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In a retrospective analysis, medical ICU patients requiring mechanical ventilation for 2 days or more had lower ICU and hospital mortality (but more ventilator-associated pneumonia) if they were begun on enteral feeding during that time than if they were not.
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A prospective randomized trial carried out over a 6-year period of time enrolled 180 patients with ARDS of at least 7 days duration, and randomized them to receive either methylprednisolone or placebo. There was no significant difference noted in mortality at 60 days, though there was some improvement in ventilator-free and shock-free days during the first 28 days in patients treated with steroids. Steroids were also associated with an increased risk of death if started more than 2 weeks after the onset of ARDS.
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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the community was the cause of the majority of skin and soft tissue infections, and was predominantly of one strain different from MRSA of hospital origin.
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Cleansing patients with chlorhexidine-saturated cloths reduced VRE contamination of patients' skin, the environment, and health care workers' hands, and also decreased VRE acquisition.
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A return to full normal activities, including work at 2 weeks, after AMI appears to be safe in patients who are stratified to a low-risk group. This should have significant medical and socioeconomic implications.
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The number of previous acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECBs) and the baseline FEV1 level are potent prognostic factors of the short- and long-term outcomes of AECB.
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The results of this study underline the uncertainty regarding the risk/benefit ratio of rtPA treatment in acute stroke in patients older than 80 years of age.
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Six patients developed lactic acidosis during prolonged linezolid therapy, possibly as the result of mitochondrial protein synthesis.
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The Nikolsky Sign (also commonly spelled Nikolskiy) is performed by placing pressure upon skin adjacent to tissue involved with bullae.
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That deep venous thrombosis (DVT) can occur after air flight is not a new observation, having been first reported in the 1950s.