Dtsch Arztebl Int
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Pre-hospital hypotension in trauma patients is associated with high mortality. Especially for patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), arterial normotension or even hypertension (AHT) is considered an important mechanism for sustaining adequate cerebral perfusion pressure. The effect of pre-hospital arterial hypertension (pAHT) on in-hospital mortality after trauma has not been studied to date. ⋯ Systolic blood pressure values above 160 mm Hg before arrival in the hospital worsen the outcome of trauma patients with TBI.
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Injection anthrax is a rare disease that affects heroin users and is caused by Bacillus anthracis. In 2012, there were four cases in Germany, one of which was fatal, as well as a small number of cases in other European countries, including Denmark, France, and the United Kingdom. Three cases among drug users occurred in Germany in 2009/2010, in the setting of a larger outbreak centered on Scotland, where there were 119 cases. CASE PRESENTATION AND CLINICAL COURSE: We present three cases of injection anthrax, two of which were treated in Regensburg and one in Berlin. One patient died of multi-organ-system failure on the day of admission to the hospital. The others were treated with antibiotics, one of them also with surgical wound debridement. The laboratory diagnosis of injection anthrax is based on the demonstration of the pathogen, generally by culture and/or by polymerase chain reaction, in material removed directly from the patient's wound. The diagnosis is additionally supported by the detection of specific antibodies. ⋯ Injection anthrax may be viewed either as an independent disease entity or as a special type of cutaneous anthrax with massive edema, necrotizing fasciitis in many cases, and about 30% mortality. It has appeared in recent years among heroin users in various European countries. In patients with suggestive clinical presentation and a history of heroin use, anthrax infection must be suspected early, so that the appropriate diagnostic tests can be performed without delay. Timely treatment can be life-saving. It is therefore important that physicians--and the individuals at risk--should be well-informed about this disease.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
The effect of specialized cancer treatment centers on treatment efficacy in Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The presumed benefits of centralization and minimum case numbers often guide health-policy decisions, but these benefits remain inadequately documented, particularly in oncology. In this study, we aim to measure the effect of the type of treatment center and/or the number of patients treated in it on the outcome of patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma. ⋯ The type of center and the minimum number of patients treated in a center have no impact on the treatment outcome of patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma in Germany. In all GHSG centers, regardless of type, the quality standards for successful treatment are apparently met on all levels of patient care.
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Administrative hospital data can be used to detect trends in the care of patients hospitalized with acute stroke. ⋯ The declining hospitalization rate of elderly patients might reflect the impact of better primary and/or secondary prevention. The findings also reveal a trend toward more specific care for acute stroke, which may be the cause of the observed decline in in-hospital mortality.
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Foreign-body ingestion is a common event most often seen in children from 6 months to 6 years of age. In adults, foreign bodies are usually ingested accidentally together with food. This happens more commonly in persons with certain pathological changes of the gastrointestinal tract. ⋯ Most patients can be treated conservatively by observation alone, but there should be a low threshold for deciding to proceed to endoscopic retrieval. Surgery is reserved for complicated cases.