Questions remain regarding the timing and quantity of red-cell transfusions in pediatric intensive care units. This study involving stable, critically ill children showed that a restricted strategy (transfusion threshold, 7 g of hemoglobin per deciliter) was as safe as a liberal strategy (transfusion threshold, 9.5 g per deciliter). Rates of multiple-organ dysfunction were similar in the two study groups.

Since torcetrapib, an inhibitor of cholesteryl ester transfer protein, markedly increases levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and lowers levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, in principle it might have a beneficial effect on atherosclerosis. However, in this clinical trial, torcetrapib had no beneficial effect on carotid atherosclerosis, as assessed by ultrasonographic measurement of carotid intima–media thickness. The reasons for this finding are unclear, but the drug did increase blood pressure slightly.

In this randomized study of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, infusion of omeprazole, as compared with placebo, before endoscopy reduced the incidence of endoscopic treatment (19.1% vs. 28.4%, P=0.007) and, among patients with peptic ulcers, resulted in fewer actively bleeding ulcers and more ulcers with clean bases. These findings suggest that infused omeprazole is beneficial for patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding who are awaiting endoscopy.

Inherited glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) deficiency, characterized by splanchnic vein thrombosis and epilepsy, is caused by a mutation in the promoter region of PIGM. The mutation results in hypoacetylation of the promoter and reduced transcription of the gene. Therapy with sodium butyrate, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, increased PIGM transcription and controlled status epilepticus in a young patient with the disease.