Chang Gung medical journal
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This study attempted to determine the clinical manifestations and influential factors affecting the prognosis of patients with community-acquired and nosocomial bacteremia of Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae). ⋯ Patients with community-acquired and nosocomial bacteremia had different types of underlying diseases. Isolates from nosocomial infections were significantly more frequently resistant to aminoglycosides, antipseudomonal penicillin, and all three generations of cephalosporins. In this regard, an aggressive empirical therapeutic approach to infections of K. pneumoniae is suggested.
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How to optimally treat deep sternal wound infection after open wound infection remains controversial. Biomaterial advances have made local antibiotics-releasing systems a promising alternative for treating deep sternal wound infection. Two patients with deep sternal wound complications were treated with radical wound debridement, sternal refixation, retrosternal suction drainage, bilateral pectoralis major muscle flaps and placement of collagenous drug carriers loaded with vancomycin underneath, above and between the sternal edges. ⋯ There were no side effects, treatment failures or deaths after adjuvant treatment with collagenous vancomycin. Preliminary results of these 2 case studies demonstrate the feasibility of successfully treating deep sternal wound infections with collagenous vancomycin in combination with surgical debridement. This technique is easily performed, reliable and safe.
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Comparative Study
Clinical presentations of elderly patients at emergency departments: a comparison between a medical center and a community hospital.
The utilization of emergency services is expected to increase in parallel with an increase of the elderly population. This article compares the elderly patient Emergency Department (ED) utilization at a 3500-bed medical center with that of a 600-bed community hospital serviced by the same group of emergency physicians. ⋯ Significant differences reflected the different roles between the Linkou and Keelung CGMH EDs. Hospital EDs should be prepared to adapt to meet the needs of the elderly based on their roles in the medical care system, at the elderly population grows in the 21st century.
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Case Reports
Paradoxical cerebral air embolism after removal of a central venous catheter: case report.
Paradoxical cerebral air embolization through a residual tract after the removal of a central venous catheter is a serious complication of central venous cannulation. Air embolisms resulting from residual catheter tracts in general patients and in single lung transplant patients have been reported. The generally accepted mechanism of this complication is failure of a spontaneous collapse or thrombotic obliteration of a well-formed catheter tract. ⋯ In this article, we report on cerebral air embolization as a complication with the removal with a central venous catheter in a patient with bullous emphysema. A high degree of suspicion and a prompt diagnosis are required for successful application of established therapy. Simple prophylactic procedures and constant awareness of the unusual mechanism of air embolism remain the best treatment.
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Hunter syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis, type II; MPS II) is one of a heterogeneous group of recessively inherited mucopolysaccharide storage diseases. Patients with mucopolysaccharidosis show progressive involvement and derangement of many organs, especially upper airway anomalies, which are the major cause of perioperative death. In recent years, a CO2 laser is often applied to upper airway lesions. ⋯ Otolaryngological examination revealed bulging of the bilateral false cord with stenosis of the glottis. We adopted sevoflurane mask induction and high-frequency jet ventilation to overcome the perioperative airway problems. The anesthetic course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged 2 days after the operation.