Is computer-assisted instruction more effective than other educational methods in achieving ECG competence amongst medical students and residents? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: It remains unclear whether computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is more effective than other teaching methods in acquiring and retaining ECG competence among medical students and residents.

Design: This systematic review and meta-analysis followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Data Sources: Electronic literature searches of PubMed, databases via EBSCOhost, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and grey literature were conducted on 28 November 2017.

Is computer-assisted instruction more effective than other educational methods in achieving ECG competence among medical students and residents? Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Although ECG interpretation is an essential skill in clinical medicine, medical students and residents often lack ECG competence. Novel teaching methods are increasingly being implemented and investigated to improve ECG training. Computer-assisted instruction is one such method under investigation; however, its efficacy in achieving better ECG competence among medical students and residents remains uncertain.

An approach to the patient with a suspected tachycardia in the emergency department.

Patients present to the emergency department with either an ongoing tachycardia or a history suspicious of a tachycardia. Either way, the tachycardia needs to be documented, preferably on a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) for diagnosis and management. If a tachycardiais not documented, a careful history of the palpitations should be taken to see if further monitoring and investigations are required.

Plasmodium knowlesi genome sequences from clinical isolates reveal extensive genomic dimorphism.

Plasmodium knowlesi is a newly described zoonosis that causes malaria in the human population that can be severe and fatal. The study of P. knowlesi parasites from human clinical isolates is relatively new and, in order to obtain maximum information from patient sample collections, we explored the possibility of generating P.

Disease progression in Plasmodium knowlesi malaria is linked to variation in invasion gene family members.

Emerging pathogens undermine initiatives to control the global health impact of infectious diseases. Zoonotic malaria is no exception. Plasmodium knowlesi, a malaria parasite of Southeast Asian macaques, has entered the human population.

Leo Schamroth: his contributions to clinical electrocardiography - with reference to : incomplete left bundle-branch block.

Leo Schamroth (1924-1988) was one of the best-known South Africans in the international medical community. His book, An Introduction to Electrocardiography, first published in 1957, was my introduction to the mysteries of the ECG. The first edition was only 90 pages and was a model of clarity and simplicity, with remarkable insight into the needs of a student new to the subject.

Surgery for ventricular tachycardia of left ventricular origin: risk factors for success and long-term outcome.

Objectives: To review 26 consecutive patients with sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) of left ventricular origin, who underwent direct VT surgery.

Methods: Economic factors precluded the use of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in the majority of these patients, and the indication for surgery in 81% of patients was for failed medical drug therapy and 27% of patients had frequent or incessant life-threatening VT. The principles of direct VT surgery included intraoperative mapping, extended endocardial resection, cryoablation, left ventricular aneurysm repair by left ventricular remodelling and endoaneurysmorrhaphy, as well as coronary artery bypass grafting.

Surgical cure of the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome--a comparison of two techniques.

Curative arrhythmia surgery for patients with symptomatic Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW) was first performed in South Africa in November 1987. Pre-operatively all patients were symptomatic despite medical therapy, and 32% were assessed as being at risk for sudden death. The first 9 patients (November 1987 to December 1989) underwent either epicardial or localised endocardial surgical dissections, and a cure was obtained in 66%.

Temporary transvenous atrial pacing for the control of supraventricular tachycardia in the coronary care unit.

Until the present, temporary atrial pacing techniques for acutely ill patients with supraventricular arrhythmias have been most widely used following open heart surgery. The recent availability of stable J-shaped temporary atrial pacing catheters promises to broaden the use of atrial pacing to patients with such arrhythmias who have not had a thoracotomy. Two cases with resistant supraventricular arrhythmias were successfully treated using temporary transvenous pacing leads placed in the right atrial appendage.

Of pacemakers and statistics: the actuarial method extended.

Pacemakers cease functioning because of either natural battery exhaustion (nbe) or component failure (cf). A study of four series of pacemakers shows that a simple extension of the actuarial method, so as to incorporate Normal statistics, makes possible a quantitative differentiation between the two modes of failure. This involves the separation of the overall failure probability density function PDF(t) into constituent parts pdfnbe(t) and pdfcf(t).

Prolonged circulatory support with the intra-aortic balloon pump after myocardial infarction.

Circulation was supported by intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation for 30 and 38 days respectively in two patients with cardiogenic shock after acute myocardial infarction. One was flown 1400 km to Cape Town for heart transplantation but died after being weaned from the pump while awaiting a suitable donor. The other underwent successful surgical closure of a ruptured ventricular septum on the 30th day, allowing time for the edges of the ventricular septal defect to fibrose.