Successful treatment of peripartum cardiomyopathy with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

A 24-year-old female developed heart failure within four months of delivering her first child. Echocardiogram revealed a moderately dilated left ventricle with severely reduced systolic function. She continued to decompensate, requiring intubation and inotropic support. When the use of an intra-aortic balloon pump failed to stabilize the patient, the decision was made to place her on ECMO. The circuit consisted of a Quadrox D membrane oxygenator and a CentriMag centrifugal pump. After 11 days of support, the patient met the weaning criteria and was successfully removed from ECMO. She was discharged one month after her admission. The new technology available allows for ECMO to be considered as an earlier option for the treatment and management of these patients as a bridge to recovery.

Reoperation for a type I aortic dissection: case report.

Surgery for the repair of a type I aortic dissection presents several difficulties for the surgeon and the perfusionist. One must safely support the patient, while at the same time provide the surgeon with a bloodless field in which to operate. Often, this requires cessation of the circulation for varying amounts of time. Deep hypothermia allows for an extension of the arrest period, while other techniques-- retrograde cerebral perfusion and antegrade cerebral perfusion--provide an additional degree of cerebral protection. Recently, we utilized these techniques concurrently on a 43-year-old female who presented for a reoperation for a type I aortic dissection. Combining these techniques allowed us to adequately support the patient during an anticipated lengthy period of circulatory arrest and insured a successful operation without any adverse cerebral or other organ dysfunction.

The wineglass model: tracking the locational histories of health professionals.

This paper introduces a space-time continuum model to evaluate the effectiveness of programs that encourage recruitment and retention of health professionals. Based on the shape of a wineglass, the model provides a framework to study the locational histories of a cohort of health professionals, both conceptually and quantitatively. A key component of the model is that it measures geographic dispersion over time from a medical school, residency program, or other shared location. Geographic dispersion can be studied in the model through standard deviational ellipses, standard distance, or average distance circles. The model enables analysis through structuration theory, which is used as a guide for analyzing the interplay between human agency (e.g., individual decisions on practice location) and structure (e.g., medical education). Space-time modeling is linked with structuration theory. Variations in the shape of the wineglass reveal how people may be bound by a general structure, yet through lifetime locational decisions may change that structure over space and time. Using data on University of Nebraska alumni, the authors constructed a pilot demonstration to test and confirm the model's potential usefulness. In the pilot demonstration, standard deviational ellipses represented the range of physician locations during each year, overlaid on maps of the US. The pilot demonstration indicated the model's strength in identifying changing mobility over time, while also pointing to concerns about unevenness in data availability from one year to the next. Further application of the wineglass model could be used toward studying the life histories of health professionals. The impact of community-based training on long- or short-term retention, changes in the mobility of male vs female providers, and the career trajectories of people in different health professions or medical schools are only a few examples of potential future applications of the model.

The need of community health centers for international medical graduates.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine whether community health centers need international medical graduates to fill staff positions. METHODS: The authors surveyed 100 community health center administrators to learn about their perceptions of international medical graduates. RESULTS: Nationally, about one quarter of community health centers depend on international medical graduates to fill physician vacancies; most of these centers foresee unfilled positions in the event of a cutback. CONCLUSIONS: Policies calling for a national reduction in the supply of international medical graduates need to be balanced by an understanding of these individuals' role in reducing local physician shortages.

Do international medical graduates reduce rural physician shortages?

OBJECTIVES: The authors examined whether international medical graduates (IMGs) constitute a greater percentage of the US physician workforce in rural underserved areas than in rural non-underserved areas. Research findings could help policymakers determine whether the role of international medical graduates in compensating for local physician shortages counterbalances international medical graduates' potential for exacerbating a national oversupply. METHODS: This research was based on data from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile and the Bureau of Health Professions' Area Resource File. The authors calculated the percentage international medical graduates of all US primary care physicians in rural areas, stratified by the Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) designation of underservice. RESULTS: The study showed that international medical graduates do constitute a greater percentage of US primary care physicians in rural areas with physician shortages than in rural areas without physician shortages. This finding held true at the national, Census region, and state scales of analysis, but to varying degrees. The finer the scale of analysis, the greater the variation in international medical graduates' practice in rural, underserved areas. There was substantial interstate variation in the extent to which international medical graduates practice in rural underserved areas. CONCLUSIONS: International medical graduates do help reduce rural physician shortages, but interstate variation points to the role of state policies in influencing international medical graduates' distribution in rural, underserved areas. Such variation also can come about from many different causes, so there is a need for further research to determine why international medical graduates help compensate for physician shortages more so in some states than in others.

What is rural? A focus on urban influence codes.

Classification of U.S. counties into metropolitan and nonmetropolitan masks a high degree of variation in population size, density, and relationship between urban and rural areas. This article reviews the urban influence county coding system and illustrates how it applies to U.S. counties. The urban influence codes can be useful for analysis of rural health policy.

Disorders of excessive daytime sleepiness.

The complaint of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is associated with a number of disorders. The frequently disabling symptoms of EDS are just beginning to be addressed. This article offers nurse practitioners background information to help in evaluating EDS symptoms. Disorders related to the physiological need for sleep and the response to disrupted sleep or the effect of psychobiological sleep disruption are presented. Differential diagnoses are reviewed and keys to case management are offered. The management of sleep disorders may involve a collaborative role with other health professionals in order to provide optimal patient care. To assist the NP in referring the patient to specialized care, referral services are described.