Articles: diagnosis.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2014
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPrevalence of airflow limitation in outpatients with cardiovascular diseases in Japan.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) commonly coexist and share common risk factors. The prevalence of COPD in outpatients with a smoking history and CVD in Japan is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of Japanese patients with a smoking history being treated for CVD who have concurrent airflow limitation compatible with COPD. A secondary objective was to test whether the usage of lung function tests performed in the clinic influenced the diagnosis rate of COPD in the patients identified with airflow limitation. ⋯ The prevalence of airflow limitation in this study indicates that a quarter of outpatients with CVD have COPD, almost all of whom are undiagnosed. This suggests that it is important to look routinely for COPD in CVD outpatients.
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Multicenter Study
Multicenter accuracy and interobserver agreement of spot sign identification in acute intracerebral hemorrhage.
Rapid, accurate, and reliable identification of the computed tomography angiography spot sign is required to identify patients with intracerebral hemorrhage for trials of acute hemostatic therapy. We sought to assess the accuracy and interobserver agreement for spot sign identification. ⋯ Accuracy for spot identification is high with opportunity for improvement in spot interpretation sensitivity and interobserver agreement particularly through greater reliance on computed tomography angiography source data and awareness of limitations of multiplanar images. Further prospective study is needed.
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Multicenter Study
Sodium administration in critically ill patients in Australia and New Zealand: a multicentre point prevalence study.
Inadvertent sodium administration in excess of recommended daily requirements has been reported during routine care of critically ill patients. ⋯ This point prevalence study suggests that sodium administration in excess of recommended daily requirements may be common in Australia and New Zealand ICUs. The main sodium source was IV maintenance fluids, followed by fluid boluses and drug boluses.
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J. Thromb. Haemost. · Nov 2013
Multicenter StudyVariable D-dimer thresholds for diagnosis of clinically suspected acute pulmonary embolism.
Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is frequently requested using diagnostic algorithms for suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). For suspected deep vein thrombosis, it was recently shown that doubling the D-dimer threshold in patients with low pretest probability safely decreased the number of ultrasonograms. We evaluated the safety and efficiency of a similar strategy in patients with suspected PE. ⋯ Applying selective D-dimer thresholds reduces the need for CTPA by 11 percentage points but is associated with an increased failure rate. Prospective studies should evaluate the safety and net clinical benefit of this approach.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of the diagnostic and prognostic values of B-type and atrial-type natriuretic peptides in acute heart failure.
We compared diagnostic and prognostic properties of brain natruiretic peptide (BNP), proBNP, NT-proBNP and MR-pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in patients admitted with shortness of breath (SOB). ⋯ Our study provides firm evidence that all NPs perform equally well for diagnostic purposes, and that MR-proANP has long term prognostic value in patients with acute heart failure.