No abstract

Blacks, Hispanics, and other racial minorities in the United States were observed to exhibit significantly higher in-hospital sepsis-related respiratory failure associated mortality when compared with non-Hispanic whites.

Availability of a range of lower-cost items could be improved by better organization and planning, such as: better procurement and stock management; eliminating mismatch of resources, including optimizing training for use of existing resources; and by strengthening service contracts and in-house repair capabilities. From a product development viewpoint, there is a need for lower cost, more durable, and easier to repair ventilators. Promoting increased capacity for local manufacturing should also be considered as a potential method to decrease cost and increase availability of a range of equipment.

In the United States, between 2008 and 2012, there was an increasing trend toward the use of ECMO in patients with ARDS that coincided with a slight increase in survival among these patients.

In recent years, the use of VATS for lobectomy has increased relative to thoracotomy. This trend has coincided with increased survival and shorter length of stay for VATS lobectomy compared with thoracotomy. Further studies are needed to identify comorbidities that identify ideal candidates for VATS lobectomy.