Medicine
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Review Case Reports
Campylobacter Fetus Meningitis in Adults: Report of 2 Cases and Review of the Literature.
The zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter fetus is a rare cause of bacterial meningitis. Little is known about the clinical characteristics, predisposing factors and outcome of C fetus meningitis in adults. We report cases of C fetus meningitis in a nationwide cohort study of adult bacterial meningitis patients in the Netherlands and performed a review of the literature. ⋯ C fetus is a rare cause of bacterial meningitis and is associated with an immunocompromised state. Based on the apparent slow clinical response seen in this limited number of cases, the authors of this study recommend a prolonged course of antimicrobial therapy when C fetus is identified as a causative agent of bacterial meningitis. Cases appeared to do best with carbapenem therapy.
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Review Case Reports
Small-Cell Lung Cancer Transformation in Patients With Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report and Review of Literature.
Despite the demonstrated benefit from epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) based therapies, EGFR mutant lung adenocarcinoma will eventually acquire drug resistance. Transformation to small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is considered to be a rare resistance mechanism of EGFR-TKI therapy. We describe a case of a 46-year-old man presenting with refractory cough. ⋯ However, despite the brief success of chemotherapy, our patient died of aggressive cancer progression and complications of chemotherapy. Our case highlights the importance of rebiopsy when managing drug resistance and presents a possible origin of the transformed cells. We also summarize the clinical characteristics of cases involving transformed SCLC from previous studies and discuss whether it could be a new subtype of SCLC.
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Stent fracture is an uncommon complication of drug-eluting stent implantation, but it has a clinical significance because of its potential association with adverse cardiac events such as in-stent restenosis, target lesion revascularization, and stent thrombosis. Multiple stent fractures account for a small proportion, but they may lead to more serious complications. ⋯ We report a case of 25-year-old male who presented with acute myocardial infarction caused by multiple stent fractures after everolimus-eluting stents implantation and was treated by balloon angioplasty. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of multiple stent fractures even after newer generation drug-eluting stent implantation.
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Review
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatment Options for Otitis Media: A Systematic Review.
Otitis media (OM) has numerous presentations in children. Together with conventional medical therapies aimed to prevent and/or treat OM, a rising number of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatment options can be offered. Since OM is common in children, parents may ask healthcare professionals about possible CAM therapies. ⋯ The therapeutic approaches commonly associated with CAM are usually conservative, and do not include drugs or surgery. Currently, CAM is not considered by physicians a potential treatment of OM, as there is limited supporting evidence. Further studies are warranted in order to evaluate the potential value of CAM therapies for OM.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
The Impact of Emergency Physician Seniority on Clinical Efficiency, Emergency Department Resource Use, Patient Outcomes, and Disposition Accuracy.
The ability of emergency physicians (EPs) to continue within the specialty has been called into question due to high stress in emergency departments (EDs). The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of EP seniority on clinical performance. A retrospective, 1-year cohort study was conducted across 3 EDs in the largest health-care system in Taiwan. ⋯ Senior EPs tended to order fewer electrocardiograms, radiographs, and computed tomography scans in nonurgent patients. Adjusting for age, sex, disease acuity, and medical setting, patients treated by junior and intermediate EPs had higher mortality in the ED (adjusted odd ratios, 1.5 and 1.6, respectively). Compared with EPs with ≤10 years of work experience, senior EPs take more time for order prescription and patient disposition, use fewer diagnostic investigations, particularly for nonurgent patients, and are associated with a lower ED mortality rate.