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Hospital Reduces High Cesarean Delivery Rate to Below Average
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine both recognize cesarean deliveries can save lives, but they advise vaginal deliveries for most pregnancies because the risk is lower than that of cesarean deliveries. The cesarean delivery rate is considered a key indicator of quality and patient safety. Leapfrog reported the average cesarean rate nationwide in 2018 was 26.1%, although the organization set a target of 23.9%.
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Is There Right Ventricular Strain or Acute Pulmonary Embolism?
The ECG in the figure was obtained from a middle-age woman who presented with new dyspnea. Is the T wave inversion in the inferior leads a reflection of right ventricular “strain” from acute pulmonary embolism? If not, what else might cause these ECG findings?
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COVID-19 Vaccine Update
There are dozens of vaccine candidates undergoing investigation in human and animal trials. Only a few have reached Phase III testing. This is a closer look at those.
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Gut Microbiome in Patients at Risk for Parkinson’s Disease
Certain risk factors and prodromal markers of Parkinson’s disease (PD), such as constipation and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, are associated with specific bacterial compositions of the gut. However, the value of gut microbiome data to predict the risk of PD development needs further investigation.
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Auditory Startle Response as a Predictor of Recovery from Coma
Preserved habituation of the auditory startle response, performed bedside, indicates intact cortical structures and cortico-cortical white matter tract connections. Preservation of this reaction in patients with unresponsive wakefulness can help distinguish the vegetative state from minimally conscious state and may even predict eventual awakening.
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Oral Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Antagonist for Migraine Prevention
Atogepant, an oral calcitonin gene-related peptide antagonist, was shown to be effective and safe for migraine prevention.
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Antibiotic Use in COVID-19 Patients
Fifty-seven percent of patients with COVID-19 infection treated at 38 hospitals in Michigan received early empiric antibiotics, although researchers documented community-onset bacterial coinfection in only 3.5%.
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Data: Cardiovascular Disease, Other Problems Go Unchecked During COVID-19 Pandemic
The use of telemedicine surged from almost nothing to 35% between April and June 2020, but the number of in-person primary care consultations dropped by more than 21% when compared with the volume of such encounters during the second quarter from previous years.
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Should Metronidazole Be Added Routinely to Treatment Regimens for PID?
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial compared ceftriaxone (250 mg intramuscular once) and doxycycline (100 mg orally twice per day for 14 days) with and without metronidazole (500 mg orally twice per day for 14 days) for the treatment of pelvic inflammatory disease.
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A New Treatment for Recurrent Bacterial Vaginosis?
Recurrent bacterial vaginosis is a problem that affects many women, with an estimated 50% of women developing a recurrence within 12 months of treatment. The authors of this study tested the efficacy of a novel product, Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05 (Lactin-V), in reducing bacterial vaginosis recurrence in this phase 2b clinical trial.