Fetal monitoring with computerized ST analysis during labor: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Computerized ST analysis of fetal electrocardiography (ECG) combined with cardiotochography (CTG) has been introduced for intrapartum monitoring and is the prevailing method when ST analysis (STAN®) is used.

Objective: To assess the evidence that computerized ST analysis during labor reduces the incidence of fetal metabolic acidosis, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, cesarean section, instrumental vaginal delivery or the number of instances where fetal scalp blood sampling is used as compared with CTG only.

Methods: Search of PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL and CRD databases.

Similar survival 15 years after coronary artery surgery irrespective of left main stem stenosis.

Objectives: To evaluate 15-year survival after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in relation to grade left main stenosis (LMS) and right coronary artery (RCA) obstruction.

Design: Coronary angiographic findings were prospectively collected in 977 patients who had CABG for stable angina during 1994-1995 and were included in the Swedish Coronary Revascularization - Swedish Council of Technology Assessment study.

Results: Significant LMS was present in one fifth of the patients and significant RCA obstruction was found in 61% of those with LMS and in 68% of patients without LMS.

Induction of labor versus expectant management for post-date pregnancy: is there sufficient evidence for a change in clinical practice?

Objectives: To compare perinatal and maternal outcomes between elective induction of labor versus expectant management of pregnancies at 41 weeks and beyond.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: We searched PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) and PsycINFO (1980 to November, 2007).

Quality of life in patients with chronic type B aortic dissection.

Objective: To study functioning and well-being among patients with conservatively treated acute type B aortic dissection.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Methods: Patients referred with acute type B dissection between January 1990 and November 2000 were prospectively followed after conservative initial management.

A prospective survey of radiotherapy practice 2001 in Sweden.

A prospective survey of radiotherapy practice in Sweden was conducted during 12 weeks in the autumn of 2001. All hospitals that provided radiotherapy participated, and all patients who started radiotherapy during the study period were included. The final patient sample comprised 5,105 treatments given to 4,171 patients.

The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU) systematic overview of radiotherapy for cancer including a prospective survey of radiotherapy practice in Sweden 2001--summary and conclusions.

A systematic assessment of radiotherapy for cancer was conducted by The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU) and published in 1996. The assessment reviewed the scientific literature up to 1993 on the use of radiotherapy in the treatment of solid tumours, and estimated the costs associated with radiotherapy. It also described the current practise of radiotherapy in Sweden 1992 and compared practise with scientific knowledge.

Inflammatory mediators in autotransfusion drain blood after knee arthroplasty, with and without leucocyte reduction.

Background And Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether leucocyte-reducing filters influenced complement activation and the formation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in autotransfusion drain blood after knee arthroplasty.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-three patients undergoing knee arthroplasty were divided into two groups. All patients were given salvage blood postoperatively.

Medium-term survival and quality of life of Swedish octogenarians after open-heart surgery.

Objective: Operative mortality after open-heart interventions in the octogenarian population is relatively well known. Less has been reported on the medium term survival and quality of life of this growing subgroup of patients.

Methods: One hundred and eighty-three consecutive patients aged between 80 and 84 years when they underwent open-heart surgery between January 1995 and June 2000 were retrospectively analysed.

Mechanisms behind operating room blood transfusions in coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients with insignificant bleeding.

Objective: To investigate situations in cardiac surgery when transfusions are sometimes used for indications other than to compensate for surgical bleeding.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Cardiac surgery unit at a university teaching hospital.

Five-year mortality for stable angina in a medical practice study and a randomized trial.

Objective: Evolution of revascularization and medical therapy has increased the probability of improved survival in patients with stable angina. The present investigation tests the hypothesis that medical practice will generate lower mortality than randomly assigned bypass surgery in the European Coronary Surgery Study (ECSS) two decades earlier.

Method: Using eligibility criteria of ECSS, a clinical decision strategy (CDS) cohort of 362 patients was selected from a nationwide study of medical practice in Sweden.

Quality of life of patients with chronic stable angina before and four years after coronary revascularisation compared with a normal population.

Objective: To assess the impact of coronary revascularisation on the health related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with chronic stable angina compared with data from "community" norms four years following revascularisation.

Design: Prospective survey and review of medical records.

Setting: Seven of the eight public Swedish heart centres that performed coronary artery interventions.

Hearing impairment among adults--extent of the problem and scientific evidence on the outcome of hearing aid rehabilitation.

Scientific surveys on current and estimated prevalence of hearing impairment (HI) in adult populations (> or = 18 years of age) in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and scientific reports on the outcome of hearing aid (HA) rehabilitation worldwide were reviewed. Only a few of the studies meet strict scientific criteria, and many locally clinically relevant studies cannot be generalized to larger populations. Population-based studies indicate an increase in prevalence of HI with age, but because of differences in study populations and available national population statistics, the studies do not allow reliable comparisons between countries or estimation of future prevalence of HI.

A prospective study of the use of chemotherapy in Sweden and assessment of the use in relation to scientific evidence.

A prospective study on total utilisation of cytotoxic drugs for selected cancers was carried out in two Swedish health service regions, during four weeks in the autumn of 1997. The study included 1,590 patients; 1,169 with solid tumours and 421 with haematological malignancies. The majority of patients (75% to 80%) were treated at university/regional hospitals, often at oncology or haematology departments, and most received treatment as outpatients.

The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU) systematic overview of chemotherapy effects in some major tumour types--summary and conclusions.

This report by The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU) reviews, classifies, and grades the scientific literature on cancer chemotherapy in some major tumour types, describes the practice of chemotherapy in Sweden, compares practice with scientific knowledge, and analyses the costs and cost-effectiveness of chemotherapy. The report is intended primarily for decision-makers at various levels, both practitioners and administrators. It is also of interest for the medical profession.

Assessing sexual functioning in patients with chronic disorders by using a generic health-related quality of life questionnaire.

This study was an assessment of sexual functioning by making cross-sectional surveys of patients aged 45 84 years with chronic disorders; 397 had diabetes, 248 had glaucoma and 1914 had chronic, stable, angina pectoris; 1669 came from a standard population sample (SPS). Sexual functioning was assessed on one scale from the Swedish health-related quality of life survey (SWED-QUAL), adapted from the medical outcomes study (MOS). Both sexual functioning in general and specific sexual items were studied.

Functioning and well-being of patients with type 2 diabetes or angina pectoris, compared with the general population.

This study compares the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus or angina pectoris with that of a standard population sample (SPS). The HRQOL was assessed by the Swedish Health-Related Quality of Life Survey (SWED-QUAL), a generic HRQOL questionnaire adapted from the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS), with twelve scales tapping aspects of physical, mental, social and general health. Subjects between 45 and 84 years of age who answered the questionnaire were included, i.

Quality of life of chronic stable angina patients 4 years after coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of life experienced by chronic stable angina patients with one- or two-vessel coronary artery disease treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).

Design: Prospective survey and review of medical records.

Patients: Consecutive series of 601 Swedish chronic stable angina patients with one- or two-vessel disease who underwent CABG (n = 252) or PTCA (n = 349) between May 1994 and January 1995.

Quality of life in relation to comorbidity among diabetic patients followed for three years in Swedish primary health care.

The aim of this study was to follow health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in diabetic subjects over a three-year period in relation to their medical situation. Forty-eight subjects 42-81 years of age in 1992 were identified as those responding to the HRQOL questionnaire on both occasions from a larger study of 341 diabetic patients in 1992 and 413 in 1995 in Stockholm County. Age- and sex-matched controls were taken from randomly collected samples of the general Swedish population.

Comparison of diabetic and non-diabetic patients referred for coronary angiography.

Aim: To evaluate whether diabetic patients differ from non-diabetic patients when referred for coronary angiography regarding previous history, indication for and findings at coronary angiography, use of medication, exercise test results and mortality.

Methods: Data were prospectively collected on patients referred for consideration of coronary revascularization to seven of the eight public Swedish heart centers that performed approximately 92% of all bypass operations in Sweden in 1994.

Results: 2762 patients were included of whom 406 (15%) had a history of diabetes mellitus.

Appropriateness of referral of coronary angiography patients in Sweden. SECOR/SBU Project Group.

Objective: To evaluate the appropriateness of referral following coronary angiography in Sweden.

Design: Prospective survey and review of medical records.

Patients: Consecutive series of 2767 patients who underwent coronary angiography in Sweden between May 1994 and January 1995 and were considered for coronary revascularisation.

Quality of life among diabetic patients in Swedish primary health care and in the general population: comparison between 1992 and 1995.

To assess change over time in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in diabetic patients in primary health care and differences to general Swedish population samples, 341 diabetic subjects in 1992 and 413 in 1995, aged 20-84 years, were chosen from three community health centres (CHCs) in the Metropolitan Stockholm area and compared to controls matched by age and sex in randomly selected samples of 2,366 subjects in 1991 and 2,500 in 1995 from the general population. HRQoL was assessed by the Swedish Health-Related Quality of Life Survey (SWED-QUAL), adapted from the Medical Outcomes Study, which measures aspects of physical, mental, social and general health in 13 scales. Information on diabetic and general medical data were extracted from the medical records at the CHCs.