Medical students as health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: We describe efforts at one tertiary university teaching hospital to rapidly recruit, train and deploy medical students into paid clinical support worker roles during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Recruitment was conducted by means of a single email outlining the emergent clinical situation and specifying role descriptions, terms and conditions, and temporary staff enrolment paperwork. Applicants could begin work provided they were in good standing and received departmental orientation.

A structured tool for delivering feedback on medical student clinical clerkings.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The initial history and examination is a fundamental aspect of clinical practice.

No such thing as a free lunch?

Background: High-quality, out-of-classroom interactions between students and teachers help to develop communities of learning. In medicine, they contribute to the professionalisation of students.

Methods: We designed a novel student-faculty member lunch scheme for first-year medical students at our institution.

Tools for detection of Mycoplasma amphoriforme: a primary respiratory pathogen?

Mycoplasma amphoriforme is a recently described organism isolated from the respiratory tracts of patients with immunodeficiency and evidence of chronic infection. Novel assays for the molecular detection of the organism by real-time quantitative PCRs (qPCRs) targeting the uracil DNA glycosylase gene (udg) or the 23S rRNA gene are described here. The analytical sensitivities are similar to the existing conventional M.

It's all in the mind! Or is it? Positive acupuncture responses in patients with dementia: a series of case reports.

Controversy continues over whether or not there is any real effect from acupuncture over and above that of placebo. However, this series of case studies may provide us with evidence from an unlikely source. Anticipation of clinical benefit is a major element of placebo, and clearly cognition is needed to experience this.

Nature and outcomes of the increased incidence of colorectal malignancy after liver transplantation in Australasia.

Objectives: To examine whether incidence of colorectal malignancy is increased in Australasian liver transplant recipients compared with the general population of Australia, and to assess the characteristics and outcomes of colorectal malignancy in this patient group.

Design, Setting And Patients: Data on patients who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx) and had a diagnosis of de-novo colorectal malignancy after transplantation during the period 1985-2011 were obtained from the Australia and New Zealand Liver Transplant Registry, and these data were compared with colorectal malignancy data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Main Outcome Measures: Time from OLTx to diagnosis of colorectal malignancy, stage of colorectal malignancy at diagnosis, patient survival, and standardised incidence ratio (SIR) for colorectal malignancy.

A randomized crossover study to determine the effect of a 30° head-up versus a supine position on the functional residual capacity of term parturients.

Background: Airway management continues to pose challenges to the obstetric anesthesiologist. Functional residual capacity (FRC), which acts as an oxygen reservoir, is reduced from the second trimester onwards and is exacerbated in the supine position. Mechanisms to increase FRC may delay the onset of hypoxemia during periods of apnea.

Increasing liver transplantation waiting list mortality: a report from the Australian National Liver Transplantation Unit, Sydney.

Background: We aimed to describe the demand for liver transplantation (LTx) and patient outcomes on the waiting list at the Australian National Liver Transplantation Unit, Sydney over the last 20 years.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis with the data divided into three eras: 1985-1993, 1994-2000 and 2001-2008.

Results: The number of patients accepted for LTx increased from 320 to 372 and 548 (P < 0.

Minimal but significant improvement in survival for non-hepatitis C-related adult liver transplant patients beyond the one-year posttransplant mark.

Although 1-year survival rates following liver transplantation over the last 20 years may have improved, there is doubt about improvement in long-term survival. We examined survival with and without initial 12-month mortality in adult liver transplant recipients over a 20-year period. Patient and allograft survival for 3 different time periods was compared: 1986-1994 (group 1, n = 547), 1995-2000 (group 2, n = 735), and 2000-2005 (group 3, n = 749).

Guidelines for the management of hospital-acquired pneumonia in the UK: report of the working party on hospital-acquired pneumonia of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

These evidence-based guidelines have been produced after a systematic literature review of a range of issues involving prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP). Prevention is structured into sections addressing general issues, equipment, patient procedures and the environment, whereas in treatment, the structure addresses the use of antimicrobials in prevention and treatment, adjunctive therapies and the application of clinical protocols. The sections dealing with diagnosis are presented against the clinical, radiological and microbiological diagnosis of HAP.

Arterial vascular conduits in adult orthotopic liver transplant recipients.

Background: Vascular conduits may be required to gain arterial inflow to the donor hepatic artery in orthotopic liver transplantation.

Methods: From January 1986 to December 2003, arterial conduits were required in 31/582 (5.3%) adult liver transplant procedures.

The effect of inhaled tiotropium bromide on lung mucociliary clearance in patients with COPD.

Study Objective: To assess the effects of tiotropium on lung mucociliary clearance in COPD.

Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study.

Setting: Outpatients of an urban-area university teaching hospital.

Effect of aromatics on lung mucociliary clearance in patients with chronic airways obstruction.

Background: Complementary and alternative medicine have become an increasingly topical theme in respiratory medicine. Aromatics are a commonly used ingredient in a number of proprietary medicines. It is well established that lung mucus clearance is impaired in patients with chronic airways obstruction.

Inferior liver allograft survival from cadaveric donors >50 years of age?

The growing imbalance between the number of cadaveric organ donors and recipients has led to an increasing use of high-risk donors as an option to expand the donor pool. The aim of this study was to evaluate our experience with the use of older liver (donor>50 yr of age) allografts. The medical records, postreperfusion biopsies and laboratory results were reviewed of the 393 patients who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation between 1986 and 1997.

Pancreatitis in adult orthotopic liver allograft recipients: risk factors and outcome.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) has been described after orthotopic liver transplantation but is uncommon in stable patients after the initial perioperative phase. The aim of this study is to review our experience with AP occurring more than 2 months after primary allografting and determine possible contributing factors plus patient outcome. A review of patient files and the unit database was performed.

Mortality and rebleeding following Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Stent Shunt for variceal haemorrhage.

The present study investigates clinical factors associated with decreased survival following Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Stent Shunt (TIPSS). Sixty-seven patients underwent TIPSS for bleeding related to portal hypertension, 42 (63%) on an urgent basis. TIPSS was successfully placed in 65 (97%) patients with no fatal procedural complications.

Thalidomide reduces tumour necrosis factor-alpha production by human alveolar macrophages.

Overexuberant production of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) by macrophages and other cells is thought to contribute to the development of permanent lung damage in many inflammatory conditions. There is a need for an agent, without the side-effects of corticosteroids, which can reduce the production of TNF-alpha by macrophages activated by disease. This study evaluated the effect of thalidomide on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNF-alpha production by human alveolar macrophages obtained from patients with tuberculosis and a group of other diseases associated with macrophage activation.

Hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal function in end-stage non-alcoholic liver disease.

Patients with end-stage liver disease have significant mortality often associated with intercurrent episodes of bleeding or sepsis. Intact adrenal function is essential in such situations. In order to test the hypothesis that adrenal insufficiency might be present in severe liver disease, hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal function was evaluated in patients with end-stage liver disease awaiting transplantation.