Cardiac venous injuries: Procedural profiles and outcomes during left ventricular lead placement for cardiac resynchronization therapy

1. Download : Download high-res image (257KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Managing invasive aspergillosis in haematological patients in the era of resistance polymerase chain reaction and increasing triazole resistance: A modelling study of different strategies

Objectives

Triazole resistance in Aspergillus spp. is emerging and complicates prophylaxis and treatment of invasive aspergillosis (IA) worldwide. New polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) fluid allow for detection of triazole resistance at a genetic level, which has opened up new possibilities for targeted therapy. In the absence of clinical trials, a modelling study delivers estimates of the added value of resistance detection with PCR, and which empiric therapy would be optimal when local resistance rates are known.

Mortality reductions from marginal increases in public spending on health

There is limited empirical evidence of the nature of any relationship between health spending and health outcomes in Australia. We address this by estimating the elasticity of health outcomes with respect to public healthcare spending using an instrumental variable (IV) approach to account for endogeneity of healthcare spending to health outcomes. Results suggest that, based on the conditional mean, a 1% increase in public health spending was associated with a 2.2% (p < 0.05) reduction in the number of standardised Years of Life Lost (YLL). Sensitivity analyses and robustness checks supported this conclusion. Further exploration using IV quantile regression indicated that marginal returns on public health spending were significantly greater for areas with poorer health outcomes compared to areas with better health outcomes. On average, marginal increases in public health spending reduce YLL, but areas with poorer health outcomes have the greatest potential to benefit from the same marginal increase in public health spending compared to areas with better health outcomes. Understanding the relationship between health spending and outcomes and how this differs according to baseline health outcomes can help meet dual policy objectives to improve the productivity of the healthcare system and reduce inequity.     

Can we identify older people most vulnerable to living in cold homes during winter?

Purpose

Living in a cold home increases the risk of dying in winter, especially in older people. However, it is unclear which individual factors predict whether older people are living in cold homes.

Mortality related to coagulase-negative staphylococcal bacteremia in febrile neutropenia: A cohort study

BACKGROUND:

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are currently the most common isolates recovered from the blood of patients with cancer and febrile neutropenia (FN).

OBJECTIVES:

To assess the mortality associated with bloodstream infections (BSIs) caused by CoNS in cancer patients with FN.

METHODS:

A prospective cohort study was conducted in a single tertiary hospital from October 2009 to August 2011. Follow-ups were performed on all of the adult patients who were admitted to the hematology ward with cancer and FN. Bacteremia caused by CoNS was defined as two positive results of two independent cultures. Twenty-eight days after the onset of FN, the mortality rates of the patients with BSIs caused by CoNS were compared with those of patients with BSIs caused by other pathogens.

RESULTS:

A total of 169 subjects were evaluated. During the study period, 78 patients with BSIs were documented. Twenty-three BSIs (29.4%) were a result of CoNS. CoNS-induced bacteremia resulted in lower 28-day mortality compared with bacteremia caused by other pathogens (4.3% versus 32.7%; log-rank P=0.009). In a Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, BSIs caused by CoNS were independently associated with lower mortality (HR 0.09 [95% CI 0.01 to 0.74]).

CONCLUSIONS:

In adult patients with cancer and FN, BSIs caused by CoNS were associated with lower mortality compared with BSIs caused by other pathogens.     

不同主动脉断端加固方法在急性Stanford A型主动脉夹层手术中的应用

目的总结不同主动脉断端加固方法在主动脉夹层手术中的应用及其效果。方法2012年1月至2013年5月,共有95例主动脉夹层在南京医科大学附属南京医院接受手术治疗。根据主动脉断端的加固方法不同,将其中72例患者（23例Bentall手术患者未纳入本研究）分为3组,A组：23例,男18例、女5例,年龄（48．67±9．23）岁,其中主动脉壁内外均使用毛毡条行“三明治”加固;B组：11例,男8例、女3例,年龄（48．00±9．17）岁,仅主动脉内膜内侧使用心包条加固;C组：38例,男29例、女9例,年龄（49．20±8．57）岁,主动脉断端不进行任何加固,与人工血管直接吻合。分析并比较3组患者的术后转归情况。结果术后住院死亡8例[其中A组1例（4．35％,1／23）,C组7例（18．42％,7／38）],住院死亡率11．11％。1例（A组）死于创面广泛渗血,最后出现弥散性血管内凝血;3例（均为C组）死于术后针眼、吻合口广泛渗血,循环不能维持;4例（均为C组）术后三尖瓣重度反流,继发严重低心排血量综合征,最终导致多脏器功能衰竭而死亡。术后严重并发症包括肾功能衰竭5例,呼吸功能不全7例,严重脑梗死致偏瘫1例,轻瘫3例,延迟苏醒2例,下肢缺血坏死1例。术后胸腔引流量C组最多,A组胸腔引流量与B组比较差异无统计学意义。随访64例,随访时间1～6个月。随访期间无死亡。5例肾功能衰竭患者中只有1例定期行血液透析治疗,其余4例患者肾功能均恢复正常;1例脑梗死患者肢体功能部分恢复,可以拄拐行走;3例轻瘫患者肢体功能均恢复正常。结论主动脉夹层断端的吻合质量异常重要,术中可根据具体情况选择合适的加固方式;使用毛毡条行“三明治”加固可以减少吻合口渗血,预防吻合口撕裂所致急性心肌梗死的发生,降低术后死亡率;若主动脉夹层剥离累及冠状动脉开口,需同期行冠状动脉旁路移植术。