JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Review Case Reports
Does this adult patient with suspected bacteremia require blood cultures?
Clinicians order blood cultures liberally among patients in whom bacteremia is suspected, though a small proportion of blood cultures yield true-positive results. Ordering blood cultures inappropriately may be both wasteful and harmful. ⋯ Blood cultures should not be ordered for adult patients with isolated fever or leukocytosis without considering the pretest probability. SIRS and the decision rule may be helpful in identifying patients who do not need blood cultures. These conclusions do not apply to immunocompromised patients or when endocarditis is suspected.
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Multicenter Study
Association between endoscopic vs open vein-graft harvesting and mortality, wound complications, and cardiovascular events in patients undergoing CABG surgery.
The safety and durability of endoscopic vein graft harvest in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery has recently been called into question. ⋯ Among patients undergoing CABG surgery, the use of endoscopic vein-graft harvesting compared with open vein-graft harvesting was not associated with increased mortality.