No abstract

Congenital scoliosis is a deformity of the developing spine that results from defects in vertebral development. The developmental etiologies may be classified as either a failure of formation, a failure of segmentation, or a mixture of these two modes of maldevelopment. Early detection and close surveillance of congenital scoliosis is critical, as a rapidly progressive curve may lead to significant deformity, pulmonary restriction, and neurologic problems if not treated. Early surgical treatment is often necessary for rapidly progressive curves.

There have been numerous concerns regarding the physical and mental health of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and depression potentiated nurses’ vulnerability to poor eating habits. Aims and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the differences between nurses’ characteristics with COVID-19 facility designation, and sleep quality, depression, anxiety, stress, eating habits, social bonds, and quality of life. Design: A cross-sectional, comparative study. Methods: An online survey was sent using the corporation’s email to nurses working in three hospitals in Qatar from September to December 2020. One of them is a designated COVID-19 facility. The sleep quality, depression, eating habits, social bonds, and quality of life were measured using The Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21), Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ), Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF), respectively. Results: A total of 200 nurses participated in the study (RR: 13.3%). No statistically significant association was found between designated facility (COVID-19 vs. not COVID-19) or nurses’ characteristics and ISI categories (OR 1.15; 95% CI 0.54, 2.44). Nurses working in COVID-19 facilities had increased odds of having higher EEQ categories by 2.62 times (95% CI 1.18, 5.83). Similarly, no statistically significant associations were found between any of the nurses’ characteristics and OSSS-3 categories. On the other hand, no statistically significant associations were found between any of the nurses’ characteristics and QOL domains except for the gender and social relationships’ domain. Conclusion: Overall, the quality of life of nurses in Qatar is on a positive level whether they are assigned to a COVID-19 facility or not. Although no significant difference was found with regard to the sleep quality, stress, anxiety, depression, and eating habits between nurses in a COVID-19 facility and in a non-COVID-19 facility, special interventions to diminish stressors need to be implemented and maintained.

Surgery for adult idiopathic scoliosis using third-generation instrumentation techniques provides significant clinical improvement, scoliosis correction, maintenance of sagittal alignment, and patient satisfaction, with an acceptable complication rate.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of collimation on the lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of cancer incidence in all body organs (effective risk) in patients undergoing antero-posterior (AP) examinations of the spine. This is of particular importance for patients suffering from scoliosis as in their case regular repeat examinations are required and also because such patients are usually young and more susceptible to the effects of ionising radiation than are older patients. METHOD: High sensitivity thermo-luminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were used to measure radiation dose to all organs of an adult male dosimetry phantom, positioned for an AP projection of the thoraco-lumbar spine. Exposures were made, first applying tight collimation and then subsequently with loose collimation, using the same acquisition factors. In each case, the individual TLDs were measured to determine the local absorbed dose and those representing each organ averaged to calculate organ dose. This information was then used to calculate the effective risk of cancer incidence for each decade of life from 20 to 80, and to compare the likelihood of cancer incidence when using tight and loose collimation. RESULTS: The calculated figures for effective risk of cancer incidence suggest that the risk when using loose collimation compared to the use of tight collimation is over three times as high and this is the case across all age decades from 20 to 80. CONCLUSION: Tight collimation can greatly reduce radiation dose and risk of cancer incidence. However collimation in scoliotic patients can be necessarily limited.

The regression model can be used to predict the total effective risk for clients within breast screening but it cannot be used for exact assessment of total effective risk. Graphical representation of risk could be an easy way to represent risk in a fashion which might be helpful to clients and clinicians.

The radiographic success and adverse events associated with AxiaLIF appear to be similar to that observed for ALIF, suggesting that this technique represents a safe and effective method for achieving an interbody fusion across the L5-S1 disk space when utilized in conjunction with posterior fixation.

Keywords:Breast screening Effective risk FFDM MGD Thermoluminescence dosimetry a b s t r a c t Background and purpose: The performance of mammography screening programmes is focussed mainly on breast cancer detection rates. However, when the benefits and risks of mammography are considered, the risk of radiation-induced cancer is calculated for only the examined breast using Mean Glandular Dose (MGD). The risk from radiation during mammography is often described as low or minimal. This study aims to evaluate the effective lifetime risk from full field digital mammography (FFDM) for a number of national screening programmes. Material and Methods: Using an ATOM phantom, radiation doses to multiple organs were measured during standard screening mammography. Sixteen FFDM machines were used and the effective lifetime risk was calculated across the female lifespan for each machine. Once the risks were calculated using the phantom, the total effective lifetime risk across 48 national screening programmes was then calculated; this assumed that all these programmes use FFDM for screening. Breast cancer morbidity differs significantly between regions and according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), 3 39% of breast cancer cases were recorded in Asia while in Europe and North America, the figures were 28% and 15%, respectively. Early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer is the key to reduce mortality. 4Randomised screening trials using mammography illustrated that screening can reduce breast cancer mortality by 15e20%. 5 Since mammography is seen as a cost-effective technique for early detection of breast cancer, it remains the recommended modality for both screening and diagnosis. The performance of any screening programme should be assessed by three parameters; sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value. 7,8 The calculation of these parameters depends on three related quantities; mammography false negatives which represents mammography's inability to detect all breast cancers, mammography false positives which may result in extra examinations and undesired anxiety for women, and overdiagnosis of low risk breast cancers that may never cause health problems.9,10