Repatriation to referral hospital after reperfusion of STEMI patients transferred for primary percutaneous coronary intervention: Insights of a Canadian regional STEMI care system.

Background: In regional systems of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) care, patients presenting to hospitals without percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are transferred to PCI-capable hospitals for primary PCI. Repatriation, a practice whereby such patients are transferred back to non-PCI referral hospitals after reperfusion is prevalent in many jurisdictions, yet little is known of this practice and its safety.

Methods: We studied 979 consecutive STEMI patients transported from the emergency department and catchment area of two non-PCI hospitals in Ontario, Canada to a regional PCI-hospital for primary PCI between January 2008 and June 2014.

Primary medication non-adherence after discharge from a general internal medicine service.

Background: Medication non-adherence frequently leads to suboptimal patient outcomes. Primary non-adherence, which occurs when a patient does not fill an initial prescription, is particularly important at the time of hospital discharge because new medications are often being prescribed to treat an illness rather than for prevention.

Methods: We studied older adults consecutively discharged from a general internal medicine service at a large urban teaching hospital to determine the prevalence of primary non-adherence and identify characteristics associated with primary non-adherence.

Aggregation of neurodegenerative disease in ALS kindreds.

The objective was to investigate the familial occurrence of the neurodegenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease and dementia in the relatives of Irish ALS patients. A retrospective case control chart review study was conducted to extract the neurological family histories of Irish ALS patients and controls who attended the National Neurological Centre between January 2001 and January 2006. In total, details were extracted from 197 ALS and 235 general neurology pedigrees.

Anaphylactic reaction to intralesional corticosteroid injection.

We report the case of anaphylactic reaction to carboxymethylcellulose, a dispersant in corticosteroid preparation and contrast media. Skin prick testing in this patient revealed a positive response to carboxymethylcellulose at a dilution of 1/1000. Anaphylaxis secondary to carboxymethylcellulose has previously been reported.

Going the distance: the influence of practice location on the Ontario Maternal Serum Screening Program.

Background: The Ontario Maternal Serum Screening (MSS) Program was introduced by the Ontario Ministry of Health as a province-wide pilot project in 1993. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of practice location on Ontario health care providers' use of and opinions regarding MSS, access to follow-up services and recommendations about the program.

Methods: A questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 2000 family physicians, all 565 obstetricians and all 62 registered midwives in Ontario between November 1994 and March 1995.