Inserting tunnelled hemodialysis catheters using elective guidewire exchange from nontunnelled catheters: is there a greater risk of infection when compared with new-site replacement?

The objective is to evaluate bacteremia outcomes and survival rates when using guidewire exchange to place tunnelled hemodialysis catheter (THDC) compared with a new-site replacement. Retrospectively, all patients were identified who received a THDC between January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2007. Any THDC having received antibiotic line locks or tunnel-to-tunnel exchange were excluded.

British Conservative Party health reforms of the 1980s and 1990s: ideology or inevitable?

In this article we will seek to explore the political ideology that launched the Conservative Party to power under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This event in 1979 was to have far-reaching implications for health care in Britain, arguably cumulating in a breach of a founding principle of the British National Health Service, namely, all-inclusiveness.