Hospital Medicine Alert – April 1, 2010
April 1, 2010
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Does Heliox Help in COPD Exacerbations?
In this prospective, multicenter, randomized trial, addition of a helium-oxygen gas mixture to non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in the treatment of COPD exacerbations did not decrease the need for intubation when compared to non-invasive positive pressure ventilation alone. -
Stress Cardiomyopathy
Stress-induced apical cardiomyopathy (tako-Tsubo) is a recently recognized reversible form of acute cardiomyopathy that may mimic acute myocardial infarction initially. -
Aortic Stenosis — When to Operate
Even if asymptomatic, early elective aortic valve replacement should be considered for increasingly symptomatic patients with severe aortic valve stenosis because they have a poor prognosis with a high event rate and a risk of rapid functional deterioration, especially if the peak aortic jet velocity is above 5.5 m/sec. -
Cardiac Surgery in Nonagenarians
Cardiac surgery carries greater risk in older patients. Nonagenarians are a growing part of cardiology practice as our population ages. While age > 90 years has previously been considered a contraindication to cardiac surgery, more recently, surgeons have been operating on selected nonagenarians who have high functional status. -
Brain Attack
Each year, about 795,000 strokes occur in the United States; 85% of these are acute ischemic strokes.