The American journal of the medical sciences
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Sparganosis is an infectious disease caused by the sparganum of Spirometra species, which seldom invades the respiratory system. The aim was to describe the clinical features and outcomes of pulmonary sparganosis. ⋯ As an extremely rare and life-threatening parasitic zoonosis, pulmonary sparganosis should be diagnosed by combining the epidemiology, patient history, eosinophilia and the positive antisparganum antibody test result together if no worm was detected. Oral praziquantel is considered to be an effective treatment.
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Observational Study
Intensive Care Unit Admission With Community-Acquired Pneumonia.
There has been a dramatic increase in the use of intensive care units (ICUs) over the past 25 years. Greater use of validated measures of illness severity may better inform ICU admission decisions in patients with community-acquired pneumonia. This article examined predictors of ICU admission and hospitalization costs, including the pneumonia severity index (PSI) and CURB-65 (confusion, uremia, respiratory rate, blood pressure, age ≥65 years) scores. ⋯ Illness severity and chronic pulmonary disease are strong predictors of ICU admission. More extensive use of the PSI may optimize site-of-care decisions, thereby minimizing mortality and unnecessary resource utilization.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Trimetazidine Prevention of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in Coronary Angiography.
Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) after coronary angiography is frequently observed in patients with chronic renal insufficiency and no effective measures have been developed for prevention of CIN. There is evidence showing that trimetazidine (TMZ) has renoprotective effect on CIN. This study was to evaluate the role of TMZ in the prevention of CIN in renal dysfunction patients undergoing coronary angiography. ⋯ TMZ in combination with standard hydration is more effective than isotonic saline alone in protecting renal function in patients with renal dysfunction who undergo coronary angiography and can reduce the adverse events within 12 months.