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In assessment of acute chest pain in the emergency room, a new or "presumably new" left bundle branch block (LBBB) is considered as an electrocardiographic (ECG) equivalent to ST elevation.
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This retrospective study of more than 7000 patients from four combined medical-surgical ICUs demonstrated that ionized calcium levels are unrelated to mortality over a broad range of values but are independent predictors of mortality when levels are severely increased or decreased.
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Forty-four (23%) of 192 adventure race participants in a 2005 Florida event developed suspected leptospirosis, with confirmatory serologic testing positive in 45% of the tested individuals. A unique serovar (related to species Leptospira noguchii) was isolated from 1 patient.
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Patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) should be administered dual anti-platelet therapy with aspirin and a thienopyridine, such as clopidogrel. However, some patients are subsequently found to have left main (LM) or multivessel disease (MVD) and require coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.
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Bacterial transmission to the IV stopcock set was documented in 19/164 cases (11.5%); 47% of these cases were of provider origin and linked to hands of anesthesia providers.
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This study of outcomes among more than 50,000 elderly Medicare beneficiaries found that activities of daily living and mobility had deteriorated substantially more among those who had been hospitalized the previous year, and that only 27% of those who had received mechanical ventilation were alive 1 year after hospitalization.
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Therapeutic hypothermia does not result in improved outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury.
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Noroviruses are the major single cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks throughout the world and the leading cause of foodborne disease in the United States.
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This observational study found a large reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infections compared to historical controls for surgical ICU patients bathed daily with chlorhexidine gluconate-impregnated cloths.
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Early plasmapheresis and high-dose intravenous corticosteroids may be as effective as conventional oral corticosteroid therapy in the treatment of myasthenia gravis.
