The American journal of the medical sciences
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Mechanical ventilation is a potentially life-saving therapy for patients with acute lung injury, but the ventilator itself may cause lung injury. Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) is sometimes an unfortunate consequence of mechanical ventilation. It is not clear however how best to minimize VILI through adjustment of various parameters including tidal volume, plateau pressure, driving pressure, and positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP). ⋯ There is currently interest in quantifying how static and dynamic parameters contribute to VILI. One concept that has emerged is the consideration of the amount of energy transferred from the ventilator to the respiratory system per unit time, which can be quantified as mechanical power. This review article reports on recent literature in this emerging field and future roles for mechanical power assessments in prospective studies.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Correlation between ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and office blood pressure measurement in patients with hypertension: A Community Study.
The current gold standard for blood pressure (BP) measurements is based on office BP measurements (OBPMs) by a sphygmomanometer or a digital device. Ambulatory BP measurement (ABPM) is a noninvasive method for continuous monitoring of BP over a period during routine activities of the patient. Thus, ABPM offers multiple BP readings during the patients' daily routine as compared to the single reading by OBPM at rest. A good correlation exists between mean 24-hour BP readings and the prediction of cardiovascular events. The present multicenter observational study was aimed to assess the correlation between ABPM and OBPM in patients with newly diagnosed, controlled, or uncontrolled hypertension in the community setting. Our hypothesis was to test if ABPM provides any further value in those hypertensive patients in whom the office blood pressure levels are controlled. A supplementary hypothesis was whether obtaining ABPM in patients with newly diagnosed or uncontrolled hypertension yields any value over and beyond OBPM. Another objective was to find out the applicability of ABPM in the community setting where the medical care is provided by primary care family physicians and not by specialists. ⋯ Conclusions A good correlation was observed between ABPM and OBPM during both visits in patients in Groups A and B. However, a notable variation was noted in the diastolic BP readings. Thus, large-scale clinical studies are required to detect the prevalence of hypertension, masked hypertension, and dipping patterns associated with hypertension and other related medical co-morbidities.
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Little is known about the causality and pathological mechanism underlying the association between old age and myocardial injury in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We evaluated the association between old age and myocardial injury in STEMI patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). ⋯ Despite appropriate coronary revascularization, old age was associated with greater extent of myocardial injury in STEMI patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of Story-Based Audiovisual Mnemonics in Comparison with Text-Reading Method on Memory Consolidation among Medical Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Traditional teaching methods via faculty lectures and text-based materials lack interactivity. Hence, this research aimed to compare the effectiveness of story-based audiovisual mnemonics and the conventional text-reading method on medical students' memory consolidation. ⋯ The story-based audiovisual mnemonics method is more effective than the conventional text-reading method in promoting memory retention among medical students.
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Asymptomatic cardiac involvement in systemic sclerosis (SSc) has been reported. Long-term follow-up might elucidate the clinical implications of these abnormalities. The aim was to identify the clinical outcomes of asymptomatic cardiac involvement in SSc patients after 2 years of follow-up. ⋯ Cardiac involvement in SSc can progress slowly or even be reversed. Based on a previous test, the incidence of symptomatic cardiac involvement after 2 years was low despite its being a persistent involvement. If symptomatic cardiac involvement develops, PAH is the most prevalent symptom.