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More than half of patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery and polysomnography had obstructive sleep apnea, which was associated with an increased risk of perioperative complications, including hypoxemia, ICU transfer, and prolonged length of stay.
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Two ICU patients experienced respiratory arrest while receiving polymyxin. Given the recent resurgence of use of this antibiotic and its close relative colistin to treat gram-negative infections resistant to newer agents, clinicians should be aware of this infrequent but long-known and potentially fatal adverse effect.
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Infection is the second leading cause of death in hemodialysis patients, with mortality rates ranging from 12-36% in this vulnerable population.
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Timely recognition and treatment of myocardial infarction (MI) are crucial if we are to achieve optimal outcomes for our patients. Silent ischemia, or the absence of classical symptoms of ischemia, may delay the diagnosis.
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Although current guidelines recommend delaying neuroprognostication during therapeutic hypothermia following resuscitation from cardiac arrest, this review of 55 consecutive patients so managed found that a "poor prognosis" designation was arrived at during the hypothermia period in most of them, including six patients who were eventually discharged with a favorable neurologic outlook.
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Two large, well-known, U.S. prospective cohort studies, the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, evaluated both sugar-sweetened and diet (low-calorie, also called artificially sweetened) soda consumption over 20 years and found one or more daily servings to be associated with a significantly higher risk of stroke.
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In this study of patients imaged with CT angiography, finding of the presence of diagonal earlobe creases was independently and significantly associated with increased prevalence, extent, and severity of coronary artery disease.
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Dangers of antibiotics are well known and recent research brings to light new dangers of commonly used medications. Five days of azithromycin results in 47 additional deaths from cardiovascular disease compared with amoxicillin and no antibiotic. One out of 2500 patients treated with a fluoroquinolone (ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and norfloxacin) suffer a retinal detachment. These antibiotics should be used only when there is a clear clinical need and with caution.
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