Swiss medical weekly
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Swiss medical weekly · Jan 2011
Strengths and weaknesses of chest compression training: a preliminary retrospective study.
High quality chest compression is one of the key factors in successful resuscitation. A high standard of training is therefore decisive. We aimed to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of teaching chest compression in a study designed to highlight where targeted improvements in the quality of our chest compression training can and must be made. ⋯ Chest compression training showed weakness for four out of five variables. Only the end results for compression depth were satisfactory. The deficits observed in the training on chest compression were relevant and must be remedied. One possibility would be initial step-by-step training and assessment of each component of chest compression, concentrating in particular on hand positioning and compression/decompression ratio.
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Statins inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis. Their main effect is a decrease in circulating levels of LDL cholesterol, which translates into a ~ 20% relative reduction of major vascular events and coronary mortality per mmol/L LDL reduction achieved. Statins are efficient in preventing first cardiovascular events, but the cost-efficiency of primary prevention remains controversial. ⋯ Despite recent evidence that statin treatment is associated with a small risk of incident diabetes mellitus, this disadvantage is outweighed by the vascular benefits. Statins have pleiotropic effects, such as anti-inflammatory properties. It is still debated to what extent these effects translate into cardiovascular risk reduction beyond that conferred by LDL reduction.
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Swiss medical weekly · Jan 2011
An evaluation of the RIFLE criteria for acute kidney injury after myeloablative allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Patients undergoing myeloablative allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) have a higher incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI). RIFLE is a newly developed classification for AKI that includes three grades of severity - AKI-R, AKI-I, AKI-F. ⋯ AKI is common in patients with myeloablative allo-HSCT and is associated with increased risk of death. The RIFLE criteria appear to be an important tool for stratification of these patients on the basis of death risk.
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Swiss medical weekly · Jan 2011
Persistent dyslipidemia in statin-treated patients: the focus on comprehensive lipid management survey in Swiss patients.
Statin therapy reduces cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, a substantial residual cardiovascular risk can be observed in patients receiving this therapy due to persisting lipid abnormalities as well as to the lack of a systematic global risk-reduction strategy. The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of dyslipidemia in a cohort of patients living in Switzerland and receiving statin therapy. ⋯ Persistent dyslipidemia is a reality in statin-treated patients and may contribute to their residual cardiovascular risk. Therefore, comprehensive lipid management should be preferred to aggressive LDL-C lowering alone. Moreover, strategies to assess and modify the global cardiovascular risk of patients should be taken into account as an important component of primary and secondary prevention.
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Swiss medical weekly · Jan 2011
Low-dose recombinant factor VIIa for massive bleeding: a single centre observational cohort study with 73 patients.
recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) is used off-label for massive bleeding. There is no convincing evidence of the benefits of this practice and the minimal effective dose is unknown. The aim of the study was to evaluate our in-house guideline recommending a low dose of 60 μg/kg for off-label use of rFVIIa. ⋯ a single injection of 60 μg/kg rFVIIa, a lower dose than usually recommended, appears to be efficacious in controlling massive bleeding with a very low complication rate.