Sports injury/illness reporting at major sporting events: development and implementation of a data collection system.

When a large number of athletes compete intensely over a short period of time, a variety of sports injuries and illnesses are often encountered. Maintaining health records at these events presents a challenge to medical organizing committees. Accurate data collection is important, not only for planning of medical services, but also for development of prevention programs and policies relating to athletes' health. Recruitment of a dedicated data collection team with sports medicine background and computer expertise will facilitate collection and analysis of medical data at this type of event. This paper reviews the development and implementation of a sports injury and illness recording system used at the 1989 Jeux Canada Summer Games. Over 3500 participants had access to comprehensive medical services during the two weeks of competitions. Information on medical encounters was available daily during the games and a final report on sports injuries and illnesses was easily generated.

The developmental toxicity of triethylene glycol dimethyl ether in mice.

Triethylene glycol dimethyl ether (triEGdiME) is structurally related to several compounds which produce reproductive and developmental toxicity, including teratogenicity in laboratory animals. In the present study, triEGdiME (0, 250, 500, or 1000 mg/kg/day) was administered by gavage to timed-pregnant CD-1 mice during major organogenesis (Gestational Days (gd) 6-15). Maternal clinical status was monitored daily during treatment. At sacrifice (gd 17), confirmed-pregnant females (26-28 per group) were evaluated for clinical status and gestational outcome; each live fetus was examined for external, visceral, and skeletal malformations. No maternal death or morbidity was observed. Clinical signs of toxicity including piloerection were minor. Maternal weight gain during treatment, gestation, and maternal weight gain during gestation corrected for gravid uterine weight were not affected. Gravid uterine weight decreased in a dose-related manner, indicating compromised pregnancy status. Relative maternal liver weight (% body wt) was significantly increased over controls at doses greater than or equal to 500 and 1000 mg/kg/day. Average fetal body weight per litter was significantly reduced at doses greater than or equal to 500 mg/kg/day. The percentage malformed live fetuses per litter (0.3, 0, 0.8, and 11.1%) was significantly increased at 1000 mg/kg/day. Major malformations affected primarily the development of the neural tube, craniofacial structures, and the axial skeleton. In summary, oral administration of triEGdiME during major organogenesis produced only marginal signs of altered maternal status, as evidenced by an increase in maternal liver weight, and caused selective adverse effects upon fetal growth and morphological development at doses greater than or equal to 500 mg/kg/day.

Dental injuries at the 1989 Canada games: an epidemiological study.

The management and prevention of dental trauma is an integral part of the medical services provided at major athletic events. This paper reviews the organization and delivery of the dental services provided at the 1989 Canada Games. The nature, incidence and management of the dental problems reported in the participant population of 3,411 athletes are also described. During the two-week competition, 15 participants were assessed and treated for various dental conditions, including hard- and soft-tissue injury of the oral cavity, and temporomandibular joint sprain. The sports with the highest incidence of dental injury for the male population were wrestling (one per cent) and basketball (0.8 per cent). For the female population, these sports were basketball (2.5 per cent) and field hockey (1.3 per cent). The dental services provided during the games included emergency assessment and treatment, fabrication of mouthguards, and in-service education to medical team members.

The developmental toxicity of diethylene and triethylene glycol dimethyl ethers in rabbits.

Diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (diEGdiME) and triethylene glycol dimethyl ether (triEGdiME), widely used organic solvents, are structurally related to several compounds that produce reproductive and developmental toxicity, including teratogenicity in laboratory animals. In the present studies, diEGdiME (0, 25, 50, 100, or 175 mg/kg/day) or triEGdiME (0, 75, 125, 175, or 250 mg/kg/day) were administered by gavage in distilled water to timed-pregnant New Zealand white rabbits (15-25 dams/group) during major organogenesis [Gestational Days (gd) 6-19]. Treated females were euthanized on gd 30, uterine contents were examined, and live fetuses were examined for morphological alterations. In the diEGdiMe study, evidence of maternal toxicity, per se, was observed only at 175 mg/kg/day with 15% mortality among treated females compared to 4% among controls. No significant maternal toxicity was observed in the 25 mg/kg/day group, and only minimal maternal toxicity (decreased maternal weight gain during treatment) was observed at 50 and 100 mg/kg/day compared to the vehicle control group. The no-observed-adverse-effect level for developmental toxicity in rabbits for diEGdiME was 50 mg/kg/day. The incidences of prenatal mortality and malformed live fetuses were significantly above controls at 100 and 175 mg/kg/day. Malformations observed most frequently included fusion of ribs to each other and hydronephrosis; clubbing of the limbs without underlying bone deformities, a variation, was also observed. In the triEGdiME study, clinical signs of toxicity were minimal and there was no increased maternal mortality. Maternal body weight and gravid uterine weight were significantly reduced at 250 mg/kg/day, whereas maternal weight gain during treatment was significantly depressed at doses of 175 mg/kg/day and above.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Developmental toxicity evaluation of sodium fluoride administered to rats and rabbits in drinking water.

Sodium fluoride (NaF; Cas No. 7681-49-4) is used in fluoridating municipal water supplies, resulting in chronic exposure of millions of people worldwide. Because of a lack of pertinent developmental toxicity studies in the literature, sodium fluoride was administered ad libitum in deionized/filtered drinking water (to mimic human exposure) to Sprague-Dawley-derived rats (26/group) on Gestation Days (GD) 6 through 15 at levels of 0, 50, 150, or 300 ppm and New Zealand White rabbits (26/group) on GD 6 through 19 at levels of 0, 100, 200, or 400 ppm. Higher concentrations via drinking water were not practicable due to the poor palatability of sodium fluoride. Drinking water (vehicle) contained less than 0.6 ppm sodium fluoride (limit of detection) and sodium fluoride content of the feed was 12.4 ppm fluoride (rats) and 15.6 ppm fluoride (rabbits). Maternal food, water, body weights, and clinical signs were recorded at regular intervals throughout these studies. Animals were killed on GD 20 (rats) or 30 (rabbits) and examined for implant status, fetal weight, sex, and morphological development. In the high-dose group of both studies there was an initial decreased maternal body weight gain which recovered over time and a decreased water consumption--attributed to decreased palatability. No clear clinical signs of toxicity were observed. Maternal exposure to sodium fluoride during organogenesis did not significantly affect the frequency of postimplantation loss, mean fetal body weight/litter, or external, visceral or skeletal malformations in either the rat or the rabbit. The NOAEL for maternal toxicity was 150 ppm sodium fluoride in drinking water (approximately 18 mg/kg/day) for rats, and 200 ppm (approximately 18/mg/kg/day rabbits. The NOAEL for developmental toxicity was > or = 300 ppm sodium fluoride (approximately 27 mg/kg/day) for rats and > or = 400 ppm (approximately 29 mg/kg/day) for rabbits administered during organogenesis in drinking water. The total exposure to fluoride (mg F/kg body weight/day from food and drinking water combined) in the mid- and high-dose groups for both species was > 100-fold higher than the range at 0.014-0.08 mg F/kg/day estimated for a 70-kg person from food and fluoridated (1 ppm) drinking water.