Should We Perform Early Cataract Surgery? A Patient Reported Outcome Study.

Purpose: Current guidance states that access to cataract surgery should not be restricted by visual acuity (VA); nevertheless, 6/12 is used as a cut-off criterion in some health institutions. This study aims to determine the benefits of performing cataract surgery in patients with VA of 6/9 or better in both eyes; determine whether these benefits change over time; and compare the benefit observed between early first eye and second eye surgery.

Patients And Methods: Fifty adults with VA at least 6/9 in the worst eye and no ocular comorbidity were recruited.

A Subgroup of Patients With Hospital-acquired Pneumonia Do Not Require Broad-spectrum Gram-negative Antimicrobial Coverage.

Among 200 patients developing hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) outside the intensive care unit, 61% were treated empirically without broad-spectrum Gram-negative coverage, with clinical cure in 69.7%. Lower disease severity markers (systemic inflammatory response syndrome, hypoxia, tachypnoea, neutrophilia) and the absence of diabetes mellitus and prior doxycycline treatment (but not the time to HAP onset) identified patients not requiring broad-spectrum Gram-negative coverage.