Irish journal of medical science
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Review
A clinical audit and cost analysis of latent TB management at a tertiary referral centre in Ireland.
It is estimated that 24.8% of the world's population has latent TB. The World Health Organization's (WHO) End TB Strategy states that the systematic identification and management of LTBI in groups of people at high risk of reactivation is an essential part of TB elimination in low-incidence countries. ⋯ Our TB clinic is effective in the assessment and safe management of latent TB in accordance with national guidelines. Interventions for improvement are the creation of referral guidelines and a referral proforma and exploring alternative clinic models.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Evaluation of biochemical and clinical effects of hyaluronic acid on non-surgical periodontal treatment: a randomized controlled trial.
Recent studies reported that hyaluronic acid (HA) has anti-inflammatory, anti-edematous, and anti-bacterial activities in dentistry, particularly in gingival disorders caused by subgingival plaque microorganisms. ⋯ HA application as an adjunct to SRP did not affect the clinical results, although, in the control sessions following the application, the results were favorable for the biochemical data in gel-applied groups.
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Multicenter Study
The use of computed tomography pulmonary angiography in the diagnosis of heart failure in the acute setting.
Heart failure is a clinical diagnosis characterised by non-specific symptoms such as dyspnoea, fatigue and oedema. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate what role computed tomography pulmonary angiography could play in supporting a diagnosis of heart failure when a pulmonary embolism has been excluded. ⋯ Findings on CTPA which included left ventricular enlargement, left atrial enlargement and right ventricular enlargement were shown to be specific for a diagnosis of heart failure. CTPA should be used by physicians awaiting echocardiography to help guide treatment in cases of suspected heart failure.
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In December of 2019, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) updated its recommendations. As occurs regularly with the ICMJE recommendations, this document was edited and tweaked, and thus fortified and verified. ⋯ However, a new clause was introduced: "Authors should avoid citing articles in predatory or pseudo-journals." This is controversial because the precise nature of "predatory" publishing venues, either journals or publishers, is unclear and several parameters used by existing blacklists are unreliable and thus debatable. It is concerning that these edited recommendations were simultaneously published in 13 medical journals.
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Data on vascular patients following amputation in Ireland is lacking, limiting capability to plan services. This paper seeks to benchmark survival and rehabilitation outcomes among vascular patients in Ireland following lower extremity amputation (LEA), and compare subgroups of those undergoing transfemoral (TFA) or transtibial amputation (TTA). ⋯ LEA for vascular pathology has significant morbidity and mortality, with long in-patient stays and short median survival; there is need to focus on improving quality of life in postoperative pathways.