Articles Tagged With:
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Staffing Shortages No. 1 Challenge in Healthcare
Short-staffed EDs mean patients have to wait longer for laboratory and diagnostic testing results, which could lead to delays in administering life-saving treatment.
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Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: More than Hypertension and Proteinuria
This article explains the current diagnostic criteria for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and how they are interrelated. It also describes evidence-based interventions for emergency providers, who must know how to diagnose and treat these conditions, and when it is safe for discharge, as well as to arrange outpatient follow-up.
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Is IVIG Treatment Really Better than Natural Recovery in Patients with Guillain-Barré Syndrome?
In this controversial report comparing patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome treated with intravenous immunoglobulin vs. no treatment, the group that appears to have fared the best were patients who had an acute demyelinating syndrome, and not an axonal variant. This was an observational study and not a randomized treatment trial.
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Intravenous Immunoglobulin in Dermatomyositis
Treatment of dermatomyositis with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resulted in overall better clinical improvement after 16 weeks compared to patients treated with placebo. However, there was a significant number of thromboembolic adverse events in the treatment group. The group of patients treated was a heterogeneous group. However, IVIG now is U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved for the treatment of dermatomyositis.
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Treatment of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, a rare opportunistic viral infection that occurs in patients who have chronic immunosuppression, has defied all attempts at treatment. This observational study, which pooled patient data from multiple centers around the world, showed that there is some benefit using checkpoint inhibitors to help reconstitute the immune system of these patients. However, survival, at best, is 50% of those treated.
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Long-Term Neurological Outcomes of Patients Treated with CAR-T Therapy
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is approved for the treatment of lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma, but its use is associated with early neurotoxicity in almost half of patients. Despite the incidence of neurotoxicity, long-term follow-up of patients after CAR-T infusion suggests that patients’ neurological examination, neuro-imaging studies, and cognition remain unaffected by this treatment.
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Oseltamivir for Pediatric Inpatients with Influenza
A large study of children hospitalized with influenza clearly shows that oseltamivir given at or near the time of admission is effective in reducing the duration of hospitalization, reducing the requirement for intensive care, and reducing subsequent readmissions within the week after discharge.
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Evidence of Clinical Efficacy of Bebtelovimab in COVID-19
A retrospective study found that bebtelovimab has efficacy similar to that of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) in the treatment of high-risk outpatients with recent onset of COVID-19 who have mild to moderate symptoms.
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COVID-19: Beware Remdesivir Resistance
Hogan and colleagues reported two immunosuppressed renal transplant recipients with persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection in association with the new emergence of mutations in ribonucleic acid (RNA)-dependent RNA polymerase after remdesivir treatment.
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Antibiotic Prophylaxis Is Not Beneficial for Patients Undergoing Transperineal Prostate Biopsy
A randomized clinical trial found a similar rate of infection between patients given antibiotics for transperineal prostate biopsy compared to those not given antibiotics. It may be possible to omit antibiotics in certain patients undergoing transperineal prostate biopsy.