Impact of voxel size and scan time on the accuracy of three-dimensional radiological imaging data from cone-beam computed tomography.

Purpose: Three-dimensional (3D) radiological imaging plays an important role in surgical planning used in modern dentistry. The aim of this study was to optimize imaging parameters with a special focus on voxel size and scan time.

Material And Methods: A virtual 3D master model of a macerated human skull was generated using an industrial optical noncontact white light scanner.

Does formalin fixation influence MSCT/CBCT accuracy?

Purpose: Advanced imaging modalities, such as multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), greatly facilitate diagnostic medicine. In radiological research, it is important to know how accurately a scanned object is visualized, and whether the methodology leads to image distortion. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether formalin fixation impacted the accuracy of virtual 3D bone models generated via CBCT and MSCT using a software-based evaluation method that excluded human measurement errors.

PIRATE project: point-of-care, informatics-based randomised controlled trial for decreasing overuse of antibiotic therapy in Gram-negative bacteraemia.

Introduction: Antibiotic overuse drives antibiotic resistance. The optimal duration of antibiotic therapy for Gram-negative bacteraemia (GNB), a common community and hospital-associated infection, remains unknown and unstudied via randomised controlled trials (RCTs).

Methods And Analysis: This investigator-initiated, multicentre, non-inferiority, informatics-based point-of-care RCT will randomly assign adult hospitalised patients receiving microbiologically efficacious antibiotic(s) for GNB to (1) 14 days of antibiotic therapy, (2) 7 days of therapy or (3) an individualised duration determined by clinical response and 75% reduction in peak C reactive protein (CRP) values.

Are antibiotic-resistant pathogens more common in subsequent episodes of diabetic foot infection?

Background: After antibiotic therapy of an initial diabetic foot infection (DFI), pathogens isolated from subsequent episodes might become more resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics. If so, this might require a modification of the current recommendations for the selection of empiric antibiotic therapy. This study investigated whether the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) DFI guideline recommendations should be modified based on the number of past DFI episodes.