Publications
Department of Medicine faculty members published more than 3,600 peer-reviewed articles in 2024.
2015
OBJECTIVE
Intraaortic balloon pumps (IABPs) are frequently used as an adjunctive device to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and are routinely placed at the initiation of ECMO at many institutions. Evidence for the additive benefit of IABP therapy is limited and conflicting in part due to small sample sizes. In the absence of large randomized trials, a meta-analysis would best elucidate potential benefit.
METHODS
A systematic PubMed/Medline search was performed. Studies reporting on survival to hospital discharge for cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrest requiring ECMO with an IABP subgroup were included. Concomitant IABP was compared with patients on ECMO alone. Secondary analyses included acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock (PCS) subgroups, as well as timing of IABP insertion.
RESULTS
Sixteen studies were included in the main analysis, encompassing 1517 patients. The cumulative survival rate for patients on ECMO was 256/683 (37.5%) compared with 294/834 (35.3%) for patients with adjunctive IABP. Concomitant IABP was not associated with improved survival (risk ratio [RR], 1.143; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.973-1.343; P=.10). IABP was not associated with improved survival in AMI patients (RR, 1.120; 95% CI, 0.772-1.624; P=.55), PCS (RR, 1.121; 95% CI, 0.826-1.520; P=.46) when placed prior to ECMO initiation (RR, 0.948; 95% CI, 0.718-1.252; P=.71), or when routinely inserted (RR, 1.102; 95% CI, 0.806-1.506; P=.54).
CONCLUSION
Based on this observational analysis, the concomitant use of IABP with ECMO did not appear associated with a dramatic change in survival outcomes. The routine insertion of concomitant IABP with ECMO is not supported by our findings.
View on PubMed2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
2015
BACKGROUND
The high prevalence of limited health literacy among patients threatens the success of secure electronic messaging between patients from diverse populations and their providers.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to generate hypotheses about the readability of patient and provider electronic messages.
METHODS
We collected 31 patient-provider e-mail exchanges (n = 119 total messages) from a safety-net primary care clinic. We compared the messages' mean word count and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Levels (FKGLs), calculated the frequency of provider messages below an FKGL = 8, and assessed readability concordance between patients' and providers' messages.
RESULTS
Patients used more words in their initial e-mails compared to providers, but the FKGLs were similar, and 68% of provider messages were written below an FKGL = 8. Of 31 exchanges, 9 (29%) contained at least one patient message with an FKGL > 3 grade levels lower than the corresponding provider message(s).
CONCLUSION
Our study demonstrates that most providers are able to respond to patient electronic messages with a matching reading level.
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