Antibiotic prescribing by telephone in primary care

Ewen E, Willey VJ, Kolm P, McGhan WF, Drees M Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2015 Feb;24(2):113-20 PMID: 25079292 Abstract OBJECTIVES: Little is known about the contribution of telephone-based prescribing on overall antibiotic utilization. The objective of this study was to determine the extent and characteristics of telephone-based antibiotic prescribing in teaching and non-teaching primary care practices.

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Is There a Threshold Oral Glucose Tolerance Test Value for Predicting Adverse Pregnancy Outcome?

Stuebe AM, Landon MB, Lai Y, Klebanoff M, Ramin SM, Wapner RJ, Varner MW, Rouse DJ, Sciscione A, Catalano P, Saade G, Sorokin Y, Peaceman AM, Am J Perinatol 2015 Jan; PMID: 25594222 Abstract Objective This study aims to determine whether there is a threshold 3-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) value associated with accelerated risk

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Understanding the pathophysiology of apical ballooning syndrome: a step closer

Bathina J, Weiss S, Weintraub WS Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther 2015 Jan;13(1):5-8 PMID: 25487296 Abstract Although it has been almost 20 years since the first case of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy was described in Japan, its pathophysiology remains an enigma. While several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the pathophysiology, the exact mechanism of the syndrome is

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Cardiovascular risk factors one year after a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy

Ehrenthal DB, Rogers S, Goldstein ND, Edwards DG, Weintraub WS J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2015 Jan;24(1):23-9 PMID: 25247261 Abstract OBJECTIVE: To identify differences in women’s cardiovascular risk, independent of obesity, one year after delivery of a pregnancy complicated by a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP). METHODS: We compared traditional and novel cardiovascular risk factors of

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Cost-effectiveness of revascularization strategies: the ASCERT study

Zhang Z, Kolm P, Grau-Sepulveda MV, Ponirakis A, O’Brien SM, Klein LW, Shaw RE, McKay C, Shahian DM, Grover FL, Mayer JE, Garratt KN, Hlatky M, Edwards FH, Weintraub WS J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2015 Jan;65(1):1-11 PMID: 25572503 Abstract BACKGROUND: ASCERT (American College of Cardiology Foundation and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Collaboration on the

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Prolonged early antibiotic use and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in very low birth weight infants

Novitsky A, Tuttle D, Locke RG, Saiman L, Mackley A, Paul DA Am J Perinatol 2015 Jan;32(1):43-8 PMID: 24792766 Abstract OBJECTIVE: The objective of the article is to determine if > 48 hours of antibiotic treatment during the 1st week of life is associated with subsequent isolation of bacteria from the endotracheal tube (ETT), and an increased

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A randomized trial of loading vancomycin in the emergency department

Rosini JM, Laughner J, Levine BJ, Papas MA, Reinhardt JF, Jasani NB Ann Pharmacother 2015 Jan;49(1):6-13 PMID: 25358330 Abstract BACKGROUND: Optimizing vancomycin dosing may help eradicate bacteria while avoiding resistance. The guidelines recommend loading doses; however, there are no data to demonstrate that this may result in a more rapid achievement of therapeutic troughs. OBJECTIVE:

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Cardiovascular implantable electronic devices in hemodialysis patients: prevalence and implications for arteriovenous hemodialysis access interventions

Saad TF, Ahmed W, Davis K, Jurkovitz C Semin Dial 2015 Jan-Feb;28(1):94-100 PMID: 24863543 Abstract Cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) are frequently utilized in hemodialysis patients. CIED leads are typically implanted via the subclavian vein resulting in stenosis and venous hypertension. We studied 1235 chronic hemodialysis patients under the care of our nephrology practice. For

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