Chest
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Differences in end-of-life care in the ICU across patients cared for by medicine, surgery, neurology and neurosurgery physicians.
Some of the challenges in the delivery of high-quality end-of-life care in the ICU include the variability in the characteristics of patients with certain illnesses and the practice of critical care by different specialties. ⋯ Patients cared for by neurology and neurosurgery attending physicians have higher family and nurse ratings of quality of dying than patients cared for by medicine attending physicians and have a different pattern of indicators of palliative care. Patients with surgery attending physicians had fewer documented indicators of palliative care. These findings may provide insights into potential ways to improve the quality of dying for all patients.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Coronary Plaque Characteristics.
Virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) is an intravascular imaging technique that enables the characterization of coronary plaques. We sought to determine the association between OSA and coronary plaque characteristics in patients presenting with coronary artery disease. ⋯ In patients presenting with coronary artery disease, moderate to severe OSA was independently associated with a larger total atheroma volume in the target coronary artery. Further studies on the effects of CPAP on total atheroma volume are warranted.