Pediatric devices and adverse events from A to Z: understanding the benefits and risks from a US FDA perspective.

Medical devices are often overlooked as a contributor to adverse events. In clinical practice, physicians are aware of the potential for adverse effects from drug products, which are routinely included in differential diagnoses of patients' presenting complaints. However, physicians may not always consider that the use, misuse or malfunction of a medical device, and/or its components, may result in a patient's presenting signs and symptoms or lack of improvement.

Impact of clinical symptoms on interpretation of diagnostic assays for Clostridium difficile infections.

Asymptomatic Clostridium difficile colonization is common in hospitalized patients. Existing C. difficile assay comparisons lack data on severity of diarrhea or patient outcomes, limiting the ability to interpret their results in regard to the diagnosis of C.