1 hour 50 minutes highlights one of the major obstacles preventing coronary care reaching those patients who die soon after the onset of their attack and are referred to the coroner. Appreciation of the fact that delay can be due to referral through the general practitioner has led to an attempt to bypass primary medical care in acute myocardial infarction in the Belfast coronary care scheme.2 ...

The mortality rate in severe community- or hospital-acquired pneumonia is very high, ranging 20-50%. Despite advances in antimicrobial therapy and supportive measures, this rate has not changed in recent years, suggesting that other factors are also responsible for the poor outcome. An abnormal increase in the local and systemic inflammatory response is associated with poor outcome, and this oc...