Comparison of procalcitonin and CrP in the postoperative course after lung decortication.

Objective: The objective of this prospective study was to compare the clinical value of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CrP) plasma concentrations in their postoperative course after decortication.

Methods: Twenty-two patients requiring surgery for pleural empyema were chosen for this prospective study. Routine blood samples including CrP and PCT plasma concentrations were taken before the operation and on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 7th postoperative day.

Local application of basic fibroblast growth factor increases the risk of local infection after trauma: an in-vitro and in-vivo study in rats.

Introduction: Local application of growth factors to stimulate wound and fracture healing is attracting increasing interest. We studied the effect of local application of a potent angiogenic growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), on resistance to local infection after soft tissue trauma.

Methods: For in-vitro and in-vivo experiments, we used recombinant human bFGF.

Prevalence and associated factors of viral hepatitis and transferrin elevations in 5036 patients admitted to the emergency room of a Swiss university hospital: cross-sectional study.

Background: The epidemiology of liver disease in patients admitted to emergency rooms is largely unknown. The current study aimed to measure the prevalence of viral hepatitis B and C infection and pathological laboratory values of liver disease in such a population, and to study factors associated with these measurements.

Methods: Cross-sectional study in patients admitted to the emergency room of a university hospital.

Multicentre evaluation of a new point-of-care test for the determination of NT-proBNP in whole blood.

Background: The Roche CARDIAC proBNP point-of-care (POC) test is the first test intended for the quantitative determination of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in whole blood as an aid in the diagnosis of suspected congestive heart failure, in the monitoring of patients with compensated left-ventricular dysfunction and in the risk stratification of patients with acute coronary syndromes.

Methods: A multicentre evaluation was carried out to assess the analytical performance of the POC NT-proBNP test at seven different sites.

Results: The majority of all coefficients of variation (CVs) obtained for within-series imprecision using native blood samples was below 10% for both 52 samples measured ten times and for 674 samples measured in duplicate.