Antibiotic prophylaxis—Preventing severe infections and saving lives in poor countries with very high mortality risk

Saving lives with high-flow nasal oxygen.

First reported in 1890,1 therapy with oxygen constitutes one of the fundamental advances in clinical medicine. It is an essential treatment for acute and chronic respiratory failure, a supportive therapy for general anesthesia and most surgical procedures, and an adjunctive treatment for patients with shock from sepsis, trauma, or cardiac failure. For spontaneously breathing patients with acute...

Saving money, saving lives.

In 1996, Duke Children's Hospital was in serious trouble. Its $11 million annual operating loss had forced administrators to make cutbacks. As a result, some caregivers felt that the quality of care had deteriorated. Parents' complaints were on the rise. Frustrated staff members were quitting. In this article, Jon Meliones, DCH's chief medical director, candidly describes how his debt-ridden ho...

Saving lives by treating epilepsy in developing countries.

Infections, antibiotic treatment and mortality in patients admitted to ICUs in countries considered to have high levels of antibiotic resistance compared to those with low levels

BACKGROUND Antimicrobial resistance is an increasing concern in ICUs worldwide. Infection with an antibiotic resistant (ABR) strain of an organism is associated with greater mortality than infection with the non-resistant strain, but there are few data assessing whether being admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) with high levels of antimicrobial resistance is associated with a worse outcome...

Paradox of Appropriate Implantable Cardioverter‐Defibrillator Therapy: Saving Lives But Revealing an Increased Mortality Risk

A t one time, implantation of an implantable cardioverterdefibrillator (ICD) was reserved for those patients who survived sudden cardiac death (SCD) from ventricular arrhythmia and had a secondary-prevention-only indication. However, along with improvements in device technology and the implant procedure, the indications for offering an ICD broadened to include those at the highest risk of SCD f...