Evidence-Based Approach of Biologic Therapy in Bronchial Asthma.

The emergence of biologic agents in the treatment of bronchial asthma has a wide impact on improving quality of life, reducing morbidity, and overall health care utilization. These therapies usually work by targeting specific inflammatory pathways involving type 2 inflammation and are particularly effective in severe eosinophilic asthma. Various randomized controlled trials have shown their effectiveness by reducing exacerbation rates and decreasing required glucocorticoid dosages.

Early management of acute myocardial ischemic events. Recommendations. Quality of Patient Care Committee, Florida Chapter, American College of Cardiology.

A Consensus Development Conference conducted by the Quality of Patient Care Committee, Florida Chapter, American College of Cardiology, for the Early Management of Acute Myocardial Ischemic Events in Florida was held August 26-28, 1994, at St. Joseph's Heart Institute, Tampa. Twenty recommendations were proposed to improve the management of patients with these conditions and to reduce mortality and long-term morbidity from coronary heart disease.

Action by physicians and other health-care professionals in hospital emergency departments.

Advances in the management of acute myocardial infarction can significantly improve outcome, primarily through highly time-dependent coronary reperfusion and successfully resolving early complications. Effectiveness of treatment is now more limited by delays in reperfusion and number of patients who receive coronary reperfusion than available therapy. Specific methods of decreasing the time to reperfusion and increasing the number of patients treated must be broadly applied to further reduce morbidity and mortality.

Increased sensitivity for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in human DNA samples by dissociation-enhanced lanthanide fluoroimmunoassay (DELFIA).

A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the most frequently used immunoassay for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in human tissues, has been modified to achieve approximately a 6-fold increase in sensitivity. The new assay, a competitive dissociation-enhanced lanthanide fluoroimmunoassay (DELFIA) has utilized the same rabbit antiserum as the ELISA, antiserum elicited against DNA modified with benzo[a]pyrene. However, the alkaline phosphatase conjugate has been replaced with a biotin-europium-labeled streptavidin signal amplification system, and the release of europium into the solution forms a highly fluorescent chelate complex that is measured by time-resolved fluorometry.