Heart : official journal of the British Cardiac Society
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Comparative Study
Long term follow up of prosthetic valve endocarditis: what characteristics identify patients who were treated successfully with antibiotics alone?
To identify predictors for the safe use of antibiotic treatment without reoperation in patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis. ⋯ Haemodynamically stable patients with non-staphylococcal prosthetic valve endocarditis who are carefully supervised can be treated with antibiotics alone without an increased rate of reinfection, reoperation, or death.
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To test the effect of a physician staffed advanced cardiac life support (ALS) system on patient outcome following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. ⋯ A two tier BLS and physician staffed ALS system is associated with good long term outcome of patients suffering from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac aetiology in a midsized urban/suburban area. Further studies, however, are required to assess whether having a physician in the ALS unit is an independent determinant for improved long term outcome.
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To evaluate the use of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), creatine kinase-MB(mass) (CK-MB(mass)), myosin light chain 1 (MLC 1), and myoglobin in identifying "high risk" patients with chest pain who will experience serious cardiac events (SCEs) in hospital. ⋯ Patients with high risk clinical features on admission who have negative cTnI and CK-MB(mass) concentrations at 0, 4, and 8 hours later have a favourable in-hospital prognosis and could be considered for early triage out of coronary care units.