Search Results
Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), which is also known as Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome, is a group of related disorders characterized by the development of arteriovenous malformations. These malformations occur in almost all organs but predominantly in the skin, intestines, liver, lungs, and brain. This is a case report of a patient with cutaneous manifestations of HHT in the lower extremities as diagnosed by his podiatric physician. To our knowledge, the literature does not present any case reports in which cutaneous manifestations of the lower extremities followed by a further work-up allowed a diagnosis of HHT.
This report presents the results of analyses of statistical data from 1,114 members of the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) who responded to the 1999 Arthritis Survey, conducted from July through August 1999. The purpose of the survey was to determine the extent and methods of treatment of patients with arthritis of the foot or ankle by doctors of podiatric medicine.
The authors discuss Internet sites that provide information on podiatric medicine relevant to practitioners and students. Before going online, the podiatric health professional should be aware that the information located at these sites may vary in quality, reliability, and level of sophistication. A brief introduction to the history of the Internet is presented, along with useful sites and general medical resources.
Background: Hypertension is a highly prevalent condition in the general population, conferring a high risk of significant morbidity and mortality. Associated with the condition are many well-characterized controllable and noncontrollable risk factors. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of hypertension in the outpatient podiatric medical clinic setting and to determine the relevance of hypertension risk factors in this setting.
Methods: A survey tool was created to characterize relevant risk factors, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures were recorded. Descriptive statistics were generated after conclusion of enrollment. Analysis was also performed to determine the relationship between individual risk factors and systolic blood pressure.
Results: Of the 176 patients, 56 (31.8%) had an incidentally high blood pressure at intake, including 18.5% of patients without a known history of hypertension and 38.5% with a known history of hypertension. Three risk factors were found to be significantly associated with increasing systolic blood pressure: weight (P = .022), stress level (P = .017), and presence of renal artery stenosis (P = .021). There was also a near–statistically significant inverse relationship between systolic blood pressure and amount of time spent exercising (P = .068).
Conclusions: Overall, a relatively high prevalence of incidental hypertension was identified, including among patients not previously diagnosed as having hypertension. Consideration of risk factors and awareness of the prevalence of the condition can be useful for practitioners, even as they manage presenting podiatric medical concerns. Future investigations may consider interventional or preventive strategies in the outpatient clinic setting.
Background: Debridement of toenails is a common procedure that leads to the production of nail dust aerosols in the work environment. Previous studies indicate that inhaled nail dust can cause respiratory distress and eye irritation. This comprehensive review aimed to assess the available literature on the effect of nail dust exposure and to evaluate nail dust as a potential occupational hazard for podiatric physicians.
Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted via PubMed, Google Scholar, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Risks of bias of the collected studies were evaluated using various assessment tools to match the type of study design. A qualitative analysis of the included studies was performed, from which primary and secondary outcome measures were extracted: prevalence of symptoms and specific microorganisms in nail dust.
Results: Of 403 articles screened, eight met the inclusion criteria. The primary outcome measure resulted in a pooled prevalence of eye-related symptoms being the most consistent symptom reported (41%–48%). The secondary outcome measure resulted in a pooled prevalence of Trichophyton rubrum (9.52%–38%) and Aspergillus (11.11%–35.48%) as the most common microorganisms present in nail dust.
Conclusions: From the included eight articles, we found that nail dust is a potential occupational hazard, especially for those exposed more often. Aspergillus and T rubrum are most commonly associated with nail dust leading to development of respiratory illness. It is important to take preventive measures in podiatric medical clinics by using improved and efficient personal protective equipment for workers exposed to nail dust. Detailed health safety guidelines can be developed to decrease respiratory symptoms and diseases from nail dust exposure.
Background:
Many cadaver-based anatomy courses and surgical workshops use prosections to help podiatry students and residents learn clinically relevant anatomy. The quality of these prosections is variable and dependent upon the methods used to prepare them. These methods have not been adequately described in the literature, and few studies describe the use of chemicals to prepare prosections of the cadaveric foot and ankle. Recognizing the need for better teaching prosections in podiatric education, we developed a chemical application method with underwater dissection to better preserve anatomic structures of the cadaveric foot and ankle.
Methods:
We used inexpensive chemicals before, during, and after each step, which ultimately resulted in high-quality prosections that improved identification of anatomic structures relevant to the practice of podiatric medicine.
Results:
Careful preservation of clinically important nerves, vessels, muscles, ligaments, and joints was achieved with these prosections.
Conclusions:
Although this method required additional preparation time, the resultant prosections have been repeatedly used for several years to facilitate learning among podiatry students and residents, and they have held up well. This method can be used by educators to teach podiatry students throughout their medical training and even into residency. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 103(5): 387–393, 2013)
A survey of podiatric medical students in Australia was undertaken prior to and following the completion of a compulsory geriatrics course to evaluate the effect of geriatrics education on knowledge of aging, attitudes toward older people, perceptions of treatment efficacy, and desire to specialize in geriatrics. Students had a reasonable knowledge of aging and favorable attitudes toward older people prior to undertaking the course, but few wanted to specialize in geriatrics. General knowledge of aging and attitudes toward older people improved after completion of the course, but career aspirations remained unchanged. Students generally considered geriatrics to be a low-profile specialty, and less than half stated that they would be interested in pursuing continuing education in geriatrics. These results provide further evidence that students’ lack of desire to specialize in geriatrics may be primarily due to limited recognition within the profession, rather than unfavorable attitudes toward older people or lack of interest in geriatrics during their undergraduate education. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 93(2): 124-130, 2003)
Background: Direct assessment of health professional student performance of clinical skills can be accurately performed in the standardized performance assessment laboratory (SPAL), typically by health professional faculty. However, owing to time and economic considerations, nonmedical individuals have been specially trained to perform the same function (standardized patients [SPs]). This study compared the assessment scores of the history and physical examination components of a SPAL designed for second-year podiatric medical students at Des Moines University (DMU) by a podiatry medical faculty member and SPs.
Methods: A total of 101 students from the classes of 2015 and 2016 were evaluated in 2013 and 2014 by 11 to 13 SPs from the DMU SPAL program. The video recordings of these 101 students were then evaluated by one faculty member from the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery at DMU.
Results: The Pearson correlation coefficient for each class showed a strong linear relationship between SP and faculty assessment scores. The associations between SP and faculty assessment scores in the history, physical examination, and combined history and physical examination components for the 2016 class (0.706, 0.925, and 0.911, respectively) were found to be stronger than those for the 2015 class (0.697, 0.791, and 0.791, respectively).
Conclusions: This study indicated that there are strong associations between the assessment scores of trained SPs and faculty for the history, physical examination, and combined history and physical examination components of second-year SPAL activity for podiatric medical students.
