The Medical journal of Australia
-
"League tables", ordered by potential cost of biochemical laboratory tests requested, were distributed at four-week intervals to all medical specialists of a 500-bed tertiary care teaching hospital, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, in an attempt to reduce the workload of the laboratory. This information feedback did not appear to have any effect on over-all laboratory utilisation or on any individual requesting pattern. However, much useful information on laboratory use was collated and summarised. It appears that more active intervention is required to eliminate unnecessary requesting of laboratory tests.
-
A comatose patient with seizures and focal neurological signs was given vidarabine because herpes simplex encephalitis was a likely diagnosis. Investigations showed that the illness was due to infectious mononucleosis. Although recovery is usual in infectious mononucleosis encephalitis, the complete clinical and neuropsychological recovery documented in this severe case raises the possibility that vidarabine may have exerted a therapeutic effect.