Chest
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A multicenter study in the late 1990s demonstrated suboptimal emergency asthma care for pregnant women in US EDs. After a decade, follow-up data are lacking. We aimed to examine changes in emergency asthma care of pregnant women since the 1990s. ⋯ Between the two time periods, emergency asthma care in pregnant women significantly improved. However, with one in three pregnant women being discharged home without systemic corticosteroids, further improvement is warranted.
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An 81-year-old man presented with a 1-week history of dry cough. He also complained of mild dyspnea, wheezing, and low-grade fever. ⋯ The patient's medical history included coronary artery bypass surgery, hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and COPD. The patient was a retired welder and an ex-smoker.
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Chest CT scanning has become an integral part of the workup for undiagnosed pleural effusions. We aimed to develop a CT scan-based scoring system for differentiating between benign and malignant pleural effusions. ⋯ A simple CT scan-based scoring system can help physicians to separate malignant from benign pleural effusions.
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Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a frequent complication of prolonged invasive ventilation. Because VAP is largely preventable, its incidence has been used as an index of quality of care in the ICU. However, the incidence of VAP varies according to which criteria are used to identify it. We compared the incidence of VAP obtained with different sets of criteria. ⋯ Applying different diagnostic criteria to the same patient population can result in wide variation in the incidence of VAP. The use of different criteria can also influence the time of diagnosis and the associated mortality rate.