The Medical journal of Australia
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The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in people aged over 55 years is 10%-25% and increases with age; 70%-80% of affected individuals are asymptomatic; only a minority ever require revascularisation or amputation. Patients with PAD alone have the same relative risk of death from cardiovascular causes as those with coronary or cerebrovascular disease, and are four times more likely to die within 10 years than patients without the disease. The ankle-brachial pressure index (ABPI) is a simple, non-invasive bedside tool for diagnosing PAD - an ABPI less than 0.9 is considered diagnostic of PAD. ⋯ The ABPI is an independent predictor of coronary and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality. Patients with PAD require medical management to prevent future coronary and cerebral vascular events. There are currently insufficient data to recommend routine population screening for asymptomatic PAD using the ABPI.
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Review
Mobile phone interference with medical equipment and its clinical relevance: a systematic review.
To conduct a systematic review of studies on clinically relevant digital mobile phone electromagnetic interference with medical equipment. ⋯ Although testing was not standardised between studies and equipment tested was not identical, it is of concern that at least 4% of devices tested in any study were susceptible to clinically relevant EMI. All studies recommend some type of restriction of mobile phone use in hospitals, with use greater than 1 m from equipment and restrictions in clinical areas being the most common.