Development and implementation of a pregnancy heart team at a Southeastern United States tertiary hospital: a qualitative study.

Background: The United States has seen a significant rise in maternal mortality and morbidity associated with cardiovascular disease over the past 4 decades. Contributing factors may include an increasing number of parturients with comorbid conditions, a higher rate of pregnancy among women of advanced maternal age, and more patients with congenital heart disease who survive into childbearing age and experiencing pregnancy. In response, national medical organizations have recommended the creation of multidisciplinary obstetric-cardiac teams, also known as pregnancy heart teams, to provide comprehensive preconception counseling and coordinated pregnancy management that extend through the postpartum period.

What Constitutes Effective Team Communication After an Error?

Many procedures performed today involve a team of specialists with their own training histories and backgrounds. Some errors are inevitable in the course of clinical careers. Because errors tend to lead to complications, they often also lead to assignations of blame.

Quantification of stato-kinetic dissociation by semi-automated perimetry.

The difference in threshold sensitivities that are found when examining the visual field (VF) with static versus kinetic perimetric methods is called stato-kinetic dissociation (SKD). In this pilot study, we describe a semi-automated procedure for quantifying SKD. Fifteen patients with VF defects were examined with kinetic and static perimetry.

Sildenafil-associated nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

Purpose: To describe the clinical features of five patients who developed nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) after ingestion of sildenafil citrate (Viagra; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, New York, NY).

Design: Retrospective observational case series.

Participants: Five patients with NAION who reported the use of sildenafil citrate before the onset of ocular symptoms.