The Annals of pharmacotherapy
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To review the literature evaluating the clinical effects of combination therapy with a beta-blocker and milrinone in patients with severe heart failure (HF). ⋯ Data are insufficient to make firm conclusions on the clinical benefit of combination therapy with a beta-blocker and milrinone in patients with advanced HF, although it appears that this regimen is well tolerated and may allow weaning of inotropic support.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Medication use across transition points from the emergency department: identifying factors associated with medication discrepancies.
As patients move across transition points of care, medication discrepancies are likely to occur. In the emergency department (ED), patients are vulnerable to medication discrepancies because they are in an environment in which rapid decisions need to be made under high levels of stress. ⋯ Patient-, environment-, and drug-related factors contribute to the risk of medication discrepancies across transition points from the ED.
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Prolonging the infusion of a beta-lactam antibiotic enhances the time in which unbound drug concentrations remain above the minimum inhibitory concentration (fT>MIC). ⋯ At doses greater than or equal to 3.375 g every 8 hours, 4-hour infusions of piperacillin/tazobactam achieved excellent target attainment with lower daily doses compared with standard regimens at MICs less than or equal to 16 microg/mL.
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Comparative Study
Sliding scale versus tight glycemic control in the noncritically ill at a community hospital.
Development of hyperglycemia during hospitalization is an area of concern in patients with and without diabetes mellitus. Tight glycemic control has been debated for critically ill and noncritically ill patients with hyperglycemia. Although many studies have been performed in the critically ill, adequate data are not available in the noncritically ill population. ⋯ Patients treated with TC experienced more blood glucose measurements in the target range as compared with patients treated with SS with relatively low hypoglycemia rates.