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A prospective study of 104 patients with throchanteric hip fractures was undertaken with particular regard to postoperative complications and rehabilitation at the follow-up 3 months later. The mortality was 20%, depended more on the social function prior to the fracture than on the patient's age. Osteosynthesis was performed with the Richards sliding screw-plate system. The most frequent clinical complications were of a cardiovascular and pulmonary nature. Technical failure was encountered in 10%. Hip function was excellent or good in 69%. In 40% the ability to walk remained unchanged after the operation. Seventy-five per cent of the patients returned to their own homes, although 51% were more dependent on the social welfare system than before the fracture. The social function prior to the fracture determined the social function after the fracture to a greater extent than did the patient's age.

A large traumatic brain abscess in a 9-year-old white boy was successfully treated conservatively with antibiotics, including metronidazole and ampicillin. No neurological or psychological sequelae, except for unilateral loss of the olfactory sense, were revealed at follow-up 5 years later, and on CT two minor hypodense areas remained in the right frontal lobe. Our treatment protocol includes metronidazole (0.5 g 3 times a day) and ampicillin (1 g 6 times a day) for adults. This seems to be the treatment of choice in cases of intracranial brain abscesses.

In this prospective analysis of the incidence of ureteral obstruction after aortic bifurcation grafting, 120 patients were entered into the study: 19 were subsequently excluded for cause, and 101 patients were studied by isotope renography. The renographic findings were indicative for subsequent intravenous pyelography, which was performed in 26 patients. In two cases supplementary retrograde pyelograms were done. Two patients (2%) had ureteral obstruction related to the vascular prosthesis, and in one of these patients the process was bilateral. The lesions were asymptomatic in both patients.