In the News


New definitions of sepsis and septic shock released

Sepsis-3 defines sepsis as “life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection,” applied clinically as 2-point or greater increase in a patient's SOFA score.

Guideline released on treatment of status epilepticus

The guideline committee analyzed data on efficacy, tolerability, and safety of anticonvulsant treatment in both adults and children to propose recommendations and a treatment algorithm.

Troponin associated with length of stay, long-term mortality in heart failure patients

The study shows that cardiac troponin could provide important prognostic information for the care of hospitalized heart failure patients and could be used in conjunction with other biomarkers, the authors said.

Pioglitazone may reduce risk of second stroke in patients with insulin resistance

The results suggest that giving pioglitazone to 100 patients similar to those in the trial for about 5 years could prevent 3 patients from experiencing stroke or MI, although it would also lead to bone fractures requiring surgery or hospitalization in 2 patients.

COPD exacerbations with higher eosinophils associated with shorter length of stay

Patients with eosinophilic exacerbations are clinically indistinguishable from other patients with severe COPD exacerbations, but they may respond more rapidly to corticosteroid treatment.

Put words in our mouth

ACP Hospitalist Weekly wants readers to create captions for our new cartoon and help choose the winner. Pen the winning caption and win a $50 gift certificate good toward any ACP product, program, or service.