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The authors advocate that cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging using specific criteria may be useful as a diagnostic tool for patients with stress cardiomyopathy at the time of acute clinical presentation.
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In the ICUs of a well-staffed academic medical center committed to quality improvement, in which closed staffing, multidisciplinary rounds, and the daily use of checklists were already in place, implementation of a 24-hour ICU telemedicine system that was well accepted by the medical staff was associated with impressive improvements in adherence to best practice standards as well as with reductions in hospital mortality and lengths of stay.
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Add Tdap to the growing list of recommended (and often required) vaccinations for health care workers (HCWs) in hospital, including MMR, hepatitis B, influenza, and possibly varicella. In April, the American College of Immunization Practices (ACIP) issued provisional recommendations for pertussis vaccination (Tdap) of all hospital HCWs, regardless of age and prior vaccine history (i.e., regardless of the time since last Td dose).
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Physicians at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) report a cluster of 5 cases of cutaneous Leishmaniasis in illegal immigrants from East Africa, which surprisingly turned out to be consistent with New World Leishmaniasis, although all 5 had come from an area endemic for Old World Leishmaniasis. How did this occur?
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Intensivists experienced significantly less burnout, work-home life imbalance, and job distress under an interrupted schedule vs a continuous (half-month) schedule. ICU length of stay and mortality were non-significantly higher under continuous scheduling.
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In this study, the authors attempt to develop a risk stratification score to predict bleeding in patients treated with warfarin oral anticoagulation.
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In a population-based study using hospital discharge diagnosis codes, patients with sleep apnea who underwent knee arthroplasty or open abdominal procedures were more likely to require invasive mechanical ventilation and to be diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia or ARDS than were matched patients without sleep apnea. Knee-replacement patients, but not those undergoing laparotomy, also were more likely to be diagnosed with pulmonary embolism.
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Proton pump inhibitor use in clopidogrel-treated post-percutaneous coronary intervention patients was not associated with an increased risk of all-cause death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, repeat revascularization, or major adverse cardiovascular events.
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With the advent of new vaccines, the incidence of bacterial meningitis has declined, particularly in children, but the mortality rate has remained the same.
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This single-center, double-blind, randomized, controlled crossover trial demonstrated that administration of 100% oxygen to stable patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome leads to decreased minute ventilation, increasing dead-space to tidal volume ratio, and worsening hypercapnia.
