Physicians Should Always Perform a Physical Examination

Contamination of stethoscopes and physicians' hands after a physical examination.

OBJECTIVES To compare the contamination level of physicians' hands and stethoscopes and to explore the risk of cross-transmission of microorganisms through the use of stethoscopes. PATIENTS AND METHODS We conducted a structured prospective study between January 1, 2009, and May 31, 2009, involving 83 inpatients at a Swiss university teaching hospital. After a standardized physical examination...

Who should perform thoracoscopy?

Letter to the Editor Should we always perform radio - frequency ablation while resecting atrial myxomas ?

We thank the authors for this article [1]. We noticed that two of our cases developed arterioatrial fistulae after resection of the myxoma while we were investigating our cases [2,3]. Your excellent image demonstrated that this myxoma tissue possessed three arterial branches. Demonstration of these nutrient arteries suggested that, in any case, even though the nutrient arteries of the myxoma co...

Should we always perform radio-frequency ablation while resecting atrial myxomas?

We thank the authors for this article [1]. We noticed that two of our cases developed arterioatrial fistulae after resection of the myxoma while we were investigating our cases [2,3]. Your excellent image demonstrated that this myxoma tissue possessed three arterial branches. Demonstration of these nutrient arteries suggested that, in any case, even though the nutrient arteries of the myxoma co...

Postintubation injuries and open surgical tracheostomy: should we always perform isthmectomy?

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the influence of the surgical team (general surgery or thoracic surgery) and the surgical technique (with or without isthmectomy) on the incidence of postintubation injuries in the airways of tracheostomized patients. METHODS Between January 1st and August 31st, 2007, 164 patients admitted to the adult intensive care unit and tracheally intubated for more than 24 h were ...