The American journal of medicine
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To examine the relation between follow-up office visits after emergency discharge and the risk of emergency readmissions in patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). ⋯ Although these data should be interpreted with caution because of missing information on factors such as quality of care, they suggest that follow-up office visits are effective in reducing early relapses in patients who have been recently treated in emergency departments for asthma or COPD.
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Long-term continuous intrathecal infusion of medications for chronic medical problems is common. We investigated the cause of a cluster of severe neurologic complications in patients with intrathecal catheters. ⋯ A variety of severe neurologic complications was associated with inadvertent administration of methadone, and perhaps other unintended substances, by means of implanted intrathecal catheters to a group of patients. Medical errors in an outpatient pharmacy led to this outbreak.
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Biography Historical Article Classical Article
An epidemic of inhalation anthrax, the first in the twentieth century: I. Clinical features. 1960.
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The long QT syndrome is characterized by prolongation of the corrected QT (QTc) interval on the surface electrocardiogram. It is associated with precipitation of a polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, torsade de pointes, which may cause sudden death. The syndrome is a disorder of cardiac repolarization caused by the alterations in the transmembrane potassium and sodium currents. ⋯ Short-term treatment is aimed at preventing the recurrences of torsade de pointes and includes intravenous magnesium and potassium administration, temporary cardiac pacing, and correction of electrolyte imbalance; rarely, intravenous isoproterenol is indicated. Long-term management includes use of beta-blockers, permanent pacemaker placement, and cardioverter-defibrillator implantation. Asymptomatic patients are treated if under the age of 40 years at the time of diagnosis.