Purpose: Critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are frequently prescribed antibiotics, with many reporting an antibiotic allergy label, predominantly to penicillin. Mislabeling contributes to suboptimal antibiotic use, increasing multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium difficile infections, and increased hospital length of stay. This prospective study implemented an antibiotic allergy assessment and testing program in the ICU, independently of clinical immunology/allergy services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe the case of a young male, with no significant medical history, who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with severe respiratory compromise. He suffered a respiratory arrest shortly after presentation. An initial chest x-ray performed post intubation revealed bilateral pneumothoraces with evidence of abnormal underlying lungs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe 2019 SARS-CoV2 virus presented a capacity demand scenario for Yale New Haven Hospital. The response was created with a focus on clinical needs, but was also driven by the unique characteristics of the buildings within our institution. These physical characteristics were considered in the response as a safety measure as little was known about the transmissibility risk in the acute hospital setting of SARS-CoV2 at the time of response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe 2017-2018 influenza season was associated with high demand for both emergency department (ED) care and inpatient acute care for influenza-like illness (ILI). This high demand resulted in increased numbers of inpatients and ED patients, including prolonged ED length of stay. A large, urban, academic medical center in a cold-weather region was limited in its ability to expand its footprint to create de novo locations of care, such as temporary outbuildings or tents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 45-year-old lady presented acutely with pleuritic chest pain, haemoptysis, and dyspnoea. Her background was significant for a 1.4 cm renal angiomyolipoma, and she was an ex-smoker without any relevant family history.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Opioids are commonly used to treat pain in hospitalized patients; however, intravenous administration carries an increased risk of adverse effects compared with oral administration. The subcutaneous route is an effective method of opioid delivery with favorable pharmacokinetics.
Objective: To assess an intervention to reduce intravenous opioid use, total parenteral opioid exposure, and the rate of patients administered parenteral opioids.
Cytologic analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid is used for lung cancer diagnosis. We describe a patient with a history of rectal carcinoma who presented with a new lung mass. BAL was performed, with positron emission tomography-computed tomography the following day.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To compare the incidence of respiratory artifact in computed tomography (CT) coronary angiography performed with 64-row and 320-row multidetector scanners and to assess its effect on coronary evaluability.
Methods: A retrospective review of consecutive coronary angiograms performed on a 64-row multidetector CT from March to April 2007 (group 1: 115 patients, 63 men; mean age [standard deviation] 59.6 +/- 12.
Noninvasive imaging is an important screening and diagnostic tool in conditions associated with sudden cardiac death. The most common cause of sudden cardiac death is coronary artery disease, with myocarditis, cardiac sarcoidosis, and dilated and infiltrative cardiomyopathies being less common acquired causes. Common risk factors for sudden cardiac death, regardless of the disease process, include severe ventricular dysfunction and the presence of macroscopic scar seen at delayed contrast material-enhanced imaging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiac MRI (CMR) and electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) are increasingly important tools in the identification and assessment of cardiac-related disease processes, including those associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD). While the commonest cause of SCD is coronary artery disease (CAD), in patients under 35 years inheritable cardiomyopathies such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy are important aetiologies. CMR in particular offers both accurate delineation of the morphological abnormalities associated with these and other conditions and the possibility for risk stratification for development of ventricular arrhythmias with demonstration of macroscopic scar by delayed enhancement imaging with intravenous gadolinium.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To describe the occurrence of renal cortical lesions (RCLs) in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP).
Methods: This retrospective study was approved by our research ethics board; informed consent was waived. Systematic search of CT scan reports in 5-year interval yielded 17 patients with AIP (male:female; 11:6, age 18-80 years).
Objective: The purpose of this study was to review the imaging features of sclerosed hemangioma.
Conclusion: In our series, suggestive features of sclerosed hemangiomas include geographic outline, capsular retraction, decrease in size over time, and loss of previously seen regions of enhancement. Additional features include presence of transient hepatic attenuation difference (THAD), rim enhancement, and nodular regions of intense enhancement as seen in typical hemangiomas.
Objective: To determine whether unenhanced images are of added benefit to dual-phase computed tomography (CT) for detection of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) 3 cm or less.
Methods: Thirty-six patients with cirrhosis underwent unenhanced, arterial and portal venous phase CT, 17 with pathologically proven HCCs 3 cm or less and 19 without HCC. Two radiologists reviewed dual-phase images with and without unenhanced images.
The bovine-porcine species barrier to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infection was explored by generating transgenic mouse lines expressing the porcine prion protein (PrP) gene. All of the porcine transgenic (poTg) mice showed clinical signs of BSE after intracerebral inoculation with a high-titer BSE inoculum. The protease-resistant PrP (PrP(res)) was detected in 14% (3 of 22) of the BSE-infected poTg mice by immunohistochemical or immunoblot analysis.
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