Safety issues with an inter-hospital transport of a patient with a Berlin Heart Excor biventircular assist device.

Background: Interhospital transfers of pediatric patients on the Berlin Heart Excor have been published on an occasional basis.

Methods: Nowadays medicine evolves away from just feasibility towards quality and safety issues. Management tools like risk analysis have found their way into clinical practice.

Nasal nalbuphine analgesia in prehospital trauma managed by first-responder personnel on ski slopes in Switzerland: an observational cohort study.

Background: Pain is one of the major symptoms complained about by patients in the prehospital setting, especially in the case of trauma. When there is mountainous topography, as in Switzerland, there may be a time delay between injury and arrival of professional rescuers, in particular on ski slopes. Administration of a safe opioid by first responders may improve overall treatment.

Factors that trigger emergency physicians to contact a poison centre: findings from a Swiss study.

Objective: Poison centres offer rapid and comprehensive support for emergency physicians managing poisoned patients. This study investigates institutional, case-specific and poisoning-specific factors which influence the decision of emergency physicians to contact a poison centre.

Methods: Retrospective, consecutive review of all poisoning-related admissions to the emergency departments (EDs) of a primary care hospital and a university hospital-based tertiary referral centre during 2007.

Impact of social characteristics on the treatment of patients with ischaemic events and patent foramen ovale.

Objective: Percutaneous closure of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a technically simple and safe procedure. PFO is a common finding present in up to one third of the population. Although several conditions such as stroke, migraine, and sleep apnoea have been associated with a PFO, as underlined by observational studies, no causal relationship has been documented so far.