The New England journal of medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Elevation of systemic oxygen delivery in the treatment of critically ill patients.
Elevation of systemic oxygen delivery and consumption has been associated with an improved outcome in critically ill patients. We conducted a randomized trial to determine whether boosting oxygen delivery by infusing the inotropic agent dobutamine would improve the outcome in a diverse group of such patients. ⋯ The use of dobutamine to boost the cardiac index and systemic oxygen delivery failed to improve the outcome in this heterogeneous group of critically ill patients. Contrary to what might have been expected, our results suggest that in some cases aggressive efforts to increase oxygen consumption may have been detrimental.
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Although effective treatments for hyperthyroidism are available, none is perfect. Particularly with respect to Graves' disease, what is needed is a therapy directed at modulating the disease process itself rather than merely reducing the synthesis and secretion of thyroid hormones in the hope that the underlying Graves' disease will remit. ⋯ Broad-spectrum immunosuppression, with all its side effects, is not the answer; more focused therapies to inhibit the immune response to specific thyroid antigens may represent the treatment of the future. Meanwhile, radioiodine therapy is the most effective and convenient method of achieving long-term control of hyperthyroidism, although at the cost of hypothyroidism in many patients.
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Comment Letter Case Reports
Clinical problem-solving: assembling a coherent story.