-
-
A quality improvement intervention aimed at improving palliative care in the ICU resulted in improvements of nurse-assessed quality of dying and a reduction in ICU length of stay, but no changes in family perceptions of quality of dying or satisfaction with care.
-
Khan et al report a multicenter trial comparing pulmonary vein isolation vs AV junctional ablation with biventricular pacing in patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure.
-
The risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) during extended anticoagulant therapy for thrombophilia remains poorly defined. Investigators analyzed 661 patients with idiopathic VTE who had been randomized to extended prophylaxis after three months of initial anticoagulation using either low-intensity (INR 1.5-1.9) or standard-intensity (INR 2.0-3.0) anticoagulation. Thrombophilic defects were identified in 42% of patients. The rate of recurrent VTE of only 0.9% per patient year was not influenced by thrombophilic abnormalities. Antiphospholipid antibodies trended toward increased recurrence (HR, 2.9; 95% CI: 0.9-10.5). The presence of thrombophilic defects did not increase the risk of recurrent VTE during extended anticoagulation relative to patients with idiopathic VTE without thrombophilic defects.
-
-
-
Patients with anal diseases can be some of the most uncomfortable patients presenting to the emergency department.
-
The hope trial convinced many experts that midlife adults (age ≥ 55 years) with existing vasculopathy (history of CAD, CVD, diabetes and CV risk factors) will have improved outcomes on an ACE inhibitor (ramipril, to be specific).
-
A second human papillomavirus (HPV) recombi-nant vaccine has been approved by the FDA.
-
It has been known for decades that influenza viruses have a propensity to affect muscle. Muscle aches from mild to severe occur regularly with the acute attack of the virus.