Australian and New Zealand journal of medicine
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Orbital myositis implies orbital inflammation confined to one or more of the extraocular muscles. Orbital computerised tomography (CT) demonstrates irregular extraocular muscle enlargement which extends anteriorly to involve the tendon (muscle insertion). Six cases of presumed orbital myositis are reported, in each of whom the diagnosis was suspected clinically and confirmed by the orbital CT scan appearances. ⋯ Orbital myositis may be acute, subacute or recurrent. The acute form responds well to high doses of oral corticosteroids tapered gradually, but it may recur or become chronic. The subacute form of the disease responds less well.
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We report 50 immunocompromised patients with pulmonary infiltrates who underwent fibreoptic bronchoscopy, including bronchoalveolar lavage, on 56 occasions. The underlying diseases were mostly lymphoma, leukemia, other malignancies and renal failure. The commonest immunodeficiency factors were chemotherapy, steroids and neutropenia. ⋯ Open lung biopsy added additional diagnostic information in three of the four cases in which it was performed. The most common final diagnoses were bacterial, viral or Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and recurrent malignancy. We conclude that bronchoalveolar lavage is a safe procedure with a high diagnostic yield in the immunocompromised host with suspected opportunistic pneumonia.
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Data from a 1983 Auckland coronary heart disease register applying current World Health Organization criteria have been used to validate routine hospital discharge data. The register contained 905 patients under 65 years admitted to hospital and 858 of these patients were matched with hospital discharge records. ⋯ Only 405 of the 604 cases (67%) coded 410 in the hospital discharge data were true definite myocardial infarctions according to the World Health Organization criteria. The routine hospital International Classification of Diseases data do not provide diagnostic groups sufficiently close to World Health Organization categories for them to be used alone to monitor trends in coronary heart disease morbidity rates.