Repairing Bilateral Coronary-Pulmonary Artery Fistulas During Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Coronary-pulmonary artery fistulas (CPAFs) are rare entities that can cause significant left-to-right shunting and complicate routine coronary artery bypass grafting. There are no best practice guidelines and a scarcity of reports regarding concomitant treatment of CPAF with coronary artery disease. We present a case of bilateral CPAFs in a 60-year-old man with symptomatic coronary artery disease treated successfully with coronary artery bypass, epicardial ligation, and transpulmonary closure of CPAF with patch reconstruction.

A Fistula Where? Left Anterior Descending to Pulmonary Artery Fistula.

Fistulas are abnormal passageways between two organs or vessels that usually do not connect. Coronary artery fistulas occur when one of the coronary arteries is connected to either a heart chamber or another blood vessel. This case presents a coronary artery fistula which may or may not be impacting the patient's heart function.

The Effect of Starting a New Residency Program on the Quality of Care Measures at a Community Hospital: A 2-Year Follow-Up.

Background: Introducing graduate medical education to a non-teaching hospital has been a challenging issue due to its perceived possible negative impact on quality and cost of care.

Objective: To assess the impact of starting a new Internal Medicine (IM) residency program on the quality of care measures in a Graduate Medical Education (GME) naïve community hospital.

Methods: In a retrospective longitudinal study, we compared quality of care parameters (mortality rate, 30-day readmission rate, length of stay, case mix index and severity level) for a hospitalist group ten months before (September 2015-June 2016) and two consecutive years (July 2016-June 2018) after the implementation of an IM residency program at a community hospital.

Comparative analysis of three-dimensional volume rendering and maximum intensity projection for preoperative planning in liver cancer.

Three-dimensional imaging is a useful tool to evaluate liver structure and surrounding vessels for preoperative planning. In this study, we compared two methods of visualizing vascular maps on computed tomography including maximum intensity projection (MIP) and 3D volume rendered (VR) imaging. We compiled important imaging components of pre-surgical planning, and developed criteria for comparison.

Chemotherapy-related complications in the kidneys and collecting system: an imaging perspective.

Unlabelled: Nephrotoxicity is a common adverse effect of many chemotherapeutic agents. The agents most commonly associated with chemotherapy-associated nephrotoxicity are methotrexate, semustine, streptozocin, mithramycin, and cisplatin. Certain chemotherapeutic agents have adverse effects on the kidneys and urothelium that can be visualized radiographically, including cystic change, interstitial nephritis, papillary necrosis, urothelial changes, haemorrhagic cystitis, acute tubular necrosis, and infarction.

Chemotherapy induced liver abnormalities: an imaging perspective.

Treating patients undergoing chemotherapy who display findings of liver toxicity, requires a solid understanding of these medications. It is important for any clinician to have an index of suspicion for liver toxicity and be able to recognize it, even on imaging. Cancer chemotherapy has evolved, and newer medications that target cell biology have a different pattern of liver toxicity and may differ from the more traditional cytotoxic agents.

Portal vein aneurysm presenting with obstructive jaundice.

To the best of our knowledge, a portal vein aneurysm presenting with obstructive jaundice has not been reported in the literature. The preferred treatment for these aneurysms is surgical and a shunting procedure should be considered in cases with portal hypertension to preserve portal vein flow when portal hypertension is present or is secondary to the aneurysm itself. In our case, due to patient's advanced age and co-morbidities, an endoscopic biliary stent was placed which led to successful resolution of symptoms of obstructive jaundice.

Time-motion analysis of health care workers' contact with patients and workers' hand hygiene: open vs closed units.

Background: The effects of open (care provided by general medicine teams with a pulmonary intensivist consultant) vs closed (care provided by a dedicated critical care team) intensive care units on health care workers' contact with patients and their hand hygiene is uncertain.

Objective: To determine if closed intensive care units have fewer visits of patients by health care providers and greater hand-washing compliance among providers than do open units.

Methods: Time-motion analysis was used to observe 2 rooms in a medical intensive care unit at a teaching hospital affiliated with Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, for 96 hours before and after closure of the unit.

Selecting a change and evaluating its impact on the performance of a complex adaptive health care delivery system.

Complexity science suggests that our current health care delivery system acts as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Such systems represent a dynamic and flexible network of individuals who can coevolve with their ever changing environment. The CAS performance fluctuates and its members' interactions continuously change over time in response to the stress generated by its surrounding environment.

The cognitive impact of anticholinergics: a clinical review.

Context: The cognitive side effects of medications with anticholinergic activity have been documented among older adults in a variety of clinical settings. However, there has been no systematic confirmation that acute or chronic prescribing of such medications lead to transient or permanent adverse cognitive outcomes.

Objective: Evaluate the existing evidence regarding the effects of anticholinergic medications on cognition in older adults.