PLoS medicine
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Venous thrombosis is a common disease with a high mortality rate shortly after the event. However, details on long-term mortality in these patients are lacking. The aim of this study was to determine long-term mortality in a large cohort of patients with venous thrombosis. ⋯ Patients who experienced a first venous thrombosis had an increased risk of death which lasted up to 8 years after the event, even when no comorbidities were present at time of thrombosis. Future long-term clinical follow-up could be beneficial in these patients. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.
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Mirjam Kretzschmar and colleagues describe the BCoDE project, which uses a pathogen-based incidence approach to better estimate the infectious disease burden in Europe.
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Treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is lengthy, toxic, expensive, and has generally poor outcomes. We undertook an individual patient data meta-analysis to assess the impact on outcomes of the type, number, and duration of drugs used to treat MDR-TB. ⋯ In this individual patient data meta-analysis of observational data, improved MDR-TB treatment success and survival were associated with use of certain fluoroquinolones, ethionamide, or prothionamide, and greater total number of effective drugs. However, randomized trials are urgently needed to optimize MDR-TB treatment. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Induction of labor versus expectant management in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes between 34 and 37 weeks: a randomized controlled trial.
At present, there is insufficient evidence to guide appropriate management of women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) near term. ⋯ In women whose pregnancy is complicated by late PPROM, neither our trial nor the updated meta-analysis indicates that IoL substantially improves pregnancy outcomes compared with EM.
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Millennium Development Goal 4 calls for an annual rate of reduction (ARR) of the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) of 4.4% between 1990 and 2015. Progress is measured through the point estimates of the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME). To facilitate evidence-based conclusions about progress toward the goal, we assessed the uncertainty in the estimates arising from sampling errors and biases in data series and the inferior quality of specific data series. ⋯ In light of the upcoming evaluation of Millennium Development Goal 4 in 2015, uncertainty assessments need to be taken into account to avoid unwarranted conclusions about countries' progress based on limited data.