Standardisierte Kontrastmittelsonographie (CEUS) in der klinischen Akut- und Notfallmedizin sowie Intensivmedizin (CEUS-Akut)

Die Anaesthesiologie -     

Tanzania IR Initiative: Training the First Generation of Interventional Radiologists

Despite a population of nearly 60 million, there is currently not a single interventional radiologist in Tanzania. Based on an Interventional Radiology (IR) Readiness Assessment, the key obstacles to establishing IR in Tanzania are the lack of training opportunities and limited availability of disposable equipment. An IR training program was designed and initiated, which relies on US-based volunteer teams of IR physicians, nurses, and technologists to locally train radiology residents, nurses, and technologists. Preliminary results support this strategy for addressing the lack of training opportunities and provide a model for introducing IR to other resource-limited settings.     

Use of fibronectin and somatomedin-C as markers of enteral nutrition support in traumatized patients using a modified amino acid formula

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of serum fibronectin and serum somatomedin-C as nutritional markers during enteral nutrition support (ENS) of critically ill, traumatized patients using an enteral product containing high concentrations of branched-chain amino acids. Twelve critically injured patients received a standard enteral formula with 30 g of a 44% branched-chain amino acid supplement added to each liter of formula. Fibronectin concentration, somatomedin-C concentration, and nitrogen balance were measured on study days 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, 28 or until adequate oral intake began. Both fibronectin and somatomedin-C concentrations increased significantly from baseline by day 7 of ENS. Nitrogen balance increased significantly from baseline by day 4. On days 14 and 21, only somatomedin-C and nitrogen balance increased significantly from baseline. Nitrogen balance was significantly correlated with somatomedin-C concentration (r = 0.53, p less than 0.01), cumulative caloric intake (r = 0.68, p less than 0.01), and cumulative nitrogen intake (r = 0.72, p less than 0.01). The results of this study suggest that serum somatomedin-C is useful and serum fibronectin has potential in monitoring nutrition support response in critically ill, traumatized patients.     

Research letter: How should abridged scientific articles be presented in journals? A survey of readers and authors

SEVERAL SCIENTIFIC AND GENERAL MEDICAL JOURNALS publish full-length articles on their Web sites and abridged versions in their print journals. We surveyed a stratified random sample of BMJ readers and authors to elicit their preferred format for the abridged print version. Each participant received a research paper abridged in 3 different formats: conventional abridged version, journalistic version and enhanced-abstract version. Overall, 45% (95% confidence interval [CI] 42%–48%) of the respondents said they liked the conventional version most, 31% (95% CI 28%–34%) preferred the journalistic version and 25% (95% CI 22%–27%) preferred the enhanced-abstract version. Twenty-eight percent (95% CI 25%–32%) indicated that use of the journalistic format for abridged articles would very likely stop them from submitting papers to BMJ, and 13% (95% CI 11%–16%) said the use of the enhanced-abstract version would stop them from submitting to BMJ. Publishers of general medical journals who publish shortened articles should consider that authors and readers prefer a more conventional style of abridged papers.