Osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures have important health consequences for older individuals, including disability and increased mortality. Because these fractures can be prevented with appropriate medications, recognition and treatment of high-risk patients is warranted. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in a large, regional hospital in New England to examine the frequency with which vertebral fractures are identified and treated by clinicians in a population of hospitalized older women who have radiographic evidence of fractures. The study population consisted of 934 women aged 60 years and older who were hospitalized between October 1, 1995 and March 31, 1997, and who had a chest radiograph obtained. Vertebral fractures in the thoracic region were identified by two radiologists. Discharge diagnoses, medical record notes and radiology reports were compared with the results of the radiologists' readings to determine the frequency with which fractures were identified and appropriate, osteoporosis-preventing medications prescribed. Moderate or severe vertebral fractures were identified for 132 (14.1%) study subjects, but only 17 (1.8%) of the 934 participants had a discharge diagnosis of vertebral fracture. Of these 132, only 17% had fracture noted in the medical record or discharge summary; 50% of contemporaneous radiology reports identified a fracture as present; and 23% of the time it was found in the radiologist's summary impression. Only 18% of medical records indicated that fracture patients had been prescribed calcium, vitamin D, estrogen replacement or an antiresorptive agent. Relatively few hospitalized older women with radiographically demonstrated vertebral fractures were thus identified or treated by clinicians, suggesting a need for improved recognition.

A 3-year-old girl with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in remission developed lower extremity paraparesis and areflexia 15 days after receiving intrathecal methotrexate, cytarabine, and hydrocortisone. Cerebrospinal fluid protein was 107 mg/dl. Compound muscle action potential amplitudes were reduced, F waves were absent, and sensory conduction studies were normal. Needle electromyography (EMG) revealed reduced motor unit potential recruitment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed lumbosacral ventral root enhancement. She was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin and slowly recovered. Nerve conduction and EMG abnormalities correlated with MRI root enhancement, facilitated early diagnosis, and distinguished this from a myelopathy or distal polyneuropathy. These findings could represent selective ventral nerve root vulnerability to intrathecal chemotherapy. A selective autoimmune process cannot be excluded.

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Abstract. A method has been devised for mounting human skulls on the support normally used for phantom heads in the laboratory and in the clinic. It enables techniques used in endodontics to be practised without inconvenience or hazard to the patient.