Lung-Volume­Reduction Surgery in Patients with Severe Emphysema Many patients with severe emphysema have undergone lung-volume­reduction surgery, but the risks and benefits are uncertain. In this study, 48 patients with severe emphysema were randomly assigned to surgery or continued intensive medical treatment. There were five deaths in the surgical group and three in the medical group. As a whole, the surgical group did better than the medical group, as measured in terms of lung function, walking distance, and quality of life. However, 5 of the 19 surviving patients in the surgical group had no benefit.

Intravenous Nesiritide for Decompensated Congestive Heart Failure Nesiritide is a brain natriuretic peptide that causes vasodilatation and sodium excretion. In this study, nesiritide was infused intravenously into patients with acute decompensated congestive heart failure. It had beneficial hemodynamic and clinical effects similar to those of standard intravenous drugs given for heart failure, such as dobutamine, milrinone, and nitroglycerin. Nesiritide is useful in patients who are hospitalized for decompensated congestive heart failure.

Staging of Non­Small-Cell Lung Cancer with PET Accurate preoperative assessment is crucial in deciding whether potentially curative surgery is warranted for a patient with lung cancer. This study compared standard methods with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose­labeled positron-emission tomography (PET) in 102 patients with non­small-cell lung cancer who were undergoing preoperative evaluation. All imaging results, whether abnormal or normal, were validated by biopsy. PET was more sensitive, specific, and accurate than computed tomography.