Dr. Screnock has published articles in the Wisconsin Medical Journal, the Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, and the Annals of Internal Medicine.

OSSEO, WISCONSIN. Thomas Screnock, a family doctor in Wisconsin, reports an interesting case where a persistent atrial fibrillation was stopped and sinus rhythm restored through exposure to static elecricity. Dr. Screnock's patient was a 51-year-old, otherwise healthy man, who had suddenly developed atrial fibrillation. Treatment with oral verapamil, digitalis, and quinidine did not stop the fibrillation so the patient was put on warfarin in preparation for cardioversion. Just near the end of the four-week anticoagulation period the man went shopping. As he reached for a bottle of steak sauce placed on a steel shelf he received a powerful shock caused by a build-up of static electricity. Later that evening he noticed that his pulse was regular and an electrocardiogram confirmed that his heart rhythm was back to normal. Dr. Screnock ascribes the termination of the fibrillation attack to the static electricity shock and closes his letter to the editor with the comment "Please don't alert your managed care CEO of this rather surprising resolution of a recalcitrant dysrhythmia." View Dr. Screnock's letter.

In the process of applying a short-arm, thumb-spica cast such as would be used for a navicular fracture, a fenestration is generally made in the stockinette for the thumb. After the casting material is applied the distal aspect of the thumb portion is bare and not neatly finished. Try placing a gauze tube over the thumb before applying the forearm stockinette. The finished cast can then be well trimmed including the thumb portion.

Countless thousands who suffer from terminal renal, hepatic, lung and cardiac disease have benefited from transplant programs. Countless thousands of diabetics have received virtually new lives due to islet cell transplantation. Countless thousands have died waiting for a donor organ that never became available for them. We should always encourage organ donation whenever the opportunity arises.

Shock stops arrhythmia
Fracture Care
Organ Donation
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