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Biomedical subjects

C Natanson

Publications and source records attributed to C Natanson.

58 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

On-site physician staffing in a community hospital intensive care unit. Impact on test and procedure use and on patient outcome.

To determine whether on-site physician staffing changed test and procedure use and improved patient outcome in a community hospital intensive care unit (ICU), we studied all ICU admissions for matched periods before and after the staffing change. Compared with the 463 year-1 patients, the 491 year-2 patients were no more likely to receive life-support interventions (respirators, dialysis, or pacemakers), but had substantially more monitoring interventions, such as pulmonary artery catheters (22% v 2%, P less than .0001) and arterial catheters (9% v 0%, P less than .0001). After controlling for factors that predicted death (age, mental status at time of admission, reason for ICU admission), year-2 patients were significantly more likely to survive the ICU and subsequent hospital stay (P = .01). Nearly all of the improvement of survival rate took place among patients with intermediate likelihoods of death; this improved survival rate persisted at the 12-month follow-up (P = .01).

Female↗

Persistence of Pneumocystis carinii in lung tissue of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients treated for pneumocystis pneumonia.

Eleven patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) were studied by repeat bronchoscopy during PCP treatment to assess histologic evidence of resolution of the pneumonia. Nine of 10 patients studied after 8 to 21 days of therapy demonstrated evidence of persistent PCP. Four of 6 patients studied after 22 to 35 days of therapy continued to demonstrate Pneumocystis carinii cysts on repeat examination, while only 1 of 4 patients studied after 35 days of therapy showed evidence of PCP pneumonia. The rate of resolution of PCP in patients with AIDS may be different from the rate of resolution of PCP in patients without AIDS. There was no apparent correlation between rate of clinical response and likelihood of histologic resolution on follow-up biopsy. The PCP in patients with AIDS may require more prolonged therapy for complete resolution of this pneumonic process.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Profound but reversible myocardial depression in patients with septic shock.

To characterize the role of cardiac function in septic shock, serial radionuclide cineangiographic and hemodynamic evaluations were done on 20 patients with documented septic shock. Although all patients had a normal or elevated cardiac index, 10 patients had moderate to severe depression of their ejection fraction with values below 0.40. Thirteen of twenty patients survived their episode. Paradoxically, 10 of 13 survivors, but none of the 7 nonsurvivors, had an initial ejection fraction less than 0.40 (p less than 0.005). The mean initial ejection fraction for the survivors was 0.32 +/- 0.04, and their mean end systolic and end diastolic ventricular volumes were substantially increased with a normal stroke volume. The survivors' serial scans showed a gradual return to normal ejection fraction and ventricular volume by 10 days after the onset of shock. Nonsurvivors had normal initial ejection fractions and ventricular volumes that did not change during serial studies.

Adolescent↗