BACKGROUND Selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) is an infection-prevention regimen used in critically ill patients. We assessed the effects of SDD on intensive-care-unit (ICU) and hospital mortality, and on the acquisition of resistant bacteria in adult patients admitted to intensive care. METHODS We did a prospective, controlled, randomised, unblinded clinical trial. 934 pa...

BACKGROUND Prevalence estimates on suspected developmental delays (SDD) in young infants are scarce and a necessary first step for planning an early intervention. We investigated the prevalence of SDD at 4, 6 and 12 months, in addition to associations of SDD with gender, prematurity and maternal education. METHODS This study is based on a Norwegian longitudinal sample of 1555 infants and thei...

PURPOSE To evaluate the quantitative and topographic relationship between reticular pseudodrusen (RPD) on infrared reflectance (IR) and subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD) on en face volumetric spectral domain optical coherence tomography. METHODS Reticular pseudodrusen were marked on IR images by a masked observer. Subretinal drusenoid deposits were visualized on en face sections of spectral...

PURPOSE Subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD) have been associated with the progression to late age-related macular degeneration (AMD). To determine whether SDD in eyes in normal macular health increases risk for early AMD, this study examined the association between presence of SDD at baseline in a cohort of older adults in normal macular health and incident AMD 3 years later. METHODS Subjects...

BACKGROUND Hospital acquired infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality and markedly increased health care costs. Critically ill patients who require management in an Intensive Care Unit are particularly susceptible to these infections which are associated with a very high mortality. Selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) may reduce these infections and improve mort...

The purpose of this study is to explore narcissistic and prosocial behaviors as reported by adolescents with and without substance dependency disorder (SDD). This study employs a quasi-experimental design using SDD adolescents compared with two normative samples of adolescents. In comparison to normative adolescents, adolescents with SDD were strongly distinguished by overt narcissistic behavio...

BACKGROUND Among methods for preventing pneumonia and possibly also bacteremia in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, Selective Digestive Decontamination (SDD) appears most effective within randomized concurrent controlled trials (RCCT's) although more recent trials have been cluster randomized. However, of the SDD components, whether protocolized parenteral antibiotic prophylaxis (PPAP) is req...

Selective digestive decontamination (SDD) and selective oropharyngeal decontamination (SOD) have been associated with reduced mortality and lower ICU-acquired bacteremia and ventilator-associated pneumonia rates in areas with low levels of antibiotic resistance. However, the effect of selective decontamination (SDD/SOD) in areas where multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria are endemic is le...

Peri-operative endotoxaemia during liver transplantation has been linked to compromised graft function and infection. Selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) could prevent endotoxaemia by eradicating Gram-negative bacteria from the intestine. In a randomized placebo controlled study we investigated the effects of endotoxaemia and the efficacy of SDD to prevent its occurrence. Thi...

We read with interest the review by Akutsu and Matsubara on the prevention of postoperative pneumonia in esophageal surgery. However, we believe that the section on oral care was not comprehensive because the use of selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) was not accurately reported. Oropharyngeal flora has been recognized as the major source of potential pathogens causing pneumo...