MedPage Today

Articles, page 22

September 1, 2009Sep 1, 20093

by Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Only one of every 20 prostate cancer diagnoses leads to a benefit that would not have been realized without PSA screening, an analysis of 20-year trends suggests. An estimated 1 million excess diagnoses…

by Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Only one of every 20 prostate cancer diagnoses leads to a benefit that would not have been realized without PSA screening, an analysis of 20-year trends suggests.

An estimated 1 million excess diagnoses have accrued since 1986, and the incidence of prostate cancer remains well above levels that existed prior to widespread PSA …

Physician voices

Are more patients leaving the hospital against medical advice?

MedPage Today

August 31, 2009Aug 31, 20092

by Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today The number of people who check out of hospitals against medical advice has grown dramatically, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In 2007, the agency said, inpatient care ended…

by Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today

The number of people who check out of hospitals against medical advice has grown dramatically, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

In 2007, the agency said, inpatient care ended that way 368,000 times, accounting for 1.2% of all hospital stays, compared with only 264,000 such discharges a decade earlier.

That …

Conditions and diseases

Increasing radiation exposure to patients from CT scans and other imaging tests

MedPage Today

August 28, 2009Aug 28, 20094

by Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Imaging procedures can expose patients to high cumulative doses of radiation, researchers say. In a large study, 193.8 people per 1,000 were exposed to moderate doses of radiation each year, while 18.6 per…

by Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Imaging procedures can expose patients to high cumulative doses of radiation, researchers say.

In a large study, 193.8 people per 1,000 were exposed to moderate doses of radiation each year, while 18.6 per 1,000 were exposed to high doses, and 1.9 per 1,000 received very high doses, according to Reza Fazel, MD, of …

Conditions and diseases

New troponin tests to better diagnose a heart attack

MedPage Today

August 27, 2009Aug 27, 20092

by Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today A generation of new, more sensitive troponin assays has improved hospitals' ability to diagnose a heart attack to a point as early as the time of emergency department presentation, two separate studies…

by Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today

A generation of new, more sensitive troponin assays has improved hospitals’ ability to diagnose a heart attack to a point as early as the time of emergency department presentation, two separate studies affirmed.

In one multicenter study, a sensitive troponin I assay had an early diagnostic accuracy of 96%, compared with conventional …