Impact of prophylactic amiodarone on length of hospital stay, stroke, and atrial fibrillation after cardiothoracic surgery.

Study Objective: To evaluate the effect of prophylactic amiodarone on length of stay (LOS), postoperative stroke, and postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut.

Impact of prophylactic postoperative beta-blockade on post-cardiothoracic surgery length of stay and atrial fibrillation.

Background: Previous studies have shown that post-cardiothoracic surgery atrial fibrillation (AF) increases the risk of hospital length of stay (LOS), overall mortality, pulmonary edema, and need for a balloon pump. A meta-analysis of 2 previous trials showed a nonsignificant reduction in LOS with postoperative beta-blockers but only encompassed 1200 patients, with few valve surgery patients, and neither study used a hospital within the US.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of postoperative beta-blockers on LOS and AF.

Alendronate-induced auditory hallucinations and visual disturbances.

A 79-year-old Caucasian woman who had been taking alendronate 10 mg/day for over 2 years to prevent osteoporosis reported hearing "voices in her head" along with red-colored visual disturbances. These auditory hallucinations and visual disturbances began shortly after her regimen was changed from alendronate 10 mg/day to 70 mg once/week. Assessment of causality using the Naranjo and Jones algorithms revealed a "probable" and "highly probable" relationship, respectively, between this adverse drug event and the switch from daily to weekly alendronate therapy.