Towards a greater dialogue on disability between Muslims and Christians

Attitudes to disability and disabled people by Muslims – focusing on attitudes in the Middle East and North Africa - and Christians – focusing on the West (here taken to mean Europe, North America and Australasia) - were examined through a grounded theory literature search, with the study being divided into three phases of reading and analysis. The aims of study were to develop a dialogue on disability between the two cultures, to inform an understanding of the attitudes to disability in the two cultures, and to inform cultural practice in promoting support and equality in both cultures. The study finds that Islam and Christianity have much in common and are a force for good in promoting and developing disability equality in both Muslim and Christian cultures

Granular cell myoblastoma of the bronchus. Case report and literature review

A case of multiple granular cell myoblastomas of the tracheobronchial tree is presented. The patient is well 32 months following endobronchial removal. Only 46 cases of solitary and two cases of multiple lesions of the tracheobronchial tree have been described in the literature. These lesions occur with equal frequency in men and women; at a median age of 38 years; more frequently on the right than on the left; and most commonly with cough as the presenting symptom. Most patients have been treated with major surgical resections, but conservative endobronchial removal may be effective therapy

Disruption of proximal aortosaphenous vein anastomosis. Late complication of aortocoronary bypass surgery

A 43-year-old man who had undergone aortocoronary saphenous vein bypass developed disruption of the proximal aorto-saphenous vein anastomosis. Although rare, a mediastinal hematoma secondary to leakage or disruption of an anastomotic site should be considered in patients who develop a mediastinal mass after aortocoronary bypass surgery

Surgical treatment of lung cancer in patients with human immunodeficiency virus

Since January 1986, more than 20 patients have been seen at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center and the Miami Veterans Administration Medical Center with concurrent human immunodeficiency virus infection and bronchogenic carcinoma. Four of these patients were treated surgically with curative intent. The histories, records, operative reports, and pathology reports of the 4 patients were reviewed. The 4 surgically treated patients had stage I T1 N0 M0 lung cancer. Three patients had T4 cell counts of less than 200/μL and were managed by lobectomy. These patients died 5, 3 1/2, and 5 months postoperatively. More recently, a fourth patient had a T4 cell count of 963/μL and was treated with wedge resection. He is currently alive 12 months postoperatively. It is concluded that surgically treated patients with lung cancer, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and T4 cell counts lower than 200/μL have high mortality and morbidity. Although it may be best to base surgical intervention on the stage of the patient's human immunodeficiency virus infection, further analysis is essential to determine which subgroup of human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients, if any, would benefit from surgical treatment of lung cancer

Long-term surgical results in sudden death syndrome associated with cardiac dysfunction after myocardial infarction.

To evaluate the surgical results in patients with inducible ventricular tachyarrhythmias due to coronary disease and left ventricular dysfunction, the authors reviewed their experience in 170 patients who had survived one or more cardiac arrests after myocardial infarction and were unresponsive to drug therapy based on electrophysiologic studies (EPS). There were nine operative deaths (5%). Based on intraoperative EPS, surgical remodeling of left ventricular dysfunction (aneurysm resection, infarct debulking, and septal reinforcement) with map-guided cryoablation and coronary artery bypass graft was performed in 34 patients (group A), and left ventricular remodeling and coronary artery bypass graft without guided endocardial resection was performed in 25 patients (group B). Forty-three patients (group C) had coronary artery bypass graft with implantation of an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD). Group D (68 patients) received AICD only. After operation, based on EPS results, four patients in group A (12%) and three patients in Group B (15%) required AICD implantation. Overall survival at 6 years was 65%, 48%, 85%, and 58% in patient groups A, B, C, and D, respectively (p = not significant). During follow-up in group A patients, none died suddenly and none needed AICD. In group B, two patients required AICD 3 and 5 years later, and five patients died suddenly. The incidence of sudden death was 2.3%/patient/year and 3.5%/patient/year after AICD implantation (groups C and D). At 6 years, cardiac-event-free survival was 80% and 70% for groups A and B and 38% and 24% for groups C and D, respectively (p less than 0.001). Patients receiving map-guided ablative procedures had significantly improved cardiac-event-free survival rates