Reprocessing and reuse of single-use medical devices: a national survey of Canadian acute-care hospitals.

A national survey investigated the current practices of reprocessing and reusing single-use medical devices in Canadian acute-care hospitals. Our response rate was 72% (413 responses), and 28% of hospitals reprocess single-use devices. The results showed that Canadian hospital practices have not changed much in the past decade.

Priority setting for health technology assessments: a systematic review of current practical approaches.

Objectives: This study sought to identify and compare various practical and current approaches of health technology assessment (HTA) priority setting.

Methods: A literature search was performed across PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS, and Cochrane. Given an earlier review conducted by European agencies (EUR-ASSESS project), the search was limited to literature indexed from 1996 onward.

Clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of newborn screening for medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency using tandem mass spectrometry.

Objective: To determine the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of newborn screening for MCADD using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) compared with clinical diagnosis within the Canadian context.

Design And Methods: A systematic review of the clinical and economic literature was performed. For primary economic analysis, a decision-tree model was built based on the available information, the impact of newborn screening on the health care and the relevant Canadian data.

Scleral support surgery for pathologic myopia.

Pathologic myopia is the seventh leading cause of blindness in the US and two percent of Americans have the disease; Canadian statistics are not available. Pathologic myopia involves elongation of the eyeball and scleral support surgery aims to control the progression of this elongation. The most commonly used technique involves placing a strip of sclera from a donor eye around the eyeball to prevent further stretching.