Arrest rates and self‐reported criminal behavior are examined as a function of frequency of narcatic use during the addiction careers first daily narcatic use to last daily use) of a sample of 690 admissions to the California Civil Addict Program. Thirty‐five percent of the addiction career non‐incarcerated time involved less‐than‐daily or no narcatic use. During these periods. arrest rates for property crimes and self‐reported criminal behavior were substantially lower than for periods of daily use. This approach to examining the relationship between crime and narcatic addiction avoids several of the methodological problems encountered in pre‐ and pastaddiction and pre‐ and pasttreatment studies.

Purpose Recently, a large randomized trial found a survival advantage among patients who received elective neck dissection in conjunction with primary surgery for clinically node-negative oral cavity cancer compared with those receiving primary surgery alone. However, elective neck dissection comes with greater upfront cost and patient morbidity. We present a cost-effectiveness analysis of elective neck dissection for the initial surgical management of early-stage oral cavity cancer. Methods We constructed a Markov model to simulate primary, adjuvant, and salvage therapy; disease recurrence; and survival in patients with T1/T2 clinically node-negative oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. Transition probabilities were derived from clinical trial data; costs (in 2015 US dollars) and health utilities were estimated from the literature. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, expressed as dollar per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY), were calculated with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios less than $100,000/QALY considered cost effective. We conducted one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses to examine model uncertainty. Results Our base-case model found that over a lifetime the addition of elective neck dissection to primary surgery reduced overall costs by $6,000 and improved effectiveness by 0.42 QALYs compared with primary surgery alone. The decrease in overall cost despite the added neck dissection was a result of less use of salvage therapy. On one-way sensitivity analysis, the model was most sensitive to assumptions about disease recurrence, survival, and the health utility reduction from a neck dissection. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis found that treatment with elective neck dissection was cost effective 76% of the time at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000/QALY. Conclusion Our study found that the addition of elective neck dissection reduces costs and improves health outcomes, making this a cost-effective treatment strategy for patients with early-stage oral cavity cancer.

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Background The number of brain metastases (BM) plays an important role in the decision between stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Methods We analyzed the survival of 5750 SRS-treated BM patients as a function of BM number. Survival analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier analysis as well as univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. Results BM patients were first categorized as those with 1, 2–4, and 5–10 BM based on the scheme proposed by Yamamoto et al (Lancet Oncology 2014). Median overall survival for patients with 1 BM was superior to those with 2–4 BMs (7.1 mo v. 6.4 mo, p=0.009), and survival of patients with 2–4 BMs did not differ from those with 5–10 BMs (6.4 mo v. 6.3 mo, p=0.170). The median survival of patients with >10 BMs was lower than those with 2–10 BMs (6.3 mo v. 5.5 mo, p=0.025). In a multivariate model that accounted for age, Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS), systemic disease status, tumor histology, and cumulative intracranial tumor volume (CITV), we observed a ~10% increase in hazard of death when comparing patients with 1 versus 2–10 BM (p<0.001) or 10 versus >10 BM (p<0.001). When BM number was modeled as a continuous variable rather than using the Yamamoto classification, we observed a step-wise 5% increase in the hazard of death for every increment of 5–6 BM (p<0.001). Conclusions The contribution of BM number to overall survival is modest, and should be considered as one of the many variables considered in the decision between SRS and WBRT.

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We studied 45 children who presented with an inversion injury of the ankle. The clinical signs suggested injury to the distal growth plate of the fibula, but the plain radiographs appeared normal. Ultrasound examination of the joint in 40 patients showed a subperiosteal haematoma consistent with a growth-plate injury in 23 (57.5%). Children who had been treated with a tubular bandage and crutches by random selection had a mean time to return of normal activity of 14.22 days compared with 21.60 days for those treated with a plaster-of-Paris cast (t = 3.60, p = 0.0032; d = 7.38, 95% CI 3.0 to 11.8).We conclude that children with inversion ankle injuries who have clinical signs of injury to the distal fibular growth plate but a normal radiological appearance, should be treated with a tubular bandage and crutches.

A follow-up interview study of early admissions to the California Civil Addict Program found that those continuing in the program performed substantially better during the commitment period than did a comparable group discharged shortly after admission. To a lesser extent, the program also appeared to have had some impact subsequent to discharge. Those program discharges defined as successes tended to do relatively well until the time of interview. Comparisons under the strict (pre-1970) and more lenient regimens showed roughly comparable behavior, but the availability of methadone maintenance was also a significant factor in reducing heroin use during the latter period.