Hospital Medicine Alert – May 1, 2011
May 1, 2011
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Predicting Left Main and Triple-vessel Disease in ACS
Patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) should be administered dual anti-platelet therapy with aspirin and a thienopyridine, such as clopidogrel. However, some patients are subsequently found to have left main (LM) or multivessel disease (MVD) and require coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. -
Mechanical Ventilation: A Marker of the End-of-Life or Loss of Independence for the Elderly?
This study of outcomes among more than 50,000 elderly Medicare beneficiaries found that activities of daily living and mobility had deteriorated substantially more among those who had been hospitalized the previous year, and that only 27% of those who had received mechanical ventilation were alive 1 year after hospitalization. -
A Risk Factor for Hospital-Acquired Infections: Hand Contamination by Anesthesia Providers
Bacterial transmission to the IV stopcock set was documented in 19/164 cases (11.5%); 47% of these cases were of provider origin and linked to hands of anesthesia providers. -
Hypothermia for Acute Brain Trauma
Therapeutic hypothermia does not result in improved outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury. -
Norovirus — It's Here to Stay
Noroviruses are the major single cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks throughout the world and the leading cause of foodborne disease in the United States.