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Critical Care

News, opinions and meeting coverage in critical care.

Life Expectancy Shorter After TIA

Nine years after discharge, the survival of patients hospitalized with a transient ischemic attack was 20% lower than expected, with older patients more likely to be affected, according to an Australian study.

Airport Metal Detectors Safe for Pacemakers

Metal detector security screening appears safe for people with pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), researchers found.

Linezolid Toxic With Prozac, Other SSRIs, FDA Warns

The FDA has issued an updated statement on the potential for serious central nervous system toxicity when patients taking serotonergic psychiatric drugs are treated with the antibacterial agent linezolid (Zyvox).

HFSA: Controversy Highlighted at Upcoming Meeting

BOSTON -- Much progress has been made in managing heart failure, but there are still some areas of controversy that will be highlighted at the upcoming meeting of the Heart Failure Society of America here.

Clindamycin Works Better for Skin Infections in Kids

For children with skin and soft tissue infections, clindamycin is the antibiotic of choice for empiric treatment, researchers found.

Level of Diastolic Function Predicts Death

The presence of moderate or severe diastolic dysfunction in patients with preserved systolic function independently predicted mortality, a retrospective study determined.

Japan Stops Some Vaccinations After Deaths

Japanese health officials have suspended the use of two pediatric vaccines as a precaution following the deaths of four young children, according to multiple media reports.

Failure High in Needle Aspiration of Skin Abscesses

Ultrasonographically guided needle aspiration -- a minimally invasive treatment for uncomplicated superficial skin abscesses -- has a failure rate of almost three in four, researchers reported.

Cardiologist Who Revealed Echo Errors Out of a Job

MILWAUKEE -- A cardiologist whose research at a national medical meeting revealed that other doctors at her hospital were misreading a substantial number of diagnostic echocardiograms has been fired by that hospital, the Journal Sentinel and 麻豆传媒 have learned.

AHA: Rivaroxaban Scores Win While Omega-3 Flops

CHICAGO -- Good news and not so good news about investigational treatments for atrial fibrillation are featured in this exclusive InFocus video report from the American Heart Association meeting.

Artificial Heart Now Sold Online

The maker of the only FDA-approved temporary total artificial heart has opened an online store to take orders for the device and its accessories.

Giving tPA Late: Risk May Outweigh Benefit

Although beneficial within 4.5 hours of stroke onset, administering recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) beyond that window appears to increase the risk of dying, a pooled analysis of eight clinical trials showed.

Canadian Politician Comes to U.S. for Heart Surgery

The top politician in Canada's easternmost province has set off fireworks by deciding to go to the U.S. for heart surgery.

This Frog Is No Prince

Water frogs appear to be responsible for yet another Salmonella outbreak in the U.S., CDC researchers say.

CT Safety Warnings Follow Radiation Overdose Accident

Reports of stroke patients who were accidentally exposed to eight times the normal radiation dose during diagnostic CT scans at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are prompting safety warnings and soul searching in radiology.

Unmasking the Surgical Mask: Does It Really Work?

For a century, the surgical mask has been the symbol of a safe and sanitary medical environment. The problem is that researchers don't really know if that's true.

ICAAC: Surgical Masks Don't Prevent Infection

SAN FRANCISCO -- Consistent use of N95 respirator masks prevents 75% of respiratory infections for high-risk healthcare workers regardless of whether seal against the skin is confirmed, according to the first randomized clinical trial of their efficacy.

Heavy Daily Drinking Boosts Chances of Lethal Brain Hemorrhage

WHEELING, W.Va. -- Fatal hemorrhagic strokes were more than three times as common in men who had at least six drinks a day, researchers found.

Death of Actress Brings Attention to 'Talk and Die' Syndrome

NEW YORK -- Yesterday's death of stage and screen star Natasha Richardson, two days after a seemingly minor spill on a beginners' ski slope, highlighted the difficulties of recognizing and treating head injuries.

Diastolic Dysfunction Predicts Reduced Exercise Capacity

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Exercise may be good for the heart, but good diastolic function also appears to protect the capacity for exercise, researchers found.

RSNA: Portable CT Scan Saves Time to Save Brain in Stroke Patients

CHICAGO -- Bringing the CT to the stroke patient, rather than the other way round, dramatically reduced door-to-scan time in a community hospital, researchers said here.

MRI Accurate in Screening for Pressure on the Brain

CAMBRIDGE, England -- An MRI scan of the optic nerve sheath may provide an accurate, noninvasive way to screen for raised intracranial pressure, researchers found.

Cardiac Arrest Survivors Can Expect Good Long-term Quality of Life

MARBURG, Germany -- Resuscitated cardiac arrest patients treated in an ICU who leave the hospital without severe neurological disabilities may expect a reasonable quality of life over the next five years, a study found.

Seasonal Flu Starts in Asia and Migrates Throughout World

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Seasonal influenza starts in east and southeast Asia and follows a highly predictable path to infect the rest of the world, researchers here said.

Boxed Heart Failure Warning Added to Two Diabetes Drugs

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The makers of rosiglitazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos), have agreed to add a black box warning to the type 2 diabetes drugs' labels about an increased risk of heart failure, the FDA said today.

AAPA: Obstructive Sleep Apnea Wearies the Heart

PHILADELPHIA -- The most obvious clinical feature of obstructive sleep apnea may be weariness of mind, but this breathing disorder also slowly and silently wears down the heart, according to researchers.

Methamphetamine May Trigger Ischemic Stroke

IRVINE, Calif. -- Methamphetamine users may develop carotid artery dissections, leading to a severe stroke, an effect also seen in cocaine users, according to researchers here.

Heartburn Remedy May Help Treat Heart Failure

SUITA CITY, Japan -- Heart failure patients who added 30 mg of Pepcid (famotidine) to standard therapy significantly improved NYHA functional class and reduced plasma B-type natriuretic peptide levels compared with those given 150 mg of teprenone.

High Blood Pressure Lowers Walking Ability in Elderly

CHICAGO -- High blood pressure appears to impair older patients' ability to walk, and the reason may be more than just peripheral arterial disease.

High-Dose Steroids Linked to Risk of Atrial Fibrillation

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands 芒鈧€� High dose corticosteroid therapy may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, researchers here reported.

Blood Clots Linked to Alzheimer's and Vascular Dementias

MANCHESTER, England 芒鈧€� Spontaneous cerebral blood clots were detected at similar rates in patients with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, suggesting a common pathology and a potentially preventable or treatable cause for some dementias, researchers here said.

ACP: Garlic, Ginseng, Ginkgo Biloba, and Ginger All Bad Actors with Coumadin

PHILADELPHIA - When it comes to adverse events associated with Coumadin (warfarin) therapy, beware of herbs and many supplements beginning with the letter G, according to a University of Washington investigator.

Medicare Will Pay for tPA in Stroke Thrombolysis

WASHINGTON-Medicare is about to announce that beginning in October it will start paying hospitals for use of the thrombolytic drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for treatment of ischemic stroke, according to published reports.

FDA Okays Single Dose Antibiotic for Pneumonia and Sinusitis

NEW YORK-The FDA has approved Zmax (azithromycin extended release) as a single-dose treatment for adults with pneumonia and certain types of acute mild-to-moderate bacterial sinusitis and pneumonia, Pfizer announced yesterday.

Feeding By Tube Is Common with Tracheotomy

CLEVELAND-Patients who require a tracheotomy to help them breathe often have trouble swallowing, which cuts their caloric intake. The solution, say experts, is to supplement regular meals with feeding by a nasogastric tube, which is what doctors treating Pope John Paul II have decided to do.

ACC: LDL Cholesterol of Less than 80 mg/dL Reduces Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

ORLANDO-Cardiologists report that aggressive cholesterol-lowering to new super low target levels of LDL is associated with a 22% reduction in risk of heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest and death from heart disease for patients with stable coronary disease. The reduction to a mean of 77 mg/dL compared with standard cholesterol-lowering therapy that aims to reduce LDL to about 100 mg/dL. In addition, stroke risk was reduced by 25% compared with risk in patients treated to the recommended target of 100 mg/dL.