Silverman and colleagues used the emergency departments in 8 hospitals to assess the role of MgSO4 in acute asthma in a sizeable number of patients (n = 248).
Park and colleagues have noted adverse lipid profiles in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Since inflammation may be associated with atherosclerosis, Park et al sought to determine the effects of treating RA with antirheumatic drugs on the abnormal lipid levels.
A randomized controlled trial in Australia showed that a 16 week program of tai chi reduced falls by 33% in a group of elderly persons.
Two hundred eighty-eight patients hospitalized with severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) were followed for 28 days in a prospective multicenter study. At day 7, 25% of patients had resolution of CXR abnormalities and 56% had improvement. At day 28, 53% of patients had resolution of CXR abnormalities and 78% had clinical cure. By multivariate analysis, delayed resolution of CXR abnormalities by day 7 was associated with multilobar disease, dullness to percussion by physical exam, elevated CRP (> 200 mg/L), and tachypnea (respiratory rate > 25/min.) on admission.
Asymptomatic brain MRI findings of infarct, cerebral aneurysms and benign tumors were fairly common in the general population. The clinical significance of these findings is unknown.
The FDA has approved a new drug for the treatment of advanced breast cancer.