2010 Jun 2 - Association Between Timeliness of Reperfusion Therapy and Clinical Outcomes in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Laurie Lambert, PhD; Kevin Brown, MSc; Eli Segal, MD; James Brophy, MD, PhD; Josep Rodes-Cabau, MD; Peter Bogaty, MD. JAMA. 2010;303(21):2148-2155.
Context Guidelines emphasize the importance of rapid reperfusion of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and specify a maximum delay of 30 minutes for fibrinolysis and 90 minutes for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). However, randomized trials and selective registries are limited in their ability to assess the effect of timeliness of reperfusion on outcomes in real-world STEMI patients.

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2010 Jun 2 - Association Between Arterial Hyperoxia Following Resuscitation From Cardiac Arrest and In-Hospital Mortality

J. Hope Kilgannon, MD; Alan E. Jones, MD; Nathan I. Shapiro, MD, MPH; Mark G. Angelos, MD; Barry Milcarek, PhD; Krystal Hunter, MBA; Joseph E. Parrillo, MD; Stephen Trzeciak, MD, MPH; for the Emergency Medicine Shock Research Network (EMShockNet) Investigators. JAMA. 2010;303(21):2165-2171.
Context Laboratory investigations suggest that exposure to hyperoxia after resuscitation from cardiac arrest may worsen anoxic brain injury; however, clinical data are lacking.

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2010 May 24 - β-Blockers May Reduce Mortality and Risk of Exacerbations in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Frans H. Rutten, MD, PhD; Nicolaas P. A. Zuithoff, MSc; Eelko Hak, MSc, PhD; Diederick E. Grobbee, MD, PhD; Arno W. Hoes, MD, PhD. Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(10):880-887.
Background Physicians avoid the use of β-blockers in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and concurrent cardiovascular disease because of concerns about adverse pulmonary effects. We assessed the long-term effect of β-blocker use on survival and exacerbations in patients with COPD.

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2010 May 26 - Reporting and Interpretation of Randomized Controlled Trials With Statistically Nonsignificant Results for Primary Outcomes

Isabelle Boutron, MD, PhD; Susan Dutton, MSc; Philippe Ravaud, MD, PhD; Douglas G. Altman, DSc. JAMA. 2010;303(20):2058-2064.
Context Previous studies indicate that the interpretation of trial results can be distorted by authors of published reports.

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2010 May 26 - Antibiotic Therapy and Treatment Failure in Patients Hospitalized for Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Michael B. Rothberg, MD, MPH; Penelope S. Pekow, PhD; Maureen Lahti, MBBS, MPH; Oren Brody, MD; Daniel J. Skiest, MD; Peter K. Lindenauer, MD, MSc. JAMA. 2010;303(20):2035-2042.
Context Guidelines recommend antibiotic therapy for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the evidence is based on small, heterogeneous trials, few of which include hospitalized patients.

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2010 Apr 20 - Early vs Late Tracheotomy for Prevention of Pneumonia in Mechanically Ventilated Adult ICU Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Pier Paolo Terragni, MD; Massimo Antonelli, MD; Roberto Fumagalli, MD; Chiara Faggiano, MD; Maurizio Berardino, MD; Franco Bobbio Pallavicini, MD; Antonio Miletto, MD; Salvatore Mangione, MD; Angelo U. Sinardi, MD; Mauro Pastorelli, MD; Nicoletta Vivaldi, MD; Alberto Pasetto, MD; Giorgio Della Rocca, MD; Rosario Urbino, MD; Claudia Filippini, PhD; Eva Pagano, PhD; Andrea Evangelista, PhD; Gianni Ciccone, MD; Luciana Mascia, MD, PhD; V. Marco Ranieri, MD. JAMA. 2010;303(15):1483-1489.

Figure. Percutaneous tracheostomy being performed by the percutaneous dilatational method using the Griggs forceps, another common method is using the Blue Rhino (Photo courtesy of ICU, PYNEH)
Context Tracheotomy is used to replace endotracheal intubation in patients requiring prolonged ventilation; however, there is considerable variability in the time considered optimal for performing tracheotomy. This is of clinical importance because timing is a key criterion for performing a tracheotomy and patients who receive one require a large amount of health care resources.

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2010 Apr 21 - JAMA Editorial: Early vs Late Tracheotomy in ICU Patients

Damon C. Scales, MD, PhD; Niall D. Ferguson, MD, MSc. JAMA. 2010;303(15):1537-1538.
Endotracheal intubation is the most common procedure for airway control for patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Extubation is performed once patients have improved so that mechanical ventilation can be discontinued. For patients who require prolonged mechanical ventilation, replacement of the endotracheal tube with a tracheotomy is often considered.

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2010 Apr 21 - Pandemic 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) Virus Illness Among Pregnant Women in the United States

Alicia M. Siston, PhD; Sonja A. Rasmussen, MD; Margaret A. Honein, PhD; Alicia M. Fry, MD; Katherine Seib, BS; William M. Callaghan, MD; Janice Louie, MD; Timothy J. Doyle, MPH; Molly Crockett, MPH; Ruth Lynfield, MD; Zack Moore, MD; Caleb Wiedeman, MPH; Madhu Anand, MPH; Laura Tabony, MPH; Carrie F. Nielsen, PhD; Kirsten Waller, MD; Shannon Page, BS; Jeannie M. Thompson, MPH; Catherine Avery, CFNP; Chasisity Brown Springs, MSPH; Timothy Jones, MD; Jennifer L. Williams, MSN; Kim Newsome, MPH; Lyn Finelli, DrPH; Denise J. Jamieson, MD; for the Pandemic H1N1 Influenza in Pregnancy Working Group. JAMA. 2010;303(15):1517-1525.
Context Early data on pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) suggest pregnant women are at increased risk of hospitalization and death.

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2010 Mar - Effect of Chlorhexidine Whole-Body Bathing on Hospital-Acquired Infections Among Trauma Patients

Heather L. Evans, MD, MS; Timothy H. Dellit, MD; Jeannie Chan, PharmD, MS; Avery B. Nathens, MD, PhD; Ronald V. Maier, MD; Joseph Cuschieri, MD. Arch Surg. 2010;145(3):240-246.
Objective To demonstrate whether daily bathing with cloths impregnated with 2% chlorhexidine gluconate will decrease colonization of resistant bacteria and reduce the rates of health care–associated infections in critically injured patients.

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2010 Mar 3 - Three-Year Outcomes for Medicare Beneficiaries Who Survive Intensive Care

Hannah Wunsch, MD, MSc; Carmen Guerra, MPH; Amber E. Barnato, MD, MPH, MS; Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH; Guohua Li, MD, DrPH; Walter T. Linde-Zwirble. JAMA. 2010;303(9):849-856.
Context Although hospital mortality has decreased over time in the United States for patients who receive intensive care, little is known about subsequent outcomes for those discharged alive.

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2010 Mar 3 - JAMA Editorial: How Much PEEP in Acute Lung Injury

Gordon D. Rubenfeld, MD, MSc. JAMA. 2010;303(9):883-884.
Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common, lethal, and complex syndrome. Estimates of attributable mortality from ALI or its more severe form, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), in the United States place it above asthma and human immunodeficiency virus infection as a cause of death.1

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2010 Mar 3 - Higher vs Lower Positive End-Expiratory Pressure in Patients With Acute Lung Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Matthias Briel, MD, MSc; Maureen Meade, MD, MSc; Alain Mercat, MD; Roy G. Brower, MD; Daniel Talmor, MD, MPH; Stephen D. Walter, PhD; Arthur S. Slutsky, MD; Eleanor Pullenayegum, PhD; Qi Zhou, PhD; Deborah Cook, MD, MSc; Laurent Brochard, MD; Jean-Christophe M. Richard, MD; Francois Lamontagne, MD; Neera Bhatnagar, MLIS; Thomas E. Stewart, MD; Gordon Guyatt, MD, MSc. JAMA. 2010;303(9):865-873.
Context Trials comparing higher vs lower levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) in adults with acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have been underpowered to detect small but potentially important effects on mortality or to explore subgroup differences.

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2010 Feb 8 - Trends in the Work Hours of Physicians in the United States

Douglas O. Staiger, PhD; David I. Auerbach, PhD; Peter I. Buerhaus, PhD, RN. JAMA. 2010;303(8):747-753.
Context Recent trends in hours worked by physicians may affect workforce needs but have not been thoroughly analyzed.

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2010 Feb 8 - Association Between Acute Care and Critical Illness Hospitalization and Cognitive Function in Older Adults

William J. Ehlenbach, MD, MSc; Catherine L. Hough, MD, MSc; Paul K. Crane, MD, MPH; Sebastien J. P. A. Haneuse, PhD; Shannon S. Carson, MD; J. Randall Curtis, MD, MPH; Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH. JAMA. 2010;303(8):763-770.
Context Studies suggest that many survivors of critical illness experience long-term cognitive impairment but have not included premorbid measures of cognitive functioning and have not evaluated risk for dementia associated with critical illness.

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2010 Feb 8 - JAMA Editorial: Disassembling Goal-Directed Therapy for Sepsis: A First Step

Roger J. Lewis, MD, PhD. JAMA. 2010;303(8):777-779.
In this issue of JAMA, Jones et al1 report the results of a randomized, noninferiority trial comparing 2 strategies for guiding the use of inotropes and red blood cell transfusions during early goal-directed therapy for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.

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2010 Feb 8 - Lactate Clearance vs Central Venous Oxygen Saturation as Goals of Early Sepsis Therapy: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Alan E. Jones, MD; Nathan I. Shapiro, MD, MPH; Stephen Trzeciak, MD, MPH; Ryan C. Arnold, MD; Heather A. Claremont, BFA; Jeffrey A. Kline, MD; for the Emergency Medicine Shock Research Network (EMShockNet) Investigators. JAMA. 2010;303(8):739-746.
Context Goal-directed resuscitation for severe sepsis and septic shock has been reported to reduce mortality when applied in the emergency department.

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2010 Feb 10 - JAMA Commentary: Perioperative β-Blockers for Cardiac Risk Reduction: Time for Clarity

Vineet Chopra, MD; Kim A. Eagle, MD. JAMA. 2010;303(6):551-552.
Perioperative cardiac events are common and thought to result from coronary plaque rupture, myocardial oxygen supply-demand mismatch, or a combination of these processes.1 In theory, β-blockers are ideal for preventing these events, because they decrease myocardial oxygen requirements (by lowering heart rate and reducing blood pressure) and are thought to stabilize atherosclerotic plaque.2 However, perioperative β-blockade has become controversial because of conflicting results of recent studies. Based on the latest evidence, the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association (ACCF/AHA) restricted the once-broad class I indication for perioperative β-blockers to only patients already receiving this therapy.3 Why has the evidence not provided clarity?

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2010 Jan 27 - JAMA Editorial: Should Glucocorticoid-Induced Hyperglycemia Be Treated in Patients With Septic Shock?

Greet Van den Berghe, MD, PhD. JAMA. 2010;303(4):365-366.
Critical illness, in particular severe sepsis, induces insulin resistance and hyperglycemia. Corticosteroids are often used for reversal of fluid- and vasopressor-resistant septic shock. Such an adjuvant treatment aggravates illness-induced hyperglycemia, even in a low-dose steroid regimen.1

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2010 Jan 27 - Corticosteroid Treatment and Intensive Insulin Therapy for Septic Shock in Adults. A Randomized Controlled Trial.

The COIITSS Study Investigators. JAMA. 2010;303(4):341-348
Context Corticosteroid therapy induces potentially detrimental hyperglycemia in septic shock. In addition, the benefit of adding fludrocortisone in this setting is unclear.

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2009 Dec 23/30 - JAMA Editorial: Evaluating Telemedicine in the ICU

Erika J. Yoo, MD; R. Adams Dudley, MD, MBA. JAMA. 2009;302(24):2705-2706.
Telemedicine, defined as the use of electronic information and communication technologies to provide health care when the caregiver and patient are geographically distanced,1 is an increasing trend in inpatient medicine. One of the most common applications is in the intensive care unit (ICU), where ICU telemedicine (tele-ICU) can be used to increase access to intensivist physicians.

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