OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of the Veress needle puncture in the left hypochondrium and the accuracy of the tests described for the intraperitoneal correct positioning of the tip of the Veress needle in an unselected population. METHODS Ninetyone patients consecutively scheduled for Videolaparoscopy had the abdominal wall punctured in the left hypochondrium. There were no exclusion ...

BACKGROUND The lack of patient triggering capability during negative pressure ventilation (NPV) may contribute to poor patient synchrony and induction of upper airway collapse. This study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of a microprocessor based iron lung capable of thermistor triggering. METHODS The effects of NPV with thermistor triggering were studied in four normal subjects and...

Corresponding Author: Al-Ashhab Mohamed Sayed Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Islamic Architecture, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia Email: [email protected] Abstract: As the importance of forward-reverse logistics increases, attention will be focused on parameters which affect Net Present Value (NPV) of the whole system, aiming at considering th...

BACKGROUND The clinical implications of a negative multiplane transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) have not yet been reported. We aim to determine the negative predictive value (NPV) of a negative multiplane TEE in patients with suspected infective endocarditis (IE). METHODS AND RESULTS We identified 83 consecutive patients with suspected IE and negative multiplane TEE from our echocardiogr...

BACKGROUND Early biomarkers are helpful for predicting clinical endpoints and for evaluating efficacy in clinical trials even if the biomarker cannot replace clinical outcome as a surrogate. The building and evaluation of an association model between biomarkers and clinical outcomes are two equally important concerns regarding the prediction of clinical outcome. This paper is to address both is...

OBJECTIVE To determine the value of positron emission tomography (PET) with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) in assessing the need for neck dissection by retrospectively reviewing the pathology reports of patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Tertiary medical center. PATIENTS Se...