BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Both hemodynamics and aneurysm wall thickness are important parameters in aneurysm pathophysiology. Our aim was to develop a method for semi-quantitative wall thickness assessment on in vivo 7T MR images of intracranial aneurysms for studying the relation between apparent aneurysm wall thickness and wall shear stress. MATERIALS AND METHODS Wall thickness was analyzed in...

BACKGROUND We evaluated the effectiveness of eradication of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage in the Netherlands after the introduction of a guideline in 2006. The guideline distinguishes complicated (defined as the presence of MRSA infection, skin lesions, foreign-body material, mupirocin resistance and/or exclusive extranasal carriage) and uncomplicated carriage (not...

BACKGROUND Delays to intra-arterial therapy (IAT) lead to worse outcomes in stroke patients with proximal occlusions. Little is known regarding the magnitude of, and reasons for, these delays. In a pilot quality improvement (QI) project, we sought to examine and improve our door-puncture times. METHODS AND RESULTS For anterior-circulation stroke patients who underwent IAT, we retrospectively ...

This article presents data from 1354 women from five countries who participated in a prospective cohort study conducted between 2007 and 2010. Women undergoing surgery for fistula repair were interviewed at the time of admission, discharge, and at a 3-month follow-up visit. While women's experiences differed across countries, a similar picture emerges across countries: women married young, most...

OBJECTIVE Mucociliary transport is an important defense mechanism for the airways. The aim of this study was to establish reference values for nasal mucociliary clearance time (MCT) by means of the saccharin test. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A cross-sectional, descriptive, observational study was performed. The variables studied were nasal MCT, age, and sex. We included 249 healthy nonsmokers (134 m...

Few data are available on long-term survival following venous thromboembolism. We performed a retrospective survival analysis covering the period January 1985 to December 2006 in 728 young women (median age 28.7 years; interquartile range 21.6-36.3 years) with a history of venous thromboembolism who visited our clinic between 1985 and 1998. Mortality information was obtained from the Austrian C...

The distribution of norovirus (NoV) genogroup II in children < 5 years of age admitted to a south Indian hospital with diarrhea was investigated. Viral RNA extracted from 282 stool samples were screened for NoV GII and positive amplicons sequenced. Twenty-eight (9.9%) had NoV GII infection with a median age of 6 months, with more severe episodes of diarrhea among infected (median Vesikari score...

OBJECTIVE To characterise the percentage of available outcome data being presented in reports of randomised clinical trials with continuous outcome measures, thereby determining the potential for incomplete reporting bias. DESIGN Descriptive cross sectional study. DATA SOURCES A random sample of 200 randomised trials from issues of 20 medical journals in a variety of specialties during 2007...

BACKGROUND Appendicitis is a common pediatric condition requiring urgent surgical intervention to prevent complications. Pelvic ultrasound (US) as a diagnostic aid has become increasingly common. Despite its advantages, evidence suggests US can lead to delayed definitive management. OBJECTIVE The objective was to test the hypothesis that US is associated with an increased time to appendectomy...

BACKGROUND Epidemiological studies may be subject to selective reporting, but empirical evidence thereof is limited. We empirically evaluated the extent of selection of significant results and large effect sizes in a large sample of recent articles. METHODS AND FINDINGS We evaluated 389 articles of epidemiological studies that reported, in their respective abstracts, at least one relative ris...