or aspiration of frank pus requires drainage of pleural cavity, we wish to point out that, in the majority of cases, this can be done safely by ‘specialist teams’withinworkinghoursanddoesnot require urgent out-of-hours chest drain insertions.3 3. The National Patient Safety Agency 2008 rapid response entitled Risk of chest drain insertion highlights the potential and sometimes fatal complicatio...

The aim of the present comparative study was to compare some salivary characteristics between exclusive waterpipe smokers (EWPS) and non-smokers. 72 males (36 EWPS) were recruited. The volume of stimulated saliva was determined and divided by the duration of saliva collection. The pH was measured directly using a pH meter. The buffering capacity was determined using a quantitative method which ...

I enjoyed the review of the management of atrial fibrillation in practice by Fitzmaurice and Hobbs; it concisely covered the salient points on this hugely important topic.1 However, I would like to highlight one important aspect on the current management of atrial fibrillation and in particular relation to the use of novel oral anticoagulants. These are often (mis) described as ‘not needing mon...

OBJECTIVE It is widely held that waterpipe smoking (WPS) is not associated with health hazards. However, several studies have documented the uptake of several toxicants and carcinogens during WPS that is strongly associated with harmful health effects. This paper reviews the literature on the health effects of WPS. DATA SOURCES Three databases-PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE-were searched until Au...