This article looks at folkloric beliefs about maleficent spirits and spirit-hordes as these affect the witchcraft literature in early modern Europe. The author proposes a possible model for viewing and understanding the cultural matrix that the witchcraft literature makes visible in anthropological treatments of shamanistic cannibalism. Isolating features of what she calls a “predatory cosmology” in these accounts, the author points out many parallels with the aspects of the stories retailed about vampiric strigae. She accentuates the point that beliefs do not exists in isolation: the supernatural is humanly mediated; it is always embedded in a matrix of praxis, and this matrix sometimes influences learned discourse as well.
Aims: To assess the quality of documentation of patients with a visual impairment within a neurosurgery department to see if they have a corresponding vision alert within their medical notes. Methods: Retrospective case note analysis over 3 years of neurosurgical patients diagnosed with a space occupying lesion involving the anterior fossa near the optic apparatus was conducted. Post-surgical clinical assessment validated by formal visual assessment revealed 56 patients had a visual impairment diagnosis. Visual acuity and visual field mean deviations in the best eye were studied, along with the documentation of a vision alert. A total of nine patients did not meet the inclusion criteria and were removed from the study. Results: Out of 47 patients, four were found to have a severe sight impairment. Only 11 (23.40%) patients had a vision alert on their medical records. Out of the 47 patients with a visual impairment, three patients certified as sight impaired and severely sight impaired (75%) did not have a vision alert on their medical record. Conclusions: Although visual impairment was common in this study population, most patients had useful vision. Documentation to alert clinicians and carers about visual impairment was poor and needs improvement.
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