As opportunities for quality improvement become more visible, educational planners, health services researchers, and policymakers search for strategies that lead to better clinical outcomes. Continuing medical education (CME) is one such strategy, but the impact of CME is poorly defined in relation to clinical outcomes, and efforts to standardize definitions of clinical outcomes are in varied stages of development.

There has been sizable debate and widespread skepticism about the effect of continuing medical education (CME) on the performance of physicians in the practice setting. This portion of the review was undertaken to examine that effect.

Recommendations for optimizing continuing medical education (CME) effectiveness in improving physician application of knowledge and psychomotor skills are needed to guide the development of processes that effect physician change and improve patient care.

Physicians are continuously engaging in continuing medical education (CME) activities. Whether CME activities actually improve their knowledge and whether multiple media, instructional techniques, and exposures are better than single experiences are questions that are still under discussion.

A core mission of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) is the education of its members, including continuing medical education (CME). The question of what evidence supports the effectiveness of CME activities became central to the ACCP's Educational Resources Division and its education committee.

By its synthesis of a selected portion of the continuing medical education (CME) literature, the evidence-based practice center (EPC) review discovered several major issues in primary study design and in the systematic review process of CME studies. Through this process, the review speaks to the need for clarity in designing, reporting and synthesizing CME trials and provides an opportunity to advance the research agenda in this field.

Acute atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac rhythm encountered in clinical practice and is commonly seen in acutely ill patients in critical care. In the latter setting, AF may have two main clinical sequelae: (1) haemodynamic instability and (2) thromboembolism. The approach to the management of AF can broadly be divided into a rate control strategy or a rhythm control strategy, and is largely driven by symptom assessment and functional status. A crucial part of AF management requires the appropriate use of thromboprophylaxis. In patients who are haemodynamically unstable with AF, urgent direct current cardioversion should be considered. Apart from electrical cardioversion, drugs are commonly used, and Class I (flecainide, propafenone) and Class III (amiodarone) antiarrhythmic drugs are more likely to revert AF to sinus rhythm. Beta blockers and rate limiting calcium blockers, as well as digoxin, are often used in controlling heart rate in patients with acute onset AF. The aim of this review article is to provide an overview of the management of AF in the critical care setting.

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is an immunologic pulmonary disorder caused by hypersensitivity to Aspergillus fumigatus. Clinically, a patient presents with chronic asthma, recurrent pulmonary infiltrates, and bronchiectasis. The population prevalence of ABPA is not clearly known, but the prevalence in asthma clinics is reported to be around 13%. The disorder needs to be detected before bronchiectasis has developed because the occurrence of bronchiectasis is associated with poorer outcomes. Because many patients with ABPA may be minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic, a high index of suspicion for ABPA should be maintained while managing any patient with bronchial asthma whatever the severity or the level of control. This underscores the need for routine screening of all patients with asthma with an Aspergillus skin test. Finally, there is a need to update and revise the criteria for the diagnosis of ABPA. This review summarizes the advances in the diagnosis and management of ABPA using a systematic search methodology.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a deadly disease in which vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling both lead to a progressive increase in pulmonary vascular resistance. The response of the right ventricle (RV) to the increased afterload is an important determinant of patient outcome. Little is known about the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the transition from compensated hypertrophy to dilatation and failure that occurs during the course of the disease. Moreover, little is known about the direct effects of current PAH treatments on the heart. Although the increase in afterload is the first trigger for RV adaptation in PAH, neurohormonal signaling, oxidative stress, inflammation, ischemia, and cell death may contribute to the development of RV dilatation and failure. Here we review cellular signaling cascades and gene expression patterns in the heart that follow pressure overload. Most data are derived from research on the left ventricle, but where possible specific information on the RV response to pressure overload is provided. This overview identifies the gaps in our understanding of RV failure and attempts to fill them, when possible. Together with the online supplement, it provides a starting point for new research and aims to encourage the pulmonary hypertension research community to direct some of their attention to the RV, in parallel to their focus on the pulmonary vasculature.

Long-acting beta(2)-agonists (LABAs) are recommended as add-on therapy to antiinflammatory treatment in patients with chronic persistent asthma. Results from individual studies evaluating the in vivo antiinflammatory effect of LABAs are conflicting. The purpose of this metaanalysis was to determine whether LABAs have an in vivo antiinflammatory effect compared to placebo and whether the addition of a LABA to therapy with inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) has a synergistic or additive antiinflammatory effect.

To assess the efficacy of second-line treatments in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The antisynthetase syndrome consists of interstitial lung disease (ILD), arthritis, myositis, fever, mechanic's hands, and Raynaud phenomenon in the presence of an antisynthetase autoantibody, most commonly anti-Jo-1. It is believed that all the antisynthetases are associated with a similar clinical profile, but definitive data in this diverse group are lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine the clinical profile of anti-PL-12, an antisynthetase autoantibody directed against alanyl-transfer RNA synthetase.

Common medical problems are often associated with abnormalities of sleep. Patients with chronic medical disorders often have fewer hours of sleep and less restorative sleep compared to healthy individuals, and this poor sleep may worsen the subjective symptoms of the disorder. Individuals with lung disease often have disturbed sleep related to oxygen desaturations, coughing, or dyspnea. Both obstructive lung disease and restrictive lung diseases are associated with poor quality sleep. Awakenings from sleep are common in untreated or undertreated asthma, and cause sleep disruption. Gastroesophageal reflux is a major cause of disrupted sleep due to awakenings from heartburn, dyspepsia, acid brash, coughing, or choking. Patients with chronic renal disease commonly have sleep complaints often due to insomnia, insufficient sleep, sleep apnea, or restless legs syndrome. Complaints related to sleep are very common in patients with fibromyalgia and other causes of chronic pain. Sleep disruption increases the sensation of pain and decreases quality of life. Patients with infectious diseases, including acute viral illnesses, HIV-related disease, and Lyme disease, may have significant problems with insomnia and hypersomnolence. Women with menopause have from insomnia, sleep-disordered breathing, restless legs syndrome, or fibromyalgia. Patients with cancer or receiving cancer therapy are often bothered by insomnia or other sleep disturbances that affect quality of life and daytime energy. The objective of this article is to review frequently encountered medical conditions and examine their impact on sleep, and to review frequent sleep-related problems associated with these common medical conditions.

Echocardiography is a noninvasive, readily available tool routinely used in the evaluation of critically ill subjects and patients with respiratory disorders. Critical care echocardiography is useful for diagnostic and monitoring purposes, and assists in therapeutic interventions such as pericardiocentesis. Outpatient echocardiography, as applied by the pulmonary specialist, provides important clinical information relevant to the diagnosis and management of the patient with respiratory disorders. This article summarizes echocardiography applications for the pulmonary/critical care medicine practitioner, related procedural codes, and reimbursement.

The recently published American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) guidelines for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients undergoing hip or knee surgery conflict with long-established and widely used American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) guidelines. Both guidelines accepted that the most important goal of thromboprophylaxis in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement is to prevent pulmonary embolism (PE). The ACCP guidelines included asymptomatic (and symptomatic) deep vein thrombosis (DVT) detected by venography as a measure of the efficacy of thromboprophylaxis, whereas the AAOS rejected DVT as a valid outcome because the panelists considered the link between DVT and PE to be unproven. The AAOS position is inconsistent with evidence from imaging studies linking DVT with PE and from clinical studies demonstrating a parallel reduction of DVT and PE when antithrombotic agents are compared with placebo or untreated controls. The AAOS panel ignored the randomized data demonstrating that thromboprophylaxis reduces both DVT and PE, and many of their recommendations are based on expert opinion and lack a scientific basis. We recommend the ACCP guidelines because the methodology is explicit and rigorous and the treatment recommendations reflect all of the evidence from the randomized trials. Adoption of the ACCP guideline will ensure that patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasty receive the best available therapies for prevention of VTE and reduce disability and death due to this common and potentially preventable condition.

Normal airway mucus lines the epithelial surface and provides an important innate immune function by detoxifying noxious molecules and by trapping and removing pathogens and particulates from the airway via mucociliary clearance. The major macromolecular constituents of normal mucus, the mucin glycoproteins, are large, heavily glycosylated proteins with a defining feature of tandemly repeating sequences of amino acids rich in serine and threonine, the linkage sites for large carbohydrate structures. The mucins are composed of two major families: secreted mucins and membrane-associated mucins. Membrane-associated mucins have been reported to function as cell surface receptors for pathogens and to activate intracellular signaling pathways. The biochemical and cellular functions for secreted mucin glycoproteins have not been definitively assigned. In contrast to normal mucus, sputum production is the hallmark of chronic inflammatory airway diseases such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, and cystic fibrosis (CF). Sputum has altered macromolecular composition and biophysical properties which vary with disease, but unifying features are failure of mucociliary clearance, resulting in airway obstruction, and failure of innate immune properties. Mucin glycoprotein overproduction and hypersecretion are common features of chronic inflammatory airway disease, and this has been the underlying rationale to investigate the mechanisms of mucin gene regulation and mucin secretion. However, in some pathologic conditions such as CF, airway sputum contains little intact mucin and has increased content of several macromolecules including DNA, filamentous actin, lipids, and proteoglycans. This review will highlight the most recent insights on mucus biology in health and disease.

To define competence in critical care ultrasonography (CCUS).