How Giving Birth Makes Sense: A Questionnaire Study on Existential Meaning-Making Among Mothers Giving Birth Preterm or at Term.

Background: Women's reflections on existential meaning-making in relation to giving birth may seem indistinct in maternity services and have not been thoroughly explored in secular contexts. However, research suggests that childbirth accentuates spiritual and existential considerations and needs even in secular contexts highlighting the importance of care for such needs in maternity care practices. The objectives of this study were two-fold: Firstly, to explore how first-time mothers, living in a secular context, experience their first birth in relation to existential meaning-making.

Oesophageal Obstruction from a Pharmacobezoar Resulting in Death.

Formation of an intestinal pharmacobezoar is a rare condition. It may form after intake of various oral pharmaceutical preparations of drugs, both as a result of an acute overdose and through chronic use of therapeutic doses of a drug. We report a case with a patient presenting with an oesophageal pharmacobezoar and complete obstruction of the oesophagus and severe toxic symptoms and death related to oral ingestion of multiple drugs.

Point-of-care procalcitonin test to reduce antibiotic exposure in patients hospitalized with acute exacerbation of COPD.

Background: This study was conducted to investigate whether point-of-care (POC) procalcitonin (PCT) measurement can reduce redundant antibiotic treatment in patients hospitalized with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD).

Methods: One-hundred and twenty adult patients admitted with AECOPD were enrolled in this open-label randomized trial. Patients were allocated to either the POC PCT-guided intervention arm (n=62) or the control arm, in which antibiotic therapy followed local guidelines (n=58).

Preadmission quality of life can predict mortality in intensive care unit--a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: We sought to investigate whether preadmission quality of life could act as a predictor of mortality among patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

Materials And Methods: This is a prospective observational study of all patients above the age of 18 years admitted to the ICU with a length of stay longer than 24 hours. Short form 36 (SF-36) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) were used.

The prevalence and prognostic value of concomitant eosinophilia in chronic graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

The prognostic significance of eosinophilia after myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains to be established. Patients, whom developed chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) after ASCT, were included (n = 142). Eosinophil count was analyzed at cGVHD onset.