Another Hospital (another + hospital)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Blood Cultures Do Not Change Management in Hospitalized Patients with Community-acquired Pneumonia

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 7 2006
Prasanthi Ramanujam MD
Objectives: To determine if blood cultures identify organisms that are not appropriately treated with initial empiric antibiotics in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia, and to calculate the costs of blood cultures and cost savings realized by changing to narrower-spectrum antibiotics based on the results. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted in an urban academic emergency department (ED). Patients with an ED and final diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia admitted between January 1, 2001, and August 30, 2003, were eligible when the results of at least one set of blood cultures obtained in the ED were available. Exclusion criteria included documented human immunodeficiency virus infection, immunosuppressive illness, chronic renal failure, chronic corticosteroid therapy, documented hospitalization within seven days before ED visit, transfer from another hospital, nursing home residency, and suspected aspiration pneumonia. The cost of blood cultures in all patients was calculated. The cost of the antibiotic regimens administered was compared with narrower-spectrum and less expensive alternatives based on the results. Results: A total of 480 patients were eligible, and 191 were excluded. Thirteen (4.5%) of the 289 enrolled patients had true bacteremia; the organisms isolated were sensitive to the empiric antibiotics initially administered in all 13 cases (100%; 95% confidence interval = 75% to 100%). Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae were isolated in 11 and two patients, respectively. The potential savings of changing the antibiotic regimens to narrower-spectrum alternatives was only 170. Conclusions: Appropriate empiric antibiotics were administered in all bacteremic patients. Antibiotic regimens were rarely changed based on blood culture results, and the potential savings from changes were minimal. [source]


SUPERFICIAL ESOPHAGEAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA WITH BULKY GASTRIC HIATUS LYMPH NODE METASTASIS: A CASE REPORT

DIGESTIVE ENDOSCOPY, Issue 4 2009
Yoshiaki Takahashi
In patients with superficial esophageal cancer, especially in those with tumor invasion above the muscularis mucosae, lymph node metastasis is very rare. We report a case of superficial esophageal cancer who presented with lymph node metastasis. In another hospital a 49-year-old man was found to have a bulky tumor adjacent to the cardiac area of the stomach and a total gastrectomy was carried out. Postoperatively, the tumor was identified as a lymph node containing metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. The main lesion could not be identified on fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. On esophagogastric endoscopy, using the iodine spray technique, we found an unstained lesion about 32 cm from the incisor teeth. The tumor was removed using endoscopic mucosal resection. The entire resected specimen was examined histopathologically; the depth of the tumor was above the muscularis mucosae. Thirty-four months after endoscopic mucosal resection, there is no sign of tumor recurrence or metastasis. [source]


Effect of Ethnicity on Denial of Authorization for Emergency Department Care by Managed Care Gatekeepers

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 3 2001
Robert A. Lowe MD
Abstract. Objective: After a pilot study suggested that African American patients enrolled in managed care organizations (MCOs) were more likely than whites to be denied authorization for emergency department (ED) care through gatekeeping, the authors sought to determine the association between ethnicity and denial of authorization in a second, larger study at another hospital. Methods: A retrospective cohort design was used, with adjustment for triage score, age, gender, day and time of arrival at the ED, and type of MCO. Results: African Americans were more likely to be denied authorization for ED visits by the gatekeepers representing their MCOs even after adjusting for confounders, with an odds ratio of 1.52 (95% CI = 1.18 to 1.94). Conclusions: African Americans were more likely than whites to be denied authorization for ED visits. The observational study design raises the possibility that incomplete control of confounding contributed to or accounted for the association between ethnicity and gatekeeping decisions. Nevertheless, the questions that these findings raise about equity of gatekeeping indicate a need for additional research in this area. [source]


Comparison of selected reasons for hospitalization of children among children's/tertiary hospitals, Australia, 1996,97 and 1997,98

JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 7 2004
JB Ford
Objectives: To describe the major characteristics of admissions to children's/tertiary hospitals (compared to other hospitals) and to compare characteristics of local and non-local admissions to specialist children's hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of a routinely collected data set of hospitalizations in Australia in 1996,97 and 1997,98. Results: Hospital-specific proportions of asthma and bronchitis, tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy and gastroenteritis varied considerably. Multivariate analysis comparing the characteristics of admitted patients by locality showed that non-local admissions of patients with asthma and bronchitis and gastroenteritis to selected children's hospitals were significantly more likely to be Indigenous children and/or children who had been transferred from another hospital. Non-local admissions of tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy patients to selected hospitals were significantly more likely to be public patients. Conclusions: Differences in the characteristics of admitted patients to children's hospitals by locality raise issues about equality of access and availability of appropriate services for these children and their families. [source]


Lifetime prognosis of schizophrenia: extended observation (more than 40 years) of 129 patients with typical schizophrenia

PSYCHOGERIATRICS, Issue 2 2005
Yosuke ICHIMIYA
Abstract Background:, The excess mortality among patients with schizophrenia has been documented by epidemiological studies. These studies have shown that suicide accounts for most of this mortality. In contrast, the natural deaths of patients with schizophrenia have been commonly related to cardiovascular disease in these studies. Methods:, In this study, the clinical features of 129 patients with typical schizophrenia were examined in order to study the lifetime prognosis of patients with schizophrenia in Japan. These patients had their first visit to Kawagoe Dojinkai Hospital in 1963 and had been continuously observed for over 40 years. Results:, As at January 2003, the status of these 129 patients was categorized as follows: 27 patients were inpatients (mean age was 72.9 years), 20 patients were outpatients (mean age was 68.8 years), 2 patients were outpatients of another hospital, 20 patients had been admitted into nursing homes, 53 patients had passed away and 7 patients were missing. Clinical features were recorded for 44 (23 male patients with a mean age of 68.6 years and 21 female patients with a mean age of 64.2 years) out of the 53 patients who had passed away. The causes of death consisted of malignancy (13 cases), pneumonia (eight cases), heart failure (five cases), cerebral infarction (three cases), diabetes mellitus (three cases), cardiac infarction (two cases), ileus (two cases), asphyxia (one case), liver cirrhosis (one case), gastric ulcer (one case), heat stroke (one case), homicide (one case) and suicide (three cases). Two patients were discovered to have passed away alone at home. Conclusion:, The mean age of death was found to be lower than the life expectancy. However, only three patients committed suicide. These findings suggest that patients with schizophrenia may possess some biological vulnerability. Further study is needed to evaluate the effects of long-term antipsychotic medication. Clinically, medical checks for malignancy and care services for elderly patients are needed. Furthermore, in order to prevent future occurrences of patients dying alone in their own home, a social support system should be established. [source]


Paediatric trauma at an adult trauma centre

ANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 10 2005
Andrew J. A. Holland
Background: Trauma in children remains the commonest cause of mortality. The majority of injured children who reach hospital survive, indicating that additional more sensitive outcome measures should be utilized to evaluate paediatric trauma care, including morbidity and missed injury rates. Limited contemporary data have been presented reviewing the care of injured children at an adult trauma centre (ATC). Methods: A review was undertaken of injured children who warranted activation of the trauma team, treated within the emergency department of an ATC (Royal North Shore Hospital) situated in the Lower North Shore area of Sydney. Data were collected prospectively and patients followed through to death or discharge from the ATC or another institution to which they had been transferred. Results: A total of 93 children were admitted to the ATC between January 1999 and April 2002. Mean age was 9 years 3 months (range 5 weeks,15 years 9 months) and 70% were male. The median injury severity score was 15 (range 1,75) and there were three deaths. Forty-two children were transferred to a paediatric trauma centre (PTC), including three children who had been transferred to the ATC from another hospital. There was one missed injury and one iatrogenic urethral injury. Conclusions: The majority of children with trauma were treated safely and appropriately at the ATC. The missed injury rate was < 1% and there were no adverse long-term sequelae of initial treatment. Three secondary transfers could have been avoided by more appropriate coordination of the initial referral to a PTC. [source]


Molecular Adsorbents Recirculating System Dialysis for Liver Insufficiency and Sepsis Following Right Ventricular Assist Device after Cardiac Surgery

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 8 2004
Otrud Vargas Hein
Abstract:, We report a case of right heart failure (RHF) and sepsis with liver insufficiency in a 70-year-old patient after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Three hours after surgery the patient suddenly developed therapy refractory cardiac arrest caused by RHF. He had to have emergency surgery, under which the graft to the right coronary artery was revised and a right ventricular assist device was implanted. Heart function recovered and the assist device was explanted on day 1 after surgery. Thoracic closure was performed on day 5 after surgery. The patient went into septic shock on day 11. Liver dysfunction developed postoperatively and worsened the course of sepsis. Therefore, MARS (molecular adsorbents recirculating system) dialysis was performed once on day 20 after surgery. Liver function improved after MARS therapy and the patient recovered from sepsis. On day 46 the patient was transferred from the ICU of another hospital to one of the peripheral wards, to be finally discharged on day 67. [source]


Availability of antidotes for the treatment of acute poisoning in Queensland public hospitals

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 2 2010
Lisa M. Nissen
Abstract Objective:,To determine the sufficiency of stock levels of 13 antidotes in Queensland hospitals. Design:,A self-report survey was sent to 128 Queensland hospitals with acute care facilities. The stock level of the following antidotes was determined: acetylcysteine, anti-digoxin Fab antibodies (digibind), atropine, calcium gluconate, cyanokit, desferrioxamine, flumazenil, glucagon, intravenous ethanol, methylene blue, naloxone, pralidoxime and pyridoxine. Other factors sampled were bed capacity, rural, remote and metropolitan areas classification, use of formal stock reviews by pharmacists or nurses, existence of formal borrowing agreements with other facilities for non-stocked antidotes, distance to the nearest referral hospital and time taken to transfer antidotes from another hospital. Participants:,Pharmacists or nurses responsible for maintaining antidote stocks in Queensland hospitals. Main outcome measures:,Proportions of hospitals with sufficient antidote stock to treat a 70-kg adult for four or more hours using previously published guidelines. Results:,Survey response rate was 73.4%. No hospital had sufficient stock of all 13 antidotes. The proportion of hospitals with sufficient stocks varied from 0% (pyridoxine) to 68.1% (acetylcysteine). Larger hospitals had a higher frequency of sufficient antidote stocks. Only 16% of hospitals claimed to be able to acquire an antidote from another facility within 30 min. Conclusions:,Most Queensland hospitals stocked some important antidotes, but few had sufficient stock to treat a 70-kg patient or acquire an antidote within the recommended time frame of 30 min. Specific antidote stocking guidelines might be required for Queensland hospitals. A formalised program for stock rotation with rural facilities should be explored. [source]


Interobserver Agreement in Assessment of Clinical Variables in Children with Blunt Head Trauma

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 9 2008
Marc H. Gorelick MD
Abstract Objectives:, To be useful in development of clinical decision rules, clinical variables must demonstrate acceptable agreement when assessed by different observers. The objective was to determine the interobserver agreement in the assessment of historical and physical examination findings of children undergoing emergency department (ED) evaluation for blunt head trauma. Methods:, This was a prospective cohort study of children younger than 18 years evaluated for blunt head trauma at one of 25 EDs in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN). Patients were excluded if injury occurred more than 24 hours prior to evaluation, if neuroimaging was obtained at another hospital prior to evaluation, or if the patient had a clinically trivial mechanism of injury. Two clinicians independently completed a standardized clinical assessment on a templated data form. Assessments were performed within 60 minutes of each other and prior to clinician review of any neuroimaging (if obtained). Agreement between the two observers beyond that expected by chance was calculated for each clinical variable, using the kappa (,) statistic for categorical variables and weighted kappa for ordinal variables. Variables with a lower 95% confidence limit (LCL) of , > 0.4 were considered to have acceptable agreement. Results:, Fifteen-hundred pairs of observations were obtained. Acceptable agreement was achieved in 27 of the 32 variables studied (84%). Mechanism of injury (low, medium, or high risk) had , = 0.83. For subjective symptoms, kappa ranged from 0.47 (dizziness) to 0.93 (frequency of vomiting); all had 95% LCL > 0.4. Of the physical examination findings, kappa ranged from 0.22 (agitated) to 0.89 (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score). The 95% LCL for kappa was <0.4 for four individual signs of altered mental status and for quality (i.e., boggy or firm) of scalp hematoma if present. Conclusions:, Both subjective and objective clinical variables in children with blunt head trauma can be assessed by different observers with acceptable agreement, making these variables suitable candidates for clinical decision rules. [source]


Long hospitalization is the most important risk factor for early weaning from breast milk in premature babies

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 6 2009
Lieselotte Kirchner
Abstract Aim: To identify certain variables related to the infants' course that might have an impact on the mothers' decision to breastfeed. Patients and Method: Retrospective survey including all patients <1500 g birth weight (BW) treated between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2005 at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Medical University of Vienna who were not transferred to another hospital. Multiple regression analysis of the following variables was carried out: gestational age (GA), BW, length of stay (LOS), parity, singleton or multiple gestation, sex and severe morbidity. Results: Of the 239 patients included, 142 (60%) were fed breast milk at the time of final discharge, 97 (40%) were fed formula. LOS was significantly correlated with the probability of being breastfed: the shorter it was, the higher was the probability of being breastfed at the time of final discharge (p = 0.0064 for singletons, p = 0.001 for multiples). Lower GA also increased the probability of being breastfed, but this was only statistically significant for multiples (p = 0.001). Conclusion: This study shows clearly that the most important influencing factor on the mothers' decision to continue breastfeeding is the LOS. Thus more emphasis should be put on encouraging mothers to continue lactation throughout their babies' hospital stay. [source]