Upsala journal of medical sciences最新文献

Background: The esophageal-tracheal Combitube (ETC) was developed for the management of difficult airways but can also be used for general anaesthesia.

Methods: This clinical study collected data from patients undergoing anaesthesia with the ETC in order to assess the rate of complications.

Results: Five hundred forty patients were ventilated with the ETC. In 94.8% (512/540), insertion was performed for the first time by the respective physician. The following minor complications were observed: 38.7% sore throat, 30.9% blood on tube as sign of mucosal lesions and 17.0% cyanotic tongue. Experience decreased the risk of mucosal lesions (odds ratio [OR]: 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5-3.5). A higher than recommended volume of the oropharyngeal cuff was associated with blood on the ETC (OR: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0-2.3) and tongue cyanosis (OR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.4-3.7). Ventilation for more than 2 h was associated with tongue cyanosis (OR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.6-3.1) and tongue protrusion (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.9).

Conclusion: We conclude that the Combitube may be used for short procedures requiring general anaesthesia, but the high rate of minor complications limits its value when other alternatives such as a laryngeal mask airway are available. The tested method appears safe regarding major complications, but minor complications are common. Adherence to recommended cuff volumes, experience with the ETC and limiting its use to surgeries lasting less than 2 h might reduce the rate of complications.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether treatment of a depressive episode with intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) over the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) had any effects on heart rate variability (HRV). We also investigated if changes in HRV covaried with symptom change after iTBS and if HRV could predict symptom change.

Methods: We included 49 patients with a current depressive episode. All were randomized to receive a double-blind treatment course with active or sham iTBS over the DMPFC. HRV data were obtained from 1 h of night data before and after the iTBS. The standard deviation of the RR interval (SDNN) was chosen as primary outcome measure. Depressive, negative, and anxiety symptoms as well as self-rated health were assessed by clinicians or by self-report.

Results: The group×time linear mixed model revealed no effect of iTBS on SDNN (estimate = -1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -19.9 to 16.2). There were neither correlations between HRV and depressive, negative, or anxiety symptom change after iTBS nor with self-assessed health. No predictive value of HRV was found.

Conclusions: Treatment for depression with dorsomedial iTBS had neither negative nor positive effects on the cardiac autonomic nervous system.

Background: Predicting the risk of readmission or death in patients at the emergency department (ED) is essential in identifying patients who would benefit the most from interventions. We aimed to explore the prognostic value of mid-regional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM), mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP), copeptin, and high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) to identify patients with a higher risk of readmission and death among patients presenting with chest pain (CP) and/or shortness of breath (SOB) in the ED.

Methods: This single-center prospective observational study included non-critically ill adult patients with a chief complaint of CP and/or SOB who visited the ED at Linköping University Hospital. Baseline data and blood samples were collected, and patients were followed up for 90 days after inclusion. The primary outcome was a composite of readmission and/or death from non-traumatic causes within 90 days of inclusion. Binary logistic regression was used and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were constructed to determine the prognostic performance for predicting readmission and/or death within 90 days.

Results: A total of 313 patients were included and 64 (20.4%) met the primary endpoint. MR-proADM > 0.75 pmol/L (odds ratio [OR]: 2.361 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.031 - 5.407], P = 0.042) and multimorbidity (OR: 2.647 [95% CI: 1.282 - 5.469], P = 0.009) were significantly associated with readmission and/or death within 90 days. MR-proADM increased predictive value in the ROC analysis to age, sex, and multimorbidity (P = 0.006).

Conclusions: In non-critically ill patients with CP and/or SOB in the ED, MR-proADM and multimorbidity may be helpful for the prediction of the risk of readmission and/or death within 90 days.

Background: Personality disorders (PDs) in adulthood are considered stable over time and are likely to have lasting psychosocial impact on the affected individual, including in areas like vocational functioning. The aim of this study was to study labor market marginalization (LMM) and receipt of social welfare benefits during 13 years from age 18 to 25 years in a sample of former psychiatric patients with and without PD.

Methods: This study followed-up 186 former psychiatric patients who were thoroughly assessed in 2002-2004, including for PD, and compared them with controls. Participants were divided into three groups: former patients with PD, without PD, and a matched control group from the general population. Register data on employment, sick leave absence, disability pensioning, education, days of psychiatric care, income, and receipt of social welfare benefits in 2003-2016 were collected.

Results: Former patients had more days of unemployment, sick leave absence, and disability pensioning and received more social welfare benefits than controls during the study period. Differences between patients with and without PD were smaller than expected, but significant as regards receipt of social welfare benefits. PD also had an effect on income at age 30 years.

Conclusions: Early onset of psychiatric disorders impairs vocational functioning up to 13 years after diagnosis, and most in those with PD.

Background: Increased microvascular density correlates with more advanced disease and unfavorable overall survival in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), suggesting that angiogenesis is important for disease progression. However, studies of anti-angiogenic agents in NHL patients, have generally not shown favorable outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate whether plasma levels of a subset of angiogenesis-associated proteins are increased in indolent B-cell derived NHL (B-NHL) and to investigate whether the levels differ between patients with asymptomatic versus symptomatic disease.

Methods: Plasma levels of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), endostatin, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), long pentraxin 3 (PTX3), and galectin 3 (GAL-3) were measured by ELISA in 35 patients with symptomatic indolent B-NHL, 41 patients with asymptomatic disease, and 62 healthy controls. Bootstrap t-tests were used to assess the relative differences in biomarker levels between groups. Group differences were visualized using a principal component plot.

Results: Mean plasma endostatin and GDF15 levels were significantly higher in symptomatic and asymptomatic lymphoma patients than in controls. Symptomatic patients had higher mean MMP9 and NGAL than controls.

Conclusions: The finding of increased plasma endostatin and GDF15 in patients with asymptomatic indolent B-NHL suggests that increased angiogenic activity is an early event in indolent B-NHL disease progression.

Background: Endothelial-specific molecule 1 (endocan) has emerged as an inflammatory biomarker in recent years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of serum endocan levels in the prediction of COVID-19 disease among patients with a false-negative reverse transcription polymerase change reaction (RT-PCR) test, and also to determine its correlation with the clinical severity of the disease.

Methods: Thirty patients with positive RT-PCR results and 30 with false-negative RT-PCR results, both with suspected COVID-19 in terms of clinical, radiological, and laboratory findings, were included in the study. Thirty healthy controls were also enrolled.

Results: Serum endocan levels were estimated to be 821.8 ± 99.3 pg/mL in COVID-19 RT-PCR (+) patients, 803.9 ± 97.0 pg/mL in RT-PCR false (-) patients with suspected COVID-19, and 382.9 ± 37.5 pg/mL in the control group. No significant difference was observed between RT-PCR (+) and RT-PCR false (-) patients (P = 0.68). However, serum endocan levels differed significantly between patient groups and control group (P < 0.05). With a cut-off value of 444.2 pg/mL serum endocan levels differentiated COVID-19 cases from healthy individuals with 92% sensitivity and 80% specificity. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was observed between serum endocan levels and clinical severity (P < 0.01, r = 0.94).

Conclusions: There is a need for different laboratory markers capable of assisting diagnosis and showing COVID-19 infection in suspected COVID-19 RT-PCR false-negative patients. Endocan levels can be used as an assistant blood test for identifying COVID-19 patients with false-negative RT-PCR tests and in determining the clinical severity of the disease.