Semi-quantitative and qualitative assessment of breast ultrasound elastography in differentiating between malignant and benign lesions.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of qualitative and semi-quantitative assessment of ultrasound elastography in differentiating between benign and malignant breast lesions. This prospective study was conducted in two tertiary medical centers. Consecutive B-mode ultrasound and real-time elastographic images were obtained for 67 malignant and 101 benign breast lesions in 168 women.

Pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 pneumonia: CURB-65 score for predicting severity and nasopharyngeal sampling for diagnosis are unreliable.

Background: From the first case reports of pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 it was clear that a significant proportion of infected individuals suffered a primary viral pneumonia. The objective of this study was twofold; to assess the utility of the CURB-65 community acquired pneumonia (CAP) severity index in predicting pneumonia severity and ICU admission, and to assess the relative sensitivity of nasopharyngeal versus lower respiratory tract sampling for the detection of pandemic influenza (H1N1) CAP.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 70 patients hospitalised for pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 in an adult tertiary referral hospital.