Two paintings of older men by Rembrandt (1609–1669) are examined to demonstrate that historical attitudes toward diseases of old age and the ageing person’s response to illness can be investigated in paintings. The works selected are of different genres and date from different stages of Rembrandt’s own life, one from his youth and one from his old age. Both paintings show figures who have joint pathologies typically associated with the ageing process, the first involving the subject’s foot and the second involving the subject’s hand. Despite the sometimes painful nature of these conditions, the subjects are shown accommodating their illnesses while maintaining both their intellectual and social engagement and their emotional composure. Although the seventeenth century offered older people very little effective medical treatment in comparison with what is presently available, these paintings nevertheless present a view of illness as a subsidiary rather than a dominant feature of old age.
Objective: We hypothesized that ultrasound (US)-guided technique of the supra- and infraclavicular and axillary approaches of brachial plexus block (BPB) will produce a high quality of surgical anesthesia for operations below the shoulder independently of the approach and body mass index (BMI). Intercosto-brachial and medial brachial cutaneous nerves will be blocked separately because they are not a part of the brachial plexus.
Methods: This is a prospective randomized observer-blinded study. The three approaches of the US-guided BPB without neurostimulation were compared for quality, performance time, and correlation between performance time and BMI. Intercostobrachial and medial brachial cutaneous nerve blocks were used in all patients.
Results: A total of 101 patients were randomized into three groups: SCL (supraclavicular), ICL (infra-clavicular), and AX (axillary). Seven patients were excluded due to various factors. All three groups were similar in demographic data, M:F proportion, preoperative diagnosis and type of surgery, anesthesiologists who performed the block, and surgical staff that performed the surgical intervention. The time between the end of the block performance and the start of the operation was also similar. The quality of the surgical anesthesia and discomfort during the operation were identical following comparison between groups. No direct positive correlation was observed between BMI and the block performance time. The time for the axillary block was slightly longer than the time for the supra- and infraclavicular approaches, but it had no practical clinical significance. Transient Horner syndrome was observed in three patients in the SCL group. No other adverse effects or complications were observed.
Conclusions: All three approaches can be used for US-guided BPB with similar quality of surgical anesthesia for operations of below the shoulder. A block of the intercostobrachial and medial brachial cutaneous nerves is recommended. Obesity is not a significant factor in relation to the time of US-guided BPB performance, or the quality of surgical anesthesia. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01442558.)
Portraits of pregnant women are rare in Catholic Renaissance art. In seventeenth-century Holland, the Catholic rule of Spain had been thrown off and a Protestant Calvinistic republic emerged, freeing Dutch artists to choose an unorthodox subject matter for their paintings. The Golden Age of Holland was characterized by extreme wealth, originating from overseas trade, which fostered a marked interest in philosophy, science, medicine, as well as art. Despite this, portraiture of pregnancy remained uncommon. An exception to this rule was Jan Vermeer of Delft, who lived during the zenith of this era. Jan Vermeer painted fewer than 40 pictures, fathered 15 children, and died bankrupt and little appreciated at the age of 43. Vermeer confined himself almost entirely to images of women in various domestic situations, including three figures of pregnant women. In this framework, pregnancy could be viewed as an icon for fidelity and conformism to social expectations. In this paper we investigate the roots of this unusual icon in Vermeer’s oeuvre, and suggest that the use of pregnancy in his paintings could have been inspired by his Delft-resident contemporaries Antony van Leeuwenhoek and Reinier de Graaf, fathers of well-known and opposing theories of reproduction. These eminent scientists and Vermeer’s pregnant wife, who frequently served as his model, might have made pregnancy less mysterious and more realistic to the painter.
Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) comprises over 90% of thyroid tumors and includes papillary and follicular carcinomas. Patients with DTC have an excellent prognosis, with a 10-year survival rate of over 90%. However, the risk of recurrent tumor ranges between 5% and 30% within 10 years of the initial diagnosis. Cervical lymph node disease accounts for the majority of recurrences and in most cases is detected during follow-up by ultrasound or elevated levels of serum thyroglobulin. Recurrent disease is accompanied by increased morbidity. The mainstay of treatment of nodal recurrence is surgical management. We provide an overview of the literature addressing surgical management of recurrent or persistent lymph node disease in patients with DTC.
Thyroid hormone replacement therapy in patients following thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer, although a potentially straightforward clinical problem, can present the clinician and patient with a variety of challenges. Most often the problems are related to the dose and preparation of thyroid hormone (TH) to use. Some patients feel less well following thyroidectomy and/or radioiodine ablation than they did before their diagnosis. We present evidence that levothyroxine (L-T4) is the preparation of choice, and keeping the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) between detectable and 0.1 mU/L should be the standard of care in most cases. In unusual circumstances, when the patient remains clinically hypothyroid despite a suppressed TSH, we acknowledge there may be as yet unidentified factors influencing the body’s response to TH, and individualized therapy may be necessary in such patients.
Background: While medical cannabis has been used for thousands of years in the treatment of pain and other symptoms, evidence-based use is limited and practitioners face multiple areas of uncertainty regarding the rational use of these compounds. Nonetheless, an increasing public interest and advocacy in favor of medical cannabis is causing the issue to be encountered ever more frequently by physicians in different fields of medicine and particularly in rheumatology. In view of this situation, we have surveyed the attitudes of Israeli rheumatologists to the use of medical cannabis.
Objectives: As rheumatologists are specialized in caring for patients presenting with musculoskeletal complaints, the confidence of rheumatologists’ knowledge of cannabinoids was surveyed.
Methods: All members of the Israeli Society of Rheumatology were surveyed by e-mail for their confidence and knowledge of cannabinoids and their perceived competence to prescribe herbal cannabis.
Results: A total of 23 out of 119 (19.3%) Israeli rheumatologists approached returned the questionnaire. Three-quarters of responders were not confident about their knowledge of cannabinoid molecules or ability to write a prescription for herbal cannabis, and 78% were not confident to write a prescription for herbal cannabis; 74% of responders held the opinion that there was some role for cannabinoids in the management of rheumatic disease.
Conclusion: Israeli rheumatologists lack confidence in their knowledge of cannabinoids in general, yet are open to the possibility of introducing this treatment. Additional data and guidance are necessary in order to allow rational utilization of cannabinoids for management of rheumatic pain.
The last 10 years have seen a renewed interest in a risk-adapted approach to the management of differentiated thyroid cancer. This review outlines a state-of-the-art approach to individualized management in which the original follow-up plan that was developed based on initial risk stratification is modified over time as new data become available. This risk-adapted follow-up approach allows clinicians to determine the intensity of follow-up and management recommendations in response to real-time dynamic risk assessments which may change over time.
Thyroid cancer is an increasingly common malignancy, with a rapidly rising prevalence worldwide. The social and economic ramifications of the increase in thyroid cancer are multiple. Though mortality from thyroid cancer is low, and most patients will do well, the risk of recurrence is not insignificant, up to 30%. Therefore, it is important to accurately identify those patients who are more or less likely to be burdened by their disease over years and tailor their treatment plan accordingly. The goal of risk stratification is to do just that. The risk stratification process generally starts post-operatively with histopathologic staging, based on AJCC/UICC staging system as well as others designed to predict mortality. These do not, however, accurately assess the risk of recurrence/persistence. Patients initially considered to be at high risk may ultimately do very well yet be burdened by frequent unnecessary monitoring. Conversely, patients initially thought to be low risk, may not respond to their initial treatment as expected and if left unmonitored, may have higher morbidity. The concept of risk-adaptive management has been adopted, with an understanding that risk stratification for differentiated thyroid cancer is dynamic and ongoing. A multitude of variables not included in AJCC/UICC staging are used initially to classify patients as low-, intermediate-, or high-risk for recurrence. Over the course of time, a response to therapy variable is incorporated and patients essentially undergo re-risk stratification. Additional tools such as biochemical markers, genetic mutations and molecular markers have been added to this complex risk stratification process such that this is essentially a continuum of risk. In recent years, additional considerations have been discussed with a suggestion of pre-operative risk stratification based on certain clinical and/or biologic characteristics. With the increasing prevalence of thyroid cancer but stable mortality, this risk stratification may identify those in whom the risk of conventional surgical treatment may outweigh the benefit. This review aims to outline the process of risk stratification and highlight the important concepts that are involved and those that are continuously evolving.
Deformity of the breast and axilla observed in famous paintings is a fascinating field for the medico-artists. The attempt of a retrospective diagnosis of breast tumors is highly challenging. This paper deals with a Rubens painting portraying the heroine Judith with a visible but previously unreported left breast mass. Though speculative, the present medico-artistic diagnosis is of a tumor likely to be of benign nature. It is of interest that the present case is the sixth breast disease discovered in Rubens’s works.
The treatment of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) is surgery followed in some cases by adjuvant treatment, mostly with radioactive iodine (RAI). External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is less common and not a well-established treatment modality in DTC. The risk of recurrence depends on three major prognostic factors: extra-thyroid extension, patient’s age, and tumor with reduced iodine uptake. Increased risk for recurrence is a major factor in the decision whether to treat the patient with EBRT. Data about the use of EBRT in DTC are limited to small retrospective studies. Most series have demonstrated an increase in loco-regional control. The risk/benefit from giving EBRT requires careful patient selection. Different scoring systems have been proposed by different investigators and centers. The authors encourage clinicians treating DTC to become familiarized with those scoring systems and to use them in the management of different cases. The irradiated volume should include areas of risk for microscopic disease. Determining those areas in each case can be difficult and requires detailed knowledge of the surgery and pathological results, and also understanding of the disease-spreading pattern. Treatment with EBRT in DTC can be beneficial, and data support the use of EBRT in high-risk patients. Randomized controlled trials are needed for better confirmation of the role of EBRT.
