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News, opinions and meeting coverage in hospital-based medicine.

Early Preeclampsia Often Overlooked

Clinicians wait too long before diagnosing and treating preeclampsia, a hesitance that can be costly, according to an anesthesiologist who serves on a California preeclampsia task force.

Top 5 Reasons Cardiologists Get Sued

Problems with diagnosis -- failing to make one, making the wrong one, or taking too long to get to one -- lead the list of reasons behind cardiology-related lawsuits, revealed closed claims data from a medical malpractice insurer.

Stroke Rounds: Early Surgery Looks Safe After tPA

Performing carotid endarterectomy or stenting in patients who were recently treated with thrombolytic therapy for an acute stroke appeared to be safe, an observational study showed.

CT Appears Safe in Patients With Pacemakers, ICDs

Patients with cardiac rhythm management devices showed no clinically significant major or minor events related to computed tomography imaging over a 10-year period at two large-volume care centers, researchers reported.

ICD-10 Follies: The Birds

Yes, there's a code for that. To mark the forthcoming move to the ICD-10 coding system, 番茄社区 is spotlighting some of those thousands of new codes that might just be getting a bit too granular.

Drug Combo Saves Kids' Tonsils in Mild OSA

The anti-inflammatory asthma drug montelukast (Singulair) plus corticosteroids was an effective initial alternative to surgery for mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children, a retrospective study showed.

CardioBuzz: More Money Needed for Heart Research?

The NIH dedicates a lot of money for research into heart disease and stroke, but it still might not be enough, a new study suggested.

10 Questions: E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH

What's the biggest barrier to practicing medicine today? That's just the first of the 10 Questions the 番茄社区 staff is asking leading clinicians and researchers to get their personal views on their chosen profession. In this series we share their uncensored responses. Here, answers from pulmonary and critical care expert E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH.

A Brain-Dead Mother, a Million-Dollar Baby

The costs associated with maintaining a pregnant, brain-dead, Texas woman on life support until her fetus is viable are likely to approach $1 million, and long-term costs could easily top $1.5 million.

FDA Rules Differ for OTC vs. POC Glucose Monitors

The FDA has released two draft guidances that establish a line between over-the-counter and point-of-care blood glucose monitors.

EMTs Can Give Positive Pressure Ventilation

Out-of-hospital noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation in patients with severe respiratory distress significantly reduced rates of inhospital mortality and need for invasive ventilation, researchers found.

What Bystanders Should Know About CPR -- and Why

Bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has poor neurological outcome, and this is true even when bystanders are family members, which suggests deficits in public CPR training.

FDA: Nipple Test No Substitute for Mammogram

A nipple aspirate test shouldn't take the place of mammography or otherwise be used on its own to screen for breast disease, the FDA warned.

Radiation Safe in Unbiopsied Lung Cancer

CHICAGO -- Treating people with stereotactic body radiation for suspected -- but unbiopsied -- lung cancers appears to allow for acceptable local control of the disease with low toxicity, researchers reported here.

Use of Expired Auto-Injectors OK'd by FDA

WASHINGTON -- The FDA cautioned emergency medical staff to retain recently expired auto-injectors by Meridian Medical Technologies and to use them in emergencies if no other product is available.

Rape Laws Offer Little Protection

BOSTON -- The world over, laws to protect rape victims are paper tigers, often enacted but rarely enforced, a researcher said here.

Prime Time: Skin Docs Name 5 Unnecessary Procedures

The American Academy of Dermatology joined more than 80 other medical societies in the Choosing Wisely campaign, naming five treatments or procedures that may not be necessary. Prime Time is a blog by Chris Kaiser for those interested in primary care.

Gestational Diabetes Tied to Perinatal Stroke

AUSTIN, Texas -- Perinatal arterial ischemic stroke has many possible risk factors, including gestational diabetes, researchers reported here.

TCT: Removing Clot During PCI Fails in NSTEMI

SAN FRANCISCO -- Aspiration thrombectomy during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) did not improve outcomes in patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), a randomized trial showed.

Yoga May Be Good for COPD

CHICAGO -- With its focus on breathing exercises, yoga may improve some of the symptoms of chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD) along with boosting quality of life, researchers said here.

CardioBuzz: Turn Off the Wireless on an ICD?

Electrophysiologists described how turning off the wireless function on an ICD -- as former vice-president Dick Cheney had done -- might affect patient care. CardioBuzz is a blog by Todd Neale for readers with an interest in cardiology.

Sleep Problems, Poor Angioplasty Outcomes Linked

Disturbed sleep is common in heart patients following coronary angioplasty and is an independent risk factor for poor cardiac outcomes, researchers reported.

Heart Surgery as Infant Hikes Risk for ADHD Later

Children who underwent surgery for congenital heart disease in the first year of life appeared to carry an increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) once they reached school age, researchers found.

Morning Break: Addictive Oreos and Sperm-Slaying Bacon

Health news and commentary from around the Web, gathered by the 番茄社区 staff.

Daytime Snoozing May Tell Risk of Hypoglycemia

Older patients with diabetes who are overly tired during the day may be at a higher risk for hypoglycemia, researchers reported.

New Nerve Tracer Not Ready for Routine Use?

CHICAGO -- The radiotracer iodine-123-metaiodobenzylguanidine may be a new tool for cardiac imaging, but whether it's ready for routine use in most practices was debated by nuclear cardiologists here.

N.H. Hospital May Have Exposed Patients to CJD

Health officials in New Hampshire said eight neurosurgery patients at one hospital in the state may have been unwittingly exposed to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

Low BP May Be Fatal in CKD

Chronic kidney disease patients, including those with diabetes, who were not on dialysis were more likely to die when blood pressure was too low, even if only on the diastolic measure, a veterans cohort showed.

Range of Due Dates Better for Expectant Moms

Pregnant women may be better off with a range of delivery dates rather than a set date due to variability in gestation times, researchers found.

Lab Notes: Meth May Worsen Fungal Infection

Mice injected with methamphetamine and exposed to Cryptococcus fungi showed more extensive and hard-to-eradicate infections. Also this week: an organic pesticide fights parasitic worms.

FDA Warns of Fatal Skin Reactions with Acetaminophen

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Acetaminophen is associated with rare but severe and sometimes fatal skin reactions at usual doses, the FDA said Thursday.

Death Spurs GE to Recall Scanning System

The FDA announced on Monday a class I recall of GE Healthcare's nuclear medicine systems stemming from a patient death reported last month.

Wounds Heal Better When Debrided Often

Faster and more complete wound healing was achieved with more frequent debridement regardless of wound type, size, or duration, researchers found.

Randy Travis Gets an LVAD, Future Uncertain

Grammy award-winning country music star Randy Travis has received the Impella pump, a temporary percutaneous left ventricular assist device, to help him as he battles viral cardiomyopathy, according to his publicist.

FDA Adds GI Warning to Benicar Label

WASHINGTON -- The FDA ordered the maker of the blood pressure drug olmesartan (Benicar) to add a warning about risk of the intestinal condition known as sprue-like enteropathy to the drug's label.

Honey, Cola May Disrupt Heart

A detailed history of patients with arrhythmia or syncope might need to include their cola intake or the origin of the honey they consume, two case studies suggest.

ASCO: Targeted Agent Has Slim NSCLC Benefit

CHICAGO -- The novel kinase inhibitor nintedanib may slightly delay relapse of non-small cell lung cancer when added to chemotherapy, with perhaps greater benefit in adenocarcinomas, the LUME-Lung 1 trial showed.

Diabetes Experts Divided About 'Lone Wolf' Butler

Top experts in diabetes and endocrinology have offered mixed reactions to a profile of Peter Butler, MD, chair of endocrinology at the University of California Los Angeles, in the New York Times.

Shots Best Way to Give B12 After Bariatric Surgery

Vitamin B12 injections are the preferred treatment for patients who develop a deficiency following bariatric surgery, researchers found.

Zilver Stent Recalled, System May Break

Cook Medical's Zilver PTX drug-eluting stent for peripheral artery disease has been recalled because of a defect in its associated delivery system, the company and the FDA said.

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