In May 2005, the “Report of the Auditor General on Seniors Care and Programs” (“the Report”) was released.1 The Auditor General examined services provided to seniors in long-term care facilities, the Seniors Lodge Program and the Alberta Seniors Benefit Program.2 In total, the systems of nine Regional Health Authorities (RHAs), 25 long-term care facilities, and 20 lodge operators were examined....

Congress and the Administration are currently exploring various methods of promoting access to long-term care. In this article, an inventory of recent legislative proposals for using the Federal tax code to expand access to long-term care services is provided. Proposals are arrayed along a functional typology that includes tax mechanisms to encourage accumulation of funds, promote purchase of l...

This study examines buyers and nonbuyers of long-term care insurance. The findings show that consumers purchased more comprehensive products in 1994-95 than they did in 1990, and that they appeared to get better value for the premium dollar. While annual sales are increasing at a rate of 25%, the market for long-term care insurance remains small, and many of the market barriers that existed fou...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and causes of intermittent and permanent loss of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients who have undergone the successful implantation of a transvenous defibrillator that delivers CRT (CRT-D). BACKGROUND The causes of loss of CRT have not been described. METHODS The records of 512 patients who underwent an atte...

BACKGROUND  Congenital left ventricular aneurysm (LVA) and diverticulum (LVD) are rare cardiac anomalies frequently associated with electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term prognosis in such patients. METHODS AND RESULTS  A total of 108 patients with LVA or LVD having ECG-abnormalities were assessed. The patients were classified into 2 groups ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term prognostic value of pentraxin-3 (PTX3) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). 377 patients were prospectively followed up for 3 years to determine cardiac events including cardiac death or rehospitalization for worsening heart failure. The plasma PTX3 levels were significantly higher in CHF patients than in healthy subjects (p < 0.00...

BACKGROUND Breast conservation treatment for early-stage breast cancer has been demonstrated to be equivalent to mastectomy in a large number of randomized trials. A number of earlier studies of surgery with or without radiation did not show an improvement in overall survival despite large reductions in local recurrence rates. Numerous randomized trials have demonstrated that postmastectomy rad...

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine the yield of cardiac testing and to identify predictors of cardiac disease in infants with an apparent life-threatening event (ALTE). DESIGN Retrospective longitudinal cohort study. SETTING Paediatric hospital providing primary and tertiary care that is part of an integrated healthcare system. PATIENTS Infants hospitalised for an ALTE from 1999 to 2003. ...

BACKGROUND Cardiac transplantation remains the gold standard for treating end-stage heart failure. However, because of donor shortage and posttransplant complications alternative options are needed. METHODS We investigated the impact of cardiac resynchronization therapy on clinical outcome in 545 patients with left bundle-branch block and interventricular asynchrony, who fulfilled the cardiac...