May 31, 2011 |  0
This cross sectional study found that 40% of patient and visitors mobile phones were colonized with multi-drug resistant organisms. This may be an unexpected and difficult to eradicate source of patient infections (abstract)
May 31, 2011 |  0
Dificid (fidaxomicin) was approved by the FDA for treatment of Cdiff. In randomized trials, it was found to have similar efficacy to vancomycin, but with fewer relapses. However, due to high cost, it may be best reserved for treatment relapses after metronidazole and/or vancomycin failures (FDA site)
May 26, 2011 |  0
From a large national database, researchers determined the incidence of bacterial meningitis significantly decreased from 1998 to 2007 by 31%, but the case fatality rate remained essential unchanged (at around 15%). Continued efforts for early and appropriate antibiotics should continue (abstract)
May 24, 2011 |  0
In this single center cohort of 160 patients with pulmonary HTN who underwent both echo and right heart cath, echo was inaccurate by at least 10mmHg in half of the patients (about half were overestimates and half underestimates). Echo should not be routinely used to diagnose, or follow efficacy of therapy, in pulmonary HTN (abstract)
May 24, 2011 |  8
At the Society of Hospital Medicine’s annual meeting last week in Dallas, Lenny Feldman of Johns Hopkins presented the results of a neat little study. His hypothesis: physicians given information about the costs of their laboratory tests would order fewer of them. Feldman randomized 62 tests either to be displayed per usual on the computerized […]
May 23, 2011 |  0
In this large population based case control study, recent initiation of an inhaled anticholinergic medication increased the odds of acute urinary retention (OR 1.4, CI 1.2-1.7), which was even higher in men with existing BPH (OR 1.8, CI 1.5-2.2). Men using both short and long acting had 3 times the odds of acute retention compared […]