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Many physicians have followed the historical practice of ordering blood cultures to be drawn as close as possible to the time of the peak of the febrile episode (fever spike). In the absence of prescient knowledge of this moment, physicians order blood cultures to be drawn at intervals ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours. A paper by Jaimes et al suggested that many factors, other than fever, such as shaking chills, WBC counts, hypotension, and more were needed to better predict whether a patient was experiencing bacteremia.
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The incidence of legionellosis in the United States increased significantly in 2003-2005 compared to previous years. This was due mostly to an upsurge of cases in the northeastern and southern United States and a shift of disease from elderly to middle-aged adults. Legionellosis should be considered as a potential cause of pneumonia in a broad range of patients, rather than a small subset with specific risk factors.
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Intravenous thrombolysis is safe and effective for the treatment of ischemic stroke in the time window of 3-4.5 hours after the onset of symptoms.
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Uncomplicated type B aortic dissection (origin distal to left subclavian artery) is usually treated medically. However, early mortality is 10%-12%, and is due to complications.
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In patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema, CPAP or NIV produces a more rapid improvement in respiratory distress and arterial blood gases than standard therapy.
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Tracheostomy confers patient benefits such as decreasing laryngeal irritation, improving patient communication, and decreasing sedation requirements, but the optimal timing of this procedure in critically ill patients remains a subject of considerable debate.
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Investigators in the Department of Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, reviewed the charts of patients admitted with myasthenic crisis (MC) between 1987 and 2006 who received either invasive or noninvasive mechanical ventilation.
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In the issue: 5-á reductase inhibitors and hip fracture in men; the effects of drug-reimbursement policy on outcomes; new guidelines for type 2 diabetes; beta-blocker-associated brady-cardia is linked to CVD events; FDA Updates.
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The lung-protective effects of low tidal volumes, as demonstrated by the ARDSnet study, are well accepted in patients with acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).