\n\nDESIGN: Cohort study of smear-negative TB suspects at a South African primary care clinic. Participants provided one sputum sample for fluorescent smear microscopy and culture and an additional sample for Xpert. Outcomes of interest were TB diagnosis, linkage to care, patient and provider costs.\n\nRESULTS: Among 199 smear-negative TB suspects, 16 were positive by Xpert, 15 by culture and 7 by microscopy. All cases identified by Xpert began anti-tuberculosis treatment the same or next day; only one of five Xpert-negative culture-positive cases started treatment after SUMMARY 34 days. Xpert at point

of care offered similar diagnostic yield but a faster turnaround time than smear and culture performed at a centralized laboratory. Compared to smear plus culture, Xpert (at US$9.98 per cartridge) was US$3 less expensive DNA Damage inhibitor Cytoskeletal Signaling inhibitor per valid result (US$21 vs. US$24) and only US$6 more costly per case identified (US$266 vs. US$260).\n\nCONCLUSION: Xpert is an effective method of diagnosing smear-negative TB. It is cost saving for patients, especially if performed

at point of care, but it is costly for health care providers. Data-driven studies are needed to determine its cost-effectiveness in resource-poor settings with diverse diagnostic practices.”
“Surgical eradication of minimal and mild endometriosis has been shown to increase the birth rate both spontaneously and after intrauterine insemination. This study from a reproductive medicine unit at a referral university hospital examined whether surgical eradication of minimal and mild endometriosis prior to IVF improved the treatment outcome. Records of infertile patients with minimal and mild endometriosis (American Society for Reproductive Medicine stages I and II) with no prior IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatments

were analysed. During the first treatment cycle, women who had undergone complete removal (n = 399) of endometriotic selleck kinase inhibitor lesions experienced, compared with women with diagnostic laparoscopy only (n = 262), a significantly improved implantation rate (30.9% versus 23.9%, P = 0.02), pregnancy rate (40.1% versus 29.4%, P = 0.004) and live-birth rate per ovum retrieval (27.7% versus 20.6%, P = 0.04). Surgical removal of minimal and mild endometriotic lesions also gave shorter time to first pregnancy and a higher cumulative pregnancy rate. The study shows that women with stages I and II endometriosis undergoing IVF/ICSI have significantly shorter time to pregnancy and higher live-birth rate if all visible endometriosis is completely eliminated at the time of diagnostic surgery. (C) 2011, Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Objective: Chronic physical comorbidity is common in dementia. However, there is an absence of evidence to support good practice guidelines for attention to these problems.