Hospital Medicine: Archives

FEATURE

Palliative Sedation to Alleviate Intractable Distress of the Dying Patient

• November 16, 2009
• Stephanie Grossman, MD, FHM, FAAPM

A review of treatment options

• Reviewing:
• Quill TE et al., Ann Intern Med 2009 Sep 15; 151:421

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

ARBITER 6-HALTS: A Surprise KnockoutFree

• November 15, 2009
• Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
• Cardiology

Niacin's clear win over ezetimibe as an adjunct to statin therapy challenges assumptions about lipid management.

• Reviewing:
• Taylor AJ et al., N Engl J Med 2009 Nov 16

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Immediate vs. Delayed ICU Admission for Patients with CAP

• November 13, 2009
• Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP
• Emergency Medicine

Direct admission to the ICU is associated with lower mortality and shorter hospital stay.

• Reviewing:
• Renaud B et al., Crit Care Med 2009 Nov; 37:2867

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

ECMO for Patients with 2009 H1N1 Influenza and ARDS

• November 13, 2009
• John A. Marx, MD, FAAEM
• Emergency Medicine

In a study from New Zealand and Australia, ECMO was used largely in young adults, most of whom had good outcomes.

• Reviewing:
• Davies A et al for the Australia and New Zealand Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation., JAMA 2009 Nov 4; 302:1888

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Trends in ED Wait Times by Triage Class

• November 13, 2009
• J. Stephen Bohan, MD, MS, FACP, FACEP
• Emergency Medicine

Increasingly, EDs fail to provide care within the target time for their sickest patients.

• Reviewing:
• Horwitz LI and Bradley EH., Arch Intern Med 2009 Nov 9; 169:1857 Hsia RY and Tabas JA., Arch Intern Med 2009 Nov 9; 169:1836

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Prevention of Flu Transmission in Households

• November 12, 2009
• Richard Saitz, MD, MPH, FACP, FASAM
• General Medicine

Hand hygiene and face masks can help prevent the spread of influenza.

• Reviewing:
• Cowling BJ et al., Ann Intern Med 2009 Oct 6; 151:437

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Mortality in Dialysis Patients

• November 12, 2009
• Thomas L. Schwenk, MD
• General Medicine

Risk was elevated for both cardiovascular and noncardiovascular causes.

• Reviewing:
• de Jager DJ et al., JAMA 2009 Oct 28; 302:1782

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Revascularization Is Ineffective for Atherosclerotic Renal Artery StenosisFree

• November 12, 2009
• Richard Saitz, MD, MPH, FACP, FASAM
• General Medicine

This procedure conferred substantial risk without clinical benefit.

• Reviewing:
• The ASTRAL Investigators., N Engl J Med 2009 Nov 12; 361:1953

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

When Biology Meets Personal Choices

• November 12, 2009
• Anna Wald, MD, MPH
• Women's Health

Risks for ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction were substantially higher in women with lupus anticoagulant who smoked or used oral contraceptives.

• Reviewing:
• Urbanus RT et al., Lancet Neurol 2009 Nov; 8:998

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Pneumococcal DNA Load in CAP

• November 10, 2009
• Larry M. Baddour, MD
• Infectious Diseases

The Streptococcus pneumoniae DNA load in blood may have both diagnostic and therapeutic implications.

• Reviewing:
• Peters RPH et al., J Clin Microbiol 2009 Oct; 47:3308