5,081,923 papers found

This article outlines the use of medical literature to support a physiatrist's expert opinion in the development of a life care plan and proposes a basic ethical code of conduct in performing medicolegal work.

BACKGROUND: The American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA-PS) classification system is ubiquitous in perioperative medicine and research as a tool for preoperative patient risk stratification. Despite widespread clinical adoption as a predictor of perioperative outcomes, the ASA-PS system is inherently…

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a global epidemic affecting all age groups, populations, and income levels across continents, though is known to disproportionately affect socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. The causes of obesity are complex, informed by diet and weight practices, but shaped by social, commercial, and e…

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain, with a prevalence of at least 17%, is a costly health problem associated with a high burden of disease. Musculoskeletal chronic pain is particulary common, which in many cases is treated with physiotherapy. AIM: The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of innovative, pro…

BACKGROUND: Spinal and general anaesthesia are the most common anaesthetic methods for hip and knee arthroplasties. Differences in their effects on short- and long-term postoperative outcomes, including mortality morbidity, and adverse events, remain uncertain. Identifying the anesthetic method that provides the best r…

IMPORTANCE: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision impairment. It is imperative that AMD care is timely, appropriate, and evidence-based. It is thus essential that AMD systematic reviews are robust; however, little is known about the quality of this literature. OBJECTIVES: To investigate t…

Systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses are important research designs used to summarize and derive conclusions about the collective evidence on a focused research question in a structured, reproducible manner. The goal of this Methodology Minute is to describe how to conduct a systematic literature review and…

The systematic literature review is a powerful tool for summarizing and evaluating current knowledge related to a specific research question. Systematic reviews have many advantages over traditional narrative reviews. A meta-analysis of data from a systematic review can provide a better estimate of a treatment effect t…

AL amyloidosis presenting as a solitary mediastinal mass is a rare occurrence, with only a few cases reported in the literature. We describe a case of a man presenting with a mediastinal mass diagnosed as amyloidosis, confirmed by mass spectrometry to consist of lambda light chains. Here we review the literature and di…

The use of image quality parameters in digital mammography such as contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) has been widespread, with the intention of detector evaluation and/or quantitative evaluation of the system performance. These parameters are useful in ens…

Here, we review several articles of original research published in 2008 that concerned the toxicity of metal and carbon-based nanoparticles. Articles were selected from the MEDLINE PubMed database, all published or pre-published during 2008 and relating to nanomaterials, -particles or -structures and toxicity or health…

This review summarizes the clinical importance of 18 systematic reviews and guidelines on psoriasis published or indexed between November 2008 and October 2009. The topics covered include guidance on the use of topical, systemic and biological therapies for the treatment of psoriasis; comorbidities associated with psor…

All physicians are familiar with the type of general review articles found in many medical journals. Systematic reviews are different. They apply a strict, scientific methodology to the reviewing process to produce a review that is comprehensive, reliable, and as free from bias as possible. As a result, systematic revi…

When evidence from randomized controlled trials about the effectiveness and safety of an intervention is unclear, researchers may choose to review the nonrandomized evidence. All systematic reviews pose considerable challenges, and the level of methodological expertise required to undertake a useful review of nonrandom…

OBJECTIVE: Aged care services increasingly respond to the needs of people with dementia. Non-pharmacological approaches are preferable to reduce responsive behaviours, improve/maintain functional capacity and reduce emotional disorders. This rapid review of systematic reviews aimed to consolidate the evidence for non-p…

In this review the usual methods applied in systematic reviews and meta-analyses are outlined. The ideal hypothesis for a systematic review should be generated by information not used later in meta-analyses. The selection of studies involves searching in web repertories, and more than one should be consulted. A manual…

Extracranial metastases from glioblastoma (GBM) are uncommon with an estimated incidence of less than 2%. We report two cases of metastatic GBM seen within an 8-week period followed by a literature review. We attempted to identify common factors or a causative mechanism. Factors that predominated among the reviewed cas…

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The review critically appraises the available evidence and current rationale for treating incidental intracranial aneurysms. RECENT FINDINGS: The rationale for treating incidental intracranial aneurysms uses comparisons between the so-called natural history, provided in a recent meta-analysis, and r…