The New England journal of medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Effect of priming with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor on the outcome of chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia.
Sensitization of leukemic cells with hematopoietic growth factors may enhance the cytotoxicity of chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). ⋯ Sensitization of leukemic cells with growth factors is a clinically applicable means of enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy in patients with AML.
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As the need for transplantable organs increases, waiting lists of patients become longer. We studied the size and composition of the national pool of brain-dead organ donors during a three-year period and, on the basis of these data, considered ways to increase the rate of donation. ⋯ Lack of consent to a request for donation was the primary cause of the gap between the number of potential donors and the number of actual donors. Since potential and actual donors are highly concentrated in larger hospitals, resources invested to improve the process of obtaining consent in larger hospitals should maximize the rate of organ recovery. The performance of organ-procurement organizations can be assessed objectively through the comparison of the number of actual donors with the number of potential donors in the given service area.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of low-intensity warfarin therapy with conventional-intensity warfarin therapy for long-term prevention of recurrent venous thromboembolism.
Warfarin is very effective in preventing recurrent venous thromboembolism but is also associated with a substantial risk of bleeding. After three months of conventional warfarin therapy, a lower dose of anticoagulant medication may result in less bleeding and still prevent recurrent venous thromboembolism. ⋯ Conventional-intensity warfarin therapy is more effective than low-intensity warfarin therapy for the long-term prevention of recurrent venous thromboembolism. The low-intensity warfarin regimen does not reduce the risk of clinically important bleeding.