Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Jun 2012
Implementation of standardised surveillance for Clostridium difficile infections in Australia: initial report from the Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance System.
Detection of a hypervirulent strain of Clostridium difficile in Victoria led to commencement of targeted surveillance for C. difficile infection in 2010. Cases were reported through the Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance System. ⋯ Data reflect successful implementation of continuous surveillance for C. difficile infection. With hypervirulent C. difficile infection now reported in other Australian states, development of a national data repository for C. difficile infection is necessary.
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Internal medicine journal · Jun 2012
Risk factors for 30-day readmission in general medical patients admitted from the emergency department: a single centre study.
Overcrowding in emergency departments (ED) around the world is an increasingly serious problem with an adverse impact on both patient flow and patient outcomes. A significant contributing factor to ED overcrowding is possibly due to readmission. Risk factors for readmission in patients admitted from ED are rarely studied, particularly in Asian countries where the length of stay is reportedly longer. ⋯ Medical patients admitted from the ED of a referral centre have a 30-day readmission rate of 16.7%. Post-discharge care should focus on patients with higher Charlson score, longer hospitalisation, anaemia and underlying active malignancy, which are independent predictive factors for 30-day readmission.
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Internal medicine journal · Jun 2012
A variant in microRNA-196a2 is not associated with susceptibility to and progression of colorectal cancer in Chinese.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs with regulatory functions as tumour suppressors and oncogenes. Although single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in miRNA regions have been reported to be rare and unlikely to be functionally important, recent evidence suggested that rs11614913 SNP in miR-196a2 was associated with the susceptibility of lung cancer, breast cancer, congenital heart disease and shortened survival time of non-small-cell lung cancer. ⋯ Our results suggest that miR-196a2 polymorphism is not associated with both an increased risk and progression of CRC in Chinese.
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Internal medicine journal · Jun 2012
Mediastinal staging of non-small-cell lung cancer among Australasian thoracic physicians: clinical practice and constraints on minimally invasive techniques.
We determined current practice among Australasian thoracic physicians in the mediastinal staging of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We focused on the availability of endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) and constraints to its use, as there has been no systematic analysis regarding the availability and uptake of this new technology among thoracic physicians. ⋯ Australasian thoracic physicians prefer EBUS-TBNA for the mediastinal staging of NSCLC, but access to EBUS-TBNA services is limited. We recommend targeted measures to improve access to EBUS-TBNA use and optimise mediastinal staging of NSCLC.