NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The sensitivity of currently available PCR-based assays for diagnosing sepsis in newborns is not yet high enough to replace microbial cultures, according to the results of a meta-analysis reported in Pediatrics for October. “However, molecular assays have a faster turnaround...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Direct stent implantation without balloon dilatation can be safely performed in some patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevated MI (STEMI), and the strategy may improve outcomes, according to a report in the American Journal of Cardiology...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – While fluoroquinolones may be a preferred option in children in some clinical situations, concerns about safety persist and physicians should be aware of potential adverse reactions, according to a review by the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Pretreatment with a 600-mg versus a standard 300-mg loading dose of clopidogrel in the setting of urgent percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevated MI (STEMI) is associated with smaller infarct size and other benefits, according to a multicenter European...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In two Policy Statements published in the October issue of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics reiterates the need for all children in the US to be fully immunized against poliovirus, and amends cautions regarding Tdap vaccination. The AAP Committee on Infectious...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The risk of serious falls among elderly patients taking oxybutynin or tolterodine for urinary incontinence is similar, but oxybutynin may increase the risk of hospitalization or death, researchers report in the October issue of The Journal of Urology. The anticholinergic...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) do not appear to be at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, Norwegian researchers report in a September 12th on-line paper in Circulation. “The bottom line,” Dr. Per Ole Iversen told Reuters Health by email,...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women with pure menstrual migraines without aura will experience greater symptom relief with a combined oral contraceptive (COC) regimen that includes four placebo pills per cycle, rather than the standard seven, new research shows. “The use of a 24/4 regimen, with a shortened...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Thrombosis occurs in about one in 10 children undergoing cardiac surgery cases, with serious complications in over a quarter of those cases, a Canadian group has shown. “This study establishes thrombosis in the context of pediatric cardiac surgery as an important clinical...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – An observational study conducted in the Netherlands finds that unexplained acute pancreatitis is often associated with drugs that can cause the condition, but the relationship is not always recognized. “Physicians should be more aware of the possibility of drug-induced...