Clinical practice guideline monitoring children and young people with, or at risk of developing autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD).

Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is thought to affect about 1 in 1000 people in the UK. ADPKD causes a progressive decline in kidney function, with kidney failure tending to occur in middle age. Children and young people with ADPKD may not have any symptoms. However they may have high blood pressure, which may accelerate progression to later stages of chronic kidney disease.There is uncertainty and variation in how health professionals manage children and young people with confirmed or a family history of ADPKD, because of a lack of evidence. For example, health professionals may be unsure about when to test children's blood pressure and how often to monitor it in the hospital clinic or at the GP. They may have different approaches in recommending scanning or genetic testing for ADPKD in childhood, with some recommending waiting until the young person is mature enough to make this decision his or herself.This guideline is intended to help families affected by ADPKD by making sure that: health professionals with specialist knowledge in ADPKD offer you information on inheritance and potential benefits and harms of testing for ADPKD. the decision to test and the method of testing for ADPKD in children and young people is shared between you or your family and the health professionals blood pressure assessment is undertaken regularly in children and young people at risk of developing ADPKD.

Sterilizing Bacillus pumilus spores using supercritical carbon dioxide.

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC CO(2)) has been evaluated as a new sterilization technology. Results are presented on killing of B. pumilus spores using SC CO(2) containing trace levels of additives. Complete killing was achieved with 200 part per million (ppm) hydrogen peroxide in SC CO(2) at 60 degrees C, 27.5 MPa. Addition of water to SC CO(2) resulted in greater than three-log killing, but this is insufficient to claim sterilization. Neither ethanol nor isopropanol when added to SC CO(2) affected killing.

Influence of socio-economic deprivation on outcomes for patients diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the influence of deprivation on outcomes for patients with oesophageal cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 1196 consecutive patients with oesophageal carcinoma presenting to a regional multidisciplinary team between 1 January 1998 and 31 August 2005 were studied prospectively and deprivation scores calculated using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) of the National Assembly for Wales. The patients were subdivided into quintiles for analysis. RESULTS: Inhabitants of the most deprived areas (quintile 5) were younger at presentation (median age 67 years versus 70 years, p = 0.01) and were more likely to have squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) (p = 0.002) in comparison with patients from the least deprived areas (quintile 1). Stage of disease and morbidity did not correlate with deprivation quintile, but operative mortality was greater in quintile 1 versus 5 (1.9% versus 5.8%, p = 0.281). Overall 5-year survival for those patients undergoing oesophagectomy was unrelated to deprivation quintile (1 versus 5, 24% versus 33%, p = 0.8246), but was lower following definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) for the least deprived quintiles (1, 2 & 3 versus 4 & 5, 35% versus 16%, p = 0.0272). CONCLUSIONS: Although deprivation was associated with younger age, SCC and a trend towards higher operative mortality, survival after diagnosis and oesophagectomy were unrelated to deprivation.