Association Between Minimum Inhibitory Concentration, Beta-lactamase Genes and Mortality for Patients Treated With Piperacillin/Tazobactam or Meropenem From the MERINO Study.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to assess the association of piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and beta-lactam resistance genes with mortality in the MERINO trial. METHODS: Blood culture isolates from enrolled patients were tested by broth microdilution and whole genome sequencing at a central laboratory. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to account for confounders. Absolute risk increase for 30-day mortality between treatment groups was calculated for the primary analysis (PA) and the microbiologic assessable (MA) populations. RESULTS: In total, 320 isolates from 379 enrolled patients were available with susceptibility to piperacillin/tazobactam 94% and meropenem 100%. The piperacillin/tazobactam nonsusceptible breakpoint (MIC >16 mg/L) best predicted 30-day mortality after accounting for confounders (odds ratio 14.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.8-87.2). The absolute risk increase for 30-day mortality for patients treated with piperacillin/tazobactam compared with meropenem was 9% (95% CI 3%-15%) and 8% (95% CI 2%-15%) for the original PA population and the post hoc MA populations, which reduced to 5% (95% CI -1% to 10%) after excluding strains with piperacillin/tazobactam MIC values >16 mg/L. Isolates coharboring extended spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL) and OXA-1 genes were associated with elevated piperacillin/tazobactam MICs and the highest risk increase in 30-day mortality of 14% (95% CI 2%-28%). CONCLUSIONS: After excluding nonsusceptible strains, the 30-day mortality difference from the MERINO trial was less pronounced for piperacillin/tazobactam. Poor reliability in susceptibility testing performance for piperacillin/tazobactam and the high prevalence of OXA coharboring ESBLs suggests that meropenem remains the preferred choice for definitive treatment of ceftriaxone nonsusceptible Escherichia coli and Klebsiella.

A Survey on the Choice of Transportation to come to Emergency Department among Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome of A Community in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Good coronary care begins from the patient's home, including early transportation. As such, it is recommended that the patients activate ambulances, rather than to use their own transportations to reach the hospitals. It is not known whether Malaysian patients prefer to use private transportations or ambulances when they develop chest pain. OBJECTIVES: This study is conducted to explore the question of the choice of transportation modes among patients with acute coronary syndrome and the reasons behind their choices. METHODS: This is a structured interview survey on patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in emergency department of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from April 2012 to September 2012. RESULTS: Out of the 110 patients surveyed, 105 (95.5%) patients chose to use own transportation when they developed symptoms suggestive of ACS. Only 3 patients (2.7%) came to the emergency department within 1 hour of onset, and all these 3 patients chose to use ambulances as their modes of transportation. None of the patients who chose own transportation came within the first hour of symptoms onset. This is shown to be statistically significant (p<0.001). The level of education as well as past history of ischemic heart disease did not significantly influence the patients' choice of transportation. CONCLUSION: The admonishment by various international resuscitation councils that patients with chest pain should be transported via ambulances may not be as straightforward as it seems. Numerous local and regional socio-cultural and logistic factors may need to be addressed.

Prevention of post-operative nausea and vomiting following laparoscopic surgery--ephedrine vs propofol.

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are relatively common troublesome distressing symptoms. The incidence is reported to be as high as 20-51%. Ninety adult ASA I and II patients scheduled for laparoscopic gynecological or surgical interventions, were randomly and equally assigned to one of the three groups in the immediate postoperative period: Group 1 received 0.1 ml.kg(-1) normal saline intravenously, while Group 2 received 0.5 mg.kg(-1) ephedrine intramuscularly and Group 3 received 0.25 mg.kg(-1) propofol intravenously as preventive antiemetic therapy. Sixty-six, 33 and 50 percent of patients experienced nausea and vomiting syndrome in Group 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Both ephedrine and propofol proved to have antiemetic properties. Ephedrine treated group of patient had significant less emetic score than propofol. No significant hemodynamic changes were recorded in both groups.