The New England journal of medicine
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Multicenter Study
Idiopathic giant-cell myocarditis--natural history and treatment. Multicenter Giant Cell Myocarditis Study Group Investigators.
Idiopathic giant-cell myocarditis is a rare and frequently fatal disorder. We used a multicenter data base to define the natural history of giant-cell myocarditis and the effect of treatment. ⋯ Giant-cell myocarditis is a disease of relatively young, predominantly healthy adults. Patients usually die of heart failure and ventricular arrhythmia unless cardiac transplantation is performed. Despite the possibility of fatal disease recurrence, transplantation is the treatment of choice for most patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Epidural corticosteroid injections for sciatica due to herniated nucleus pulposus.
Although epidural corticosteroid injections are commonly used for sciatica, their efficacy has not been established. ⋯ Although epidural injections of methylprednisolone may afford short-term improvement in leg pain and sensory deficits in patients with sciatica due to a herniated nucleus pulposus, this treatment offers no significant functional benefit, nor does it reduce the need for surgery.