Evaluation of a rehabilitation support service after acute stroke: Feasibility and patient/carer benefit

Background: Stroke survivors returning home after discharge from hospital and their carers require support to meet their rehabilitation needs (independence in Activities of Daily Living, exercise, psychosocial support). Voluntary or charitable care providers may be able to address some of these needs. Objective: To explore the feasibility of delivering and evaluating enhanced support to stroke survivors and their carers, with a Rehabilitation Support Worker (RSW). Methods: 16 consecutive stroke survivors and their carers were included. All participants received usual hospital care. Seven of these patients and their carers were also allocated an RSW from a charitable care provider. The RSW accompanied therapy training sessions with the patient, carer and therapist in hospital. On discharge, the RSW visited the patient and carer at home over the initial 6 week post-discharge period to support them in practising rehabilitation skills. Patient function (Barthel Index) and patient/carer confidence were independently assessed at discharge (Week 0). The above assessments and patient/carer mood (GHQ-12) and Carer Giver Strain were also assessed at Weeks 1, 6 and 12. RSWs were interviewed for their views about the service. Results: Participants’ functional ability at Week 1 post-discharge was significantly higher in the RSW group. At 6 and 12 weeks post-discharge, functional ability was not significantly different between groups. Carers in the intervention group were less confident at all time points, however, this was not significant. There was no significant effect on carer strain or well-being. Interviews with RSWs highlighted areas of their training that could be enhanced and the need for greater clarity as to their role. Conclusions: The results showed that a definitive trial of rehabilitation support is feasible. A number of obstacles however would need to be overcome including: difficulty in identifying suitable patients, clarity of the RSW role, and appropriate training content.

Achalasia: A review of clinical diagnosis, epidemiology,treatment and outcomes

Achalasia is a neurodegenerative motility disorder of the oesophagus resulting in deranged oesophageal peristalsis and loss of lower oesophageal sphincter function.Historically,annual achalasia incidence rates were believed to be low,approximately 0.5-1.2 per 100000.More recent reports suggest that annual incidence rates have risen to 1.6 per 100000 in some populations.The aetiology of achalasia is still unclear but is likely to be multi-factorial.Suggested causes include environmental or viral exposures resulting in inflammation of the oesophageal myenteric plexus,which elicits an autoimmune response.Risk of achalasia may be elevated in a sub-group of genetically susceptible people.Improvement in the diagnosis of achalasia,through the introduction of high resolution manometry with pressure topography plotting,has resulted in the development of a novel classification system for achalasia.This classification system can evaluate patient prognosis and predict responsiveness to treatment.There is currently much debate over whether pneumatic dilatation is a superior method compared to the Heller’s myotomy procedure in the treatment of achalasia.A recent com-parative study found equal efficacy,suggesting that patient preference and local expertise should guide the choice.Although achalasia is a relatively rare condition,it carries a risk of complications,including aspiration pneumonia and oesophageal cancer.The risk of both squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus is believed to be significantly increased in patients with achalasia,however the absolute excess risk is small.Therefore,it is currently unknown whether a surveillance programme in achalasia patients would be effective or cost-effective.

Current practices and future prospects for the management of gallbladder polyps: A topical review

A gallbladder polyp is an elevation of the gallbladder mucosa that protrudes into the gallbladder lumen. Gallbladder polyps have an estimated prevalence in adults of between 0.3%-12.3%. However, only 5% of polyps are considered to be "true" gallbladder polyps, meaning that they are malignant or have malignant potential. The main radiological modality used for diagnosing and surveilling gallbladder polyps is transabdominal ultrasonography. However, evidence shows that other modalities such as endoscopic ultrasound may improve diagnostic accuracy. These are discussed in turn during the course of this review. Current guidelines recommend cholecystectomy for gallbladder polyps sized 10 mm and greater, although this threshold is lowered when other risk factors are identified. The evidence behind this practice is relatively low quality. This review identifies current gaps in the available evidence and highlights the necessity for further research to enable better decision making regarding which patients should undergo cholecystectomy, and/or radiological follow-up.

A Comparison of the Clinical and Molecular Diagnosis of Herpes Simplex Keratitis

Purpose: To compare the clinical and molecular diagnoses of Herpes Simplex Keratitis (HSK). Materials and Methods: Conjunctival swabs (after fluorescein and anaesthetic wash out) and detailed questionnaire data were obtained from 146 participants. Corneal rims and conjunctival epithelial cells were infected with Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) type 1 or HSV2 and supernatant collected. HSV1;HSV2;Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) and Adenovirus (ADV) DNA was assessed using two real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) methods. Results: Of the 146 participants recruited, 54 were clinically diagnosed with typical epithelial lesions and 38 with atypical epithelial lesions, 17 with old inactive HSK and 37 healthy volunteers. HSV1 DNA was detected in 28 (30%) of the 92 participants with clinically suspect HSK. Patients who presented with typical epithelial lesions had a higher positive rate (46%) than those who presented with atypical type lesions (8%), when using primers against the Glycoprotein (Gp) G region of the virus. When the same samples were retested with primers against the GpB region, the positive rate for the typical and atypical cases increased to 52% and 11% respectively. Antiviral use at the time of sampling reduced the rate of PCR positivity by 20% (p < 0.05). ADV DNA was detected in 6% of the typical cases and 8% of the atypical cases. All control participants with no history of HSK were negative for HSV1 DNA. Sample quantity was confirmed by testing for housekeeping control genes, beta-actin and beta-2 macroglobulin. PCR results from in vitro control investigations of HSV1 and 2 infected corneal rims and conjunctival epithelial cells were 100% positive for infected and 100% negative for uninfected samples when assessed using both PCR methods. Conclusions: Clinical diagnosis of typical HSK is not always confirmed by PCR. Concomitant use of an antiviral reduces levels of PCR positivity. Given this and the findings that other ocular surface pathogens may mimic HSK pathology, and that choice of gene amplification region can also affect accurate detection of HSV1 by PCR, we propose the use of a multiplex assay. This would perform PCR using primers spanning a number of different regions within one gene and would also target a number of different viral genes to ensure potentially different HSV1 viral strains or other viruses do not affect the test and lead to disagreements between the clinical and molecular diagnosis of HSK. From these findings, this paper proposes a clinical supportive algorithmic guide to manage such disagreements.

Liquid biopsy in ovarian cancer:Catching the silent killer before it strikes

Epithelial ovarian cancer(EOC)is the most lethal gynaecological malignancy in the western world.The majority of women presenting with the disease are asymptomatic and it has been dubbed the“silent killer”.To date there is no effective minimally invasive method of stratifying those with the disease or screening for the disease in the general population.Recent molecular and pathological discoveries,along with the advancement of scientific technology,means there is a real possibility of having disease-specific liquid biopsies available within the clinical environment in the near future.In this review we discuss these discoveries,particularly in relation to the most common and aggressive form of EOC,and their role in making this possibility a reality.

Biomechanics of human optic chiasmal compression: ex vivo experiment and finite element modelling

The mechanism of bitemporal hemianopia arising as a result of chiasmal compression is unknown.In this study,we combined an ex vivo experiment and finite element modelling(FEM)to investigate its potential mechanism.A cadaveric human optic chiasm was scanned using micro-CT before and after deformation by inflation of Foley catheter,to simulate tumour growth from beneath.The geometry of the same chiasm was reconstructed and simulated using finite element analysis.Chiasmal deformations were extracted from the simulation and compared with those observed during micro-CT scanning.In addition,nerve fibre models examining variation in local fibre distribution patterns of the chiasm were incorporated to investigate the strain(deformation)distributions of the chiasm at an axonal level.The FEM model matched the micro-CT scans well both qualitatively and quantitatively.Compression of the chiasm induced high strains in the paracentral portions of the chiasm where the crossing optic nerve fibres are located.At an axonal level,the magnitude of strains affecting crossed fibres were greater than those affecting uncrossed fibres.The high strains in the paracentral portions of the chiasm,combined with the differences in strain between crossed and uncrossed nerve fibres,are consistent with a biomechanical explanation for the pattern of visual field loss seen in chiasmal compression.