Revista clinica espanola最新文献

Introduction and aim

Since its emergence in December 2019, the coronavirus disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has become a global emergency, spreading rapidly worldwide. In response to the early referral of these patients to outpatient health centers, we decided to seek more effective treatments in the early stages of their referral. This study aims to prevent both the progression and deterioration of the physical conditions of COVID-19 patients, reduce the rate of referrals, and mitigate the risks of hospitalization and death.

Material and methods

Conducted at Dibaj Therapeutic Center, Hamadan City, Iran, a double-blind randomized controlled trial encompassed 225 COVID-19 patients from April to September 2022. Ethical approval was obtained from Hamadan University of Medical Sciences (Approval No.: IR.UMSHA.REC.1400.957), with the protocol registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (Registration No.: IRCT20220302054167N1). In this study, we included patients who tested positive for COVID-19 PCR and were symptomatic, excluding those who were pregnant or had received a COVID-19 vaccine. Patients with oxygen saturation above 92% were allocated to three groups: Group A received N-acetylcysteine, Group B received Bromhexine, and Group C received standard care. Follow-ups on oxygen levels, symptoms, and hospitalization needs were conducted on days 7 and 14, with hospitalized patients monitored for one month post-hospitalization.

Results

The study found that both N-acetylcysteine and Bromhexine can effectively reduce hospitalization rates and mortality and shorten the duration of hospitalization. The third visit of patients who received N-acetylcysteine showed an increase of 1.33% in oxygen saturation compared to their first visit, and in patients who received Bromhexine, this increase was 1.19%. The mortality rate was 9.33% in the control group and zero in both groups of patients who received medication.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that N-acetylcysteine and bromhexine may be effective in the treatment of patients with positive COVID-19, with a lower hospitalization rate, shorter hospitalization, faster recovery time, and reduced mortality compared to the control group.

Introduction

Genetic studies have shown associations of several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) with different rates of progression and variation in susceptibility to HIV infection. This study aimed to estimate the frequency of ccr5Δ32, IL-6-174G/C, IFN-γ+874T/A and IL-10-1082A/G polymorphisms in Cuban HIV-infected patients and a group of sero-discordant couples to assess their influence on risk and disease progression.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out on 120 subjects registered at the Institute of Tropical Medicine «Pedro Kour» (IPK) and the Ameijeiras Hospital from June 2018 until December 2019. The amplification of fragments of the ccr5, IL-6, IFN-γ and IL-10 genes was performed by polymerase chain reaction followed by identification of polymorphisms using the restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for IL-6 with the restriction enzymes Nla III. Amplification refractory mutation system was used for IFN-γ and IL-10 genes.

Results

The allelic and genotypic distributions of the genes ccr5, IL-6, IFN-γ and IL-10 did not differ significantly between the two groups. Cell counts and plasma viral load values did not differ significantly between genotypes of the ccr5, IL-6, IFN-γ and IL-10 genes. Only the IL-6 GC genotype was associated with higher viral load values. The combination of alleles of the four considered SNPs showed a highly significant increase in the risk of HIV infection for one of them, but with a very low frequency (< 1%).

Conclusion

This study contributes to evaluating the frequency of these polymorphisms and their influence on biomarkers of the progression of HIV infection in the Cuban HIV-population.

Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis can be a medical emergency in which a delay in correct diagnosis and therapeutic management can cause serious complications.

With the aim of improving the care of patients with these pathologies in the Community of Madrid, a study was designed to identify the causes and possible solutions to address the problems related to the diagnosis of these pathologies.

After the analysis, 11 areas of improvement related to four different aspects of the care process were identified: coordination and protocols, equipment, training and awareness of pathologies, and patient experience. Of all the areas identified, it was considered a priority to resolve those related to the generation of protocols for the comprehensive management of the pathologies, which include all the specialties and levels of care involved. Another crucial aspect is the increase in the degree of clinical suspicion of these pathologies.

Background

Arteriosclerosis has been proven to be a risk factor for the development of heart failure and readmission. ePWV is a novel non-invasive and simple indicator of arterial stiffness, and this study aims to investigate its relationship with all-cause mortality rate in patients with heart failure.

Methods

This study is a cohort study that included 1272 patients with heart failure from NHANES data from 1999 to 2018. The ePWV was divided into three groups, and the cumulative mortality rate of heart failure patients was calculated using KM survival curves. The relationship between ePWV and all-cause mortality rate in heart failure patients was represented by a smoothed curve fitting. COX regression analysis was used to assess the association between ePWV and all-cause mortality rate in heart failure patients.

Results

The average age of the study population was 67.8 ± 12.6 years, with 862 males and 650 females. During the 12-month follow-up period, there were 790 cases of all-cause mortality. Cox regression analysis was used to validate the relationship between ePWV and all-cause mortality rate in patients with heart failure. Patients with higher levels of ePWV tended to have a higher all-cause mortality rate. After adjustment for multiple factors, an increase in ePWV was positively associated with all-cause mortality rate (HR = 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12-1.22). Compared to the lowest tertile, the multivariable-adjusted HR and 95% CI for the highest tertile of ePWV were 1.81 (95% CI: 1.45-2.27). Additionally, a smoothed curve fitting was used to observe the relationship between ePWV and mortality rate, where the curve demonstrated a positive correlation between ePWV and all-cause mortality rate. Furthermore, KM survival curves indicated that all-cause mortality rate increased with the increase in ePWV. Subgroup analysis suggested a correlation between ePWV and mortality rate.

Conclusion

Our study shows that ePWV is positively associated with all-cause mortality in patients with heart failure.

Background and objective

Elevated serum levels of vitamin B12 have been associated with oncohematological diseases. However, the relevance of its incidental detection in subjects without a previous diagnosis of cancer is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between incidental hypercobalaminemia (vitamin B12 > 1000 pg/mL) and the diagnosis of a tumor process in patients without a diagnosis and to establish the risk factors.

Material and methods

Retrospective observational study of a cohort of patients with hypercobalaminemia. The incidence of neoplasms was compared with a cohort of patients with vitamin B12 levels < 1000 pg/mL.

Results

Vitamin B12 determinations of 4800 subjects were selected. Of them, 345 (7.1%) had levels > 1000 pg/ml; 68 (28.4%) were excluded due to exogenous administration, 12 (5%) due to insufficient data, and 15 (3%) due to having an active neoplasia, selecting 250 patients, with a median follow-up of 22 (IQR: 12-39) months. Structural liver disease was detected in 59 (23.6%). 18.2% (44 patients) had solid organ cancer and 17 (7.1%) had malignant hemopathy. The average time from the detection of hypercobalaminemia to the diagnosis of cancer was about 10 months. The median until the diagnosis of neoplasia was higher in the high vitamin B12 group (13 vs 51 months; P < .001). Hypercobalaminemia (HR: 11.8; 95% CI: 2.8-49.6; P = .001) and smoking (HR: 4.0; 95% CI: 2.15-7.59; P < .001) were independent predictors of neoplasia in the multivariate analysis.

Conclusions

Incidental detection of serum vitamin B12 levels > 1000 pg/ml is high in the population. The diagnosis of solid organ and hematological neoplasia is frequent during the following year of follow-up, with hypercobalaminemia and smoking being predictors of a higher risk of cancer.

Introduction

In heart failure, cardiac rehabilitation has been recommended as an intervention strategy that improves functional capacity, health-related quality of life and survival. However, adherence to these programs is low. The objective was to determine the factors related to non-adherence to cardiac rehabilitation in patients with heart failure in Colombia.

Method

Observational and retrospective study. Patients with heart failure were linked in a clinic in Colombia, adherence to cardiac rehabilitation was measured with ≥ 80% of scheduled sessions. Sociodemographic and clinical variables, functional aerobic capacity (Sit to Stand and 6-minute walk test), Duke Activity Status Index (DASI), quality of life Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLFHQ) and depression Patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) were taken into account.

Results

300 patients were linked with heart failure with age 63.16 ± 12.87; men 194 (64.7%). Adherence to cardiac rehabilitation was 66.67%, there were statistically significant differences between the groups in arterial hypertension, LVEF, cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, SBP, DBP, distance traveled, VO₂e, METs, DASI and PHQ-9 P ≤ .05. The logistic regression model adjusted for sex and age showed OR for non-adherence to CR arterial hypertension 2.23 [1.22-4.07], LDL outside of goals 2.15 [1.20-3.88], triglycerides outside goals 2.34 [1.35-4.07], DASI < 4METs 2.38 [1.04-5.45] and PHQ-9 1.06 [1.00-1.12].

Conclusion

High blood pressure, LDL, triglycerides, DASI and depression with the PHQ-9 questionnaire are related factors for not having adherence to cardiac rehabilitation in patients with heart failure.

Introduction

During the COVID pandemic, it was speculated that patients with the virus who were smoking-related might have a lower likelihood of disease exacerbation or death. To assess whether there is an association between smoking and risk of in-hospital mortality, SAVANA's big data and natural language processing (NLP) technology is used.

Method

A retrospective, observational, non-interventional cohort study was conducted based on real-life data extracted from medical records throughout Castilla-La Mancha using natural language processing and artificial intelligence techniques developed by SAVANA. The study covered the entire population of this region with Electronic Medical Records in SESCAM presenting with a diagnosis of COVID from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021.

Results

Smokers had a significantly higher percentage of cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes), COPD, asthma, IDP, IC, CVD, PTE, cancer in general and lung cancer in particular, bronchiectasis, heart failure and a history of pneumonia (P < .0001). Former smokers, current smokers and non-smokers have a significant age difference. As for in-hospital deaths, they were more frequent in the case of ex-smokers, followed by smokers and then non-smokers (P < .0001).

Conclusion

There is an increased risk of dying in hospital in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients who are active smokers or have smoked in the past.

Objective

We aimed to investigate the relationship between systemic strengths and complexity in home care of end-of-life patients.

Methods

Quantitative descriptive longitudinal study of patients cared for at home by a palliative care team. Place of death was analyzed in relation to complexity, as determined by the HexCom complexity model after the initial home assessment. We used Pearson's chi-square test to analyze the comparison of proportions.

Results

Forty-six hundred patients (74.4% oncologic) with a mean age of 76.2 years (SD 13.2) participated. Fifty-three percent had complete or severe functional dependence, 30.8% were already bedridden in the first assessment, and 59.7% died at home. Strengths influenced place of death, specifically exosystem (team) strength (OR: 4.07 [1.92-8.63]), microsystem (both patient 0.51 [0.28-0.94]) and caregiver (OR: 3.90 [1.48-10.25]), and chronosystem, related to prediction of progressive course (OR: 2.22 [1.37-3.60]).

Conclusions

To improve care for end-of-life patients and their families, a systemic view of dying and death that includes both needs and strengths is necessary. In this sense, the systemic framework proposed by Bonfrenbrenner can be useful for clinical practice.

Introduction

This study examines the relationship between remnant cholesterol, glucose metrics, and chronic complications of type 1 diabetes in users of glucose monitoring systems.

Material and methods

Clinical variables and glucose metrics were collected from individuals using glucose sensors. Statistical models were employed to investigate the association of remnant cholesterol with glucose metrics, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic nephropathy.

Results

A total of 383 individuals, aged 48.3 ± 16.2 years, with 54.1% women, and a remnant cholesterol level of 16 ± 10 mg/dL, were included. The results demonstrated that remnant cholesterol was associated with less time within the target range (P=.015) and more time above the target range (P=.003). Diabetic nephropathy was the only complication associated with remnant cholesterol levels exceeding 30 mg/dL; OR: 8.93; 95% CI: 2.99-26.62, P<.001.

Conclusion

Remnant cholesterol is independently associated with hyperglycemia and diabetic nephropathy in individuals with type 1 diabetes.