December 29, 2009 |  0
John Nelson writes…. Fortunately, the reality isn’t nearly so grim.  In fact, there is some good news here.  If you fell for my intentionally misleading headline, then you might benefit by catching up on the latest news on these two issues.
December 28, 2009 |  1
In this large cohort of 40,744 patients hospitalized with pneumonia, 9% were diagnosed with a pulmonary cancer after a mean time of 297 days. Risk factors for subsequent cancer diagnosis included white race, prior cancer, and smoking. Close follow up after pneumonia in patients with these risk factors should be ensured (abstract)
December 28, 2009 |  0
Rob Bessler writes… Happy holidays to all. While working the slow nights over the holidays, or while on the beach, I encourage you to take the time to get involved in the challenge of our times centered around meaningful improvements to healthcare delivery in the U.S. The best place to start is to get educated. […]
December 24, 2009 |  0
In this large retrospective multi-institutional analysis of 5715 patients with septic shock, initial receipt of appropriate antibiotics (based on subsequent cultures) had an odds ratio of survival to hospital discharge of 9.5 (CI 7.7-11.5). This study reinforces the need for obtaining adequate specimen cultures and starting broad spectrum antibiotics in patients with sepsis (abstract)
December 24, 2009 |  0
Telavancin has been FDA approved for treatment of complicated skin/soft tissue infections due to multi-drug resistant gram positive organisms. It is an IV lipoglycopeptide with Qday dosing and no need for drug level monitoring. It was proven non-inferior to vancomycin in two phase 3 trials (abstract)
December 22, 2009 |  0
In this large retrospective cohort of patients admitted to the hospital with CAP, researchers evaluated the IDSA/ATS 2007 guideline prediction of “severe CAP” and need for ICU admission, compared to other prediction models (SMART-COP, CURXO-80, CURB-65). The 2007 guidelines had the best predictive ability of need for ICU care. Using 4 of the 9 minor […]