Epidemiology of adverse events in air medical transport.

Objectives: This observational study determined frequency and describes all-cause adverse event epidemiology in a large air medical transport system.

Methods: Records of a mandatory reporting system were reviewed and a data set containing all of the patient care records was searched to identify aviation- and non-aviation-related adverse events. Two reviewers independently identified adverse events and categorized them using an established taxonomy.

Technical report: analysis of citrated blood with thromboelastography: comparison with fresh blood samples.

Purpose: Thromboelastography (TEG) evaluates the visco-elastic properties of whole blood to assess clot formation and hemostasis. When blood cannot be analyzed immediately, it is stored in citrated tubes to be analyzed after recalcification. In this study, we evaluated the results of TEG analysis performed on citrated blood and compared these results to values obtained from activated (kaolin and tissue factor) and non activated, fresh blood samples, obtained at various time intervals (one, two, and three hours).

Health-related quality of life: changes in children undergoing chemotherapy.

Background: Information regarding changes in the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of children during chemotherapy is scarce. Furthermore, there exists a general lack of consensus as to which measures are best suited to assess changes in HRQL in this population. The purpose of this study is to compare the responsiveness of 3 pediatric HRQL measures: the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), the Child's Health Questionnaire (CHQ), and the Health Utilities Index (HUI).