Getting to the Heart of the Matter: A Regional Survey of Current Hospice Practices Caring for Patients With Heart Failure Receiving Advanced Therapies.

Background:: No guidelines exist regarding care for patients with advanced heart failure (HF) receiving hospice care while continuing advanced HF therapies such as left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) or continuous inotropes.

Objective:: We surveyed hospice providers in our tristate region to determine hospice demographics, current practices for care of patients with advanced HF, and perceived challenges of providing advanced HF therapies.

Design:: Cross-sectional survey of hospice clinical and administrative leaders.

Risk of Depression after Traumatic Brain Injury in a Large National Sample.

Depression is associated with poorer recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet awareness of depression risk post-TBI among providers and patients is low. The aim of this study was to estimate risk of depression post-TBI among adults 18 years of age and older and to identify risk factors associated with developing depression post-TBI. We conducted a retrospective, matched cohort study using claims data for privately insured and Medicare Advantage enrollees in a large U.

Validation of a Dosing Strategy for Cefazolin for Surgery Requiring Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

Background: A prospective, single center, open-label study was conducted to determine if the standard practice for surgical prophylaxis, which includes standardized dosing of cefazolin, at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) is adequate for patients placed on bypass during cardiac surgery.

Methods: All patients were given the same standard dosing regimen regardless of weight: two grams of cefazolin administered within 1 h of incision, an additional one gram injected into the bypass circuit at the onset of bypass, and two grams every 3 h after the initial dose. Cefazolin serum concentrations were collected immediately after incision, after the start of bypass, each hour of bypass, at the end of bypass and at sternal closure.