Incorporating body-type (apple vs. pear) in STOP-BANG questionnaire improves its validity to detect OSA.

Study Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate whether adding the item of "apple body type" to the STOP-BANG questionnaire enhances diagnostic performance of the questionnaire for detecting obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Sleep center setting.

A Rare Case of ARDS From Human Anaplasmosis.

Human granulocytic anaplasmosis is a tick-borne bacterial disease caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum. ARDS is a very rare presentation of human anaplasmosis. Early suspicion and empiric antibiotics usually prevent rapid progression of the disease.

System-related factors contributing to diagnostic errors.

Several studies in primary care, internal medicine, and emergency departments show that rates of errors in test requests and result interpretations are unacceptably high and translate into missed, delayed, or erroneous diagnoses. Ineffective follow-up of diagnostic test results could lead to patient harm if appropriate therapeutic interventions are not delivered in a timely manner. The frequency of system-related factors that contribute directly to diagnostic errors depends on the types and sources of errors involved.

Diagnosing diagnostic error.

Diagnostic errors are the most common errors in primary care. Diagnostic errors have been found to be the leading cause of malpractice litigation, accounting for twice as many claims and settled cases as medication errors. Diagnostic error is common, harmful, costly, and very critical to the patient-safety issues in health care.

Right pulmonary artery agenesis presenting with uncontrolled asthma in an adult: a case report.

Introduction: Unilateral absence of the pulmonary artery (UAPA) or pulmonary artery agenesis is a rare congenital disorder presenting with a wide spectrum of symptoms. The clinical presentation is variable and many patients can be asymptomatic for many years and even throughout their lives.

Case Presentation: We report the case of a 53-year-old African-American woman who was diagnosed with right pulmonary artery agenesis after presenting with uncontrolled asthma and recurrent bronchopulmonary infections.

Characterization of erectile function in monocrotaline-treated pulmonary hypertensive rats.

The aim of this study was to evaluate erectile function in monocrotaline (MCT)-treated rats with pulmonary hypertension (PH). Forty rats were divided into control (n = 20) and MCT-treated (n = 20) groups. Rats were treated with MCT (60 mg/kg subcutaneously) for 3 weeks to induce PH.

A critical appraisal of a systematic review: Sokol J, Jacob SE, Bohn D: Inhaled nitric oxide for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure in children and adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2003 (1): CD002787.

Objective: To review the findings and discuss the implications of the use of inhaled nitric oxide for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure in patients beyond the neonatal period.

Design: A critical appraisal of a systematic review.

Findings: The authors conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis to determine the effect of inhaled nitric oxide on clinical outcomes of patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.