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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a clinical diagnosis made with a high degree of accuracy (> 90%) by physicians familiar with the disease. No test is diagnostic for ALS.
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Neuropathic pain, specifically allodynia following peripheral nerve injury, is a poorly understood phenomenon that challenges clinicians and patients. Tsuda and associates report on animal data that may reveal insights into the underlying mechanism of tactile allodynia.
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The management of blood pressure in the acute phase of ischemic stroke is not well understood. In fact, it has been advocated by some that the pharmacologic elevation of blood pressure may augment perfusion to the ischemic penumbra and improve stroke outcome.
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Crowther and associates reported the results of a prospective, randomized, controlled study of the use of 2 intensities of warfarin anticoagulation for prevention of thrombosis in patients with the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome who had previous thrombosis.
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Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus is an effective procedure that markedly improves quality of life in patients with medication-refractory essential tremor. An initial wave of enthusiasm greeted the approval of DBS, but concerns have been raised about its long-term efficacy and the risks of hardware failure and infection. To address these questions, a consortium of neurologists set out to enroll patients in a longitudinal clinical trial with long-term follow-up.
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Update your knowledge on current issues in reproductive health at the annual Contraceptive Technology conference. The Washington, DC, session is scheduled for Feb. 29-March 3, with the San Francisco session set for March 24-27.
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Emerging infections, bioterrorism, and the patient safety movement are converging along with changes in the health care delivery system to reinvent the role of infection control. But the rising profile of infection control professionals is not necessarily lifting salaries along with it.
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A recent patient safety report by an Institute of Medicine committee in Washington, DC, includes the following true firsthand account of a staffing problem leading to a nosocomial infection.
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At least three similar but distinct strains of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are emerging in the United States, rendering common empiric therapy useless and causing aggressive skin infections, Healthcare Infection Prevention has learned.