Dan Med Bull
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The immune system is suppressed during chemotherapy. This makes diagnosis of severe life-threatening infections more difficult and it also intensifies the clinical course of such infections. Hence, empirical use of broad-spectrum antibiotics is mandatory. We investigated if procalcitonin (PCT) measurement may improve diagnostic accuracy. ⋯ PCT measurement considerably improves biochemical information; however, the sensitivity is too low to safely alter the recommended administration of empirical antibiotics at admission.
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At 2.7% in 1970, the Danish medico-legal autopsy frequency was lower than recent frequencies observed in the Nordic countries (4-24%). The aim of this study was to analyse trends in the number and frequency of Danish medico-legal autopsies. ⋯ Denmark has a lower autopsy frequency than other Nordic countries and this may constitute a problem for quality of death-statistics and research based on autopsy results. If the patterns in medico-legal autopsy frequencies continue, a decrease in the number of medico-legal autopsies is to be expected. As a consequence, education and training of forensic pathologists may be impaired.