Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Jan 2012
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: an Australian single centre experience with medium term follow up.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) is increasingly recognised in patients presenting with features of acute coronary syndrome. We present a single centre experience of TC with medium term follow up. ⋯ While TC is a reversible condition with low rates of complications and recurrence at follow up it is, as demonstrated in our cohort, associated with significant in-hospital morbidity in a proportion of patients.
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Internal medicine journal · Jan 2012
Clinical TrialSimple approach to improving vancomycin dosing in intensive care: a standardised loading dose results in earlier therapeutic levels.
Patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) often have sub-therapeutic vancomycin levels in the initial stages of therapy. Loading doses have been demonstrated to overcome this problem. ⋯ A standardised loading dose is a simple and sustainable intervention that may improve early achievement of therapeutic vancomycin levels in critically ill patients. The clinical significance of this requires further study.
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Internal medicine journal · Jan 2012
Multicenter StudyTransfer from residential aged care to emergency departments: an analysis of patient outcomes.
In order to design optimal systems to meet the acute healthcare needs of the frail elderly living in residential care, good clinical information is essential. The aims of this study were to analyse the casemix and outcomes of patients transferred from residential aged care facilities to public hospital emergency departments in New South Wales. ⋯ Patients transferred from aged care facilities to emergency departments are predominantly high-acuity patients with a substantial likelihood of hospitalisation, intervention and death. Nevertheless, scope exists for some episodes of acute care, in both discharged and admitted patients, to be provided outside a hospital setting.