Background The rapid and reliable diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction is a major
unmet clinical need. Methods We conducted a multicenter study to examine the diagnostic …

Background Lower respiratory tract infections are often treated with antibiotics without
evidence of clinically relevant bacterial disease. Serum calcitonin precursor concentrations, …

Rationale: In patients with community-acquired pneumonia, guidelines recommend antibiotic
treatment for 7 to 21 d. Procalcitonin is elevated in bacterial infections, and its dynamics …

Background:Therapy with antibiotics influences recovery only in selected cases of COPD
exacerbations. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of procalcitonin guidance compared to …

Background Because the volume of patient admissions to an emergency department (ED)
cannot be precisely planned, the available resources may become overwhelmed at times (“…

Nitric oxide (NO) has been invoked as an important pathogenic factor in a wide range of
immunologically mediated diseases. The present study demonstrates that macrophage-derived …

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the incremental value of copeptin for
rapid rule out of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Background : The rapid and reliable …

Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the most frequent infection-related
cause of death. The reference standard to diagnose CAP is a new infiltrate on chest …

Importance International guidelines advocate a 7- to 14-day course of systemic
glucocorticoid therapy in acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). …

Background Clinical trials yielded conflicting data about the benefit of adding systemic
corticosteroids for treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. We assessed whether short-term …