Real-world use of procalcitonin and other biomarkers among sepsis hospitalizations in the United States: A retrospective, observational study.

Background: Sepsis management guidelines endorse use of biomarkers to support clinical assessment and treatment decisions in septic patients. The impact of biomarkers on improving patient outcomes remains uncertain.

Methods: Retrospective observational study of adult sepsis discharges between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2015, from Premier Healthcare Database hospitals.

Multicenter evaluation of noninvasive cardiac output measurement by bioreactance technique.

Objectives: Bioreactance, the analysis of intrabeat variations in phase of a transthoracic voltage in response to an applied high frequency transthoracic current, was recently introduced for noninvasive cardiac output measurement (NICOM). We evaluated NICOM compared to thermo- dilution (TD) in several clinical settings.

Methods: 111 patients with a clinical indication for TD cardiac output (CO) measurement were recruited at five centers, including patients in cardiac catheterization laboratories, cardiac care units and intensive care units.

Pectus excavatum with inspiratory inferior vena cava compression: a new presentation of pulsus paradoxus.

A 29-year-old man with pectus excavatum presented with exercise intolerance, pulsus paradoxus, and paradoxically split S2. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed the heart shifted leftward and a pectus severity index of 7.18.