Screening for chlamydia is acceptable and feasible during cervical screening cervical screening in general practice: Hassan et al examined 138 women for Chlamydia and Neisseria Gonorrhoea when under undertaking cervical screening. They detected 6 cases of Chlamydia but no cases of Neisseria Gonorrhoea.

  

The positive impact of bariatric surgery on sleep: Xie et al report on the outcomes for 167 patients who underwent bariatric surgery. The surgery had a positive benefit on the patients’ sleep patterns. Thirty nine patients were able to discontinue the positive airway therapy.

Examining the end-user experience of the national integrated medical imaging system (NIMIS): Smith et al surveyed users experience with the NIMIS service. Most responses were positive but a number of concerns were raised. These included problems with ordering and reviewing scans, identifying the appropriate for a study, dissatisfaction with the feedback they received in relation to requests.

Standards in operation notes- is it time to re-emphasise their importance: Cahill et al examined 30 random operation notes before and after an educational intervention. Following the educational intervention there were some improvements in the operation notes and also some deteriorations. There should be 12 data points for each operation note but only one of the doctors was 100% compliant- the others falling between 65% and 87%. The potential role of an electronic record is discussed.

In-hospital cardiac arrest at Cork University Hospital: O’Sullivan and Deasy identified 63 patients with an in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA). The survival rate in patients with a shockable rhythm was 68.4%, and only 9.1% in those with an unshockable rhythm. The outcome was poorest for those on the wards compared with other areas of the hospital.

The value of the combined assessment of COPD in accurate characterization of stable COPD: Sahadevan et al point out that the old system (GOLD 1234) of assessing COPD was based on spirometry, while the new system (GOLD ABCD) is based on combined disease assessment. The new tool has resulted in an increased number of COPD patients being placed in the more severe categories. The findings highlight that previously high-risk patients had been undetected.

The clinical utility of a low serum ceruloplasmin measurement in the diagnosis of Wilson disease: Kelly et al studied all the serum ceruloplasmin measurements undertaken at CUH. Among 1573 patients, 96 patients had a low ceruloplasmin level. Of these 96 patients, three had Wilson disease, a positive predictive value 11.1%. The authors point out that other confirmatory tests are needed including examination for KF rings, 24 urinary copper, liver biopsy, and AIP7B mutations.

Is the current BST eportfolio fulfilling its role in the training of clinical medicine SHOs?: Grennan et al surveyed trainee and trainers’ opinion on the eportfolio. There are a number of areas of dissatisfaction. It appears to be limited in highlighting the trainee’s strengths and weaknesses.

Management of patients with subclinical hypothyroidism in primary care: McCarthy et al studied subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) in a cohort of over 65 year old patients. There were 99 patients with SCH. One fifth were treated with thyroxine. Of the remainder 6 patients progressed to clinical hypothyroidism.