Ventricular septal rupture (VSR) is a rare but devastating complication after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). While the incidence has decreased, the mortality rate from VSR has remained extremely high. The use of mechanical circulatory support with intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) and extracorporal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) may be useful in providing hemodynamic stability and time for myoc...

As a major proportion of antibacterials used in hospital practice are for surgical prophylaxis, an audit of practice in relation to antibacterial prophylaxis in general surgery was undertaken over a four week period in a teaching hospital to assess the extent to which principles governing surgical antibacterial prophylaxis were practised and to provide a feedback to the clinicians. The extent o...

Timely administration of appropriate antibiotics preoperatively can decrease the incidence of surgical site infection. We evaluated compliance with quality indicators in the delivery of antimicrobial surgical prophylaxis at The Ottawa Hospital and assessed the impact of a change to the hospital's Surgical Prophylaxis Policy. An audit in 2002 revealed improvement was necessary in the timing of p...

The cardiac manifestations of a neuroendocrine tumour are referred to as carcinoid heart disease (CaHD) and are associated with a poor prognosis. Surgical intervention is the only proven therapeutic option and may prolong survival and quality of life. No consensus has been reached internationally with regard to screening for CaHD and the optimal timing for surgery. Although limited evidence is ...

Objectives: Empyema thoracis is a common thoracic disease seen in both developing and developed countries. Despite modern management techniques, this condition is still associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has become an established mode of treatment for this condition; however the first-line approach and timing of surgical intervention...

Process variation is becoming a primal concern in timing closure of LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit) with the progress of process technology scaling. To overcome this problem, SSTA (Statistical Static Timing Analysis) has been intensively studied since it is expected to be one of the most efficient ways for performance estimation. In this paper, we study variation of output transition-time....