a decrease in the pH of the microenvironment.

Adult↗