Constrictive pericarditis arises as a result of the fibrous thickening of the pericardium due to chronic inflammatory changes from various injuries. Increased pulmonary and systemic venous pressures manifest clinical features of left and right heart failure. Idiopathic or post-viral pericarditis is the most common cause followed by postpericardiotomy, radiation-induced causes. Right-sided heart failure symptoms predominate over left-sided heart failure symptoms due to the equalization of pressures. No single diagnostic test can provide a definitive diagnosis or evidence of constrictive pericarditis. Medical management is difficult for constrictive pericarditis. The treatment of choice for constrictive pericarditis is pericardiectomy.

No description available.

No description available.

Yes / The demand for healthcare services internationally continues to increase, exacerbated by patient backlogs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the difficulties in recruiting and retaining healthcare staff. These difficulties have led to increased interest in workforce redesign, and the upskilling of existing staff in all areas of healthcare, including within the Allied Health Professions (AHP). Clinical support staff are a key component of workforce redesign, yet little has been documented on the utilization of this workforce across the wide range of professions that collectively form the AHP workforce. Existing research is also unclear due to the variety of titles used to describe them (eg, allied health assistants, therapy assistants, etc). This study aimed to review how Support Workers and Assistant Practitioners (SWAPs) are utilized within the AHP professions. Electronic databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL complete, Scopus, and Google Scholar) were searched to find English Language primary research articles that explored the deployment of clinical support staff within Allied Health. Following the scoping review methodology, data from each study were analyzed in terms of design, key findings, and implications. A quality assessment was also completed. Thirty-nine articles met the eligibility criteria. Studies were undertaken in Australia, UK, and USA, and covered a range of AHPs and methodological approaches. Most articles employed qualitative methods, with highly variable research quality identified. Key findings were that cost-effectiveness of this workforce has not been formally evaluated in any setting or AHP discipline, and that support workers are a largely underutilized staff group potentially due to inconsistencies in their deployment and scope of practice, and the lack of a clear career pathway. Rigorous, quantitative, and mixed methods research into the deployment and impact of this staff group is needed in order to gain a clearer understanding of how they are optimally utilized across the different AHP disciplines. / The study was funded by the NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research programme (I.D. NIHR133813)

Yes / Consultant radiographer numbers remain low despite the ongoing capacity challenges in diagnostic imaging. This is compounded by the limited evidence of how such roles can positively impact on service delivery, particularly in relation to their leadership expectations. Aims: To examine the activities undertaken by consultant radiographers; evidence the impact of the roles, and consider whether the roles encompass the four domains of consultant practice. Method: Six consultant radiographers employed in a single NHS Trust completed an activity diary over a period of 7 days. Interval sampling every 15 minutes enabled the collection of a large volume of complex data. Findings: All consultants worked beyond their contacted hours. The documented activities demonstrate the breadth of the roles and confirmed that the participants were undertaking all four core functions of consultant practice. Conclusion: The impact of the roles stretched beyond the local department and organisation to the health system and wider profession.

Yes / A literature review is a key part of all academic research that informs researchers of the existing body of knowledge. Reviews conducted systematically are becoming more appealing to the researcher about two reasons. Firstly, they are robust, strong, comprehensive and reproducible and can appropriately serve the review of any primary research. Secondly, they are qualified to be a stand-alone piece of academic work that contributes to the scientific body of knowledge. Although researchers and students in higher education who wish to write their dissertations are informed about the need for generating a literature review for primary research, when it comes to conducting a full systematic review, they may have some confusion and doubt on the distinction between a traditional literature review and a systematic review. This paper aims to clarify what a systematic review entails and take the readers' attention through the practical steps in conducting a systematic review. So, more of a practical step-by-step guide, rather than theoretical discussion of content, has been included. This paper would benefit early-career researchers, undergraduate students and many post-graduate students who wish to write their papers or dissertations based on a systematic review.

Excerpt: Faculty from East Tennessee State University’s Allied Health Science programs believes Interprofessional education is important prior to graduation.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-75).

Whilst differing perspectives can be an asset, they have also been found to lead to conflict and misunderstanding in multidisciplinary practice. Evidence suggests that different mental health disciplines hold differing attitudes towards mental disorder, reflecting differing implicit models held. To contribute to our understanding of this problem the present study investigates psychologists’ concepts of mental disorder, building on a pilot study conducted by Harland et al. with psychiatrists (2009). The Maudsley Attitude Questionnaire was used in an online survey of trainee clinical psychologists (N = 288). Principal components analysis was used to investigate implicit models. It was hypothesised that psychologists’ understandings of mental disorder would differ from psychiatrists'. The findings showed that psychologists endorsed different models for different diagnostic categories of mental disorder. Psychologists favoured the social realist model overall. Principal components reflecting a biological-psychosocial continuum, and scales of cognitive/behavioural and psychodynamic/spiritual model endorsement were revealed. The study concluded that, when compared to the findings of Harland et al. (2009), psychologists appear to make more use of psychosocial and less use of biological factors in their understanding of mental disorder than do psychiatrists. There appear to be fundamental differences in psychologists' and psychiatrists’ implicit models of mental disorder. A greater emphasis on multidisciplinary training initiatives is recommended.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries