Introduction Spinal epidural abscess (SEA), a highly morbid and potentially lethal deep tissue infection of the central nervous system has more than tripled in incidence over the past decade. Early recognition at the point of initial clinical presentation may prevent irreversible neurologic injury or other serious, adverse outcomes. To facilitate early recognition of SEA, we developed a predict...

BACKGROUND We aimed to assess the additive value of electrocardiogram (ECG) findings to risk prediction models for cardiovascular disease. METHODS Our dataset consisted of 6025 individuals with ECG data available from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey-III. This is a self-weighting sample with a follow-up of 79,046.84 person-years. The primary outcomes were cardiovascular mo...

BACKGROUND Accurate estimation of prognosis in multimorbid hospital patients could improve quality of care. This study aims to determine the relative importance and added value of a performance-based activities of daily living (ADL) measure with regard to mortality prediction. METHODS 200 inpatients, aged over 60 years, were recruited at the Department of General Internal Medicine at a tertia...

INTRODUCTION Admission blood glucose (BG) level is a predictor of mortality in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, limited data are available relating admission BG to mortality in patients with STEMI complicated by cardiogenic shock, and it is not known whether diabetic status has an independent effect on this relationship. METHODS Between November 2005 ...

BACKGROUND A mechanism to stratify patients resuscitated from a cardiac arrest according to the likelihood of an acute coronary lesion would have significant utility. We thus sought to develop and validate a risk prediction model for the presence of an acute coronary lesion among patients resuscitated from an arrest. METHODS AND RESULTS All subjects undergoing coronary angiography after resus...

Point-of-care testing is a rapidly evolving yet complex field. As your POCT program grows, take the time to understand the regulations, as they are important to ensuring patient safety. The regualtions established CLIA are designed to ensure consistent and reliable laboratory results that can accurately impact patient care. When beginning your look into POCY, first identify what labs can direct...

The effect of oral application of Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761 on auditory discrimination learning in Mongolian gerbils was investigated using discrimination tasks with three different degrees of difficulty and two protocols for administration starting 2 weeks prior to or at the beginning of training. In comparison to placebo-treated controls we observed significant improvement of learning per...