Isoflurane effects on the N1 and other long-latency auditory evoked potentials in Wistar rats.

Long-latency auditory evoked potentials (LLAEPs) may help further advances in understanding consciousness under general anesthesia and promote more objective means of assessing sedation depth than conventional clinical signs. Among the LLAEP components, the auditory N1 shows promise as a measure of sedation depth and a marker of consciousness, but findings are so far inconclusive. Research with animals can help elucidate the effects of various anesthetics on the N1 and other LLAEPs, but investigations of LLAEPs under anesthesia in animals is lacking. To address this deficit, we examined the P1, N1, P2, and N2, along with their corresponding peak-to-peak complexes, in 10 Wistar rats anesthetized with 1.5-2 % isoflurane in pure oxygen and again after recovery. While under anesthesia, subdermal needle electrodes were inserted and secured for electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. LLAEPs were assessed during a 20-min, passive, two-tone (500 ms inter-tone interval) paradigm with randomized short (1 s) and long (5 s) inter-pair intervals (IPIs). Overall, while the LLAEP peaks under isoflurane were less defined, they were not eliminated. The peak-to-peak amplitudes, particularly the P1-N1, were significantly smaller under isoflurane than during post-recovery. Our preliminary findings indicate that isoflurane produces global suppression across LLAEP components, presumably reflecting impaired integration of top-down and bottom-up attention and sensory systems under profound sedation with isoflurane.

Fabrication of Nanoscale Bioarrays for the Study of Cytoskeletal Protein Binding Interactions Using Nanoimprint Lithography.

We describe a high throughput patterning process used to create arrays of molecular-scale features for the study of cytoskeletal protein binding interactions. The process uses a shadow-evaporated metal mask to facilitate lift-off of features defined by nanoimprint lithography. This simple and robust approach alleviates difficulties in pattern transfer of ultra-small features and results in arrays of highly ordered sub-10 nm features which are then functionalized with extracellular matrix proteins. Application of these arrays is demonstrated in cell spreading assays.

Pharmacologic management of psychosis in the elderly.

Antipsychotic medications are the pharmacologic agents of choice for treating psychosis in elderly persons. Age-related physiological changes make older persons more sensitive to the therapeutic and toxic effects of antipsychotics. There is a paucity of controlled studies on the efficacy of antipsychotic medications in older persons. Existing data suggest that atypical antipsychotics are at least as efficacious as and better tolerated than the conventional agents. For elderly persons, important adverse effects of antipsychotics include sedating, anticholinergic, and cardiovascular effects, extrapyramidal symptoms, and tardive dyskinesia. Some atypical antipsychotics appear to carry a risk of metabolic changes. Clinical recommendations include a thorough diagnostic evaluation followed by treatment with atypical antipsychotics at low dosages. It is essential that medication be combined with an appropriate psychosocial intervention in order to optimize its effect. Non-antipsychotic medications may provide useful adjunctive or alternative treatment and should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Anxiety disorders in older adults.

In the population of older adults, anxiety disorders are underdiagnosed and undertreated. Epidemiologic studies have generally found that the prevalence of anxiety disorders declines with age. Recognition of anxiety disorders in older adults is, however, complicated by several age-related factors including the presence of depression, cognitive impairment, and physical illness. A variety of medications have been used to treat anxiety disorders across the life span; however, few studies have evaluated their use specifically in older adults. Choice of medication requires consideration of the effects of aging on safety, tolerability, and adherence. Available data suggest that cognitive and behavioral treatments may be effective for anxiety disorders in older adults. Appropriate medical evaluation and psychosocial interventions are recommended prior to initiating pharmacotherapy. When pharmacologic treatment is warranted, antidepressant medications at low doses may be useful for late-life anxiety disorders; other agents may be considered for augmentation or second-line use in certain types of patients.

Bupropion sustained release for bereavement: results of an open trial.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted to assess whether DSM-IV-defined bereavement responds to bupropion sustained release (SR). METHOD: Twenty-two subjects who had lost their spouses within the previous 6 to 8 weeks and who met DSM-IV symptomatic/functional criteria for a major depressive episode were evaluated. Subjects completed the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), the Clinical Global Impressions scale, the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief, and the Inventory of Complicated Grief at baseline and follow-up. Subjects were treated with bupropion SR, 150 to 300 mg/day, for 8 weeks. RESULTS: Improvement was noted in both depression and grief intensity. For the intent-to-treat group. 59% experienced a reduction of > or = 50% on HAM-D scores. The correlations between changes in the HAM-D scores and the grief scale scores were high, ranging from 0.61 (p = .006) to 0.44 (p = .054). CONCLUSION: Major depressive symptoms occurring shortly after the loss of a loved one (i.e., bereavement) appear to respond to bupropion SR. Treatment of these symptoms does not intensify grief; rather, improvement in depression is associated with decreases in grief intensity. The results of this study challenge prevailing clinical wisdom that DSM-IV-defined bereavement should not be treated. Larger, placebo-controlled studies are indicated.

Culling a clinical terminology: a systematic approach to identifying problematic content.

The College of American Pathologists and the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom are merging their respective clinical terminologies, SNOMED RT and Clinical Terms Version 3, into a new terminology, SNOMED CT. This requires mapping concept descriptions between the two existing terminologies. During the mapping process, many descriptions were identified as being potentially problematic. They require further review by the SNOMED editorial process before either (1) being incorporated into SNOMED CT, or (2) retired from active use. This article presents data on the concept descriptions that were identified as needing further review during the early phases of SNOMED CT development. Based on this work, we describe fourteen types of problematic terminology content. Identifying problematic terminology content can be approached in a systematic manner.

Judaism, professional intervention, and ethics in long-term care.

Discusses spiritual, professional, and ethical approaches to work with an elderly Jewish patient in a nursing home. Addresses the knotty issues of determining decision-making capacity, the refusal of nutrition and hydration, Judaic values pertaining to ending one's life, the role of the spiritual caregiver, the role of the social worker, and the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, paternalism, and do no harm.

Creating local bibliographic databases: new tools for evidence-based health care.

The Internet has created new opportunities for librarians to present literature search results to clinicians. In order to take full advantage of these opportunities, libraries need to create locally maintained bibliographic databases. A simple method of creating a local bibliographic database and publishing it on the Web is described. The method uses off-the-shelf software and requires minimal programming. A hedge search strategy for outcome studies of clinical process interventions is created, and Ovid is used to search MEDLINE. The search results are saved and imported into EndNote libraries. The citations are modified, exported to a Microsoft Access database, and published on the Web. Clinicians can use a Web browser to search the database. The bibliographic database contains 13,803 MEDLINE citations of outcome studies. Most searches take between four and ten seconds and retrieve between ten and 100 citations. The entire cost of the software is under $900. Locally maintained bibliographic databases can be created easily and inexpensively. They significantly extend the evidence-based health care services that libraries can offer to clinicians.

Medical informatics in healthcare organizations: a survey of healthcare information managers.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the medical informatics needs of healthcare organizations and the work roles for informaticists in those organizations. METHODS: A 128-item survey was developed and administered as a structured interview to thirty-two information managers in eighteen organizations. The survey included items about medical informatics training, prior work experience, skills for informaticists, and programming proficiency. RESULTS: There was a strong preference for informaticists with prior clinical work experience and an understanding of healthcare. Project management and data warehousing were highly rated skills. Informaticists were expected to know about healthcare processes, clinical guidelines, and outcome management. They were not expected to be expert programmers. CONCLUSION: There is a role in healthcare organizations for interdisciplinary workers who understand clinical medicine, healthcare management, information technology, and who can communicate and work effectively across these organizational boundaries.