SAN FRANCISCO, May 22 – Intensive care units (ICUs) that have no or limited access to critical care doctors during the day can improve patient outcomes by having the specialists, called intensivists, staff the unit at night, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC. However, the researchers were unable to find any incremental benefit of nighttime staffing in ICUs that were robustly staffed with the specialists during the day.
Culture
ATS 2012, SAN FRANCISCO – Inhibition of pre-B Cell Colony-Enhancing Factor (PBEF) could be a potential therapeutic target for pulmonary hypertension (PH), according to a preclinical study in an animal model of PH.
ATS 2012, SAN FRANCISCO – Common respiratory measurements are not effective in determining which asthma patients are able to significantly decrease their use of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) medications without risk of flare-ups or exacerbations, according to a new study conducted by researchers in the United Kingdom. The study also showed that nearly three-quarters of asthma patients can safely decrease, or step-down, their use of ICS medications once their symptoms are under control.
The study will be presented at the ATS 2012 International Conference in San Francisco.
ATS 2012, SAN FRANCISCO – Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, have found that critically ill patients were more likely to die if they were taking the most commonly prescribed antidepressants when they were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).
The researchers conducted a retrospective study using the electronic medical records of 10,568 patients to look at in-hospital mortality and mortality a year after being admitted to the ICU.
CHICAGO – Treatment with bisphosphonate therapy appears to be associated with an increased risk of atypical fractures of the femur, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.
"Current evidence suggests that there is an association between bisphosphonate therapy and atypical femoral fractures, but the extent of this risk remains unclear," according to Raphael P. H. Meier, M.D., and colleagues from University Hospitals of Geneva and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
CHICAGO – Treatment for Bell palsy (a condition involving the facial nerve and characterized by facial paralysis) with the corticosteroid prednisolone within 72 hours appeared to significantly reduce the number of patients with mild to moderate palsy severity at 12 months, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, a JAMA Network publication.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - As Egypt prepares this week to elect its first president since the 2011 revolution, a new University of Maryland poll finds the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate tied for fourth place. Researchers describe the race as fluid.
The poll confirms the strategic damage inflicted by the Brotherhood's decision to field its own candidate, after saying it would not. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed (71 percent) called the decision a "mistake."
Many premature babies enter the world with a mountain of challenges in front of them. Even after they overcome any life-threatening issues, they face ongoing, and typically unpleasant, medical procedures, long hospital stays and increased chances of chronic health issues throughout their lives.
To help address one of their biggest problems — learning how to suck and feed — Florida State University has announced the availability of the Pacifier Activated Lullaby (PAL) device to hospitals around the world.
Turns out it's not bad being top dog, or in this case, top baboon.
A new study by University of Notre Dame biologist Beth Archie and colleagues from Princeton University and Duke University finds that high-ranking male baboons recover more quickly from injuries and are less likely to become ill than other males.
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Heart disease risk assessment tools commonly used by physicians often underestimate the cardiovascular disease danger faced by rheumatoid arthritis patients, a Mayo Clinic study has found. Inflammation plays a key role in putting those with rheumatoid arthritis in greater jeopardy for heart disease, yet many cardiovascular disease risk assessment methods do not factor it in, the researchers note.
San Diego, CA (May 21, 2012) — New research being presented at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) offers key insights into the prevention and treatment of bowel diseases, which affect millions of people worldwide. Several studies show that factors, including common dietary additives, hormone replacement therapy, oral contraceptives and even high-altitude travel may cause or exacerbate these diseases. Other research examines the effect of cutting-edge therapies on ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Researchers from Tel Aviv University have recently discovered a collection of gold and silver jewelry, dated from around 1100 B.C., hidden in a vessel at the archaeological site of Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel. One piece — a gold earring decorated with molded ibexes, or wild goats — is "without parallel," they believe.
BOSTON, MA—Could the quality of care you receive be affected by how your doctor takes notes? According to a new study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), doctors who dictated their patient notes appeared to have worse quality of care thanthose who used structured documentation.
The study is published online in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
ATS 2012, SAN FRANCISCO – In-hospital mortality for ICU patients is often used as a quality measure, but discharge practices may bias results in a way that disadvantages large academic hospitals, according to a recently conducted study.
ATS 2012, SAN FRANCISCO – Nighttime intensivist physician staffing in intensive care units (ICUs) with a low-intensity daytime staffing model is associated with reduced mortality, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in San Francisco. The same study showed that nighttime intensivists were not associated with reduced mortality among ICUs that used a high-intensity daytime staffing model.