Featured Article
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
Diabetes, Depression, and Disease Control
- December 7, 2009
- Joel Yager, MD
- Psychiatry
In patients with diabetes, depression is associated with reduced compliance with medical treatments and worse disease control.
- Reviewing:
- Katon W et al. Psychosom Med 2009 Nov/Dec; 71:965
Recent Articles
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
Oral Alternative to Warfarin for Venous Thromboembolism?
- December 8, 2009
- Allan S. Brett, MD
- General Medicine
Dabigatran was safe and effective and had advantages over warfarin.
- Reviewing:
- Schulman S et al. N Engl J Med 2009 Dec 10; 361:2342
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
Immediate vs. Deferred Treatment in Prostate Cancer
- December 8, 2009
- Thomas L. Schwenk, MD
- General Medicine
Deferral with watchful waiting appears to be safe in older men with low-risk cancer.
- Reviewing:
- Shappley WV III et al. J Clin Oncol 2009 Oct 20; 27:4980
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Contributes to Risk for Falls
- December 8, 2009
- Thomas L. Schwenk, MD
- General Medicine
Risk was associated with three pain measures — number of sites, severity, and functional impairment.
- Reviewing:
- Leveille SG et al. JAMA 2009 Nov 25; 302:2214
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
HPV-Associated Head and Neck Cancers
- December 8, 2009
- Barbara A. Murphy, MD
- Oncology and Hematology
A report highlights recent discoveries about this clinical subtype of head and neck cancer.
- Reviewing:
- Adelstein DJ et al. Head Neck 2009 Nov; 31:1393
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
A Promising Regimen for Extranodal NK/T-Cell Lymphoma?
- December 8, 2009
- Michael E. Williams, MD
- Oncology and Hematology
Patients who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by combination chemotherapy achieved high response rates and durable remissions.
- Reviewing:
- Kim SJ et al. J Clin Oncol 2009 Nov 2
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
Satraplatin in Advanced Prostate Cancer
- December 8, 2009
- Robert Dreicer, MD, MS, FACP
- Oncology and Hematology
Satraplatin was better than placebo in terms of progression-free survival but not overall survival.
- Reviewing:
- Sternberg CN et al. J Clin Oncol 2009 Nov 10; 27:5431
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
Dabigatran versus Warfarin in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
- December 8, 2009
- Karen L. Furie, MD, and J. Philip Kistler, MD
- Neurology
A large trial suggests dabigatran's noninferiority to warfarin in preventing strokes, but many questions remain to be answered.
- Reviewing:
- Connolly SJ et al. N Engl J Med 2009 Sep 17; 361:1139
SUMMARY AND COMMENT
Chest X-Rays Are Overused in the ICU
- December 7, 2009
- Daniel D. Dressler, MD, MSc, FHM
- Hospital Medicine
Routine daily chest x-rays are unnecessary in most intubated and mechanically ventilated patients.
- Reviewing:
- Hejblum G et al. Lancet 2009 Nov 14; 374:1687
CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINE WATCH
Updated DHHS Guidelines on HIV TreatmentFree
- December 7, 2009
- Abigail Zuger, MD
- HIV/AIDS Clinical Care
The new guidelines recommend that lifelong ART be provided to asymptomatic HIV-infected patients with CD4 counts 
500 cells/mm3. They also detail the specific components of "preferred" regimens.
- Reviewing:
- Department of Health and Human Services Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents. 2009 Dec 1
CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINE WATCH
WHO Updates HIV Treatment RecommendationsFree
- December 7, 2009
- Salim S. Abdool Karim, MD, PhD
- HIV/AIDS Clinical Care
New WHO recommendations endorse earlier ART initiation for HIV-infected adolescents and adults and an even more-aggressive approach for those coinfected with TB or HBV.
- Reviewing:
- World Health Organization. 2009 Nov 30