Articles Tagged With:
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Ethical Decision-Making for High-Risk Surgical Patients
High-risk patients present some unique ethical considerations for surgeons. One issue is that surgeons are under increasing pressure to meet quality metrics, but high-risk patients are more likely to have adverse outcomes. That can result in lower metrics — and, possibly, less reimbursement.
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Was the Consult Effective? Ethicists Survey Requestors
If ethics programs really want to know how well they are doing, individuals who participated in consults are ideal sources of information. To obtain this valuable feedback, some ethics programs are using surveys.
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Bioethics Field Is Less Diverse, with Different Views, than the General Public
Bioethics is a growing and influential field, yet little is known about bioethicists themselves. “It is important to understand bioethicists’ backgrounds and views because these may shape policies and practices,” says Leah Pierson, PhD, an MD-PhD student at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
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References Used to Support Ethics Recommendations Depend on the Ethicist
What references are ethics consultants actually using to support their recommendations? And are ethics consultants using the same references?
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Does Ascending Aorta Size Predict Dissection?
A large Australian database study has shown that, because of the much larger number of patients without severe aortic dilatation, almost all fatal dissections occur in individuals with non-severely dilated aortas — the so-called aortic paradox.
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Chlorthalidone vs. Hydrochlorothiazide for Hypertension
A subgroup analysis of those with prior myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke in the Diuretic Comparison Project for the treatment of hypertension has found that this higher-risk group experiences fewer major adverse cardiovascular events while taking chlorthalidone compared to hydrochlorothiazide, but at the expense of more hypokalemia.
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CVD Risk from Ketogenic Diets
A recent analysis of the UK Biobank data found that subjects on a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet had higher levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein B, and an increase in incident major adverse cardiovascular events over a 12-year follow-up than subjects on a standard diet.
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Risk of Atherosclerotic Coronary Artery Disease in Autoimmune Disorders
A large Danish registry study of patients with autoimmune disease referred for coronary computed tomography angiography compared to those without autoimmune disease has shown that autoimmune disease increases the incidence of atherosclerotic events and that the event rate is influenced by traditional atherosclerotic disease risk factors. These results support aggressive risk factor management in patients with autoimmune disease.
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The Role of Pulmonary Hypertension in the Decision to Intervene in Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation
A retrospective observational study of patients with degenerative mitral valve regurgitation has shown that Doppler echocardiographic-determined elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure is related to mortality independent of the severity of mitral regurgitation, and that this excess mortality can be attenuated by mitral valve surgery.
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Hypothermia and Frostbite
Hypothermia is a medical emergency that requires immediate attention and correction. For patients with environmental exposures, especially freezing ambient temperatures, cold water, snow, and ice, frostbite injuries are of significant concern.