June 28, 2009 |  0
In this trial of 121 MICU patients, they were randomized to ND versus NG feeds. The ND group experiencedfewer vomiting and VAP episodes, and achieved higher calories and earlier target rate, than the NG group. However, there were no significant differences in clinically significant outcome measures (bacteremia, ICU days, ventilator days, LOS, or death). The […]
June 28, 2009 |  0
In HIV patients who present with an opportunistic infection (OI), it is unknown if there is an advantage to early initiation of HAART. In this trial of 282 patients with HIV and an OI, they were randomized to early HAART (within 14 days of OI treatment) or delayed HAART (started after OI treatment was completed). At […]
June 24, 2009 |  0
In centers without available cath labs, it is unclear how quickly patients need to be transferred for PCI after fibrinolysis. In this trial of 1059 patients with STEMI, after fibrinolysis, they were randomized to immediate transfer for PCI (in <6 hours) or standard therapy (transfer for rescue PCI or angiography >24 hours). Most patients received […]
June 23, 2009 |  0
In this small case series of 4 patients in shock due to Cdiff (refractory to metronidazole and vancomycin), all had clinical and microbiologic cure (without recurrence) after treatment with tigecycline. Tigecycline does not induce proliferation of the Cdiff organism or the toxin production. Although premature for widespread use, it may be a reasonable alternative for […]
June 23, 2009 |  0
In this prospective cohort from the Framingham Heart Study, researchers determined long term outcomes of patients with a first degree AV block. Patients with first degree AV block had higher risk of atrial fibrillation (HR 2.06), pacemaker placement (HR 2.89), and all cause mortality (HR 1.4). Seemingly benign, first degree AV block is associated with […]
June 22, 2009 |  0
Robert Chang writes… Yesterday I received our finalized list of incoming faculty, and I was struck by the dramatic shift of the type of the physicians we were hiring.  Two years ago, we were scrambling to meet manpower needs that were doubling every year (including turn-over).  The list this year included several full-time researchers with […]