Wednesday, November 15, 2006

stents dangerous

-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: Endarterectomy versus stenting in patients with symptomatic severe carotid stenosis
Date: 11/13/2006 1:42:12 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: BestEvidence@mp.medscape.com
To: djacobs272@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)


Medscape Best Evidence
Powered by McMaster Plus See Online Archive
Dear Dr. JACOBS,

We hope you enjoy this trial issue of the Medscape Best Evidence Neurology weekly newsletter.

Click here to subscribe today.

Neurology
Article(s) Relevance Newsworthiness
1 Endarterectomy versus stenting in patients with symptomatic severe carotid stenosis.
N Engl J Med. 2006 Oct 19;355(16):1660-71. ******* *******
2 Efficacy and safety of pramipexole in restless legs syndrome.
Neurology. 2006 Sep 26;67(6):1034-9. Epub 2006 Aug 23. ******* *******
3 Efficacy of cabergoline in restless legs syndrome: a placebo-controlled study with polysomnography (CATOR).
Neurology. 2006 Sep 26;67(6):1040-6. Epub 2006 Aug 23. ******* *******
4 Treatment with interferon beta-1b delays conversion to clinically definite and McDonald MS in patients with clinically isolated syndromes.
Neurology. 2006 Oct 10;67(7):1242-9. Epub 2006 Aug 16. ******* *******
5 Effect of donepezil on motor and cognitive function in Huntington disease.
Neurology. 2006 Oct 10;67(7):1268-71. ******* *******
6 Unification of the revised trauma score.
J Trauma. 2006 Sep;61(3):718-22; discussion 722. ******* *******



Medscape Best Evidence, powered by the McMaster Online Rating of Evidence ("MORE") program, vastly improves the signal-to-noise ratio in keeping up to date. By employing filters for research quality and clinical relevance, these alerts can shrink the approximate 50,000 articles per year that appear in more than 110 journals and might be relevant to your clinical practice down to a manageable amount that is likely to be truly important to your clinical practice.

All alerts are pre-assessed for scientific merit (based on the criteria for Evidence-Based Medicine and ACP Journal Club) and qualifying articles are then rated by at least three clinicians in each pertinent discipline for relevance to clinical practice and how new or "newsworthy" the information is likely to be to practicing clinicians.

User Support:
Unsubscribe from this newsletter | Not a Medscape Member?
Forgot your login info? | Need additional support?
To remove your address from all Medscape mailing lists, please write to us at medscapeunsub@webmd.net.
WebMD Medscape
Attn: email newsletters
111 Eighth Avenue, 7th floor
New York, NY 10011

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Prevention of meningococcal disease

Gardner P. NEJM 355: 1466-1473. Clinical Practice section.

N meningitidis colonizes the nasopharyx in 18 % of the population. Transmission is by droplet. Most adults have antibodies to the pathogenic subgroups (A,B,C,Y w-135). Classically infection occurs in crowded conditions, eg. military recruits. Infection occurs within 7-10 days of transmission and can be fatal. Occurrence is 0.5-1.1 per 100,000 population. Case fatality rate is 10 %. Sequelae occur in 11-19 % due to neurologic effects or DIC residua. 62 % occur in kids < 11. Other risk factors include crowding, RTI, active and passive smoking, asplenia, terminal complement deficiency. Travel to endemic areas such as Saudi Arabia or sub Saharan Africa also are risk factors. In year one of college rate is 5.1/100,000 but by year two its 1.4 or almost normal.

Chemoprophylaxs of close contacts: "Close contacts" are defined as people in 3 foot range (droplet range) or exposure through oral secretions including ventilatory tubing. For adults chemoprophylaxis is Copro 500 mg once, rifampin 600 q 12 for two days, or ceftriaxone 125 mg im onc if <15, 250 mg im once if older than 15. Chemoprophylaxis is indicated for vaccinated since vaccine does not cover all strains. Chemoprophylaxis should be undertaken within 24 hours.

Vaccines cover strains A,C, Y W-135 but not B. Two vaccines exist. Number one , Menomune (Sanofi) lasts 3 years and is good for travellers, people with limited risk (army recruits, college kids). Second one Menactra (also Sanofi) just released last two years, is more durable (lasts longer) and revaccination results in booster response. There is a warning on Menactra about GBS but it is not clear the 8 cases were more than would be expected in the population.