2011 Sep 17 - Management of an acute outbreak of diarrhoea-associated haemolytic uraemic syndrome with early plasma exchange in adults from southern Denmark: an observational study
Background
Diarrhoea-associated haemolytic uraemic syndrome in adults is a life-threatening, but rare multisystem disorder that is characterised by acute haemolytic anaemia, thrombocytopenia, and renal insufficiency. We aimed to assess the success of management of this disorder with plasma exchange therapy.
2011 Sep 5 - Treatment of severe neurological deficits with IgG depletion through immunoadsorption in patients with Escherichia coli O104:H4-associated haemolytic uraemic syndrome: a prospective trial
Background
In May 2011, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing enterohaemorrhagic E coli O104:H4 in northern Germany led to a high proportion of patients developing post-enteritis haemolytic uraemic syndrome and thrombotic microangiopathy that were unresponsive to therapeutic plasma exchange or complement-blocking antibody (eculizumab). Some patients needed ventilatory support due to severe neurological complications, which arose 1 week after onset of enteritis, suggesting an antibody-mediated mechanism. Therefore, we aimed to assess immunoadsorption as rescue therapy.
2011 Aug 20 - Intravenous enoxaparin or unfractionated heparin in primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation myocardial infarction: the international randomised open-label ATOLL trial
Background
Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction has traditionally been supported by unfractionated heparin, which has never been directly compared with a new anticoagulant using consistent anticoagulation and similar antiplatelet strategies in both groups. We compared traditional heparin treatment with intravenous enoxaparin in primary PCI.
2011 Jul 25 - Lancet Comment: Tigecycline - benefits and risks
“Antimicrobial resistance: no action today, no cure tomorrow”, the theme for World Health Day 2011, shows the helplessness of the human predicament. Thus, any new antibiotics effective against strains resistant to existing drugs would gain worldwide attention. Tigecycline is one such antibiotic, with efficacy against many multidrug-resistant pathogens widely reported.
2011 Jul 25 - Efficacy and safety of tigecycline for the treatment of infectious diseases: a meta-analysis
Background
Multidrug resistance among bacteria increases the need for new antimicrobial drugs with high potency and stability. Tigecycline is one candidate drug, and a previous meta-analysis of only published randomised controlled trials suggested that it might as effective as comparator treatments; we did a meta-analysis to include new and unpublished trials to assess its efficacy for the treatment of adult patients with serious bacterial infection.
2011 Jul 27 - Lancet Comment: Ventilator-associated pneumonia: are we winning the war?
Patients in intensive care units are at high risk for nosocomial infections because they are the most critically ill, might be receiving immunosuppressive drugs, and are often monitored invasively with tube insertion. Mortality, morbidity, and cost are increased with ventilator-associated pneumonia. 1 Findings from studies of both single and combination interventions for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia have shown a reduction in disease incidence. 1 , 2
2011 Jul 27 - Prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia with oral antiseptics: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background
We did a systematic review and random effects meta-analysis of randomised trials to assess the effect of oral care with chlorhexidine or povidone-iodine on the prevalence of ventilator-associated pneumonia versus oral care without these antiseptics in adults.
2011 Aug - Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with a novel mecA homologue in human and bovine populations in the UK and Denmark: a descriptive study
Background
Animals can act as a reservoir and source for the emergence of novel meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones in human beings. Here, we report the discovery of a strain of S aureus (LGA251) isolated from bulk milk that was phenotypically resistant to meticillin but tested negative for the mecA gene and a preliminary investigation of the extent to which such strains are present in bovine and human populations.
2011 Jun 23 - Escherichia coli O104, Germany 2011
In The Lancet Infectious Diseases , Helge Karch and colleagues 1 characterise the virulence profiles of E coli O104:H4 isolates from 80 patients in the large outbreak in Germany.
2011 Jun 23 - Characterisation of the Escherichia coli strain associated with an outbreak of haemolytic uraemic syndrome in Germany, 2011: a microbiological study
Background
In an ongoing outbreak of haemolytic uraemic syndrome and bloody diarrhoea caused by a virulent Escherichia coli strain O104:H4 in Germany (with some cases elsewhere in Europe and North America), 810 cases of the syndrome and 39 deaths have occurred since the beginning of May, 2011. We analysed virulence profiles and relevant phenotypes of outbreak isolates recovered in our laboratory.
2011 Jun 1 - Lancet Comment: Glucocorticoid treatment in community-acquired pneumonia
Community-acquired pneumonia is a major public health problem. While mortality decreased sharply after the introduction of antibiotics in the 1940s, since 1950 the overall acute (hospital) mortality has either remained stable or increased. 1 Equally concerning, after clinical resolution of pneumonia, patients discharged from hospital have—after adjusting for age and comorbidities—a substantial, continuing excess mortality. 2 Despite concern about immunosuppression, glucocorticoid treatment in low-to ...
2011 Jun 1 - Dexamethasone and length of hospital stay in patients with community-acquired pneumonia: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Background
Whether addition of corticosteroids to antibiotic treatment benefits patients with community-acquired pneumonia who are not in intensive care units is unclear. We aimed to assess effect of addition of dexamethasone on length of stay in this group, which might result in earlier resolution of pneumonia through dampening of systemic inflammation.
2011 Apr 23 - Radial versus femoral access for coronary angiography and intervention in patients with acute coronary syndromes (RIVAL): a randomised, parallel group, multicentre trial
Background
Small trials have suggested that radial access for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) reduces vascular complications and bleeding compared with femoral access. We aimed to assess whether radial access was superior to femoral access in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) who were undergoing coronary angiography with possible intervention.
2011 Mar 21 - Selective digestive tract decontamination and selective oropharyngeal decontamination and antibiotic resistance in patients in intensive-care units: an open-label, clustered group-randomised, crossover study
Background
Previously, we assessed selective digestive tract decontamination (SDD) and selective oropharyngeal decontamination (SOD) on survival and prevention of bacteraemia in patients in intensive-care units. In this analysis, we aimed to assess effectiveness of these interventions for prevention of respiratory tract colonisation and bacteraemia with highly resistant microorganisms acquired in intensive-care units.
2011 Apr 7 - Society's failure to protect a precious resource: antibiotics
Since their discovery last century, antibiotics have served society well by saving tens of millions of lives. Too many individuals—including illustrious composers and writers such as Schubert, Mahler, Mozart, and Wilde—died prematurely in the pre-antibiotic era from bacterial infections that are now treatable.
2011 Mar 23 - Viral pneumonia
About 200 million cases of viral community-acquired pneumonia occur every year—100 million in children and 100 million in adults. Molecular diagnostic tests have greatly increased our understanding of the role of viruses in pneumonia, and findings indicate that the incidence of viral pneumonia has been underestimated. In children, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus, human bocavirus, and parainfluenza viruses are the agents identified most frequently in both developed and developing countries.
2011 Mar - Guidelines for hospital-acquired pneumonia and health-care-associated pneumonia: a vulnerability, a pitfall, and a fatal flaw
The 2005 American Thoracic Society and Infectious Disease Society of America's guidelines for pneumonia introduced the new category of health-care-associated pneumonia, which increased the number of people to whom the guidelines for multidrug-resistant pathogens applied.
2011 Mar - Clinical management of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia
Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is one of the most common serious bacterial infections worldwide. In the UK alone, around 12 500 cases each year are reported, with an associated mortality of about 30%, yet the evidence guiding optimum management is poor. To date, fewer than 1500 patients with S aureus bacteraemia have been recruited to 16 controlled trials of antimicrobial therapy.
2011 Feb 11 - Lowering blood pressure in acute stroke: the SCAST trial
In The Lancet , Else Sandset and colleagues 1 report the results of the Scandinavian Candesartan Acute Stroke Trial (SCAST), in which they aimed to find out whether careful lowering of blood pressure, with the angiotensin-receptor blocker candesartan, would be beneficial in patients with acute ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke.
2011 Feb 11 - The angiotensin-receptor blocker candesartan for treatment of acute stroke (SCAST): a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial
Background
Raised blood pressure is common in acute stroke, and is associated with an increased risk of poor outcomes. We aimed to examine whether careful blood-pressure lowering treatment with the angiotensin-receptor blocker candesartan is beneficial in patients with acute stroke and raised blood pressure.