Day Case Local Anaesthetic Thoracoscopy: Experience from 2 District General Hospitals in the United Kingdom.

Background: Local anaesthetic thoracoscopy (LAT) can be a vital procedure for diagnosis of unexplained pleural effusions. Traditionally, poudrage for pleurodesis and insertion of a large bore drain necessitated admission. There has been a shift towards performing LAT as a day case procedure with indwelling pleural catheter (IPC) insertion.

Improving care for patients in the outlying wards: Lessons from patients' care experience.

Importance: Overcrowding in hospitals and lack of capacity in general medical wards can result in a medical patient being transferred to other specialty wards often referred as 'outlying' or 'boarding' wards.

Objectives: We explored the experiences of our outlying patients to identify local factors that affect their care experience and inform interventions that could improve their care deliveries and outcomes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Qualitative interviews using semi-structured questions were conducted in 21 medical patients from a mixture of specialty wards in a large tertiary NHS hospital.

18F-fluoride positron emission tomography for identification of ruptured and high-risk coronary atherosclerotic plaques: a prospective clinical trial.

Background: The use of non-invasive imaging to identify ruptured or high-risk coronary atherosclerotic plaques would represent a major clinical advance for prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease. We used combined PET and CT to identify ruptured and high-risk atherosclerotic plaques using the radioactive tracers (18)F-sodium fluoride ((18)F-NaF) and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG).

Methods: In this prospective clinical trial, patients with myocardial infarction (n=40) and stable angina (n=40) underwent (18)F-NaF and (18)F-FDG PET-CT, and invasive coronary angiography.

Florida submergence curve revised: its relation to coastal sedimentation rates.

New data substantiate as well as modify the south Florida submergence curve, which indicates that eustatic sea level has risen continuously, although at a generally decreasing rate, during the last 6500 to 7000 sidereal years (5500 standard radiocarbon years) to reach its present position. Accumulation rates of coastal deposits are similar to the rate of sea-level rise, thus supporting the generalization that submergence rates largely determine as well as limit rates of coastal sedimentation in lagoonal and estuarine areas.