Hospital Medicine: Archives

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Is ECMO Ready for the Big Time?

• October 2, 2009
• Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP, and J. Stephen Bohan, MD, MS, FACP, FACEP
• Emergency Medicine

Ambitious study, ambiguous result

• Reviewing:
• Peek GJ et al., Lancet 2009 Sep 16 Zwischenberger JB and Lynch JE., Lancet 2009 Sep 16

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Procalcitonin Algorithm Reduces Antibiotic Use for Lower Respiratory Tract Infections

• October 2, 2009
• John A. Marx, MD, FAAEM
• Emergency Medicine

Without increasing adverse outcomes of disease

• Reviewing:
• Schuetz P et al., JAMA 2009 Sep 9; 302:1059 Yealy DM and Fine MJ., JAMA 2009 Sep 9; 302:1115

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Cardiac Surgery in Patients with Carotid Stenosis

• October 1, 2009
• Allan S. Brett, MD
• General Medicine

Combining endarterectomy with cardiac surgery did not prevent perioperative strokes.

• Reviewing:
• Li Y et al., Arch Neurol 2009 Sep; 66:1091

CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINE WATCH

Hepatitis B Guidelines, Updated

• September 30, 2009
• Rajesh T. Gandhi, MD
• Infectious Diseases

This revised document provides useful information about the prevention, diagnosis, and management of HBV infection.

• Reviewing:
• Lok ASF and McMahon BJ., Hepatology 2009 Sep; 50:661

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

• September 30, 2009
• Howard C. Herrmann, MD
• Cardiology

Findings from a large observational study support the safety of a "PCI first" strategy in many patients.

• Reviewing:
• Yap C-H et al., JACC Cardiovasc Interv 2009 Aug; 2:758 Mack M., JACC Cardiovasc Interv 2009 Aug; 2:765

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Elevated Troponin After Coronary Bypass Surgery: What Does It Mean?

• September 30, 2009
• Joel M. Gore, MD
• Cardiology

Observational findings suggest that very high TnT levels predict adverse outcomes.

• Reviewing:
• Mohammed AA et al., Circulation 2009 Sep 8; 120:843

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Inpatient Surgery and In-Hospital Mortality

• September 30, 2009
• Neil H. Winawer, MD, FHM

Hospitals with low and high perioperative death rates have surprisingly similar rates of perioperative complications, which suggests that "failure to rescue" is the primary determinant of in-hospital mortality.

• Reviewing:
• Ghaferi AA et al., N Engl J Med 2009 Oct 1; 361:1368 Jacobs DO., N Engl J Med 2009 Oct 1; 361:1398

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Bortezomib for Systemic Amyloidosis

• September 29, 2009
• David Green, MD, PhD
• Oncology and Hematology

Overall response was achieved by 50% of patients.

• Reviewing:
• Reece DE et al., Blood 2009 Aug 20; 114:1489

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

Survival to Discharge After Cardiac ArrestFree

• September 29, 2009
• Thomas L. Schwenk, MD
• General Medicine

Hospital characteristics explain much of the lower survival rate that was noted for black patients compared with white patients.

• Reviewing:
• Chan PS et al., JAMA 2009 Sep 16; 302:1195

SUMMARY AND COMMENT

CT Scanning for Cardiac Sources of Embolism

• September 29, 2009
• Richard T. Lee, MD
• Neurology

In patients with recent strokes, cardiac CT using 64-slice technology can detect most of the high-risk cardiac sources of embolism identified by transesophageal echocardiography.

• Reviewing:
• Hur J et al., Stroke 2009 Jun; 40:2073