European journal of internal medicine
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Nov 2008
Letter Case ReportsColonic carcinoma unmasked by dual antiplatelet therapy.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Nov 2008
Prevalence of COPD: first epidemiological study of a large region in Turkey.
Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide, epidemiological data on COPD is very limited. This study was designed to obtain some baseline data on COPD in the Malatya region of Turkey. ⋯ Smoking rate and COPD prevalence were found to be unexpectedly high in the region, and biomass exposure is still an important cause of COPD, particularly among females living in rural areas. We think that national policies against smoking and biomass exposure should be implemented immediately.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Nov 2008
Is it safe to discharge patients from accident and emergency using a rapid point of care Triple Cardiac Marker test to rule out acute coronary syndrome in low to intermediate risk patients presenting with chest pain?
To determine whether patients presenting with chest pain who are at low to intermediate risk for ACS can safely be discharged from Accident and Emergency using Triple Cardiac Marker [TCM] [CK-MB, myoglobin, troponin I] without increasing risk and cost effective use of coronary care facilities. ⋯ Almost one third of patients who presented with chest pain and low to intermediate probability of ACS were safely discharged from A&E following paired negative TCM. Six month re-admission rate with ACS in this group of patients was only 1% with no death. Therefore paired TCM can be used to safely discharge this group of patients. This marker has the potential to significantly reduce hospital admissions.