Comparison of the efficacy and safety of ciclesonide 160 μg once daily vs. budesonide 400 μg once daily in children with asthma

Ciclesonide is an onsite-activated inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) for the treatment of asthma. This study compared the efficacy, safety and effect on quality of life (QOL) of ciclesonide 160 microg (ex-actuator; nominal dose 200 microg) vs. budesonide 400 microg (nominal dose) in children with asthma. Six hundred and twenty-one children (aged 6-11 yr) with asthma were randomized to receive ciclesonide 160 microg (ex-actuator) once daily (via hydrofluoroalkane metered-dose inhaler and AeroChamber Plus spacer) or budesonide 400 microg once daily (via Turbohaler) both given in the evening for 12 wk. The primary efficacy end-point was change in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1). Additional measurements included change in daily peak expiratory flow (PEF), change in asthma symptom score sum, change in use of rescue medication, paediatric and caregiver asthma QOL questionnaire [PAQLQ(S) and PACQLQ, respectively] scores, change in body height assessed by stadiometry, change in 24-h urinary cortisol adjusted for creatinine and adverse events. Both ciclesonide and budesonide increased FEV1, morning PEF and PAQLQ(S) and PACQLQ scores, and improved asthma symptom score sums and the need for rescue medication after 12 wk vs. baseline. The non-inferiority of ciclesonide vs. budesonide was demonstrated for the change in FEV1 (95% confidence interval: -75, 10 ml, p = 0.0009, one-sided non-inferiority, per-protocol). In addition, ciclesonide and budesonide showed similar efficacy in improving asthma symptoms, morning PEF, use of rescue medication and QOL. Ciclesonide was superior to budesonide with regard to increases in body height (p = 0.003, two-sided). The effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis was significantly different in favor of ciclesonide treatment (p < 0.001, one-sided). Both ciclesonide and budesonide were well tolerated. Ciclesonide 160 microg once daily and budesonide 400 microg once daily were effective in children with asthma. In addition, in children treated with ciclesonide there was significantly less reduction in body height and suppression of 24-h urinary cortisol excretion compared with children treated with budesonide after 12 wk.     

The Use of Performance Improvement Methods to Enhance Emergency Department Patient Satisfaction in the United States: A Critical Review of the Literature and Suggestions for Future Research

Objectives: The authors reviewed the evidence on performance improvement methods for increasing emergency department (ED) patient satisfaction to provide evidence-based suggestions for clinical practice.
Methods: Data sources consisted of searches through MEDLINE, CINAHL, PSYCHINFO, Cochrane Library, and Emergency Medicine Abstracts and a manual search of references. Articles were included if they reported a performance improvement intervention targeting patient satisfaction in the ED setting. Articles on studies not conducted in the United States or that failed to provide enough details to allow critical evaluation of the study were excluded. Two authors used structured evaluation criteria to independently review each retained study.
Results: Nineteen articles met all selection criteria. Three studies found varying levels of support for multicomponent interventions, predominantly focused on implementation of clinical practice guidelines for specific presenting complaints and process redesign. Sixteen studies evaluated single-component interventions, with the following having at least one supportive study: using alternating patient assignment to provider teams rather than "zone"-based assignment, enhancing provider communication and customer service skills, incorporating information delivery interventions (e.g., pamphlets, video) that target patient expectations, using preformatted charts, and establishing ED-based observation units for specific conditions such as asthma and chest pain.
Conclusions: There is modest evidence supporting a range of performance improvement interventions for improving ED patient satisfaction. Further work is needed before specific, evidence-based recommendations can be made regarding which process changes are most effective. Recommendations are made for improving the quality of performance improvement efforts in the ED setting.     

祖国传统医学对骨质疏松症的治疗进展

骨质疏松症是以骨量减少和骨组织的纤维结构退化为特征的代谢性骨病。随着21世纪我国老龄化社会的到来，骨质疏松发病率明显增高，已逐渐成为世界性广泛关注的问题。原发性骨质疏松分为I、Ⅱ两种类型。I型为高代谢型，主要是绝经后骨质疏松，由雌激素缺乏，而使骨代谢呈负平衡，骨吸收相对增强引起；Ⅱ型是低骨转换型，主要为老年性骨     

Recognition performance and perceived quality of video enhanced for the visually impaired

Subjects with central field loss (CFL) individually selected enhancement parameters to improve visibility of static video images. The effect of enhancement on performance and on perceived quality of motion video was assessed. Performance, e.g. recognition of visual details, was assessed by having subjects answer questions regarding visual information contained in the video motion segments that were enhanced using the individually-selected parameters. Enhancement did not improve subject performance on questions about video content. This result might be due to a ceiling effect limitation of the performance assessment method. In a second procedure, subjects' continuous perceptions of quality (using an adjective-based rating scale) were made while the enhancement parameters were abruptly switched among multiple values; these included the individually-selected enhancements, as well as unenhanced, over-enhanced, and degraded segments. The results indicate that adaptive enhancement (individually-tuned using a static image) adds significantly to perceived image quality when viewing motion video. Subjects who selected stronger contrast enhancement also perceived the enhancement to provide a larger benefit in image quality.     

咳嗽从肾论治

基于中医有关古代文献和个人的临床经验，作者举例说明咳嗽不仅能从肺治疗，从肾治疗也是行之有效的方法。     

6种中药制剂治疗急性脑梗死的成本-效果分析

目的：运用药物经济学的方法对在我院应用的6种中药注射液进行成本-效果分析。方法：271例急性脑梗死患者依据药物治疗方案不同分为6组，即血塞通组、舒血宁组、苦碟子组、疏血通组、川芎嗪组、丹红组，分别观察疗效，并运用药物经济学的方法进行成本-效果分析。结果：疏血通组的成本为3 419.90元，总有效率最高（91.84%），6组间增量成本-效果最低。因此疏血通组是较为合理、经济的方案。     

糖皮质激素在川崎病治疗中作用的循证医学研究

目的 通过循证医学方法研究肾上腺皮质激素在川崎病治疗中的作用.方法 采用循证医学方法,检索国内外5种大型专业数据库,筛选出随机或半随机对照研究的文献,再人工筛查确定适宜文献.通过Meta分析,比较激素与丙种球蛋白治疗川崎病在退热时间和冠状动脉病变发生率方面的差异.结果 初筛得到443篇文献.经过人工检索,8篇文献符合要求而被纳入标准.其中,3篇文献共有49例川崎病患儿接受甲基强的松龙治疗,5篇文献共有406例患儿接受强的松治疗.对照组共有33例接受静脉丙种球蛋白治疗,435例接受阿司匹林治疗.各组间患儿性别、年龄、病程差异无显著意义.①甲基强的松龙组(3篇文献):24例发生冠状动脉病变,对照组18例发生,两组病变发生率差异无显著意义.在退热方面,1篇文献显示甲基强的松龙组发热时间明显较丙种球蛋白组缩短,差异有显著意义;2篇文献显示差异无显著意义.②强的松组(8篇文献):28例发生冠状动脉瘤,阿司匹林对照组11例发生,3篇文献提示强的松组冠状动脉瘤发生率明显高于对照组.强的松组76例发生冠状动脉扩张,对照组75例发生,3篇文献提示强的松组冠状动脉扩张发生率明显高于对照组,2篇文献提示强的松组冠状动脉扩张发生率略低于对照组,但差异无显著意义.结论 目前的研究资料显示,激素治疗与丙种球蛋白治疗川崎病在冠状动脉病变发生率方面尚无差异或增高.在缩短热程上两者差异也不显著.尚可进一步通过更大数量病例的随机对照研究来证实本结果.目前治疗川崎病不主张单独应用激素.