Irish journal of medical science
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Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Beaumont Hospital is a nationally designated symptomatic breast cancer unit, independent of the national screening programme, BreastCheck. ⋯ Patients attending the symptomatic breast cancer unit Beaumont Hospital have different demographics compared with the national registry data. This presents particular challenges for management.
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Judicious spending in healthcare is of paramount importance, particularly when introducing new devices or interventions. These products or interventions need to be economically efficient both directly and indirectly. An accepted method of cost estimation is micro-costing. Micro-costing involves direct enumeration and costing of every input consumed in the treatment of a particular patient when using new device, medicine or intervention. In our study, we investigated the cost of using a novel sublingual (SL) patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device and compared it with our conventional intravenous (IV) PCA device. ⋯ After performance of a micro-costing study, the less costly IV PCA episode was statistically significant compared with a SL PCA episode. However, the associated staff costs were less with a SL PCA episode. We performed a micro-costing study on a novel sublingual PCA device and compared it with a conventional intravenous PCA device. All resources were included and compared.
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The originally published version of this article contained typesetting errors in Figs. 2 and 3 legends. The correct figure legends are presented here. The original article has been corrected.
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A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is used to support patients with end-stage heart failure. ⋯ CF-LVADs have not reduced mortality, possibly due to utilization in patients with comorbid conditions. Future trials are necessary for improved patient selection and reduced post-procedural complications.
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The levels of advanced oxidation protein products in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is characterized by repeated episodes of complete or partial obstructions of the upper airway during sleep, frequently followed by transient hypoxemia. Advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) are a family of oxidized protein products, and oxidative stress has a substantial role in the morbidity of OSAS. ⋯ AOPP, which is an oxidative stress marker, was found to be high in OSAS patients. Especially, high levels in moderate and severe OSAS patients may be an indicator of increased morbidity. After 6 months of PAP treatment, there was no statistically significant change in these levels.