CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
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Review Meta Analysis
Frequency of adverse events in patients with poor anticoagulation: a meta-analysis.
Patients taking anticoagulants orally over the long term have international normalized ratios (INRs) outside the individual therapeutic range more than one-third of the time. Improved anticoagulation control will reduce hemorrhagic and thromboembolic event rates. To gauge the potential effect of improved anticoagulation control, we undertook to determine the proportion of anticoagulant-associated events that occur when INRs are outside the therapeutic range. ⋯ Improved anticoagulation control could decrease the likelihood of almost half of all anticoagulant-associated adverse events.
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Review Meta Analysis
Testing for HER2-positive breast cancer: a systematic review and cost-effectiveness analysis.
Testing to determine HER2 status has come into focus since the approval of trastuzumab (Herceptin) for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. We compared the cost-effectiveness of various strategies used to test HER2 status, an important first step toward evaluating the overall cost-effectiveness of trastuzumab therapy. ⋯ The strategy with the lowest cost-effectiveness ratio involved screening all newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer with immunohistochemistry and confirming scores of 2+ or 3+ with fluorescence in situ hybridization testing.