A prospective phase I comparison of toxicity and cosmesis outcomes of single-fraction IORT and hypofractionated radiotherapy with IORT boost in early-stage breast cancer.

Purpose: Radiation therapy is proven to reduce local recurrence in patients with early-stage breast cancer. To reduce toxicity, treatment time, and improve accuracy, intraoperative radiation therapy was used as definitive treatment or as a boost. The study's objective was to compare the short-term toxicity and cosmesis of single-fraction (SF) IORT and hypofractionated radiotherapy with IORT boost (HfB) given as definitive treatment.

Importance of hospital entry: walk-in STEMI and primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Introduction: Patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) require rapid identification and triage to initiate reperfusion therapy. Walk-in STEMI patients have longer treatment times compared to emergency medical service (EMS) transported patients. While effective triage of large numbers of critically ill patients in the emergency department is often cited as the reason for treatment delays, additional factors have not been explored.

Time of day variation in door-to-balloon time for STEMI patients in Los Angeles County: does time of day make a difference?

Objective: Evaluate treatment times and clinical outcome in a consecutive series of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in Los Angeles County.

Background: Primary PCI for STEMI is beneficial if performed in a timely manner. Conflicting data exist regarding potential treatment delays for primary PCI performed during off hours.

A medical staff peer review system in a public teaching hospital--an internal quality improvement tool.

Peer review of the quality of care of the medical staff in a healthcare delivery system, properly executed and utilized, can bring about changes that improve the quality and safety of patient care, enhance clinical performance, and augment physician education. Although all healthcare facilities are mandated to conduct peer reviews, the process of how it is conducted, reported, and utilized varies widely. In 2007, our institution, a large public teaching acute care facility, developed and implemented an electronic Medical Staff Peer Review System (MS-PRS) that replaced the existing paper-based system and created a centralized database for all peer review activities.