JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Multicenter Study
Impact of valve surgery on 6-month mortality in adults with complicated, left-sided native valve endocarditis: a propensity analysis.
Complicated, left-sided native valve endocarditis causes significant morbidity and mortality in adults. The presumed benefits of valve surgery remain unproven due to lack of randomized controlled trials. ⋯ Valve surgery for patients with complicated, left-sided native valve endocarditis was independently associated with reduced 6-month mortality after adjustment for both baseline variables associated with the propensity to undergo valve surgery and baseline variables associated with mortality. The reduced mortality was particularly evident among patients with moderate to severe congestive heart failure.
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Deciding on the appropriate therapy for patients with malignant diseases mandates accurate tumor staging with whole-body coverage. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a combined modality including positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) provide whole-body tumor staging in a single session. ⋯ The feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of the whole-body staging strategies of PET/CT and MRI are established. Superior performance in overall TNM staging suggests the use of [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/CT as a possible first-line modality for whole-body tumor staging.