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Background: Currently there is much debate about the concept of burnout and its use as a diagnostic entity. The aim of the present survey was to present the view of mental health professionals towards the concept of burnout., Methods: A total of 300 mental health professionals were surveyed using a structured questionnaire., Results: The majority of participants see burnout as a state of exhaustion which constitutes a risk factor for later developing a mental disorder. Participants reported that from their point of view typical triggers for burnout exist while symptoms overlap to a great extent with depression. Psychotherapy as well as interventions at the workplace are regarded as promising interventions; however, in the clinical routine only a minority of participants actually contacted the patients' workplace. In the participants workplace settings most Burnout-Patients suffered from a diagnosis defined in ICD 10 but judged themselves to be suffering from burnout., Discussion: Burnout-Patients in mental health settings differ from the picture currently drawn in the media, probably because Burnout-Patients reach the mental health sector only after already having developed a manifest psychiatric disorder.

Treadmill training with body weight support was applied in 30 patients who had suffered an ischaemic stroke, with the goal of improving their independence in the activities of daily living (ADL). The following inclusion criteria were used: inability to walk (FAC-score 0 - 2); motor abilities (the ability to sit without support, a palpable muscle function of the hip extensors, abductors and the knee extensors in the affected leg); adequate cooperation, motivation and vigility; absence of muscle contractures which would affect gait; onset of therapy no later than one year after the incident. The average duration of treadmill training was 6,6 weeks. The patients' age was an average 68 years (48 - 82). 87 % of the patients were able to improve their gait within the Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC) scale. 60 % of the patients achieved the ability to walk independently without technical aid. Apart from improving their gait, the patients also attained significantly increased scores in the motor scale of the Rivermead Motor Assessment (gross function) and the motor part of the ADL scale of the Barthel Index (items 2 - 4) and the Functional Independence Measure (items 3 and 4). Treadmill training is establishing itself as an important therapeutic approach in gait rehabilitation with patients with acquired brain damage.

The case of a 41-year-old woman with sarcoidosis of the breast without evidence of disease elsewhere is reported. The diagnosis was established histologically, and other causes of the sarcoid-like granulomatous lesions could be excluded.

In a prospective study at the University of Erlangen, Dept. Gynaecol, and Obstet., 228 patients with breast cancer during their primary surgery and 20 patients during their metastatic surgery, underwent bone marrow punctions at six punction sides, which were twice at the sternum and twice at both iliac crest. The control group was 20 patients without an invasive carcinoma. Aim of the study was to detect or exclude tumour cells in the bone marrow via examination of the biopsies with monoclonal antibodies EMA and cytokeratin and consequently to find out the meaning of the results as prognostic criteria by statistical measurements. Tumour cells in the bone marrow were detected in 46.5% (106/228) of the patients, who underwent a bone marrow biopsy during primary surgery. 21% (23/106) of the patients who were bone marrow positive, but only 5.75% (7/122) of the patients, who were bone marrow negative, developed metastases during a median follow-up of 20 months. This difference is statistically significant. 17 of the 30 patients with recurrences developed bone metastases; 16 of them were EMA-positive. The median recurrence-free interval was 5 months in the bone marrow positive group and therefore noticeably shorter, than in the bone marrow negative patient group with 11 months. Of the nodal negative patients, 2 bone marrow positive patients developed distant metastases. With the knowledge of the nodal status and bone marrow biopsy result, it was possible to predict 28 of the 30 patients correctly in respect of their risk to metastasize. The result of the bone marrow puncture was proved in a multivariate analysis to be an independent prognostic factor.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

From May 1, 1992, to April 30, 1993, we performed 307 ultrasonic guided high-speed punch biopsies. In 119 of the 307 women, we dispensed with further surgical and histological procedures when the tentative diagnosis from complementary mammary diagnostic procedures revealed no pathological findings and concurred with the histological results of the punch biopsy. In 188 women, the biopsy was followed by surgical intervention and correlation of the histological findings. This group of patients showed a sensitivity of 98%, a specificity and positive prognostic value of 100%, and a negative prognostic value of 91%. If we combine the results of the complementary mammary diagnostic (including the punch biopsy), then the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative prognostic values for this surgically and histologically confirmed group of patients all reach 100%. In trained hands, the ultrasonic guided high-speed punch is a reliable means of determining the histological nature of lesions detected in ultrasonic scans. This technique has been perfected in our facility. Along with preoperative carcinoma detection, it permits us to avoid unnecessary operations when under defined conditions there are no pathological findings.

Breast preservation has become an important option in the treatment of breast cancer patients. The selection of patients should be based upon history, actual clinical situation, mammographic and morphologic parameters. After careful evaluation of all those factors the surgical treatment and eventually an adjuvant postsurgical irradiation can be tailormade according to the associated individual risk-profile.