Challenges in renally eliminated medication use: Evaluating cystatin C and serum creatinine eGFR discordance.

Background: Accurately estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is crucial for dosing medications in hospitalized patients. Due to limitations of serum creatinine for GFR estimation, serum cystatin C (CysC) has been explored as an alternative functional kidney biomarker. This study assessed discordance between eGFR and eGFR in a large sample of hospitalized patients and examined the frequency of renally eliminated medications affected by eGFR discordance.

Analysis of recruitment in a pragmatic observational study on C-reactive protein point-of-care testing in primary care.

Introduction: Failure to recruit all eligible study patients can lead to biased results. Little is known on selective patient recruitment in studies on implementation of diagnostic devices.

Objectives: The aim of this observational study was to measure recruitment of patients in an implementation study in primary care on use of point-of-care (POC) C-reactive protein (CRP) and to evaluate recruitment bias and its impact on the study endpoint.

All-natural nitrite and nitrate containing dietary supplement promotes nitric oxide production and reduces triglycerides in humans.

There is an emerging paradigm that certain foods promote nitric oxide (NO) production from the stepwise reduction of nitrate to nitrite to NO, providing an endothelium independent source of bioactive NO. We hypothesize that a unique formulation containing nitrate-rich beetroot along with Hawthorn berry shown to have a robust nitrite reductase activity would improve NO status in humans and modify cardiovascular risk factors. The trial was conducted at the Houston Institute for Clinical Research in Houston, Texas.

Value of the SAGES Learning Center in introducing new technology.

Background: The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) Learning Center is a group of educational "classrooms" designed to tutor meeting attendees on specific technology-intensive content areas. The objectives of the Robotics Station were to familiarize participants with basic laparoscopic skills as implemented with surgical robotic assistance and to help them explore the benefits and drawbacks of using robotics in their institutions.

Methods: Sixty-six volunteer surgeon attendees of the 2003 SAGES meeting representing a diverse group of backgrounds and possessing varying levels of surgical experience were directed through a series of drills on two different surgical robots.