Fewer complications with bolt-connected than tunneled external ventricular drainage.

Background: Ventriculostomy/external ventricular drain (EVD) is a common neurosurgical procedure. Various techniques are used to fixate the drain and the objective of this study was, in a retrospective setting, to compare the incidence of complications when using bolt-connected EVD (BC-EVD) versus tunneled EVD (T-EVD).

Methods: All patients subjected to an EVD performed through a new burr hole from 2009 through 2010 at two Depts.

Parathyroid hormone and vitamin D--markers for cardiovascular and all cause mortality in heart failure.

Aims: To investigate levels of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) in a population of heart failure (HF) patients, and to evaluate whether vitamin D and PTH are related to prognosis.

Methods And Results: This was a prospective study of 148 HF outpatients (mean age 68 years, 102 men) with follow-up for mortality after 3½ years. Levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), PTH, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD), and several other biomarkers were examined.