Medscape Today News

• Anti-Malaria Trial in Tanzanian Children Halted When Combo Therapy Fails The combination of azithromycin and artesunate is ineffective against malaria or acute febrile illness in children who live in African regions where antimalarial drug resistance is prevalent, according to a report in the October 15th Clinical Infectious Diseases.
  Reuters Health Information, November 2009
• Anti-Müllerian Hormone Levels Predict Response to Ovarian Stimulation Circulating basal anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels help predict excessive and poor ovarian response in women undergoing ovarian stimulation with exogenous gonadotrophins for in vitro fertilization, results of a prospective study confirm.
  Reuters Health Information, November 2009
• No Washout Period Needed With Abatacept for TNF-Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis A direct switch to abatacept with no washout period is safe and effective in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with inadequate responses to anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents.
  Reuters Health Information, November 2009
• Bundled Payments a Way to Cut U.S. Health Costs: Study One of the best ways to control U.S. healthcare spending is to pay doctors, hospitals and other health providers a single set fee for treating all aspects of a surgical procedure or a chronic disease such as diabetes, researchers said on Wednesday.
  Reuters Health Information, November 2009
• Hormone Replacement Beneficial in Younger Postmenopausal Women Pooled data from controlled trials involving more than 16,000 women indicate that hormone replacement therapy reduces mortality in younger postmenopausal women, researchers report in the November issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
  Reuters Health Information, November 2009
• Enoxaparin Favored for Heart Valve Patients During Pregnancy Enoxaparin treatment during pregnancy in women with mechanical heart valves prevents valve thrombosis and leads to better fetal outcomes than warfarin, researchers report in the November issue of BJOG.
  Reuters Health Information, November 2009
• Drugs Routinely Given in Labor Reduce Breastfeeding Rates Several drugs often given during labor reduce breastfeeding rates, say researchers from the UK in the November BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
  Reuters Health Information, November 2009
• Perioperative Vision Loss Most Common After Cardiac Surgery or Spinal Fusion Patients undergoing cardiac surgery and spinal fusion are more likely to experience perioperative visual loss (POVL) than are patients undergoing other operations, new research shows. Still, even with these two types of procedures, the absolute risk of POVL is very small.
  Reuters Health Information, November 2009
• Poor Access to Treatment Quadruples Risk for TB in HIV-Positive Patients in Eastern Europe Quadruple Risk for TB in HIV-Positive Patients in Eastern Europe
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Azelastine Plus Fluticasone Nasal Spray Relieves Symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis Nasal and ocular symptoms of moderate to severe seasonal allergic rhinitis were significantly improved with a nasal spray containing both azelastine hydrochloride and fluticasone.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Severity Similar but H1N1 Influenza Activity Is 7-Fold Higher in Fall Than in Spring Transmission and patient age are 2 major differences between H1N1 and seasonal influenza outbreaks in Pennsylvania, according to a new report.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Infectious Disease Treatment Guidelines Weakened By Paucity of Scientific Evidence Only 25% of Infectious Diseases Society of America treatment recommendations are based on top-level evidence, which consists of randomized controlled clinical trials.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Polyglactin Mesh Less Costly Than Aceullar Dermal Allograft for Breast Reconstruction Polyglactin mesh yields similar results in breast reconstruction surgery, at one twelfth the cost.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Management of Diverticular Bleeding Reviewed A review provides clinical recommendations for treating diverticular bleeding in the family practice setting.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Management of Cardiac Rehabilitation Reviewed A review for clinicians provides recommendations for cardiac rehabilitation in the primary care setting.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Serum Phosphorous, Kidney Function Predict CAC High serum phosphorus levels and reduced kidney function at levels considered normal predict coronary artery calcification, which shed light on a nontraditional mechanism for cardiovascular disease.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• FDA Approves Pediatric Use of H1N1 Flu Vaccine CSL Limited has received approval for an expanded indication for its 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, allowing the vaccine's use in children 6 months and older in addition to adults.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Direct Transfer to ICU May Benefit Some Patients Without Major Criteria for Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia A secondary analysis shows that some patients without major consensus guideline criteria for severe community-acquired pneumonia may benefit from direct transfer to the intensive care unit.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Hematuria/Dysuria May Be Inconstant in Children With Recurrent Abdominal Pain/Urolithiasis In children younger than 8 years, abdominal pain is often central or diffuse; additional warning signs of urinary stones are infrequent pain attacks and a family history of urolithiasis.
  Medscape Medical News, November 2009
• Postnatal HIV Transmission Seen After Infant Prophylaxis Stopped HIV virus transmission via breast milk occurred after antiretroviral prophylaxis was stopped, suggesting that infant prophylaxis was only effective while the agents were being administered.
  Reuters Health Information, November 2009