THERAPEUTICS

▸ Review: Prophylactic acetylcysteine reduces contrast nephropathy in chronic renal insufficiency


▸ Review: Catechol O-methyl transferase inhibitors plus L-dopa and some surgical interventions improve Parkinson disease symptoms


▸ Review: More frequent compared with less frequent chest radiographic screening may increase lung cancer mortality


▸ Review: Prophylactic use of β-carotene may increase the risk for all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death


▸ High- and moderate-intensity warfarin regimens did not differ for preventing thrombosis in antiphospholipid antibody syndrome


▸ Review: Communication of individualized risk estimates improves uptake of screening procedures


▸ Perindopril reduced cardiac events in stable coronary artery disease


▸ Noninvasive ventilation reduced duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay more than conventional weaning


▸ Clarithromycin, lansoprazole, and metronidazole eradicated H. pylori infection in chronic renal insufficiency


▸ Conventional-intensity was more effective than low-intensity warfarin therapy for preventing recurrent venous thromboembolism


▸ Prolonged antithrombotic pretreatment increased risk for MI or death in unstable coronary syndromes


▸ Ethics consultation reduced hospital, ICU, and ventilation days for ICU patients who died before hospital discharge


▸ Dietary supplements containing red clover extracts were no better than placebo for hot flashes in menopause


PROGNOSIS

▸ Review: High initial pain intensity is associated with persisting symptoms after whiplash


▸ D-dimer levels < 250 ng/mL after oral anticoagulation predicted a low risk for recurrent venous thromboembolism


QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

▸ Review: Ordering medications by computer can reduce medication errors


CLINICAL PREDICTION GUIDE

▸ Platelet count/spleen diameter ratio predicted the presence of esophageal varices in liver cirrhosis