Monaldi archives for chest disease = Archivio Monaldi per le malattie del torace / Fondazione clinica del lavoro, IRCCS [and] Istituto di clinica tisiologica e malattie apparato respiratorio, Università di Napoli, Secondo ateneo
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Clinical guidelines are statements designed to help physicians make decisions about appropriate health care for specific circumstances. The constant rise in the number of published guidelines has been accelerated by the need of healthcare organizations to integrate evidence from clinical research with rational health policy, with the prospect of improving the quality and reducing the costs of health care at a local level. ⋯ Moreover, the evidence on which clinical guidelines are based can change with time and therefore they should be reviewed regularly. The critical approaches to making high-quality guidelines, the value of implementation strategies, and how healthcare organizations and individual physicians can use medical guidelines to enhance clinical effectiveness will be discussed.
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Monaldi Arch Chest Dis · Feb 2002
ReviewTreatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax by simple talcage under medical thoracoscopy.
Medical thoracoscopy under local anesthesia with simple talc poudrage is a safe and cost-effective technique to prevent recurrences in the case of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Pathogenesis of primary spontaneous pneumothorax, i.e. a pneumothorax occurring without any underlying lung disease, remains unclear; there is no proof that the air leak leading to air escape into the visceral pleura is located in blebs or bullae visualized during the procedure. ⋯ Pulmonologists doing thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis should learn to better control pain due to thoracoscopic talcage as it has been shown that thoracoscopic talcage is not more painful than a chest tube drainage in patients providing they receive at least some opioids. There is also a debate on the best surgical approach to treat pneumothorax but minithoracotomy with pleurectomy remains the gold standard although more expensive and associated with some morbidity or mortality.
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Monaldi Arch Chest Dis · Dec 2001
ReviewImpact of BAL on the diagnosis and treatment of nosocomial pneumonia in ICU patients.
Nosocomial pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia are currently the second leading cause of nosocomial infections and account for approximately 10-15% of all hospital-acquired infections. Crude mortality rates range from 24% to 76% depending on the population and clinical setting studied. During the last ten years, several diagnostic methods have been developed to microbiologically confirm the clinical diagnosis, especially in mechanically ventilated patients. This article seeks to clarify the issues surrounding the use of invasive fiberoptic bronchoscopic techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of nosocomial pneumonia.
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Lung and breast cancer are responsible for the majority of malignant pleural effusions. The diagnosis of a malignant pleural effusion signifies a limited survival for most patients. During their final months, dyspnea is the most common symptom and requires palliation. ⋯ Parietal pleurectomy should be reserved only for patients who have failed chemical pleurodesis or have a trapped lung with an expected survival > 6 months. To provide the highest quality of life for patients with malignant pleural effusions, the least invasive, morbid and costly therapy should be used. Success of the initial procedure is important, as repeat procedures are associated with additional hospitalization, patient discomfort, and increased expense; therefore, the selection of patients for palliation and the modality utilized is critical to avoiding further hardship to the patient.