January 31, 2011 |  0
This large multi-site registry of patients with acute PE, the rate of PE-attributable death was very low (1% overall), most of which occurred in patients who were not anticoagulated while awaiting a diagnostic study. In patients with a high pre-test probability, anticoagulation should be started while awaiting diagnostic testing (abstract)
January 31, 2011 |  0
In this large database analysis from Taiwan, readmit rates for stroke were 10% at 30 days, 17% at 90 days, and 36% at 1 year. The most common reasons were infections, recurrent stroke, and cardiovascular event. Hospital utilization post-stroke is high, and patients / families should be counseled about post-stroke complications (abstract)
January 31, 2011 |  0
In this large trial, interns were randomized to routine or optional sterile gloves for drawing blood cultures. The rate of possible contamination was significantly lower in the group randomized to routine sterile cultures (0.6% vs 1.1%), which should be considered standard practice based on this trial (abstract)
January 30, 2011 |  2
Change is inevitable, change is necessary, change is often for the good; but change is hard.
January 26, 2011 |  0
In this large prospective single center cohort of >500 candida blood stream infections, over half were non-candida albicans species (52%), and overall 30 day mortality was 32%; the lowest mortality was in parapsilosis species and the highest mortality was in krusei species (abstract)
January 26, 2011 |  0
In this large retrospective analysis of a statewide database, patients with acute ischemic stroke had lower mortality and higher thrombolytic use in designated stroke centers, compared to nondesignated centers. For patients with acute ischemic stroke, there is a survival advantage for those admitted to designated stroke centers (abstract)