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The Duke University Health System in Durham, NC, has responded to patients' efforts to gain more information about how two hospitals mistakenly washed surgical instruments in used hydraulic fluid instead of detergent and failed to notice the mix-up for weeks. Approximately 3,800 patients were exposed to the contaminated instruments during surgery.
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Aortic stenosis increases the risk of MI, but not overall mortality with noncardiac surgery.
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QRS duration does not predict occurrence of VT or VF necessitating ICD therapy.
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Left atrial remodeling in competitive athletes may be regarded as a physiologic adaptation to exercise conditioning, largely without adverse clinical consequences.
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Arrhythmia is the primary problem rather than a marker of an underlying cardiomyopathy.
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In patients presenting with high-risk STEMI, TNK plus immediate angioplasty reduced the risk of recurrent ischemic events compared with TNK alone and was not associated with an increase in major bleeding complications.
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More recent trials, and meta-analyses of all trials, have shown a reduction in death and myocardial infarction (MI) with a routine invasive strategy vs an ischemia or symptom-driven invasive strategy over 6-24 months for patients with non-ST elevation (E) acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, an increase in death during the initial hospitalization in the routine invasive arm makes long-term outcome data important. Thus, the British Heart Foundation RITA 3 trial 5-year data are of interest.
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Introduction of HAART has dramatically modified the natural history of HIV disease by controlling viral replication, but, in turn, lengthening of the survival of HIV-infected individuals has been associated with an increasing prevalence of iatrogenic conditions.
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Dopamine neuronal replacement cell therapy can be beneficial for patients with advanced disease, and that changing technical approaches could have a favorable impact on efficacy and adverse events following neural transplantation.
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Successful treatment of SDB, which is frequently associated with chronic sleepwalking, controlled the syndrome in young adults.