Direct current cardioversion in pregnancy: a multicentre study.

Objective: Direct current cardioversion (DCCV) in pregnancy is rarely required and typically only documented in single case reports or case series. A recent UK confidential enquiry reported on several maternal deaths where appropriate DCCV appeared to have been withheld.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Prescribing for pregnancy: chronic skin diseases.

Chronic skin disease is common in women of reproductive age. Although skin can improve or remain stable during pregnancy, it is also common for existing conditions to flare and for new conditions to develop. A small number of medications used to control chronic skin disease can potentially have adverse effects on the outcome of the pregnancy.

Evident stabilization of the clinical profile in HIV/AIDS as evaluated in an open label clinical trial using a polyherbal formulation.

Background & Objectives: The complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) have not been systematically evaluated for the management of HIV/AIDS patients. In a prospective, single-site, open-label, non-randomized, controlled, pilot trial, we evaluated a polyherbal formulation (PHF) for its safety and efficacy in treating subjects with HIV-AIDS.

Methods: A total of 32 and 31 subjects were enrolled under the PHF and highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) arms, respectively, and followed up for a period of 24 months.