Midline venous catheters as an alternative to central line catheter placement: a product evaluation.

Midline catheters have emerged as a successful alternative to peripheral venous catheters (PVCs) and central venous catheters (CVCs) in select patients. Midline catheters allow for greater duration of access when compared with PVCs and avoid the critical complications associated with CVCs. This article describes the implementation of the Powerwand midline at a large paediatric tertiary care facility in acute and intensive care settings, and presents illustrative cases of the catheter in use.

Material-specific memory in traumatic brain injury: differential effects during acquisition, recall, and retention.

Material-specific memory refers to the ability to learn and recall new episodic information on the basis of the nature of the stimulus material (e.g., verbal vs.

Reliability and validity of the Wisconsin HSS Quality Of Life inventory in traumatic brain injury.

The present investigation examined the psychometric properties of the Wisconsin HSS Quality of Life Inventory (WI HSS QOL) when used in the study of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The WI HSS QOL is a theoretically based measure that assesses QOL via level of need satisfaction as conceptualized in Maslow's theory of human needs. Both internal consistency and test-retest reliability were demonstrated in a group of individuals with moderate to severe TBI.

A longitudinal investigation of the concordance between individuals with traumatic brain injury and family or friend ratings on the Katz adjustment scale.

Changes in the level of agreement (concordance) between self and family or friend reporting on the Katz Adjustment Scale (KAS) from 6 to 12 months postinjury were assessed in 55 individuals with traumatic brain injury (IwTBI). Although the concordance between self and family/friend reports significantly increased over the course of recovery, possibly reflecting improvements in awareness, the concordance showed limited relationship to measures of injury severity and neuropsychological functioning. Concordance did not significantly relate to clinicians' ratings of inaccurate insight and self-appraisal on the awareness item from the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale (NBRS).

Serum markers of oxidative stress and severity of diabetic retinopathy.

Objective: To compare serum markers of oxidative stress with diabetic retinopathy severity

Research Design And Methods: This cross-sectional study compared patients with types 1 and 2 diabetes with control subjects in western New York and Pennsylvania. Retinopathy severity was graded from funduscopic fields based on the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study. Serum samples were analyzed for thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances (TBARS), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities, creatinine, HbA1, and triglycerides.