Comprehensive rehabilitation in chronic heart failure - better psycho-emotional status related to quality of life, brain natriuretic peptide concentrations, and clinical severity of disease

To evaluate the effects of a comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation program in chronic heart failure (CHF) on quality of life (QoL) in relation to emotional status and clinical severity of disease.

Long-term effects of heart transplantation: the gap between physical performance and emotional well-being

The purpose of our study was to assess physical and emotional factors in heart transplant patients. A prospective design was used to compare patients' physical symptoms, emotional complaints, and restrictions at admission to the waiting list, immediately after, and 1 and 5 years after heart transplantation. Thirty-three patients were included (30 male, 3 female) in the study. Their mean age at admission was 48 +/- 10.2 years. Of these, 23 suffered from cardiomyopathy, 8 from coronary heart disease, and 2 from valvular insufficiency. At admission, the patients suffered from symptoms of cardiac insufficiency, and were restricted in sports, gardening, hobbies, sexual life, job, food-intake, and mobility. More than three-fourths rated their physical and emotional status as moderate to poor. Emotionally, they suffered from irritability, restlessness, depression, psychic lability, lowered drive, lack of social contact, low self-esteem, and anxiety. At the end of rehabilitation (4-8 weeks after the operation), all physical and emotional complaints, as well as restrictions had significantly decreased (p < 0.0001 to p < 0.001), except for trembling, numbness of hands/feet, and food-intake. One year postoperatively, patients reported even fewer physical complaints (p < 0.01). Three-fourths rated their physical and emotional status good or excellent. Five years postoperatively--in contrast to physical status, restrictions, and physical complaints--the emotional complaints had increased significantly (p < 0.0001). Patients reported excellent physical performance up to 5 years postoperatively. On the other hand, the study revealed that their emotional well-being had significantly deteriorated from 1 to 5 years postoperatively. Attention should, therefore, not only be paid to the good physical health of the survivors, but also to the worsening of their emotional status.

Abuse of vasoconstrictive eyedrops mimicking an ocular pemphigoid

To describe conjunctival histopathologic alterations induced by excessive chronic astringent use.

Pachydermodactyly--just a sign of emotional distress

Pachydermodactyly (PDD) is a benign, asymptomatic soft tissue swelling affecting the skin of the lateral aspects of the proximal interphalangeal joints of the fingers II-IV, mostly in young adolescent males, and could be interpreted as a consequence of tic-like behaviour as an obsessive-compulsive disorder in male adolescents. The differential diagnosis includes numerous diseases; a rapid clinical recognition of PDD would avoid many useless and expensive diagnostic tests. There is no effective medical treatment for PDD, but discontinuation of the tic-like mechanical traumatisation generally leads to a marked amelioration of the finger swelling. In this article we review the world literature, which contains 87 additional cases on this topic.

Prospective effects of emotion regulation on emotional adjustment

Deficits in emotion-regulation skills have widely been shown to be associated with poor emotional adjustment. However, it is still unclear whether these deficits are a cause or a consequence of poor adjustment. The purpose of the present research was to clarify the reciprocal effects between these 2 concepts. In 2 studies (Ns = 446 and 635), self-reports of emotion regulation and emotional adjustment were assessed twice with a 2-week interval. Cross-lagged regression analyses demonstrated that self-reports of emotion regulation predicted subsequent adjustment, over and above the effects of previous adjustment, whereas emotional adjustment did not predict subsequent emotion regulation. Thus, a focus on emotion-regulation skills may be important in the prevention and treatment of affect-related mental health problems.