The effect of bretylium tosylate (BT) was determined in 27 consecutive cases of resistant ventricular fibrillation (VF) encountered by a hospital cardiac arrest team. The VF was sustained and completely resistant to multiple injections of lidocaine, sequential DC shocks at 400 watt-sec and one or a combination of intravenous propranolol, diphenylhydantoin or procainamide. Following 30 min of su...

BACKGROUND The related literatures revealed that there is a lack of effective patient/family education in the health care centers. Several studies indicate that patients, while getting discharged from hospitals, receive insufficient information about their illness and self-care. AIMS The purpose of the study was to explore the factors influencing patient education from the perspectives of nur...

BACKGROUND Inconsistent results have been reported on the effect of massage therapy on the blood cortisol levels. Also, no study is available about the effect of massage done by patient's companions on the level of blood cortisol in patients hospitalized at CCU. OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of whole body massage performed by patient's companion on the level of bloo...

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to analyze the most recent trends in myocardial infarction (MI) care, the number of patients treated for MI and their outcomes, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and pain-to-hospital times in MI patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS For 778 patients treated for acute MI at the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of University Hospital Split, Croatia the following data wer...

BACKGROUND Inflammation is an important component of ischemic heart disease. PTX3 is a long pentraxin whose expression is induced by cytokines in endothelial cells, mononuclear phagocytes, and myocardium. The possibility that PTX3 is altered in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has not yet been tested. METHODS AND RESULTS Blood samples were collected from 37 patients admitted to...

In a prospective randomized open trial with 30-day follow-up, we compared a troponin-I-based protocol to 'standard management' for the diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with acute non-ST-elevation chest pain. Patients with acute chest pain (n=400) were randomized to standard diagnostic tests and management, or a protocol based on the admission ECG and the troponin-I result 6 h after...

By means of ambulance records, the current state of medical services for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was investigated in Chiba City and Ichihara City, Japan. From all patients transported by ambulance personnel in 1992 (n=31,191), 388 patients who were admitted within 2 weeks after the onset were studied. Types of admitting institution, diagnoses, medical treatments and p...

Two toxic-unit models that estimate the toxicity of trace-metal mixtures to benthic communities were compared. The chronic criterion accumulation ratio (CCAR), a modification of biotic ligand model (BLM) outputs for use as a toxic-unit model, accounts for the modifying and competitive influences of major cations (Ca²(+), Mg²(+), Na(+), K(+), H(+)), anions (HCO₃⁻, CO²⁻₃ ,SO²⁻₄, Cl⁻, S²⁻) and dis...

Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) can lead to increased toxicity or reduction in therapeutic efficacy. This study was designed to assess the incidence of potential drug interactions (PDI) and rank their clinical value in post coronary care unit (Post-CCU) of a teaching hospital in Tehran, Iran.In this prospective study, three pharmacists with supervision of a clinical pharmacist actively gathered n...

Patients admitted to the cardiac care unit (CCU) are prone to functional degradation and disability due to prolonged hospitalization and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the activities of daily living (ADLs) after discharge from CCU. This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 180 subjects selected through convenience sampling from the patients admitted t...