Comparison of intraoperative versus delayed enteral feeding tube placement in patients undergoing a Whipple procedure.

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Scaife, Courtney L; Hewitt, Kelly C; Mone, Mary C; Hansen, Heidi J; Nelson, Edward T; Mulvihill, Sean J

2014-01-01

The intraoperative placement of an enteral feeding tube (FT) during pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is based on the surgeon's perception of need for postoperative nutrition. Published preoperative risk factors predicting postoperative morbidity may be used to predict FT need and associated intraoperative placement. A retrospective review of patients who underwent PD during 2005-2011 was performed by querying the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database with specific procedure codes. Patients were categorized based on how many of 10 possible preoperative risk factors they demonstrated. Groups of patients with scores of ≤ 1 (low) and ≥ 2 (high), respectively, were compared for FT need, length of stay (LoS) and organ space surgical site infections (SSIs). Of 138 PD patients, 82 did not have an FT placed intraoperatively, and, of those, 16 (19.5%) required delayed FT placement. High-risk patients were more likely to require a delayed FT (29.3%) compared with low-risk patients (9.8%) (P = 0.026). The 16 patients who required a delayed FT had a median LoS of 15.5 days, whereas the 66 patients who did not require an FT had a median LoS of 8 days (P < 0.001). In this analysis, subjects considered as high-risk patients were more likely to require an FT than low-risk patients. Assessment of preoperative risk factors may improve decision making for selective intraoperative FT placement. © 2013 International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.

Prehospital delay in acute coronary syndrome--an analysis of the components of delay

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Ottesen, Michael Mundt; Dixen, Ulrik; Torp-Pedersen, Christian

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND: Prompt hospital admission is essential when treating acute coronary syndrome. Delay prior to admission is unnecessarily long. Therefore, a thorough scrutiny of the influence of characteristics, circumstantial and subjective variables on elements of prehospital delay among patients...... admitted with acute coronary syndrome is warranted. METHODS: A structured interview was conducted on 250 consecutive patients admitted alive with acute coronary syndrome. RESULTS: Median prehospital, decision, physician and transportation delays were 107, 74, 25 and 22 min, respectively. Women (n=77) had...... of acute coronary syndrome among women, and thereby contributes to unnecessary long delay to treatment. The patient's prior experience and interpretation has a significant influence on behaviour....

Management of thallium poisoning in patients with delayed hospital admission.

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Sun, Tong-Wen; Xu, Qing-Yan; Zhang, Xiao-Juan; Wu, Qiong; Liu, Zhang-Suo; Kan, Quan-Cheng; Sun, Cheng-Ye; Wang, Lexin

2012-01-01

To describe the clinical features and management of thallium poisoning in patients with delayed hospital admission. Fourteen patients (median age 36 years) were admitted 9-19 days after ingesting food poisoned with thallium. Clinical and laboratory data, including blood and urine thallium concentrations, were collected. Patients were treated with oral Prussian blue, a chelating agent sodium dimercaptosulfonate, and hemodialysis. All patients experienced a triad of symptoms of acute gastrointestinal upset, painful combined polyneuropathy, and hair loss after consuming poisoned food. Fatigue and skin pigmentation were observed in all patients. Abnormal liver function tests were found in 6 (42.9%) and delirium and coma were identified in 4 (28.6%). Two weeks after the poisoning, the blood and urine thallium concentration ranged from 219.0 to 1414.4 μg/L (median: 535.3) and 956.5 to 11285.0 μg/L (median: 7460.0), respectively. One patient (7.1%) with a previous history of pulmonary fibrosis died of respiratory failure in hospital. Symptoms were improved and blood or urine thallium levels were normalized in the remaining 13 patients before discharge. After a 6.5 ± 1-month follow-up, 1 patient (7.1%) developed deep venous thrombosis in the left lower limb. In another patient (7.1%), numbness in the lower limbs remained. Acute thallium poisoning is commonly manifested by gastrointestinal upset, painful polyneuropathy, and significant hair loss. Treatment strategies included Prussian blue and hemodialysis, which were associated with a good outcome in this case series.

Time Delay and Associated Factors in Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Markazi Province

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Aliasghar Farazi

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Delay in the diagnosis of tuberculosis increases the risk of death and enhances the transmission of disease in the community. This study aims to determine the patient and health service delay and factors affecting it in tuberculosis diagnosis. Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional survey that included all the public health centers was conducted in Markazi province from March 2009 till June 2011. Patients were interviewed after diagnosis by using a structured questionnaire. Results: One hundred and sixty-six patients aged between 9 and 87 (median; 66 years were included in the study. They comprised 87 (52.4% females and 79 (47.6% males. The median and mean of patient delay was 35 and 62 days, respectively; the median and mean of health system diagnosis delay was 34 and 53 days, respectively; the median and mean of health system treatment delay was 5 and 6 days, respectively; The median and mean of total delays were 86 and 121 days, respectively for all patients. The main determinants of delay were non education, poor economic, private sector, female gender and age≥55. Conclusion: The results of this review suggest that there is a need for revising case-finding strategies and reduction of infectious cases for better control of tuberculosis.

Total Delay Is Associated with Unfavorable Treatment Outcome among Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in West Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia: A Prospective Cohort Study.

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Senedu Bekele Gebreegziabher

Full Text Available delay in diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB may worsen the disease, increase mortality and enhance transmission in the community. This study aimed at assessing the association between total delay and unfavorable treatment outcome among newly diagnosed pulmonary TB (PTB patients.A prospective cohort study was conducted in West Gojjam Zone, Amhara Region of Ethiopia from October 2013 to May 2015. Newly diagnosed PTB patients who were ≥15 years of age were consecutively enrolled in the study from 30 randomly selected public health facilities. Total delay (the time period from onset of TB symptoms to first start of anti-TB treatment was measured. Median total delay was calculated. Mixed effect logistics regression was used to analyze factors associated with unfavorable treatment outcome.Seven hundred six patients were enrolled in the study. The median total delay was 60 days. Patients with total delay of > 60 days were more likely to have unfavorable TB treatment outcome than patients with total delay of ≤ 60 days (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-5.26. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV positive TB patients were 8.46 times more likely to experience unfavorable treatment outcome than HIV negative TB patients (AOR, 8.46; 95% CI, 3.14-22.79.Long total delay and TB/HIV coinfection were associated with unfavorable treatment outcome. Targeted interventions that can reduce delay in diagnosis and treatment of TB, and early comprehensive management of TB/HIV coinfection are needed to reduce increased risk of unfavorable treatment outcome.

Short-course radiotherapy, with elective delay prior to surgery, in patients with unresectable rectal cancer who have poor performance status or significant co-morbidity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatfield, Paul; Hingorani, Mohan; Radhakrishna, Ganesh; Cooper, Rachel; Melcher, Alan; Crellin, Adrian; Kwok-Williams, Michelle; Sebag-Montefiore, David

2009-01-01

Background and purpose: Standard treatment for rectal cancer which threatens the expected plane of resection on MRI imaging is long-course, pre-operative chemoradiotherapy (1.8-2 Gy, 25-28 fractions). Not all patients are suitable for this because of age, poor performance status or co-morbidities. We describe our experience of short-course (5 x 5 Gy) pre-operative radiotherapy with planned, delayed surgery (SCPRT-delay) in this patient group. Materials and methods: Between April 2001 and October 2007, 43 patients were selected for SCPRT-delay. The clinical records were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Median age was 82 (range 58-87). Forty-one patients had radiotherapy of which 26 (61%) were subsequently able to have surgery. Of these, R0, R1 and R2 resections were performed in 22, 2 and 2 patients, respectively. Treatment was well tolerated, although two patients required hospital admission for management of diarrhoea and one developed significant late small bowel toxicity, attributable to radiotherapy. In those undergoing R0 or R1 resection there have been no local recurrences (median follow-up 18 months). Median survival for the whole group was 23 months, although this was 44 months in those undergoing surgery. Conclusions: SCPRT-delay appears to be a useful alternative to long-course pre-operative chemoradiotherapy in this high-risk group of patients.

Care seeking behaviour and various delays in tuberculosis patients registered under RNTCP in Pune city

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Jayashree Sachin Gothankar

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Case finding in tuberculosis is known to be influenced by factors such as patient motivation, care seeking, the degree of diagnostic suspicion by health care provider which could result in a delayed diagnosis.Objective: To determine care seeking behaviour and delay in diagnosis and treatment of new sputum positive tuberculosis patients registered under RNTCP.Material and Methods: Descriptive cross sectional study. 283 new sputum positive tuberculosis patients (≥15 years of age registered during a period of six months at two randomly selected tuberculosis unit of Pune city. Questionnaire by WHO was modified and used. Interviews were conducted in DOT centres. Statistical analysis: Frequency, mean and standard deviation, chi square test.Results: Mean age of patients was 35 (±15 years18% of patients were unemployed and 77% resided in urban slums. The commonest co morbidity in 7.4% and 3.5 % patients was HIV/ AIDS followed by diabetics respectively. Majority of the patients, for the first and second time visited a general practitioner. Median patient, health care system and total delay were 18, 22 and 47 days with mean of 24±21, 32±30 and 56±33 days respectively. Health care system delay was less (p<0.05 in patients who first visited the public health care facility than patients who first visited a private health care provider.Conclusions: General practitioners are preferred first choice of health care provider for tuberculosis patients. Mean health care system delay is more than patient delay.

Delay in Diagnosis of Celiac Disease in Patients Without Gastrointestinal Complaints.

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Paez, Marco A; Gramelspacher, Anna Maria; Sinacore, James; Winterfield, Laura; Venu, Mukund

2017-11-01

The purpose of our study is to investigate the delay in diagnosis of patients with biopsy-proven celiac disease in those who present with gastrointestinal complaints vs nongastrointestinal complaints at our tertiary care center. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects approximately 1% of the population worldwide. Celiac disease can have variable clinical presentations; it can be characterized by predominately gastrointestinal symptoms, or it may present without any gastrointestinal symptoms. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 687 adult patients who carried the diagnosis of celiac disease. Patients included had biopsy-proven celiac disease and were categorized based on presence or absence of gastrointestinal symptoms prior to their diagnosis. There were 101 patients with biopsy-proven celiac disease that met inclusion criteria. Fifty-two patients presented with gastrointestinal symptoms and 49 had nongastrointestinal complaints. Results from Mann-Whitney statistical analysis showed a median delay in diagnosis of 2.3 months for the gastrointestinal symptoms group and 42 months for the nongastrointestinal group (P symptoms had abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone, as opposed to 15.5% in the gastrointestinal symptom group (P = .004). Of patients with nongastrointestinal symptoms, 69.4% had anemia, compared with 11.5% of the gastrointestinal symptom group (P symptom group, 68%, were noted to have abnormal bone density scans, compared with 41% in the gastrointestinal symptom group. No sex differences were noted on chi-squared analysis between the 2 groups (P = .997). Although there is growing awareness of celiac disease, the delay in diagnosis for patients without gastrointestinal symptoms remains prolonged, with an average delay of 3.5 years. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting the diagnostic delay in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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Cellura, Eleonora; Spataro, Rossella; Taiello, Alfonsa Claudia; La Bella, Vincenzo

2012-07-01

Although amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a relentlessly progressive disorder, early diagnosis allows a prompt start with the specific drug riluzole and an accurate palliative care planning. ALS at onset may however mimic several disorders, some of them treatable (e.g., multifocal motor neuropathy) or epidemiologically more frequent (e.g., cervical myelopathy). To study the delay from onset to diagnosis in a cohort of ALS patients and to the variables that may affect it. We performed a retrospective analysis of the diagnostic delays in a cohort of 260 patients affected by ALS (M/F = 1.32) followed at our tertiary referral ALS Center between 2000 and 2007. The median time from onset to diagnosis was 11 months (range: 6-21) for the whole ALS cohort, 10 months (range: 6-15) in bulbar-onset (n = 65) and 12 months (range: 7-23) in spinal-onset (n = 195) patients (p = 0.3). 31.1% of patients received other diagnoses before ALS and this led to a significant delay of the correct diagnosis in this group (other diagnoses before ALS, n = 81: median delay, 15 months [9.75-24.25] vs ALS, n = 179, median delay, 9 months [6-15.25], p heuristics might represent an important contributing factor. Furthermore, the length of the differential diagnosis from other disorders and delays in referral to the neurologist seems to be positively associated with the delay in diagnosis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

REASONS FOR PATIENT DELAYS & HEALTH SYSTEM DELAYS FOR TUBERCULOSIS IN SOUTH INDIA

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Kapil Goel

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Globally, the burden of Tuberculosis is escalating. Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of tuberculosis treatment is essential for an effective tuberculosis control programme. Objectives: To study the self reported reasons for patient and health system (diagnosis & treatment delays in Tuberculosis patients. Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted among 98 new sputum positive TB cases aged > 15 years registered under RNTCP from Oct 2006 to June 2007 & receiving treatment under DOTS in Udupi taluk by interviewing them. Results: Total 98 patients were recruited and 68% were males. Out of 17 patients with patient delays, 82% felt that their symptoms were not severe, 71% felt that patient delay was due to lack of awareness and 71% did not take it seriously. Out of 86 patients with health system delays, 82.6% of patients mentioned that doctor has not advised for sputum examination, 76.7% of patients told that they first consulted a private doctor, 21% of them mentioned that doctor was unaware to diagnose TB. Conclusion: Symptoms not severe is the main reason for the patient delay and doctor didn’t advise for sputum examination is the main reason for health system delays.

Separate patient serum sodium medians from males and females provide independent information on analytical bias

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Hansen, Steen Ingemann; Petersen, Per Hyltoft; Lund, Flemming

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: During monitoring of monthly medians of results from patients undertaken to assess analytical stability in routine laboratory performance, the medians for serum sodium for male and female patients were found to be significantly related. METHODS: Daily, weekly and monthly patient medians...... all instruments. CONCLUSIONS: The tight relationship between the gender medians for serum sodium is only possible when raw laboratory data are used for calculation. The two patient medians can be used to confirm both and are useful as independent estimates of analytical bias during constant...... calibration periods. In contrast to the gender combined median, the estimate of analytical bias can be confirmed further by calculation of the ratios of medians for males and females....

Delayed enhancement imaging in a contemporary patient cohort following correction of tetralogy of Fallot.

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Preim, Uta; Sommer, Philipp; Hoffmann, Janine; Kehrmann, Jana; Lehmkuhl, Lukas; Daehnert, Ingo; Gutberlet, Matthias; Grothoff, Matthias

2015-10-01

To test the hypothesis that myocardial scars after repair of tetralogy of Fallot are related to impaired cardiac function and adverse clinical outcome. A total of 53 patients were retrospectively analysed after repair of tetralogy of Fallot. The median patient age was 20 years (range 2-48). Cardiac MRI with a 1.5 T magnet included cine sequences to obtain volumes and function, phase-sensitive inversion recovery delayed enhancement imaging to detect myocardial scars, and flow measurements to determine pulmonary regurgitation fraction. In addition, clinical parameters were obtained. An overall 83% of patients were in NYHA class I. All patients with the exception of 2 (96%) had pulmonary insufficiency. Mean ejection fraction and end-diastolic volume index were 46% and 128 ml/m2 for the right ventricle and 54% and 82 ml/m² for the left ventricle, respectively. Excluding enhancement of the septal insertion and prosthetic patches, delayed enhancement was seen in 11/53 cases (21%). Delayed enhancement of the right ventricle was detected in 6/53 patients (11%) and of the left ventricle in 5/53 patients (9%). The patient group with delayed enhancement was significantly older (p=0.003), had later repair (p=0.007), and higher left ventricular myocardial mass index (p=0.009) compared with the group without delayed enhancement. This study reveals that scarring is common in patients after surgical repair of tetralogy of Fallot and is associated with older age and late repair. However, there was no difference in right ventricular function, NYHA class, or occurrence of clinically relevant arrhythmias between patients with and those without myocardial scars.

Delay in DOTS for new pulmonary tuberculosis patient from rural area of Wardha District, India

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Shilpa Bawankule

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Vast majority of active tuberculosis patients seeks treatment, do so promptly, still many patients spend a great deal of time and money “shopping for health” and too often they do not receive either accurate diagnosis or effective treatment, despite spending considerable resources. Objective: To find out the time taken to, for diagnosis of tuberculosis and to put patient on DOTS from the onset of symptoms and pattern of health seeking behavior of new pulmonary tuberculosis patients. A cross-sectional rapid assessment using qualitative (FGD and quantitative (Interview methods conducted at DOTS center of tertiary care hospital from rural Wardha. Participants: 53 pulmonary tuberculosis patients already on DOTS, in intensive phase. Main outcome measure: Delay in initiation of DOTS & health seeking behavior Results: Median total delay for starting DOTS was 111 days, (range: 10 to 321 days. Patient delay was more than provider delay. Patients delay was more in patients above 60 years, illiterate, per-capita income below 650 Rupees and HIV TB co-infection. Pattern of health seeking behavior was complex. Family physician was the preferred health care provider. Patient visited on an average four providers and spent around 1450 rupees (only direct cost before DOTS begin. Time taken from the onset of symptoms and start of DOT is a cause of concern for the tuberculosis control program. Early case detection is important rather than mere achieving target of 70% new case detection. Program manager needs to implement locally relevant & focused strategies for early case detection to improve the treatment success, especially in rural area of India.

Separate patient serum sodium medians from males and females provide independent information on analytical bias.

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Hansen, Steen Ingemann; Petersen, Per Hyltoft; Lund, Flemming; Fraser, Callum G; Sölétormos, György

2017-10-26

During monitoring of monthly medians of results from patients undertaken to assess analytical stability in routine laboratory performance, the medians for serum sodium for male and female patients were found to be significantly related. Daily, weekly and monthly patient medians of serum sodium for both male and female patients were calculated from results obtained on samples from the population >18 years on three analysers in the hospital laboratory. The half-range of medians was applied as an estimate of the maximum bias. Further, the ratios between the two medians were calculated. The medians of both genders demonstrated dispersions over time, but they were closely connected in like patterns, which were confirmed by the half-range of the ratios of medians for males and females that varied from 0.36% for daily, 0.14% for weekly and 0.036% for monthly ratios over all instruments. The tight relationship between the gender medians for serum sodium is only possible when raw laboratory data are used for calculation. The two patient medians can be used to confirm both and are useful as independent estimates of analytical bias during constant calibration periods. In contrast to the gender combined median, the estimate of analytical bias can be confirmed further by calculation of the ratios of medians for males and females.

The identification of risk factors associated with patient and healthcare system delays in the treatment of tuberculosis in Tabriz, Iran.

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Ebrahimi Kalan, Mohammad; Yekrang Sis, Hassan; Kelkar, Vinaya; Harrison, Scott H; Goins, Gregory D; Asghari Jafarabadi, Mohammad; Han, Jian

2018-01-24

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious health concern, particularly in developing countries. Various delays, such as patient delay (PD) and healthcare system delay (HSD) in the TB process, are exacerbating the disease burden and increasing the rates of transmission and mortality in various global communities. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify risk factors associated with PD and HSD in TB patients in Tabriz, Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 173 TB patients in Tabriz, Iran from 2012 to 2014. Patients were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. Frequencies and percentages were reported for patient categories of sex, age, and education. The median and interquartile range (IQR) were reported for the time intervals of delays. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions of delay in respect to socio-demographic and clinical variables were performed. Statistical significance was set at p patients during their initial visit to the health care facilities. The knowledge generated from this study will be helpful for prioritizing and developing strategies for minimizing delays, initiating early treatment to TB patients, and improving TB-related training programs and healthcare systems in Tabriz, Iran.

Patient delay and associated factors among breast cancer patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, M.A.; Khan, M.I.; Andleeb, U.

2015-01-01

Objectives: To stratify patients into various stages, calculate average patient delay and study various causes of delay to presentation. Methodology: This was a one year hospital based cross sectional study at Khyber Teaching Hospital, using non probability consecutive sampling. A simplified staging was used for this study; Early (Stage I), Intermediate (Stage II, III), and Late (Stage IV). A patient was labelled delay when >3 months had elapsed between first symptom perception and first doctor consultation. Results: 80 patients were included with age 21-80 years (mean 45.28+-13.15). 80% of the patients were married, 76.3% (n=61/80) were poor with annual income of <500 US $, 85% of patients were illiterate. The participants from Rural and Urban areas were similar (37 % vs 31%); 15% were from Afghanistan. 80% patients presented with a delay of >3 months. Most common cause of delay was false symptom interpretation in 25.3% (n=17) patients. Conclusion: Late clinical presentation is because of lack of health education, unawareness, misconceptions about treatment and strong belief in traditional medicine resulting in advanced disease. This is worsened by poverty and unavailability of health care services especially in rural areas. (author)

Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome: A Single-Center Experience with 23 Patients

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Nasr, Layla A. [American University of Beirut Medical Center, Division of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology (Lebanon); Faraj, Walid G. [American University of Beirut Medical Center, Department of Surgery (Lebanon); Al-Kutoubi, Aghiad [American University of Beirut Medical Center, Division of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology (Lebanon); Hamady, Mohamad [Imperial College-London Faculty of Medicine, Division of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology (United Kingdom); Khalifeh, Mohamad; Hallal, Ali; Halawani, Hamzeh M. [American University of Beirut Medical Center, Department of Surgery (Lebanon); Wazen, Joelle; Haydar, Ali A., E-mail: ah24@aub.edu.lb [American University of Beirut Medical Center, Division of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology (Lebanon)

2017-05-15

BackgroundMedian arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) is a rare entity that occurs when the median arcuate ligament of the diaphragm is low-lying, causing a compression to the underlying celiac trunk. We reviewed the vascular changes associated with MALS in an effort to emphasize the seriousness of this disease and the complications that may result.MethodsThis is a retrospective descriptive analysis of 23 consecutive patients diagnosed with MALS between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2015 at a tertiary medical center. Computed tomographic (CT) scans, medical records, and patient follow-up were reviewed.ResultsThe number of patients included herein was 23. The median age was 56 years (17–83). Sixteen patients (69.6%) had a significant arterial collateral circulation. Eleven patients (47.8%) were found to have visceral artery aneurysms; 4 patients (36.4%) bled secondary to aneurysm rupture. All ruptured aneurysms were treated with endovascular approach. The severity of the hemodynamic changes appears to be greater with complete occlusion,ConclusionsMALS causes pathological hemodynamic changes within the abdominal vasculature. Follow-up is advised for patients who develop a collateral circulation. Resulting aneurysms should preferably be treated when the size ratio approaches three. Treatment of these aneurysms can be done via an endovascular approach coupled with possible celiac artery decompression to restore physiologic blood flow.

Median survival time of patients after transcatheter chemo-embolization for hepatocellular carcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haider, Z.; Haq, T.; Munir, K.; Usman, M.U.; Azeemuddin, M.

2006-01-01

Objective: To determine the effect on survival after trans arterial chemo embolization (TACE) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Design: Longitudinal cohort study. Place and Duration of Study: Radiology Department, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Stadium Road, Karachi, from December 1997 to September 2005. Patients and Methods: Patients undergoing TACE procedure for HCC were prospectively followed. Forty three patients were enrolled from December 1997 to March 2003 in the study and subjected to chemo embolization therapy. Eight out of 43 patients were excluded from the study, who lost to follow-up. All the patients were followed till their death. Median and mean survival were calculated. Results: The median survival of these 35 patients was 410 days (13.6 months), with 95% confidence interval (236 days lower bound and 536 days upper bound). Mean survival time was 603 days (20.1 months) with 95% confidence interval (394 days lower bound and 812 days upper bound). There was significant difference in mean survival time (in days) by Child's Pugh class (X2 = 12.384; df=2, p-value=0.002). Conclusion: The study showed that TACE is an effective palliative treatment. TACE increases the median survival time. (author)

Delayed endovascular aortic repair is associated with reduced in-hospital mortality in patients with blunt thoracic aortic injury.

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Marcaccio, Christina L; Dumas, Ryan P; Huang, Yanlan; Yang, Wei; Wang, Grace J; Holena, Daniel N

2018-02-13

The traditional approach to stable blunt thoracic aortic injury (BTAI) endorsed by the Society for Vascular Surgery is early (<24 hours) thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). Recently, some studies have shown improved mortality in stable BTAI patients repaired in a delayed manner (≥24 hours). However, the indications for use of delayed TEVAR for BTAI are not well characterized, and its overall impact on the patient's survival remains poorly understood. We sought to determine whether delayed TEVAR is associated with a decrease in mortality compared with early TEVAR in this population. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult patients with BTAI (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnosis code 901.0) who underwent TEVAR (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision procedure code 39.73) from 2009 to 2013 using the National Sample Program data set. Missing physiologic data were imputed using chained multiple imputation. Patients were parsed into groups based on the timing of TEVAR (early, <24 hours, vs delayed, ≥24 hours). The χ 2 , Mann-Whitney, and Fisher exact tests were used to compare baseline characteristics and outcomes of interest between groups. Multivariable logistic regression for mortality was performed that included all variables significant at P ≤ .2 in univariate analyses. A total of 2045 adult patients with BTAI were identified, of whom 534 (26%) underwent TEVAR. Patients with missing data on TEVAR timing were excluded (n = 27), leaving a total of 507 patients for analysis (75% male; 69% white; median age, 40 years [interquartile range, 27-56 years]; median Injury Severity Score [ISS], 34 [interquartile range, 26-41]). Of these, 378 patients underwent early TEVAR and 129 underwent delayed TEVAR. The two groups were similar with regard to age, sex, race, ISS, and presenting physiology. Mortality was 11.9% in the early TEVAR group vs 5.4% in the delayed group, with the early group

Cognitive factors that influence delayed decision to seek treatment among older patients with acute myocardial infarction in Korea.

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Hwang, Seon Young; Jeong, Myung Ho

2012-06-01

The incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is rapidly increasing among older adults in Korea. However, the factors associated with a delayed decision to visit a hospital and the reasons for this delay have not been explored adequately among older patients. To determine factors predicting a prehospital delay time of > 6 h and to identify the cognitive barriers in the delayed decision of AMI patients aged ≥ 65 years. This study adopted a mixed methodological approach using quantitative and qualitative analyses. The sample included 94 male and 71 female patients hospitalized for first-time AMI at a university hospital in Korea. Thematic content analysis was used to identify the themes from the qualitative interview data, and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to predict delayed hospital presentation by > 6 h. The median prehospital delay time was 12 h. Low education level, presence of preinfarction angina pain, and attribution of symptoms to a non-cardiac origin were found to be the predicting factors. From the qualitative data, four meaningful themes including 10 subthemes that influenced the delayed decision were identified. Some culturally peculiar themes were found in this Korean sample. Educational strategies that focus on these cognitive decision-making barriers should be planned for elderly Korean at high risk for AMI.

Diagnostic Delay among Adults with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in a High Gross Domestic Product Per Capita Country: Reasons and Magnitude of the Problem.

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Ibrahim, Wanis H; Alousi, Faraj H; Al-Khal, Abdulatif; Bener, Abdulbari; AlSalman, Ahmed; Aamer, Aaiza; Khaled, Ahmed; Raza, Tasleem

2016-01-01

To determine the mean and median delays in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) diagnosis among adults in one of the world's highest gross domestic product per capita countries and identify patient and health system-related reasons for these delays. This is a cross-sectional, face-to-face, prospective study of 100 subjects with confirmed PTB, conducted at main tuberculosis (TB) admitting facilities in Qatar. The mean and median diagnostic delays were measured. The Chi-square test with two-sided P factors and diagnostic delay. The mean and median total diagnostic delays of PTB were 53 (95% confidence interval [CI] 42.61-63.59) and 30 (interquartile range; Q1-Q3, 15-60) days, respectively. The mean patient factor delay was 45.7 (95% CI 28.1-63.4) days, and the median was 30 (interquartile range; Q1-Q3, 15-60) days. The mean health system factor delay was 46.3 (95% CI 35.46-57.06) days, and the median was 30 (interquartile range; Q1-Q3, 18-60) days. The most common cause of patient factor delay was neglect of TB symptoms by patients (in 39% of cases), and for health-care system factor delay was a failure (mostly at general and private care levels) to suspect PTB by doctors (in 57% of cases). There were no significant associations between the presence of language barrier, patient occupation or nationality, and diagnostic delay. Despite a favorable comparison to other countries, there is a substantial delay in the diagnosis of PTB in Qatar. Relevant actions including health education on TB are required to minimize this delay.

[Safety of repeat median sternotomy in the palliative treatment of patients with a univentricular heart].

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Díliz-Nava, Héctor; Meléndez-Sagaón, Isis; Tamaríz-Cruz, Orlando; García-Benítez, Luis; Araujo-Martínez, Aric; Palacios-Macedo, Alexis

To establish the morbidity and mortality of patients with univentricular hearts who underwent a repeat median sternotomy at the Instituto Nacional de Pediatría. A retrospective review was performed on the clinical charts of all patients who underwent a repeat median sternotomy from 2001 to 2016. Sixty-five patients underwent 76 surgeries by repeat median sternotomy. Fifty-nine patients had a first repeat median sternotomy, with a mean age of 36 months (range: 4-176 months) and a mean weight of 12.2 kg (range: 3.2-21.5 kg). Forty patients had a Glenn procedure, and 19 patients had a Fontan procedure. There were 17 patients with a second repeat median sternotomy, with a mean age of 89 months (range 48-156 months), and a mean weight of 22.7 kg (14.4-41 kg). A Fontan procedure was performed on all these 17 patients. A section of the right coronary artery with electrocardiographic changes and a right atrium tear that caused hypotension occurred during first repeat sternotomy. An aortic tear occurred during a second repeat sternotomy with massive bleeding and subsequent death. This represents 3.9% of re-entry injuries. It is concluded that repeat median sternotomy is a safe procedure. Copyright © 2016 Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Experience of thymectomy by median sternotomy in patients with myasthenia gravis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussain, N.; Ahmed, S.W.; Ahmed, T.; Hafeez, A.B.; Baloch, R.; Ali, S.

2010-01-01

Objective: To determine the outcome of thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis and safety of median sternotomy approach. Methodology: An observational descriptive study was conducted in the department of thoracic surgery JPMC from February 2005 to January 2009. Twenty two patients having persistent generalized or ocular myasthenia gravis referred to our department by neurologists and general physicians, partially or not responding to medical treatment with or without thymoma, were included in the study. Those who were not fit for anaesthesia were excluded. Preoperatively 2 to 3 sessions of plasmaphaeresis were done and each patient was given anti myasthenia gravis treatment. Clinical staging was done by Modified Osserman classification. Median sternotomy approach was used. Outcome was assessed on the basis of remission of disease in different Osserman groups. All patients were followed for a minimum of 6 months. Results: Out of 22 patients, 16 (72.7%) were females and 6 (27.2%) males. Mean age at presentation was 35.2 +- 14.5 years. Mean duration of symptoms was 1.5 +- 1.2 years. A total of 4 (18.1%) patients with myasthenia gravis had thymoma and histopathology of 18 (81.9%) patients showed thymic hyperplasia. Remission was seen in most grades of Osserman. The best response was seen in Grade I where all patients achieved remission. Most patients in Grade II A and II B were benefited. The only patient in Grade III had no improvement of symptoms. No patient in Grade IV underwent thymectomy. Overall 86.3 % had a positive outcome on basis of remission and improvement. Conclusion: Thymectomy by median sternotomy is safe and effective with more favourable outcomes for patients of myasthenia gravis not responding to medical treatment. (author)

Time Delay of CGM Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Schmelzeisen-Redeker, Günther; Schoemaker, Michael; Kirchsteiger, Harald; Freckmann, Guido; Heinemann, Lutz; del Re, Luigi

2015-01-01

Background: Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is a powerful tool to support the optimization of glucose control of patients with diabetes. However, CGM systems measure glucose in interstitial fluid but not in blood. Rapid changes in one compartment are not accompanied by similar changes in the other, but follow with some delay. Such time delays hamper detection of, for example, hypoglycemic events. Our aim is to discuss the causes and extent of time delays and approaches to compensate for these. Methods: CGM data were obtained in a clinical study with 37 patients with a prototype glucose sensor. The study was divided into 5 phases over 2 years. In all, 8 patients participated in 2 phases separated by 8 months. A total number of 108 CGM data sets including raw signals were used for data analysis and were processed by statistical methods to obtain estimates of the time delay. Results: Overall mean (SD) time delay of the raw signals with respect to blood glucose was 9.5 (3.7) min, median was 9 min (interquartile range 4 min). Analysis of time delays observed in the same patients separated by 8 months suggests a patient dependent delay. No significant correlation was observed between delay and anamnestic or anthropometric data. The use of a prediction algorithm reduced the delay by 4 minutes on average. Conclusions: Prediction algorithms should be used to provide real-time CGM readings more consistent with simultaneous measurements by SMBG. Patient specificity may play an important role in improving prediction quality. PMID:26243773

Durations and Delays in Care Seeking, Diagnosis and Treatment Initiation in Uncomplicated Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in Mumbai, India.

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Nerges Mistry

Full Text Available Timely diagnosis and treatment initiation are critical to reduce the chain of transmission of Tuberculosis (TB in places like Mumbai, where almost 60% of the inhabitants reside in overcrowded slums. This study documents the pathway from the onset of symptoms suggestive of TB to initiation of TB treatment and examines factors responsible for delay among uncomplicated pulmonary TB patients in Mumbai.A population-based retrospective survey was conducted in the slums of 15 high TB burden administrative wards to identify 153 self-reported TB patients. Subsequently in-depth interviews of 76 consenting patients that fit the inclusion criteria were undertaken using an open-ended interview schedule. Mean total, first care seeking, diagnosis and treatment initiation duration and delays were computed for new and retreatment patients. Patients showing defined delays were divided into outliers and non-outliers for all three delays using the median values.The mean duration for the total pathway was 65 days with 29% of patients being outliers. Importantly the mean duration of first care seeking was similar in new (24 days and retreatment patients (25 days. Diagnostic duration contributed to 55% of the total pathway largely in new patients. Treatment initiation was noted to be the least among the three durations with mean duration in retreatment patients twice that of new patients. Significantly more female patients experienced diagnostic delay. Major shift of patients from the private to public sector and non-allopaths to allopaths was observed, particularly for treatment initiation.Achieving positive behavioural changes in providers (especially non-allopaths and patients needs to be considered in TB control strategies. Specific attention is required in counselling of TB patients so that timely care seeking is effected at the time of relapse. Prioritizing improvement of environmental health in vulnerable locations and provision of point of care diagnostics

Durations and Delays in Care Seeking, Diagnosis and Treatment Initiation in Uncomplicated Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in Mumbai, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Mistry, Nerges; Rangan, Sheela; Dholakia, Yatin; Lobo, Eunice; Shah, Shimoni; Patil, Akshaya

2016-01-01

Timely diagnosis and treatment initiation are critical to reduce the chain of transmission of Tuberculosis (TB) in places like Mumbai, where almost 60% of the inhabitants reside in overcrowded slums. This study documents the pathway from the onset of symptoms suggestive of TB to initiation of TB treatment and examines factors responsible for delay among uncomplicated pulmonary TB patients in Mumbai. A population-based retrospective survey was conducted in the slums of 15 high TB burden administrative wards to identify 153 self-reported TB patients. Subsequently in-depth interviews of 76 consenting patients that fit the inclusion criteria were undertaken using an open-ended interview schedule. Mean total, first care seeking, diagnosis and treatment initiation duration and delays were computed for new and retreatment patients. Patients showing defined delays were divided into outliers and non-outliers for all three delays using the median values. The mean duration for the total pathway was 65 days with 29% of patients being outliers. Importantly the mean duration of first care seeking was similar in new (24 days) and retreatment patients (25 days). Diagnostic duration contributed to 55% of the total pathway largely in new patients. Treatment initiation was noted to be the least among the three durations with mean duration in retreatment patients twice that of new patients. Significantly more female patients experienced diagnostic delay. Major shift of patients from the private to public sector and non-allopaths to allopaths was observed, particularly for treatment initiation. Achieving positive behavioural changes in providers (especially non-allopaths) and patients needs to be considered in TB control strategies. Specific attention is required in counselling of TB patients so that timely care seeking is effected at the time of relapse. Prioritizing improvement of environmental health in vulnerable locations and provision of point of care diagnostics would be

Delayed Complications in Patients Surviving at Least 3 Years After Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases

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Yamamoto, Masaaki, E-mail: BCD06275@nifty.com [Katsuta Hospital Mito GammaHouse, Hitachi-naka (Japan); Department of Neurosurgery, Tokyo Women' s Medical University Medical Center East, Tokyo (Japan); Kawabe, Takuya [Katsuta Hospital Mito GammaHouse, Hitachi-naka (Japan); Department of Neurosurgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyoto (Japan); Higuchi, Yoshinori [Department of Neurosurgery, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba (Japan); Sato, Yasunori [Clinical Research Center, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba (Japan); Nariai, Tadashi [Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University School of Medicine, Tokyo (Japan); Barfod, Bierta E. [Katsuta Hospital Mito GammaHouse, Hitachi-naka (Japan); Kasuya, Hidetoshi [Department of Neurosurgery, Tokyo Women' s Medical University Medical Center East, Tokyo (Japan); Urakawa, Yoichi [Katsuta Hospital Mito GammaHouse, Hitachi-naka (Japan)

2013-01-01

Purpose: Little is known about delayed complications after stereotactic radiosurgery in long-surviving patients with brain metastases. We studied the actual incidence and predictors of delayed complications. Patients and Methods: This was an institutional review board-approved, retrospective cohort study that used our database. Among our consecutive series of 2000 patients with brain metastases who underwent Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) from 1991-2008, 167 patients (8.4%, 89 women, 78 men, mean age 62 years [range, 19-88 years]) who survived at least 3 years after GKRS were studied. Results: Among the 167 patients, 17 (10.2%, 18 lesions) experienced delayed complications (mass lesions with or without cyst in 8, cyst alone in 8, edema in 2) occurring 24.0-121.0 months (median, 57.5 months) after GKRS. The actuarial incidences of delayed complications estimated by competing risk analysis were 4.2% and 21.2% at the 60th month and 120th month, respectively, after GKRS. Among various pre-GKRS clinical factors, univariate analysis demonstrated tumor volume-related factors: largest tumor volume (hazard ratio [HR], 1.091; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.018-1.154; P=.0174) and tumor volume {<=}10 cc vs >10 cc (HR, 4.343; 95% CI, 1.444-12.14; P=.0108) to be the only significant predictors of delayed complications. Univariate analysis revealed no correlations between delayed complications and radiosurgical parameters (ie, radiosurgical doses, conformity and gradient indexes, and brain volumes receiving >5 Gy and >12 Gy). After GKRS, an area of prolonged enhancement at the irradiated lesion was shown to be a possible risk factor for the development of delayed complications (HR, 8.751; 95% CI, 1.785-157.9; P=.0037). Neurosurgical interventions were performed in 13 patients (14 lesions) and mass removal for 6 lesions and Ommaya reservoir placement for the other 8. The results were favorable. Conclusions: Long-term follow-up is crucial for patients with brain metastases

Factors influencing diagnosis delay of advanced breast cancer in Moroccan women.

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Maghous, A; Rais, F; Ahid, S; Benhmidou, N; Bellahamou, K; Loughlimi, H; Marnouche, E; Elmajjaoui, S; Elkacemi, H; Kebdani, T; Benjaafar, N

2016-06-07

Delay in the diagnosis of breast cancer in symptomatic women of 3 months or more is associated with advanced stage and low survival. We conducted this study to learn more about the extent and reasons behind diagnosis delay of advanced breast cancer in Moroccan women. A group of patients with advanced breast cancer were interviewed at the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat during the period from February to December 2014. Diagnosis delay was devised into patient delay and system delay. Patient delay was defined as time from first symptoms until first medical consultation. System delay was defined as time from first presentation to a health care provider until definite diagnosis or treatment. Prospective information and clinical data were collected on a form during an interview with each patient and from medical records. In all, 137 patients were interviewed. The mean age of women was 48.3 ± 10.4 years. The median of consultation time was 6[4,12] months and the median of diagnosis time was 1[1,3] months. Diagnosis delay was associated to a personal reason in 96 (70.1 %) patients and to a medical reason in 19 (13.9 %) patients. A number of factors predicted diagnosis delay: symptoms were not considered serious in 66 (55.9 %) patients; traditional therapy was applied in 15 (12.7 %) patients and fear of cancer diagnosis and/or treatment in 14 (11.9 %) patients. A use of traditional methods was significantly associated with rural residence and far away from basic health center (p = 0.000). Paradoxically, a family history of breast cancer was significantly higher in who report a fear of cancer diagnosis and/or treatment to diagnosis delay (p Diagnosis delay is very serious problem in Morocco. Diagnosis delay was associated with complex interactions between several factors and with advanced stages. There is a need for improving breast cancer information in our populations and training of general practitioners to reduce advanced breast cancer by

Analysis of the diagnostic pathway and delay in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the Valencian Community.

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Vázquez-Costa, J F; Martínez-Molina, M; Fernández-Polo, M; Fornés-Ferrer, V; Frasquet-Carrera, M; Sevilla-Mantecón, T

2018-06-11

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an insidious, clinically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disease associated with a diagnostic delay of approximately 12 months. No study conducted to date has analysed the diagnostic pathway in Spain. We gathered data on variables related to the diagnostic pathway and delay for patients diagnosed with ALS between October 2013 and July 2017. The study included 143 patients with ALS (57% men; 68% spinal onset). Patients were diagnosed in public centres in 86% of cases and in private centres in 14%.The mean diagnostic delay was 13.1 months (median 11.7). Patients were examined by neurologists a mean time of 7.9 months after symptom onset, with diagnosis being made 5.2 months later. Half of all patients underwent unnecessary diagnostic tests and multiple electrophysiological studies before diagnosis was established. Diagnostic delay was longer in cases of spinal onset (P = .008) due to onset of the disease in the lower limbs. No differences were found between the public and private healthcare systems (P = .897). The diagnostic delay in ALS in Spain is similar to that of neighboring countries and seems to depend on disease-related factors, not on the healthcare system. Patients with lower-limb onset ALS constitute the greatest diagnostic challenge. Misdiagnosis is frequent, and partly attributable to an incorrect approach or erroneous interpretation of electrophysiological studies. Specific training programmes for neurologists and general neurophysiologists and early referral to reference centers may help to reduce diagnostic delay. Copyright © 2018 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Delay in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis: a survey in the Lazio region, Italy

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Patrizio Pezzotti

2014-11-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To estimate patient and health care delays in the diagnosis of PTB and to evaluate associated factors.METHODS: PTB incident cases ≥18 years diagnosed between September 2010 and September 2011 in the Lazio region; information on symptoms and date of onset, health professionals contacts, diagnostic exams performed, and drugs prescribed before diagnosis were collected through a standardized questionnaire. The total delay (TD was divided into patient delay (PD: from symptoms onset to first contact with healthcare services and health system delay (HSD: from first contact to diagnosis.RESULTS: 278 cases were evaluated. Median PD,HSD, and TD, were 31, 15, and 77.5 days, respectively. The median PD, HSD, and TD were significantly lower in foreign born patients (26, 10.5, 63.5, vs. 45, 36, 100 days, respectively. Other factors independently associated with longer delay were: absence of fever and presence of weight loss for PD; prior unspecific treatment, absence of cough, consult with a general practitioner, visit to an outpatient clinic, and a PD <30 days for HSD.CONCLUSIONS: In Italy, the delay in TB diagnosis is similar to that estimated in other European countries. Results indicate that actions aimed to reduce diagnostic delay should be primarily addressed to Italian patients.

Assessment of service delays and impact on bed utilisation in a major teaching hospital.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Conway, R

2010-12-14

BACKGROUND: Increasing economic pressures coupled with an expanding and ageing population and a hostile economic climate have led to growing interest in the optimisation of bed usage within hospitals. There are many causes for delay in a patient\\'s discharge. METHODS: This prospective observational study assessed consecutive patients admitted and discharged from hospital within a 52-day period for waiting times in the provision of requested diagnostic tests and services. RESULTS: Seventy patients were included in the study. There were median delays of 2 and 3 days for an MRI and colonoscopy, a delay of 3 days for a Holter monitor report, and 9 days for an occupational therapy referral. The median wait for consults was 1 day across all three services. CONCLUSIONS: Significant remediable delays exist during the course of many acute medical admissions. Addressing these factors will enable the provision of a faster and more cost-efficient service.

PEMF as treatment for delayed healing of foot and ankle arthrodesis.

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Saltzman, Charles; Lightfoot, Andrew; Amendola, Annunziato

2004-11-01

Arthrodesis is the most common surgical treatment for foot and ankle arthritis. In adults, these procedures are associated with a 5% to 10% rate of nonunion. Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) stimulation was approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of delayed unions after long-bone fractures and joint arthrodesis. The purpose of this study was to examine the results of PEMF treatment for delayed healing after foot and ankle arthrodesis. Three hundred and thirty-four foot and ankle arthrodeses were done. Nineteen resulted in delayed unions that were treated with a protocol of immobilization, limited weightbearing, and PEMF stimulation for a median of 7 (range 5 to 27) months. All patients were followed clinically and radiographically. The use of PEMF, immobilization, and limited weightbearing to treat delayed union after foot and ankle arthrodesis was successful in 5 of 19 (26%) patients. Of the other 14 patients with nonunions, nine had revision surgery with autogenous grafting, continued immobilization, and PEMF stimulation. Seven of these eventually healed at a median of 5.5 (range 2 to 26) months and two did not heal. One patient had a below-knee amputation, and four refused further treatment. The protocol of PEMF, immobilization, and limited weightbearing had a relatively low success rate in this group of patients. We no longer use this protocol alone to treat delayed union after foot and ankle arthrodesis.

Time intervals from first symptom to treatment of cancer: a cohort study of 2,212 newly diagnosed cancer patients

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Sokolowski Ineta

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Delay in diagnosis of cancer may worsen prognosis. The aim of this study is to explore patient-, general practitioner (GP- and system-related delay in the interval from first cancer symptom to diagnosis and treatment, and to analyse the extent to which delays differ by cancer type. Methods Population-based cohort study conducted in 2004-05 in the County of Aarhus, Denmark (640,000 inhabitants. Data were collected from administrative registries and questionnaires completed by GPs on 2,212 cancer patients newly diagnosed during a 1-year period. Median delay (in days with interquartile interval (IQI was the main outcome measure. Results Median total delay was 98 days (IQI 57-168. Most of the total delay stemmed from patient (median 21 days (7-56 and system delay (median 55 days (32-93. Median GP delay was 0 (0-2 days. Total delay was shortest among patients with ovarian (median 60 days (45-112 and breast cancer (median 65 days (39-106 and longest among patients with prostate (median 130 days (89-254 and bladder cancer (median 134 days (93-181. Conclusion System delay accounted for a substantial part of the total delay experienced by cancer patients. This points to a need for shortening clinical pathways if possible. A long patient delay calls for research into patient awareness of cancer. For all delay components, special focus should be given to the 4th quartile of patients with the longest time intervals and we need research into the quality of the diagnostic work-up process. We found large variations in delay for different types of cancer. Improvements should therefore target both the population at large and the specific needs associated with individual cancer types and their symptoms.

Gender-partitioned patient medians of serum albumin requested by general practitioners for the assessment of analytical stability.

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Hansen, Steen Ingemann; Petersen, Per Hyltoft; Lund, Flemming; Fraser, Callum G; Sölétormos, György

2018-04-25

Recently, the use of separate gender-partitioned patient medians of serum sodium has revealed potential for monitoring analytical stability within the optimum analytical performance specifications for laboratory medicine. The serum albumin concentration depends on whether a patient is sitting or recumbent during phlebotomy. We therefore investigated only examinations requested by general practitioners (GPs) to provide data from sitting patients. Weekly and monthly patient medians of serum albumin requested by GP for both male and female patients were calculated from the raw data obtained from three analysers in the hospital laboratory on examination of samples from those >18 years. The half-range of medians were applied as an estimate of the maximum bias. Further, the ratios between the two medians were calculated (females/males). The medians for male and female patients were closely related despite considerable variation due to the current analytical variation. This relationship was confirmed by the calculated half-range for the monthly ratio between the genders of 0.44%, which surpasses the optimum analytical performance specification for bias of serum albumin (0.72%). The weekly ratio had a half-range of 1.83%, which surpasses the minimum analytical performance specifications of 2.15%. Monthly gender-partitioned patient medians of serum albumin are useful for monitoring of long-term analytical stability, where the gender medians are two independent estimates of changes in (delta) bias: only results requested by GP are of value in this application to ensure that all patients are sitting during phlebotomy.

Delay in Diagnosis of Testicular Cancer; A Need for Awareness Programs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ozturk, Cigdem; Fleer, Joke; Hoekstra, Harald J.; Hoekstra-Weebers, Josette E. H. M.

2015-01-01

Background Aim To gain insight into patient and doctor delay in testicular cancer (TC) and factors associated with delay. Materials and Methods Sixty of the 66 eligible men; median age 26 (range 17-45) years, diagnosed with TC at the University Medical Center Groningen completed a questionnaire on

Delays in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in Coahuila, Mexico.

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Salinas, J; Calvillo, S; Caylà, J; Nedel, F B; Martín, M; Navarro, A

2012-09-01

To determine diagnostic delay in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) cases and analyse associated factors. New PTB cases were studied in Coahuila, Northern Mexico, between 2008 and 2009. We obtained census data and data on residential address, symptoms and diagnosis from the national patient database; sociodemographic variables were obtained during home visits. Bivariate analyses used the Kaplan-Meier method; multivariate analysis consisted of modelling survival. We studied 458 subjects (median age 48 years), who were predominantly males (56.1%); the median years of schooling was 6.0 years, 83.4% were urban residents, 50.3% were unemployed, and 87.7% suffered from food poverty. The median delay between the onset of symptoms and the first medical consultation was 53.5 days. Lack of formal education (P = 0.050) and living ≥5 km from a health unit (P = 0.034) were associated with longer delays and consequently with severe symptoms (cough ≥2 weeks, P = 0.001; chest pain, P = 0.032; malnutrition, P = 0.003). Mean health system delay (between first consultation and smear test result) was 18.5 days, and was significantly longer when the first consultation was with a private physician (P < 0.001) and when patient age was ≥46 years (P = 0.001). In Coahuila, lack of formal education, living ≥5 km from a health unit, first consultation with a private physician, and being aged ≥46 years contributed to delays in PTB diagnosis.

The prevalence of median neuropathy at wrist in systemic sclerosis patients at Srinagarind Hospital

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Thanaporn Nimitbancha

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: To determine the prevalence and factor related with median neuropathy at wrist (MNW in systemic sclerosis patients. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen, Thailand. Participants: Systemic sclerosis patients who attended the Scleroderma Clinic, Srinagarind Hospital. Materials and Methods: Seventyfive systemic sclerosis patients were prospectively evaluated by questionnaire, physical examination, and electrodiagnostic study. The questionnaire consisted of the symptoms, duration, and type of systemic sclerosis. The physical examination revealed skin score of systemic sclerosis, pinprick sensation of median nerve distribution of both hands, and weakness of both abductor pollicis brevis muscles. The provocative test which were Tinel′s sign and Phalen′s maneuver were also examined. Moreover, electrodiagnostic study of the bilateral median and ulnar nerves was conducted. Results: The prevalence of MNW in systemic sclerosis patients was 44% - percentage of mild, moderate, and severe were 28%, 9.3%, and 6.7%, respectively. The prevalence of asymptomatic MNW was 88%. There were no association between the presence of MNW and related factors of systemic sclerosis. Conclusions: MNW is one of the most common entrapment neuropathies in systemic sclerosis patients. Systemic sclerosis patients should be screened for early signs of MNW.

Factors Associated with Delayed Cancer Diagnosis in Egyptian Children

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E.R. Abdelkhalek

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background Despite tremendous importance of early cancer diagnosis in children, few studies on this topic have been conducted in Egypt. Early stage diagnosis can have a positive effect on prognoses and the quality of life of children with cancer. We investigated delays in the diagnosis of childhood cancers in Egypt and determined the factors associated with these delays. Methods This retrospective study included 172 children with cancer from two pediatric oncology units. The interval between symptoms onset and final diagnosis for each child was estimated and examined by univariate and multivariate analyses to determine correlations with the child's sex, age at diagnosis, type and site of malignancy, family residence, socioeconomic status, and parental educational level. Findings The median total diagnosis delay period was 47 days caused by patients and/or parents (8 days and diagnosis (28 days. Statistically significant patient factors associated with delayed diagnosis were age (<5 years, lower parental education, and socioeconomic status. Sex residence and family size were not significant. Malignancy type and tumor site significantly affected the time for diagnosis. The lowest median value was associated with germ cell tumors (GCTs and leukemia, and the highest value was in children with brain tumor. Missed diagnoses were initially recorded in 39.5% of the patients and were associated with patient and tumor factors. Interpretation Delayed diagnosis of childhood cancer is related to age, family, socioeconomic status and parental education, and cancer type and site. Efforts should be made to promote awareness, develop effective steps to eliminate possible contributing factors, and determine the best intervention method.

What made you wait so long? Delays in presentation of retinal detachment: knowledge is related to an attached macula.

Science.gov (United States)

Eijk, Eva S V; Busschbach, Jan J V; Timman, Reinier; Monteban, Helma C; Vissers, Jan M H; van Meurs, Jan C

2016-08-01

In rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, the time between first symptoms and reattachment surgery is critical to prevent macular detachment. We explored which determinants discriminate between 'macula-ON' and 'macula-OFF' retinal detachments to improve timely treatment. Eight-hundred patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment admitted for surgery at the Rotterdam Eye Hospital in the Netherlands were eligible to complete a questionnaire to explore the following determinants: (i) patient's delay and doctor's delay; (ii) patient-reported causes for delay; (iii) symptoms as early warning signals; (iv) patient's prior knowledge about retinal detachment; and (v) trait anxiety. Five hundred and twenty-one questionnaires (65%) were analysed. Median interval between first symptoms and surgery was 14 days. Macula-ON/OFF ratio was 46/54. Patient's delay in macula-ON patients (median 3 days) was shorter than in macula-OFF (5 days, p = 0.026). No difference was found in doctor's delay except for 'waiting time for surgery': macula-ON patients were operated on faster (median 1 day) than macula-OFF (median 5 days, p Macula-ON patients more often attributed symptoms to retinal problems. Except floaters, no symptoms were determined as early warning signals for macula-ON. Macula-ON patients more often reported knowing that prognosis would be worse when treated later, even when controlled for previous experience with retinal detachment. Macula-ON patients seem to self-refer faster to a healthcare provider, seem more sensitive to floaters and seem more informed. This suggests that increasing awareness, especially about floaters, might increase the proportion of patients with macula still on at the moment of referral to the ophthalmologist. © 2016 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Delays in initiation of acyclovir therapy in herpes simplex encephalitis.

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Hughes, Peter S; Jackson, Alan C

2012-09-01

Diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is based on clinical findings, MRI, and detection of herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using polymerase chain reaction amplification. Delays in starting treatment are associated with poorer clinical outcomes. We assessed the timing of initiation of acyclovir therapy in HSE. Inpatient databases from seven hospitals in Winnipeg, Manitoba were used to identify individuals diagnosed with encephalitis and HSE from 2004 to 2009. The time taken to initiate therapy with acyclovir and the reasons for delays were determined. Seventy-seven patients were identified; 69 (90%) received acyclovir; in the others a non-HSV infection was strongly suspected. Thirteen patients were subsequently confirmed to have HSE. Acyclovir was initiated a median of 21 hours (3-407) after presentation in encephalitis cases, and a median of 11 hours (3-118) in HSE. The most common reason for delay was a failure to consider HSE in the differential diagnosis, despite suggestive clinical features. Where therapy was delayed in HSE patients, the decision to begin acyclovir was prompted by transfer of the patient to a different service (55%), recommendations by consultants (18%), imaging results (18%), and CSF pleocytosis (9%). Delays in initiating acyclovir for HSE are common, and are most often due to a failure to consider HSE in a timely fashion on presentation. In order to improve patient outcomes, physicians should be more vigilant for HSE, and begin acyclovir therapy expeditiously on the basis of clinical suspicion rather than waiting for confirmatory tests.

Health system delay and its effect on clinical stage of breast cancer: Multicenter study.

Science.gov (United States)

Unger-Saldaña, Karla; Miranda, Alfonso; Zarco-Espinosa, Gelasio; Mainero-Ratchelous, Fernando; Bargalló-Rocha, Enrique; Miguel Lázaro-León, Jesús

2015-07-01

The objective of this study was to determine the correlation between health system delay and clinical disease stage in patients with breast cancer. This was a cross-sectional study of 886 patients who were referred to 4 of the largest public cancer hospitals in Mexico City for the evaluation of a probable breast cancer. Data on time intervals, sociodemographic factors, and clinical stage at diagnosis were retrieved. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the average marginal effects of delay on the probability of being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer (stages III and IV). The median time between problem identification and the beginning of treatment was 7 months. The subinterval with the largest delay was that between the first medical consultation and diagnosis (median, 4 months). Only 15% of the patients who had cancer were diagnosed with stage 0 and I disease, and 48% were diagnosed with stage III and IV disease. Multivariate analyses confirmed independent correlations for the means of problem identification, patient delay, health system delay, and age with a higher probability that patients would begin cancer treatment in an advanced stage. In the sample studied, the majority of patients with breast cancer began treatment after a delay. Both patient delays and provider delays were associated with advanced disease. Research aimed at identifying specific access barriers to medical services is much needed to guide the design of tailored health policies that go beyond the promotion of breast care awareness and screening participation to include improvements in health services that facilitate access to timely diagnosis and treatment. © 2015 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society.

Determinants of patient delay in seeking treatment among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Patients delay in seeking care increases the transmission of pulmonary tuberculosis and hence the burden of the disease. This study investigates the pattern and determinants of patients delay in seeking treatment among pulmonary tuberculosis cases attending a Government Chest Clinic in Ibadan, Nigeria. A descriptive ...

Reasons for diagnostic delay in gynecological malignancies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vandborg, Mai Partridge; Christensen, René dePont Christensen; Kragstrup, Jakob

2011-01-01

(≤ or > 60 years), performance of gynecological examination by the GP and notification of cancer suspicion on first referral from GP’s on the diagnostic delay (short delay ≤90 days and long delay >90 days). Results Across cancer type a median total delay of 101 days was observed. The 10% of women......Aim The primary aim of this study was to identify and describe different delay types in women with gynecologic cancer, and to analyze the relationship between diagnostic delay and a number of characteristics for patients, cancers and the health care system. Setting A cohort study of women newly......) and The Danish Gynecological Cancer Database (DGCD). 161 women were included; ovarian cancer: 63, endometrial cancer: 50, cervical cancer: 34 and vulvar cancer: 14. Outcome measures were different delay types counted in days and the influence of four clinical important variables: Presence of alarm symptoms, age...

Factors associated with delayed tuberculosis test-seeking behavior in the Peruvian Amazon.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Carolyn M; Bayer, Angela M; Gilman, Robert H; Onifade, Dami; Acosta, Colleen; Cabrera, Lilia; Vidal, Carlos; Evans, Carlton A

2009-12-01

This study aimed to determine the psychosocial factors associated with delayed test-seeking among tuberculosis patients. The duration of symptoms before seeking medical care was assessed by interview for 108 newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients in the city of Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon, which has high tuberculosis incidence. Beliefs associated with test-seeking behavior and delay was assessed in these patients. The median delay from symptom onset to seeking diagnostic testing was 61 days (inter-quartile range 30-91 days). The belief that tuberculosis is curable was associated with a 100% longer test-seeking delay; the perception that tuberculosis was common was associated with a 57% longer delay; male gender was associated with a 48% longer delay; and education less than complete secondary schooling was associated with a 44% longer delay. In conclusion, current health promotion activities that emphasize tuberculosis curability and high prevalence may paradoxically increase test-seeking delay and therefore require prospective evaluation.

Atrial fibrillation and delayed gastric emptying.

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Isadora C Botwinick

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation and delayed gastric emptying (DGE are common after pancreaticoduodenectomy. Our aim was to investigate a potential relationship between atrial fibrillation and DGE, which we defined as failure to tolerate a regular diet by the 7(th postoperative day. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of 249 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy at our institution between 2000 and 2009. Data was analyzed with Fisher exact test for categorical variables and Mann-Whitney U or unpaired T-test for continuous variables. RESULTS: Approximately 5% of the 249 patients included in the analysis experienced at least one episode of postoperative atrial fibrillation. Median age of patients with atrial fibrillation was 74 years, compared with 66 years in patients without atrial fibrillation (p = 0.0005. Patients with atrial fibrillation were more likely to have a history of atrial fibrillation (p = 0.03. 92% of the patients with atrial fibrillation suffered from DGE, compared to 46% of patients without atrial fibrillation (p = 0.0007. This association held true when controlling for age. CONCLUSION: Patients with postoperative atrial fibrillation are more likely to experience delayed gastric emptying. Interventions to manage delayed gastric function might be prudent in patients at high risk for postoperative atrial fibrillation.

Hereditary angioedema with C1 inhibitor deficiency: delay in diagnosis in Europe.

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Zanichelli, Andrea; Magerl, Markus; Longhurst, Hilary; Fabien, Vincent; Maurer, Marcus

2013-08-12

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare, debilitating, and potentially life-threatening disease characterized by recurrent edema attacks. Important advances in HAE treatment have been made, including the development of new therapies for treating or preventing attacks. Nevertheless, the disease is still frequently misdiagnosed and inappropriately treated, potentially exposing patients with laryngeal attacks to the risk of asphyxiation. The Icatibant Outcome Survey (IOS) is an international, observational study that documents the clinical outcome of HAE patients eligible for treatment with icatibant. Patient ages at first symptoms and at diagnosis were recorded at enrolment, and the delay between first symptoms and diagnosis was calculated. The median [range] diagnostic delay in HAE type I and II patients across eight countries was 8.5 years [0-62.0]. The median delay in diagnosis was longer for HAE type II versus type I (21 versus 8 years, respectively), although this did not quite reach statistical significance. Although it can be difficult to differentiate HAE symptoms from those of more common angioedema sub-types (e.g. idiopathic or acquired angioedema), our results show that HAE type I and II patients have an unacceptable delay in diagnosis, even those with a family history of the disease. Raising physician awareness of this disabling and potentially fatal disease may lead to a more accurate diagnosis and timely treatment.

Median of patient results as a tool for assessment of analytical stability.

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Jørgensen, Lars Mønster; Hansen, Steen Ingemann; Petersen, Per Hyltoft; Sölétormos, György

2015-06-15

In spite of the well-established external quality assessment and proficiency testing surveys of analytical quality performance in laboratory medicine, a simple tool to monitor the long-term analytical stability as a supplement to the internal control procedures is often needed. Patient data from daily internal control schemes was used for monthly appraisal of the analytical stability. This was accomplished by using the monthly medians of patient results to disclose deviations from analytical stability, and by comparing divergences with the quality specifications for allowable analytical bias based on biological variation. Seventy five percent of the twenty analytes achieved on two COBASs INTEGRA 800 instruments performed in accordance with the optimum and with the desirable specifications for bias. Patient results applied in analytical quality performance control procedures are the most reliable sources of material as they represent the genuine substance of the measurements and therefore circumvent the problems associated with non-commutable materials in external assessment. Patient medians in the monthly monitoring of analytical stability in laboratory medicine are an inexpensive, simple and reliable tool to monitor the steadiness of the analytical practice. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

"DETERMINANTS OF PREHOSPITAL DELAY IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION"

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M. Alidoosti

2004-05-01

Full Text Available Determination of pre-hospital delay time of patients with acute myocardial infarction and seeking ways of speeding up the time for reperfusion is an important factor to lower mortality in these patients. This is a cross-sectional study to determine pre-hospital delay time, its components, and related causes and conditions, obtained in 375 patients with prolonged chest pain referred to four hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Means of transport to hospital, reasons of ambulance disuse, decision time by the patient and finally the entire time of pre-hospital delay were specified. Suspected factors related to delays of more than 2 and 6 h were scrutinized with chi-square test. Rate of ambulance utility (18.9% directly correlated with age of patients (P<0.05. Principal motives to disuse ambulance insuccession were unrememberance (33.7%, access to private vehicle (32.8% and supposition of sufficient speed of personal reference (18.9%. Pre-hospital delay time was 8.1 ± 9.1 h (mean ± SD in whole patients and 7.6 ± 9.1 h in those with acute myocardial infarction. Delays of more than 2 and 6 hoccurred in 67.5% and 33.6% of patients, respectively. Decision time constitute three fourth of whole pre-hospital delay and was correlated with female gender, older age, history of diabetes, lower level of literacy and nocturnal onset of symptoms. In conclusion, a significant number of patients with acute myocardial infarction have pre-hospital delay of more than 2 and even 6 h, when golden time for thrombolytic therapy has already been elapsed.

Factors contributing to delay in diagnosis and start of treatment of leprosy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nicholls, P.G.; Chhina, N; Aaen, Karen Bro

2005-01-01

The objective of our research was to identify factors contributing to delay in diagnosis and start of treatment in leprosy, focussing on patients' narratives of help-seeking behaviour. Our research took place in Purulia, West Bengal, India and in Nilphamari, northern Bangladesh. Between January...... and August 2000, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 104 patients that explored each individual's narrative of help-seeking behaviour and the context of beliefs and attitudes towards leprosy. Subsequently we surveyed 356 patients currently receiving treatment for leprosy and recorded specific...... aspects of each help-seeking action and their reports of local beliefs and attitudes towards leprosy. Delay was estimated from time of first symptoms through to start of effective treatment (mean 18 months, median 9 months in Purulia and mean 20 months, median 12 months in Nilphamari). The number of help...

[Factors linked to delayed diagnosis of tuberculosis in Conakry (Guinea)].

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Camara, A; Diallo, A; Camara, L M; Fielding, K; Sow, O Y; Chaperon, J

2006-03-01

Untreated smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis constitutes a reservoir of infection which is highly contagious. The present study was conducted in Conakry, Guinea, to determine the different options which are available when seeking treatment or care, and to ascertain the average delay in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis and the main factors linked to the delay in diagnosis after the initial onset of symptoms. Through a cross-sectional study, 113 consecutive patients with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis were interviewed through the use of a questionnaire. The median total delay from the onset of symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis until the diagnosis was 11 weeks. This delay period exceeded 4 weeks for 90 of the patients (80%). The average delay linked to the conventional health care system was double that of the one at the fault of the patient (6 weeks versus 3 weeks, respectively). 54% of the patients had initially resorted to non-conventional care. To shorten this mean delay period, it is necessary to both strengthen the professional abilities and skills which train for one to better to detect tuberculosis and to sensitize the population to the subject matter and information on the illness and its symptoms.

Relation between delay and survival in 596 patients with breast cancer.

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Machiavelli, M; Leone, B; Romero, A; Perez, J; Vallejo, C; Bianco, A; Rodriguez, R; Estevez, R; Chacon, R; Dansky, C

1989-01-01

To evaluate the influence of delay between first symptom and first treatment upon survival the medical records of 596 patients with breast cancer were reviewed. The following intervals were considered: less than 3 months; 3-6 months and greater than 6 months. Patients in the less than 3 months delay group had a better distribution by clinical stages and a 10-year survival rate higher than those in the longer delay groups (p = 0.034). However, within each stage no statistically significant difference in survival according to delay was observed. A Cox multivariate analysis revealed that performance status and stage of disease were independent predictors of survival, but not delay. Assuming the best prognosis for patients with clinical stages I and II and less than 3 months delay, the group with longer delay times had 15 deaths over what would have been predicted. This adverse effect was observed almost exclusively among patients over age 50 (14/15).

Gender-partitioned patient medians of serum albumin requested by general practitioners for the assessment of analytical stability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Steen Ingemann; Petersen, Per Hyltoft; Lund, Flemming

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Recently, the use of separate gender-partitioned patient medians of serum sodium has revealed potential for monitoring analytical stability within the optimum analytical performance specifications for laboratory medicine. The serum albumin concentration depends on whether a patient...... patients were closely related despite considerable variation due to the current analytical variation. This relationship was confirmed by the calculated half-range for the monthly ratio between the genders of 0.44%, which surpasses the optimum analytical performance specification for bias of serum albumin...... (0.72%). The weekly ratio had a half-range of 1.83%, which surpasses the minimum analytical performance specifications of 2.15%. CONCLUSIONS: Monthly gender-partitioned patient medians of serum albumin are useful for monitoring of long-term analytical stability, where the gender medians are two...

Median and Morphological Specialized Processors for a Real-Time Image Data Processing

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Kazimierz Wiatr

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the considerations on selecting a multiprocessor MISD architecture for fast implementation of the vision image processing. Using the author′s earlier experience with real-time systems, implementing of specialized hardware processors based on the programmable FPGA systems has been proposed in the pipeline architecture. In particular, the following processors are presented: median filter and morphological processor. The structure of a universal reconfigurable processor developed has been proposed as well. Experimental results are presented as delays on LCA level implementation for median filter, morphological processor, convolution processor, look-up-table processor, logic processor and histogram processor. These times compare with delays in general purpose processor and DSP processor.

Early versus delayed hormonal treatment in locally advanced or asymptomatic metastatic prostatic cancer patient dilemma.

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Prezioso, Domenico; Iacono, Fabrizio; Romeo, Giuseppe; Ruffo, Antonio; Russo, Nicola; Illiano, Ester

2014-06-01

The objective of this work is to compare the effectiveness of hormonal treatment (luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists and/or antiandrogens) as an early or as a deferred intervention for patients with locally advanced prostate cancer (LAPC) and/or asymptomatic metastasis. Systematic review of trials published in 1950-2007. Sources included MEDLINE and bibliographies of retrieved articles. Eligible trials included adults with a history of LAPC who are not suitable for curative local treatment of prostate cancer. We retrieved 22 articles for detailed review, of which 8 met inclusion criteria. The Veterans Administration Cooperative Urological Research Group suggested that delaying hormonal therapy did not compromise overall survival and that many of the patients died of causes other than prostate cancer. In European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 30846 trial, the median survival for delayed endocrine treatment was 6.1 year, and for immediate treatment 7.6 year, the HR for survival on delayed versus immediate treatment was 1.23 (95 % CI 0.88-1.71), indicating a 23 % nonsignificant trend in favour of early treatment. In EORTC 30891, the immediate androgen deprivation resulted in a modest but statistically significant increase in overall survival. The protocol SAKK 08/88 showed the lack of any major advantage of immediate compared with deferred hormonal treatment regarding quality of life or overall survival. The early intervention with hormonal treatment for patients with LAPC provides important reductions in all-cause mortality, prostate cancer-specific mortality, overall progression, and distant progression compared with deferring their use until standard care has failed to halt the disease.

Delay in Presentation, Diagnosis, and Treatment for Breast Cancer Patients in Jordan.

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Abu-Helalah, Ahmad Munir; Alshraideh, Hussam Ahmad; Al-Hanaqtah, Mo'tasem; Da'na, Moh'd; Al-Omari, Asim; Mubaidin, Rasmi

2016-01-01

Breast cancer is the most common cancer, and one of the leading causes of death for females in Jordan and many countries in the world. Studies have shown that delay in symptoms presentation, diagnosis or treatment would result in poor prognosis. There has been no published study from Jordan on delays in patient presentation, delays in diagnosis, or delays in treatment. Therefore, we conducted this study to assess these important quality indicators aiming to improve prognosis for breast cancer patients in Jordan. This project was a cross-sectional study on female breast cancer patients in Jordan. The total number of participants was 327. The proportion of patients with presentation delay, diagnosis delay, and treatment delay was 32.2%, 49.1%, or 32.4%, respectively. The main reported reasons for delay in presentation were ignorance of the nature of the problem (65.6%), limited/lack of knowledge that symptoms were suggestive of cancer diagnosis (16.7%), and misdiagnosis (16.7%). Predictors of delay and mean time for presentation, diagnosis, and treatment were identified. Our results reveal that breast cancer patients in Jordan are experiencing delays in presentation, diagnosis, and treatment. This could justify the advanced stages at diagnosis and poor outcomes for breast cancer patients in Jordan. We recommend revising the current early detection and down-staging programs in Jordan. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Delayed diagnosis in pediatric headache: an outpatient Italian survey.

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Colombo, Bruno; Dalla Libera, Dacia; De Feo, Donatella; Pavan, Giulia; Annovazzi, Pietro Osvaldo; Comi, Giancarlo

2011-09-01

The aim of this prospective study is to assess the time lapse between the onset of recurring headache and the correct diagnosis in a cohort of pediatric patients attending an Italian children's headache center for the first time. One hundred and one patients and parents, referred to the Pediatric Headache Centre of San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy, underwent a semi-structured interview to ascertain features of headache since onset (clinical and family history, presence of childhood periodic syndromes, previously undergone instrumental exams and specialists' examinations before the correct diagnosis, past and current treatment). All patients were evaluated by expert neurologists and their headache was classified according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders II (2004). The median time delay from the onset of the first episode of recurrent headache to definite diagnosis was 20 months (interquartile range 12 to 36 months). A correlation with younger age and a more delayed headache diagnosis was found (r Spearman = 0.25; P = .039). An association between diagnostic delay and positive family history (median 24 months [12 to 48] vs 12 [6 to 24]; P = .014) or female gender (median 18 months [12 to 42] vs. 12 [5 to 30]; P trend = .070) was also evident. Notably, 76 out of 101 patients referred to our Center received an appropriate diagnosis according to International Classification of Headache Disorders II at the time of our visit only. Of note, up to 21% of this group were previously misdiagnosed (for epilepsy 43%, sinusitis 38%, or other diseases 19%), a fact that contributed to a longer time of clinical assessment (median 39 months) before reaching a correct diagnosis. The other group of 80 patients (79%) did not receive a specific diagnosis and treatment, and were not studied until their symptom became chronic and disabling. Pediatric headache is still under-diagnosed and not adequately considered as a health problem in the

Thrombosed persistent median artery causing carpal tunnel syndrome associated with bifurcated median nerve: A case report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salter, M.; Sinha, N. R.; Szmigielski, W.

2011-01-01

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome is a sporadically occurring abnormality due to compression of median nerve. It is exceedingly rare for it to be caused by thrombosis of persistent median artery. Case Report: A forty two year old female was referred for ultrasound examination due to ongoing wrist pain, not relived by pain killers and mild paraesthesia on the radial side of the hand. High resolution ultrasound and Doppler revealed a thrombosed persistent median artery and associated bifurcated median nerve. The thrombus resolved on treatment with anticoagulants. Conclusions: Ultrasound examination of the wrist when done for patients with carpal tunnel syndrome should preferably include looking for persistent median artery and its patency. (authors)

Evaluation of median nerve T2 signal changes in patients with surgically treated carpal tunnel syndrome.

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Samanci, Yavuz; Karagöz, Yeşim; Yaman, Mehmet; Atçı, İbrahim Burak; Emre, Ufuk; Kılıçkesmez, Nuri Özgür; Çelik, Suat Erol

2016-11-01

To determine the accuracy of median nerve T2 evaluation and its relation with Boston Questionnaire (BQ) and nerve conduction studies (NCSs) in pre-operative and post-operative carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) patients in comparison with healthy volunteers. Twenty-three CTS patients and 24 healthy volunteers underwent NCSs, median nerve T2 evaluation and self-administered BQ. Pre-operative and 1st year post-operative median nerve T2 values and cross-sectional areas (CSAs) were compared both within pre-operative and post-operative CTS groups, and with healthy volunteers. The relationship between MRI findings and BQ and NCSs was analyzed. The ROC curve analysis was used for determining the accuracy. The comparison of pre-operative and post-operative T2 values and CSAs revealed statistically significant improvements in the post-operative patient group (pT2 values at all levels and BQ values, and positive and negative correlations were also found regarding T2 values and NCS findings in CTS patients. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for defined cut-off levels of median nerve T2 values in hands with severe CTS yielded excellent accuracy at all levels. However, this accuracy could not be demonstrated in hands with mild CTS. This study is the first to analyze T2 values in both pre-operative and post-operative CTS patients. The presence of increased T2 values in CTS patients compared to controls and excellent accuracy in hands with severe CTS indicates T2 signal changes related to CTS pathophysiology and possible utilization of T2 signal evaluation in hands with severe CTS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Delayed wound healing after forefoot surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

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Ishie, Shinichiro; Ito, Hiromu; Azukizawa, Masayuki; Furu, Moritoshi; Ishikawa, Masahiro; Ogino, Hiroko; Hamamoto, Yosuke; Matsuda, Shuichi

2015-05-01

To elucidate the systemic and local risk factors and the effect of surgical procedures for delayed wound healing after forefoot surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Fifty forefoot surgeries were performed in 39 patients using resection arthroplasty or a joint-preserving procedure (25 feet for each procedure). The associations between the occurrence of delayed wound healing and clinical variables, radiological assessment, or surgical procedures were analyzed. Delayed wound healing was recorded in nine feet of eight patients. The duration of RA was significantly longer in the delayed healing group than that in the healed group. Age, sex, smoking history, concomitant diabetes, and RA medication did not differ between the groups. Radiological evaluation showed significant differences between groups in metatarsophalangeal dorsal flexion angle. The shortened length of the fourth and the fifth metatarsal bones affected the occurrence of the complication. The joint-preserving procedure had significantly less delayed wound healing compared with resection arthroplasty. Preoperative dorsoplantar deformity and perioperative tissue damage can cause delayed wound healing after forefoot surgery in RA patients.

Diagnosis delay in Libyan female breast cancer.

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Ermiah, Eramah; Abdalla, Fathi; Buhmeida, Abdelbaset; Larbesh, Entesar; Pyrhönen, Seppo; Collan, Yrjö

2012-08-21

To study the diagnosis delay and its impact on stage of disease among women with breast cancer on Libya. 200 women, aged 22 to 75 years with breast cancer diagnosed during 2008-2009 were interviewed about the period from the first symptoms to the final histological diagnosis of breast cancer. This period (diagnosis time) was categorized into 3 periods: 6 months. If diagnosis time was longer than 3 months, the diagnosis was considered delayed (diagnosis delay). Consultation time was the time taken to visit the general practitioner after the first symptoms. Retrospective preclinical and clinical data were collected on a form (questionnaire) during an interview with each patient and from medical records. The median of diagnosis time was 7.5 months. Only 30.0% of patients were diagnosed within 3 months after symptoms. 14% of patients were diagnosed within 3-6 months and 56% within a period longer than 6 months. A number of factors predicted diagnosis delay: Symptoms were not considered serious in 27% of patients. Alternative therapy (therapy not associated with cancer) was applied in 13.0% of the patients. Fear and shame prevented the visit to the doctor in 10% and 4.5% of patients, respectively. Inappropriate reassurance that the lump was benign was an important reason for prolongation of the diagnosis time. Diagnosis delay was associated with initial breast symptom(s) that did not include a lump (p diagnosis, the clinical stage distribution was as follows: 9.0% stage I, 25.5% stage II, 54.0% stage III and 11.5% stage IV.Diagnosis delay was associated with bigger tumour size (p Diagnosis delay is very serious problem in Libya. Diagnosis delay was associated with complex interactions between several factors and with advanced stages. There is a need for improving breast cancer awareness and training of general practitioners to reduce breast cancer mortality by promoting early detection. The treatment guidelines should pay more attention to the early phases of breast

Diagnosis delay in Libyan female breast cancer

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Ermiah Eramah

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Aims To study the diagnosis delay and its impact on stage of disease among women with breast cancer on Libya. Methods 200 women, aged 22 to 75 years with breast cancer diagnosed during 2008–2009 were interviewed about the period from the first symptoms to the final histological diagnosis of breast cancer. This period (diagnosis time was categorized into 3 periods: 6 months. If diagnosis time was longer than 3 months, the diagnosis was considered delayed (diagnosis delay. Consultation time was the time taken to visit the general practitioner after the first symptoms. Retrospective preclinical and clinical data were collected on a form (questionnaire during an interview with each patient and from medical records. Results The median of diagnosis time was 7.5 months. Only 30.0% of patients were diagnosed within 3 months after symptoms. 14% of patients were diagnosed within 3–6 months and 56% within a period longer than 6 months. A number of factors predicted diagnosis delay: Symptoms were not considered serious in 27% of patients. Alternative therapy (therapy not associated with cancer was applied in 13.0% of the patients. Fear and shame prevented the visit to the doctor in 10% and 4.5% of patients, respectively. Inappropriate reassurance that the lump was benign was an important reason for prolongation of the diagnosis time. Diagnosis delay was associated with initial breast symptom(s that did not include a lump (p  Diagnosis delay was associated with bigger tumour size (p Conclusions Diagnosis delay is very serious problem in Libya. Diagnosis delay was associated with complex interactions between several factors and with advanced stages. There is a need for improving breast cancer awareness and training of general practitioners to reduce breast cancer mortality by promoting early detection. The treatment guidelines should pay more attention to the early phases of breast cancer. Especially, guidelines for good practices in managing

Electronic Detection of Delayed Test Result Follow-Up in Patients with Hypothyroidism.

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Meyer, Ashley N D; Murphy, Daniel R; Al-Mutairi, Aymer; Sittig, Dean F; Wei, Li; Russo, Elise; Singh, Hardeep

2017-07-01

Delays in following up abnormal test results are a common problem in outpatient settings. Surveillance systems that use trigger tools to identify delayed follow-up can help reduce missed opportunities in care. To develop and test an electronic health record (EHR)-based trigger algorithm to identify instances of delayed follow-up of abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) results in patients being treated for hypothyroidism. We developed an algorithm using structured EHR data to identify patients with hypothyroidism who had delayed follow-up (>60 days) after an abnormal TSH. We then retrospectively applied the algorithm to a large EHR data warehouse within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), on patient records from two large VA networks for the period from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011. Identified records were reviewed to confirm the presence of delays in follow-up. During the study period, 645,555 patients were seen in the outpatient setting within the two networks. Of 293,554 patients with at least one TSH test result, the trigger identified 1250 patients on treatment for hypothyroidism with elevated TSH. Of these patients, 271 were flagged as potentially having delayed follow-up of their test result. Chart reviews confirmed delays in 163 of the 271 flagged patients (PPV = 60.1%). An automated trigger algorithm applied to records in a large EHR data warehouse identified patients with hypothyroidism with potential delays in thyroid function test results follow-up. Future prospective application of the TSH trigger algorithm can be used by clinical teams as a surveillance and quality improvement technique to monitor and improve follow-up.

Reperfusion delay in patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schoos, Mikkel M; Sejersten, Maria; Hvelplund, Anders

2012-01-01

identification number to emergency medical services (EMS) and National Board of Health databases in the period of 2005-2008. Patients were stratified according to transfer distances to PPCI into zone 1 (0-25 km), zone 2 (65-100 km) and zone 3 (101-185 km) and according to referral by pre-hospital triage. System...... the local hospital (219 (171-250)). System delay was an independent predictor of mortality (ppatients. PCI-related delay exceeded European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for patients living >100 km away and for non-directly referred......BACKGROUND: Reperfusion delay in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) predicts adverse outcome. We evaluated time from alarm call (system delay) and time from first medical contact (PCI-related delay), where fibrinolysis could be initiated, to balloon inflation in a pre...

Years Versus Days Between Successive Surgeries, After an Initial Outpatient Procedure, for the Median Patient Versus the Median Surgeon in the State of Iowa.

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Dexter, Franklin; Jarvie, Craig; Epstein, Richard H

2018-03-01

Previously, we studied the relative importance of different institutional interventions that the largest hospital in Iowa could take to grow the anesthesia department's outpatient surgical care. Most (>50%) patients having elective surgery had not previously had surgery at the hospital. Patient perioperative experience was unimportant for influencing total anesthesia workload and numbers of patients. More important was the availability of surgical clinic appointments within several days. These results would be generalizable if the median time from surgery to a patient's next surgical procedure was large (eg, >2 years), among all hospitals in Iowa with outpatient surgery, and without regard to the hospital where the next procedure was performed. There were 37,172 surgical cases at hospital outpatient departments of any of the 117 hospitals in Iowa from July 1, 2013, to September 30, 2013. Data extracted about each case included its intraoperative work relative value units. The 37,172 cases were matched to all inpatient and outpatient records for the next 2 years statewide using patient linkage identifiers; from these were determined whether the patient had surgery again within 2 years. Furthermore, the cases' 1820 surgeons were matched to the surgeon's next outpatient or inpatient case, both including and excluding other cases performed on the date of the original case. By patient, the median time to their next surgical case, either outpatient or inpatient, exceeded 2 years, tested with weighting by intraoperative relative value units and repeated when unweighted (both P 2 years for patients versus 1 day for surgeons. Thus, although patients' experiences are an important attribute of quality of care, surgeons' experiences are orders of magnitude more important from the vantage point of marketing and growth of an anesthesia practice.

Diagnosis delay of breast cancer and its associated factors in Malaysian women

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Naing Nyi N

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Malaysia. Delayed diagnosis is preventable and has major effects on patients' prognosis and survival. The objectives of our study were to identify the magnitude of delayed diagnosis and its associated factors in women with breast cancer in Malaysia. Methods This study had a cross-sectional design. Respondents had histologically confirmed breast cancer and were registered at five medical centres between 2005 and 2007. All breast cancer patients who attended hospital clinics at the East Coast were included. Patients at Kuala Lumpur hospitals were selected by systematic sampling. A standardised questionnaire was developed to interview respondents. We measured the time from the first recognition of symptoms to the first general practitioners' consultation and to the histological diagnosis of breast cancer. Diagnosis delay was defined when there was more than 6 months from the recognition of symptoms to the histological diagnosis. Multiple logistic regression was used for analysis. Results In total, 328 respondents were included. The mean (standard deviation age was 47.9 (9.4 years. Most respondents were of Malay ethnicity, were married housewives with a median family income of RM1500 a month. Most respondents had ductal carcinoma (89.3% and the stage distribution was as follows: 5.2% stage I, 38.7% stage II, 44.8% stage III and 11.3% stage IV. The median time to consultation was 2 months and the median time to diagnosis was 5.5 months. The frequency of diagnosis delay of more than 3 months was 72.6% and delay of more than 6 months occurred in 45.5% of the cases. The factors associated with diagnosis delay included the use of alternative therapy (odds ratio (OR 1.77; 95% confidence interval (CI: 1.06, 2.94, breast ulcer (OR 5.71; 95% CI: 1.59, 20.47, palpable axillary lymph nodes (OR 2.19; 95% CI: 1.23, 3.90, false-negative diagnostic test (OR 5.32; 95% CI: 2

Diagnosis delay of breast cancer and its associated factors in Malaysian women

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norsa'adah, Bachok; Rampal, Krishna G; Rahmah, Mohd A; Naing, Nyi N; Biswal, Biswa M

2011-01-01

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Malaysia. Delayed diagnosis is preventable and has major effects on patients' prognosis and survival. The objectives of our study were to identify the magnitude of delayed diagnosis and its associated factors in women with breast cancer in Malaysia. This study had a cross-sectional design. Respondents had histologically confirmed breast cancer and were registered at five medical centres between 2005 and 2007. All breast cancer patients who attended hospital clinics at the East Coast were included. Patients at Kuala Lumpur hospitals were selected by systematic sampling. A standardised questionnaire was developed to interview respondents. We measured the time from the first recognition of symptoms to the first general practitioners' consultation and to the histological diagnosis of breast cancer. Diagnosis delay was defined when there was more than 6 months from the recognition of symptoms to the histological diagnosis. Multiple logistic regression was used for analysis. In total, 328 respondents were included. The mean (standard deviation) age was 47.9 (9.4) years. Most respondents were of Malay ethnicity, were married housewives with a median family income of RM1500 a month. Most respondents had ductal carcinoma (89.3%) and the stage distribution was as follows: 5.2% stage I, 38.7% stage II, 44.8% stage III and 11.3% stage IV. The median time to consultation was 2 months and the median time to diagnosis was 5.5 months. The frequency of diagnosis delay of more than 3 months was 72.6% and delay of more than 6 months occurred in 45.5% of the cases. The factors associated with diagnosis delay included the use of alternative therapy (odds ratio (OR) 1.77; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 2.94), breast ulcer (OR 5.71; 95% CI: 1.59, 20.47), palpable axillary lymph nodes (OR 2.19; 95% CI: 1.23, 3.90), false-negative diagnostic test (OR 5.32; 95% CI: 2.32, 12.21), non-cancer interpretation

Delayed Diagnosis, Range of Severity, and Multiple Sleep Comorbidities: A Clinical and Polysomnographic Analysis of 100 Patients of the Innsbruck Narcolepsy Cohort

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Frauscher, Birgit; Ehrmann, Laura; Mitterling, Thomas; Gabelia, David; Gschliesser, Viola; Brandauer, Elisabeth; Poewe, Werner; Högl, Birgit

2013-01-01

Study Objectives: Narcolepsy is reported to affect 26-56/100,000 in the general population. We aimed to describe clinical and polysomnographic features of a large narcolepsy cohort in order to comprehensively characterize the narcoleptic spectrum. Methods: We performed a chart- and polysomnographybased review of all narcolepsy patients of the Innsbruck narcolepsy cohort. Results: A total of 100 consecutive narcolepsy patients (87 with cataplexy [NC], 13 without cataplexy [N]) were included in the analysis. All subjects had either excessive daytime sleepiness or cataplexy as their initial presenting clinical feature. Age at symptom onset was 20 (6-69) years. Diagnostic delay was 6.5 (0-39) years. The complete narcolepsy tetrad was present in 36/100 patients; 28/100 patients had three cardinal symptoms; 29/100 had two; and 7/100 had only excessive daytime sleepiness. Severity varied broadly with respect to excessive daytime sleepiness (median Epworth Sleepiness Scale score: 18, range 10-24), cataplexy (8-point Likert scale: median 4.5, range 1-8), hypnagogic hallucinations (median 4.5, range 1-7), and sleep paralysis (median 3, range 1-7). Sleep comorbidity was highly prevalent and ranged from sleeprelated movement disorders (n = 55/100), parasomnias (n = 34/100), and sleeprelated breathing disorders (n = 24/100), to insomnia (n = 28/100). REM sleep without atonia or a periodic limb movement in sleep index > 5/h were present in most patients (90/100 and 75/100). A high percentage of narcoleptic patients in the present study had high frequency leg movements (35%) and excessive fragmentary myoclonus (22%). Of the narcolepsy patients with clinical features of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), 76.5% had EMG evidence for RBD on the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), based on a standard cutoff of a minimum of 18% of 3-sec miniepochs. Conclusion: This study is one of the largest monocentric polysomnographic studies to date of patients with narcolepsy and confirms the

All delays before radiotherapy risk progression of Merkel cell carcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsang, G.; O'Brien, P.; Robertson, R.; Hamilton, C.; Wratten, C.; Denham, J.

2004-01-01

Prolonged waiting times for radiotherapy have resulted in many centres assigning priorities to various patient or diagnostic groups. A high risk of progression on a waiting list is one factor that would reasonably influence the priority. The present descriptive study of 27 patients with Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) found that a median wait of 24 days for radiotherapy is associated with a high risk of progression. Eleven (41%) of 27 patients developed progressive disease, including five (45%) of 11 patients waiting for adjuvant radiotherapy. Patients treated adjuvantly also had longer waiting times prior to their initial radiotherapy consultation (median 41 days), which may have contributed to the rate of progression. Merkel cell carcinoma is an aggressive but curable malignancy and appropriate management should include efforts to minimize all potential delays prior to the commencement of radiotherapy. Copyright (2004) Blackwell Science Pty Ltd

Rapid Disease Progression With Delay in Treatment of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammed, Nasiruddin; Kestin, Larry Llyn; Grills, Inga Siiner; Battu, Madhu; Fitch, Dwight Lamar; Wong, Ching-yee Oliver; Margolis, Jeffrey Harold; Chmielewski, Gary William; Welsh, Robert James

2011-01-01

Purpose: To assess rate of disease progression from diagnosis to initiation of treatment for Stage I-IIIB non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods and Materials: Forty patients with NSCLC underwent at least two sets of computed tomography (CT) and 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) scans at various time intervals before treatment. Progression was defined as development of any new lymph node involvement, site of disease, or stage change. Results: Median time interval between first and second CT scans was 13.4 weeks, and between first and second PET scans was 9.0 weeks. Median initial primary maximum tumor dimension (MTD) was 3.5 cm (0.6-8.5 cm) with a median standardized uptake value (SUV) of 13.0 (1.7-38.5). The median MTD increased by a median of 1.0 cm (mean, 1.6 cm) between scans for a median relative MTD increase of 35% (mean, 59%). Nineteen patients (48%) progressed between scans. Rate of any progression was 13%, 31%, and 46% at 4, 8, and 16 weeks, respectively. Upstaging occurred in 3%, 13%, and 21% at these intervals. Distant metastasis became evident in 3%, 13%, and 13% after 4, 8, and 16 weeks, respectively. T and N stage were associated with progression, whereas histology, grade, sex, age, and maximum SUV were not. At 3 years, overall survival for Stage III patients with vs. without progression was 18% vs. 67%, p = 0.05. Conclusions: With NSCLC, treatment delay can lead to disease progression. Diagnosis, staging, and treatment initiation should be expedited. After 4-8 weeks of delay, complete restaging should be strongly considered.

Prevalence and determinants of delay in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in Darjeeling district of West Bengal

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Sibasis Das

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Delayed diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB is a significant problem both in individual as well as community level. Different studies around globe revealed that these diagnostic delays are attributed to both patient delay and health system-related delay. Aims: This study aims to assess the magnitude of delay in diagnosis and the association with sociodemographic profile among new sputum-positive pulmonary TB patients in Darjeeling district. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 374 TB patients from October 2011 to March 2012 using a predesigned pretested schedule by face-to-face interview. Statistical Analysis: Logistic regression analysis, odds ratios (OR, adjusted ORs. Results: Patient delay, health system delay and total diagnostic delay were 27 days, 20.1 days, and 20.6 days; mean delays were 23.64, 5.71, and 29.46 days, and median delays were 25, 5, and 32 days, respectively. Risk factors associated with patient delay were female gender, rural residence, illiteracy, smoking, alcohol consumption, taking two, or more alternate treatments; for health system delay were female sex, rural residence, time to reach health facility, time spent per visit; and for total diagnostic delay were female sex, alcoholism, and seeking more than two alternate treatment. Conclusions: The risk factors for delay identified may be the subject of future interventions.

Factors affecting professional delay in diagnosis and treatment of oral cancer in Iran.

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Esmaelbeigi, Farhad; Hadji, Maryam; Harirchi, Iraj; Omranipour, Ramesh; vand Rajabpour, Mojtaba; Zendehdel, Kazem

2014-04-01

Oral cancer is the most common malignant tumor among head and neck cancers. Delay in diagnosis affects the treatment and prognosis of oral cancer. We measured the professional delay in the diagnosis and its attributes in the Cancer Institute of Iran, the largest referral center for oral cancer patients in the country.  We interviewed oral cancer patients to measure the delay and used case-control approach to study association of various prognostic factors with professional delay and tumor stage. Out of 206 patients, 71.4% were diagnosed at the advanced stage. The median of the patient, professional and total delays were 45, 86 and 140 day, receptively. In the univariate model, prescription of medicines like analgesics (OR = 5.3, 95% CI 2.2-12.9) and history of dental procedure (OR=6.8, 95% CI 1.7-26.9) were associated with higher risk of delay compared to patient who were biopsied from the beginning. History of loose teeth increased risk of delay 4 times (OR = 4.0, 95% CI 1.6-9.8). Patients with primary education had 70% lower risk of delay compared to the illiterate patients (OR = 0.3, 95% CI 0.1-0.7) and the risk was lower among patients who had diploma (OR = 0.04, 95% CI 0-0.7) and college education (OR = 0.1, 95% CI 0-0.4). The delayed patients were diagnosed in more advanced stage compared to the patients without delay (OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.0-4.4). Development of a national guideline for follow-up of oral lesions, training and awareness of health care professionals about oral cancer diagnosis may decrease the delay and improve the oral cancer outcome in Iran.

Decreasing delays in urgent and expedited surgery in a university teaching hospital through audit and communication between peri-operative and surgical directorates.

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Cosgrove, J F; Gaughan, M; Snowden, C P; Lees, T

2008-06-01

National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death guidelines for urgent surgery recommend a fully staffed emergency operating theatre and restriction of 'after-midnight' operating to immediate life-, limb- or organ-threatening conditions. Audit performed in our institution demonstrated significant decreases in waiting times for urgent surgery and an increased seniority of medical care associated with overnight pre-operative assessment of patients by anaesthetic trainees. Nevertheless, urgent cases continued to be delayed unnecessarily. A classification of delays was developed from existing guidelines and their incidence was audited. The results were disseminated to involved directorates. A repeat of the audit demonstrated a significant decrease in delays (p = 0.001), a significant increase in the availability of surgeons (p = 0.001) and a significant decrease in the median waiting time for urgent surgery compared to the first audit cycle and a previous standard (p auditing delays and disseminating the results of the audit significantly decreases delays and median waiting times for urgent surgery because of improved surgical availability.

Impact of delay to treatment upon survival in 1067 patients with breast-cancer.

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Rabinovich, M; Vallejo, C; Perez, J; Rodriguez, R; Cuevas, M; Machiavelli, M; Lacava, J; Leone, B; Romero, A; Mickiewicz, E; Chacon, R; Estevez, R

1993-02-01

The medical records of 1067 patients with breast cancer were reviewed to evaluate the influence of delay between first symptom and first treatment upon survival. Three delay intervals were considered: 6 months. At a follow-up of 120 months, survival analyses identified a statistically significant difference (p=0.029) favoring patients with 3 months delay between first symptom and first treatment. Better survival rate for patients with a short delay would obey to a greater number of patients in favorable stages and a higher proportion of women aged 50 or older in this group.

Trauma patients who present in a delayed fashion: a unique and challenging population.

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Kao, Mary J; Nunez, Hector; Monaghan, Sean F; Heffernan, Daithi S; Adams, Charles A; Lueckel, Stephanie N; Stephen, Andrew H

2017-02-01

A proportion of trauma patients present for evaluation in a delayed fashion after injury, likely due to a variety of medical and nonmedical reasons. There has been little investigation into the characteristics and outcomes of trauma patients who present delayed. We hypothesize that trauma patients who present in a delayed fashion are a unique population at risk of increased trauma-related complications. This was a retrospective review from 2010-2015 at a Level I trauma center. Patients were termed delayed if they presented >24 hours after injury. Patients admitted within 24 hours of their injury were the comparison group. Charts were reviewed for demographics, mechanism, comorbidities, complications and outcomes. A subgroup analysis was done on patients who suffered falls. During the 5-y period, 11,705 patients were admitted. A total of 588 patients (5%) presented >24 h after their injury. Patients in the delayed group were older (65 versus 55 y, P fashion have unique characteristics and are more likely to suffer negative outcomes including substance withdrawal. Future goals will include exploring strategies for early intervention, such as automatic withdrawal monitoring and social work referral for all patients who present in a delayed fashion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Ultrasonographic Findings of Bifid Median Nerve

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Hee Jin; Park, Noh Hyuck; Joh, Joon Hee; Lee, Sung Moon

2009-01-01

We wanted to evaluate the ultrasonographic findings of bifid median nerve and its clinical significance. We retrospectively reviewed five cases (three men and two women, mean age: 54 years) of incidentally found bifid median nerve from 264 cases of clinically suspected carpal-tunnel syndrome that were seen at our hospital during last 6 years. Doppler sonography was performed in all five cases and MR angiography was done in one case for detecting a persistent median artery. The difference (ΔCSA) between the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the bifid median nerve at the pisiform level (CSA2) and the cross-sectional area proximal to the bifurcation(CSA1) was calculated. The incidence of a bifid median nerve was 1.9%. All the patients presented with a tingling sensation on a hand and two patients had nocturnal pain. All the cases showed bifurcation of the nerve bundle proximal to the carpal tunnel. The margins appeared relatively smooth and each bundle showed a characteristic fascicular pattern. A persistent median artery was noted between the bundles in four cases. ΔCSA was more than 2 mm 2 in four cases. Bifid median nerve with a persistent median artery is a relatively rare normal variance and these are very important findings before performing surgical intervention to avoid potential nerve injury and massive bleeding. We highly suggest that radiologists should understand the anatomical characteristics of this anomaly and make efforts to detect it

Relationship between median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials and spinal cord injury levels in patients with quadriplegia.

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de Arruda Serra Gaspar, M I F; Cliquet, A; Fernandes Lima, V M; de Abreu, D C C

2009-05-01

Cross-sectional study. To observe if there is a relationship between the level of injury by the American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) and cortical somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) recordings of the median nerve in patients with quadriplegia. Rehabilitation Outpatient Clinic at the university hospital in Brazil. Fourteen individuals with quadriplegia and 8 healthy individuals were evaluated. Electrophysiological assessment of the median nerve was performed by evoked potential equipment. The injury level was obtained by ASIA. N(9), N(13) and N(20) were analyzed based on the presence or absence of responses. The parameters used for analyzing these responses were the latency and the amplitude. Data were analyzed using mixed-effect models. N(9) responses were found in all patients with quadriplegia with a similar latency and amplitude observed in healthy individuals; N(13) responses were not found in any patients with quadriplegia. N(20) responses were not found in C5 patients with quadriplegia but it was present in C6 and C7 patients. Their latencies were similar to healthy individuals (P>0.05) but the amplitudes were decreased (P<0.05). This study suggests that the SSEP responses depend on the injury level, considering that the individuals with C6 and C7 injury levels, both complete and incomplete, presented SSEP recordings in the cortical area. It also showed a relationship between the level of spinal cord injury assessed by ASIA and the median nerve SSEP responses, through the latency and amplitude recordings.

Factors that influence treatment delay in patients with colorectal cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Zarcos-Pedrinaci, Irene; Fernández-López, Alberto; Téllez, Teresa; Rivas-Ruiz, Francisco; Rueda A, Antonio; Suarez-Varela, María Manuela Morales; Briones, Eduardo; Baré, Marisa; Escobar, Antonio; Sarasqueta, Cristina; de Larrea, Nerea Fernández; Aguirre, Urko; Quintana, José María; Redondo, Maximino

2017-01-01

A prospective study was performed of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC), distinguishing between colonic and rectal location, to determine the factors that may provoke a delay in the first treatment (DFT) provided. 2749 patients diagnosed with CRC were studied. The study population was recruited between June 2010 and December 2012. DFT is defined as time elapsed between diagnosis and first treatment exceeding 30 days. Excessive treatment delay was recorded in 65.5% of the cases, and was more prevalent among rectal cancer patients. Independent predictor variables of DFT in colon cancer patients were a low level of education, small tumour, ex-smoker, asymptomatic at diagnosis and following the application of screening. Among rectal cancer patients, the corresponding factors were primary school education and being asymptomatic. We conclude that treatment delay in CRC patients is affected not only by clinicopathological factors, but also by sociocultural ones. Greater attention should be paid by the healthcare provider to social groups with less formal education, in order to optimise treatment attention. PMID:27888636

Oral and pharyngeal cancer : Analysis of patient delay at different tumor stages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouha, XDR; Tromp, DM; Hordijk, GJ; Winnubst, JAM; de Leeuw, JRJ

2005-01-01

Background. The aim of this study was to examine which factors are related to patient delay in a cohort of consecutive patients with pharyngeal cancer and oral cancer and to determine whether the different stages of patient delay (ie, appraisal, illness, behavioral, and scheduling) were related to

Delayed Diagnosis and Complications of Predominantly Antibody Deficiencies in a Cohort of Australian Adults

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Charlotte A. Slade

2018-05-01

Full Text Available BackgroundPredominantly antibody deficiencies (PADs are the most common type of primary immunodeficiency in adults. PADs frequently pass undetected leading to delayed diagnosis, delayed treatment, and the potential for end-organ damage including bronchiectasis. In addition, PADs are frequently accompanied by comorbid autoimmune disease, and an increased risk of malignancy.ObjectivesTo characterize the diagnostic and clinical features of adult PAD patients in Victoria, Australia.MethodsWe identified adult patients receiving, or having previously received immunoglobulin replacement therapy for a PAD at four hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne, and retrospectively characterized their clinical and diagnostic features.Results179 patients from The Royal Melbourne, Alfred and Austin Hospitals, and Monash Medical Centre were included in the study with a median age of 49.7 years (range: 16–87 years, of whom 98 (54.7% were female. The majority of patients (116; 64.8% met diagnostic criteria for common variable immunodeficiency (CVID, and 21 (11.7% were diagnosed with X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA. Unclassified hypogammaglobulinemia (HGG was described in 22 patients (12.3%, IgG subclass deficiency (IGSCD in 12 (6.7%, and specific antibody deficiency (SpAD in 4 individuals (2.2%. The remaining four patients had a diagnosis of Good syndrome (thymoma with immunodeficiency. There was no significant difference between the age at diagnosis of the disorders, with the exception of XLA, with a median age at diagnosis of less than 1 year. The median age of reported symptom onset was 20 years for those with a diagnosis of CVID, with a median age at diagnosis of 35 years. CVID patients experienced significantly more non-infectious complications, such as autoimmune cytopenias and lymphoproliferative disease, than the other antibody deficiency disorders. The presence of non-infectious complications was associated with significantly reduced survival in the

Delays before Diagnosis and Initiation of Treatment in Patients Presenting to Mental Health Services with Bipolar Disorder.

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Rashmi Patel

Full Text Available Bipolar disorder is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Although existing treatments are effective, there is often a substantial delay before diagnosis and treatment initiation. We sought to investigate factors associated with the delay before diagnosis of bipolar disorder and the onset of treatment in secondary mental healthcare.Retrospective cohort study using anonymised electronic mental health record data from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM Biomedical Research Centre (BRC Case Register on 1364 adults diagnosed with bipolar disorder between 2007 and 2012. The following predictor variables were analysed in a multivariable Cox regression analysis: age, gender, ethnicity, compulsory admission to hospital under the UK Mental Health Act, marital status and other diagnoses prior to bipolar disorder. The outcomes were time to recorded diagnosis from first presentation to specialist mental health services (the diagnostic delay, and time to the start of appropriate therapy (treatment delay.The median diagnostic delay was 62 days (interquartile range: 17-243 and median treatment delay was 31 days (4-122. Compulsory hospital admission was associated with a significant reduction in both diagnostic delay (hazard ratio 2.58, 95% CI 2.18-3.06 and treatment delay (4.40, 3.63-5.62. Prior diagnoses of other psychiatric disorders were associated with increased diagnostic delay, particularly alcohol (0.48, 0.33-0.41 and substance misuse disorders (0.44, 0.31-0.61. Prior diagnosis of schizophrenia and psychotic depression were associated with reduced treatment delay.Some individuals experience a significant delay in diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder after initiation of specialist mental healthcare, particularly those who have prior diagnoses of alcohol and substance misuse disorders. These findings highlight a need for further study on strategies to better identify underlying symptoms and offer appropriate treatment

Delays before Diagnosis and Initiation of Treatment in Patients Presenting to Mental Health Services with Bipolar Disorder.

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Patel, Rashmi; Shetty, Hitesh; Jackson, Richard; Broadbent, Matthew; Stewart, Robert; Boydell, Jane; McGuire, Philip; Taylor, Matthew

2015-01-01

Bipolar disorder is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Although existing treatments are effective, there is often a substantial delay before diagnosis and treatment initiation. We sought to investigate factors associated with the delay before diagnosis of bipolar disorder and the onset of treatment in secondary mental healthcare. Retrospective cohort study using anonymised electronic mental health record data from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Case Register on 1364 adults diagnosed with bipolar disorder between 2007 and 2012. The following predictor variables were analysed in a multivariable Cox regression analysis: age, gender, ethnicity, compulsory admission to hospital under the UK Mental Health Act, marital status and other diagnoses prior to bipolar disorder. The outcomes were time to recorded diagnosis from first presentation to specialist mental health services (the diagnostic delay), and time to the start of appropriate therapy (treatment delay). The median diagnostic delay was 62 days (interquartile range: 17-243) and median treatment delay was 31 days (4-122). Compulsory hospital admission was associated with a significant reduction in both diagnostic delay (hazard ratio 2.58, 95% CI 2.18-3.06) and treatment delay (4.40, 3.63-5.62). Prior diagnoses of other psychiatric disorders were associated with increased diagnostic delay, particularly alcohol (0.48, 0.33-0.41) and substance misuse disorders (0.44, 0.31-0.61). Prior diagnosis of schizophrenia and psychotic depression were associated with reduced treatment delay. Some individuals experience a significant delay in diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder after initiation of specialist mental healthcare, particularly those who have prior diagnoses of alcohol and substance misuse disorders. These findings highlight a need for further study on strategies to better identify underlying symptoms and offer appropriate treatment sooner

Delayed diagnosis of sarcoidosis is common in Brazil

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Mauri Monteiro Rodrigues

2013-09-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of and the factors related to delayed diagnosis of sarcoidosis in Brazil. METHODS: We evaluated patients with a biopsy-proven diagnosis of sarcoidosis, using a questionnaire that addressed the following: time since symptom onset and since the first medical visit; and the number and specialty of the physicians visited. We divided the patients by the timeliness of the diagnosis-timely (< 6 months and delayed (≥ 6 months-comparing the two groups in terms of systemic and pulmonary symptoms; extrathoracic involvement; spirometric data; radiological staging; level of education; income; and tuberculosis (diagnosis and treatment. RESULTS: We evaluated 100 patients. The median number of physicians consulted was 3 (range, 1-14. In 11 cases, sarcoidosis was diagnosed at the first visit. In 54, the first physician seen was a general practitioner. The diagnosis of sarcoidosis was timely in 41 patients and delayed in 59. The groups did not differ in terms of gender; race; type of health insurance; level of education; income; respiratory/systemic symptoms; extrathoracic involvement; and radiological staging. In the delayed diagnosis group, FVC was lower (80.3 ± 20.4% vs. 90.5 ± 17.1%; p = 0.010, as was FEV1 (77.3 ± 19.9% vs. 86.4 ± 19.5%; p = 0.024, misdiagnosis with and treatment for tuberculosis (≥ 3 months also being more common (24% vs. 7%, p = 0.032, and 20% vs. 0%; p = 0.002, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of sarcoidosis is often delayed, even when the imaging is suggestive of sarcoidosis. Delayed diagnosis is associated with impaired lung function at the time of diagnosis. Many sarcoidosis patients are misdiagnosed with and treated for tuberculosis.

Median of patient results as a tool for assessment of analytical stability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Lars Mønster; Hansen, Steen Ingemann; Petersen, Per Hyltoft

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: In spite of the well-established external quality assessment and proficiency testing surveys of analytical quality performance in laboratory medicine, a simple tool to monitor the long-term analytical stability as a supplement to the internal control procedures is often needed. METHOD......: Patient data from daily internal control schemes was used for monthly appraisal of the analytical stability. This was accomplished by using the monthly medians of patient results to disclose deviations from analytical stability, and by comparing divergences with the quality specifications for allowable...... analytical bias based on biological variation. RESULTS: Seventy five percent of the twenty analytes achieved on two COBASs INTEGRA 800 instruments performed in accordance with the optimum and with the desirable specifications for bias. DISCUSSION: Patient results applied in analytical quality performance...

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation of developmental delay in pediatric patients.

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Ali, Althaf S; Syed, Naziya P; Murthy, G S N; Nori, Madhavi; Abkari, Anand; Pooja, B K; Venkateswarlu, J

2015-01-01

Developmental delay is defined as significant delay in one or more developmental domains. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the best modality to investigate such patients. Evaluation of a child with developmental delay is important not only because it allows early diagnosis and treatment but also helpful for parental counseling regarding the outcome of their child and to identify any possible risk of recurrence in the siblings. Thus this study was undertaken to evaluate the developmental delay in Indian children which will help the clinicians in providing an estimation of the child's ultimate developmental potential and organize specific treatment requirement and also relieve parental apprehension. To study the prevalence of normal and abnormal MRI in pediatric patients presenting with developmental delay and further categorize the abnormal MRI based on its morphological features. It is a prospective, observational & descriptive study of MRI Brain in 81 paediatric patients (46 Males and 35 Females), aged between three months to 12 years; presenting with developmental delay in Deccan College of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad; over a period of three years (Sept 2011 to Sept 2014). MRI brain was done on 1.5T Siemens Magnetom Essenza & 0.35T Magnetom C with appropriate sequences and planes after making the child sleep/sedated/ anesthetized. Various anatomical structures like Ventricles, Corpus callosum, etc were systematically assessed. The MRI findings were divided into various aetiological subgroups. Normal MRI findings were seen in 32% cases and 68% had abnormal findings of which the proportion of Traumatic/ Neurovascular Diseases, Congenital & Developmental, Metabolic and Degenerative, neoplastic and non specific were 31%, 17%, 10%, 2.5% and 7.5% respectively. The ventricles and white matter mainly the corpus callosum were the most commonly affected anatomical structures. The diagnostic yield was found to be 68% and higher yield was seen in patients presenting with

Financial Toxicity among Patients with Bladder Cancer: Reasons for Delay in Care and Effect on Quality of Life.

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Casilla-Lennon, Marianne M; Choi, Seul Ki; Deal, Allison M; Bensen, Jeannette T; Narang, Gopal; Filippou, Pauline; McCormick, Benjamin; Pruthi, Raj; Wallen, Eric; Tan, Hung-Jui; Woods, Michael; Nielsen, Matthew; Smith, Angela

2018-05-01

Costly surveillance and treatment of bladder cancer can lead to financial toxicity, a treatment related financial burden. Our objective was to define the prevalence of financial toxicity among patients with bladder cancer and identify delays in care and its effect on health related quality of life. We identified patients with bladder cancer in the University of North Carolina Health Registry/Cancer Survivorship Cohort. Financial toxicity was defined as agreement with having "to pay more for medical care than you can afford." Health related quality of life was measured using general and cancer specific validated questionnaires. Statistical analyses were performed using the Fisher exact test and the Student t-test. A total of 138 patients with bladder cancer were evaluated. Median age was 66.9 years, 75% of the patients were male and 89% were white. Of the participants 33 (24%) endorsed financial toxicity. Participants who were younger (p = 0.02), black (p = 0.01), reported less than a college degree (p = 0.01) and had noninvasive disease (p = 0.04) were more likely to report financial toxicity. On multivariable analysis only age was a significant predictor of financial toxicity. Patients who endorsed financial toxicity were more likely to report delaying care (39% vs 23%, p = 0.07) due to the inability to take time off work or afford general expenses. On general health related quality of life questionnaires patients with financial toxicity reported worse physical and mental health (p = 0.03 and life (p = 0.01), physical well-being (p = 0.01) and functional well-being (p = 0.05). Financial toxicity is a major concern among patients with bladder cancer. Younger patients were more likely to experience financial toxicity. Those who endorsed financial toxicity experienced delays in care and poorer health related quality of life, suggesting that treatment costs should have an important role in medical decision making. Copyright © 2018 American Urological Association

Median Survival Time of Endometrial Cancer Patients with Lymphovascular Invasion at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia.

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Asyikeen, Wan Adnan Wan Nor; Siti-Azrin, Ab Hamid; Jalil, Nur Asyilla Che; Zin, Anani Aila Mat; Othman, Nor Hayati

2016-11-01

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecologic malignancy among females worldwide. The purpose of this study was to determine the median survival time of endometrial cancer patients at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). A list of 121 endometrial cancer cases registered at Hospital USM between 2000 until 2011 was retrospectively reviewed. The survival time of the endometrial cancer patients was estimated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Log-rank tests were performed to compare the survival of the patients based on socio-demographics and clinical presentation. Only 108 patients, 87.0%, were included who were of Malay ethnicity. Previous history included menopause in 67.6% of patients and diabetes mellitus in 39.8% of patients; additionally, 63.4% of patients were nulliparous. Tumour staging was as follows: 24.5% stage I, 10.8% stage II, 26.5% stage III and 38.2% stage IV. The overall median survival time of the endometrial cancer patients was 70.20 months (95% confidence interval (CI): 51.79, 88.61). The significant factors were age, the presence of lymphovascular invasion and treatment received. The overall survival of endometrial cancer was low. A prospective study needs to be carried out to discover more effective and accurate tests for the early detection of endometrial cancer.

[Delayed rupture of the spleen in a multiply injured patient].

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Lică, I; Venter, M D; Mehic, R; Marian, R; Ionescu, G

1997-01-01

The authors present a case of delayed rupture of the spleen in a polytraumatised patient. This entity was defined as a late occurrence of signs and symptoms attributed to splenic injury not detected by diagnostic computed tomographic scanning during the initial examination. The mechanisms in which the delayed rupture of the spleen occurs are discussed and the conclusion is that the delayed rupture of the spleen represent a real clinical entity.

A multidisciplinary protocol for planned skin-preserving delayed breast reconstruction for patients with locally advanced breast cancer requiring postmastectomy radiation therapy: 3-year follow-up.

Science.gov (United States)

Kronowitz, Steven J; Lam, Candace; Terefe, Welela; Hunt, Kelly K; Kuerer, Henry M; Valero, Vicente; Lance, Samuel; Robb, Geoffrey L; Feng, Lei; Buchholz, Thomas A

2011-06-01

The authors examined the safety of a protocol for planned skin-preserving delayed breast reconstruction after postmastectomy radiotherapy with placement of a tissue expander for patients with locally advanced breast cancer (stages IIB and III). The authors compared 47 patients treated according to the protocol between December 2003 and May 2008 with 47 disease-stage-matched control patients who underwent standard delayed reconstruction after postmastectomy radiotherapy (no skin preservation or tissue expander) during the same period. Protocol-group complication rates were 21 percent for skin-preserving mastectomy and placement of the expander (stage 1), 5 percent for postmastectomy radiotherapy, 25 percent for expander reinflation after radiotherapy, and 24 percent for skin-preserving delayed reconstruction. The complication rate for standard delayed reconstruction was 38 percent. Tissue-expander loss rates were 32 percent overall, 9 percent for stage 1, 5 percent for postmastectomy radiotherapy, and 22 percent for reinflation. Wound-healing complications after reconstruction occurred in 3 percent of protocol-group and 10 percent of control-group patients. The median follow-up time for patients still alive at last follow-up was 40 months (range, 8.5 to 85.3 months). Three-year recurrence-free survival rates were 92 percent (95 percent CI, 83 to 100 percent) and 86 percent (95 percent CI, 76 to 98 percent) for the protocol and control groups, respectively (p = 0.87). In patients with locally advanced breast cancer, skin-preserving mastectomy with a deflated tissue expander on the chest wall during postmastectomy radiotherapy does not increase locoregional recurrence risk and is associated with lower complication rates of definitive reconstruction.

Temporal trends and associated factors for pre-hospital and in-hospital delays of stroke patients over a 16-year period: the Athens study.

Science.gov (United States)

Papapanagiotou, Panagiotis; Iacovidou, Nicoletta; Spengos, Konstantinos; Xanthos, Theodoros; Zaganas, Ioannis; Aggelina, Afrodite; Alegakis, Athanasios; Vemmos, Konstantinos

2011-01-01

The management and outcome of acute ischemic stroke changed dramatically after the introduction of intravenous thrombolysis. However, relatively few patients have received thrombolytic treatment, mainly due to pre-hospital and/or in-hospital delays. Although the causes of these delays have been adequately studied, their change over a long period has not. All acute first-ever stroke patients (n = 2,746) presenting to our academic center from 1993 to 2008 were prospectively documented in a computerized stroke data bank. The time from symptoms onset to presentation at the emergency room and to acquisition of a brain CT was calculated. Time trends over this period as well as the factors affecting them were analyzed. The final study cohort consisted of 2,326 acute stroke patients after excluding 302 patients with an unknown time of stroke onset and 118 who suffered a stroke during hospitalization for another illness. Over the 16-year period, the median time from stroke onset to presentation at the emergency room decreased significantly from 3.15 h (interquartile range 1.30-10.30) to 2.00 h (range 1.00-4.00) (p best early management of acute stroke patients. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Thalidomide for control delayed vomiting in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Z.; Sun, X.; Du, X.

2016-01-01

To explore the efficacy and safety of thalidomide for the treatment of delayed vomiting, induced by chemotherapy in cancer patients. Study Design: Randomized, double-blind controlled study. Place and Duration of Study: The Oncology Department of Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Jiangsu Xuzhou, China, from January 2012 to January 2014. Methodology: A total of 78 cancer patients, who had delayed vomiting observed from 24 hours to 1 week after chemotherapy, were included in the study. Patients were divided in a treatment group (40 patients, 51.28%) and a control group (38 patients, 48.71%). The treatment group received thalidomide at an oral dose of 100 mg per night; 50 mg was added daily up to a dose of 200 mg per night, if the curative effect was suboptimal and the medicine was tolerated. Both the treatment and the control groups received a drip of 10 mg azasetron 30 minutes before chemotherapy. The control group only proportions of antiemetic effects and adverse reactions were compared using the ?2 test. Antiemetic effects and adverse reactions were assessed from Odds Ratios (OR) with 95% Confidence Intervals(95% CI). Results: The effective control rate of delayed vomiting in the treatment group was significantly higher than that in the control group (?2=5.174, p=0.023). No significant difference was found between the two groups in other adverse effects of chemotherapy. Karnofsky scores or the overall self-evaluation of the patients (p>0.05). Conclusion: Thalidomide can effectively control the delayed vomiting of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and the adverse reactions of the agent can be tolerated.

Diagnostic delay experienced among gynecological cancer patients: a nationwide survey in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Robinson, Kirstine M; Ottesen, Bent; Christensen, Karl Bang

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine diagnostic delay among gynecological cancer patients. DESIGN: Nationwide study. SETTING: The cohort comprised all women receiving their first treatment for cervical, endometrial, or ovarian cancer between 1 October 2006 and 1 December 2007 in four of the five centers...... for gynecological cancer surgery in Denmark. SAMPLE: Of the 911 women alive, 648 participated, resulting in a response rate of 71.1%; of these, 30.1% were diagnosed with cervical cancer, 31.0% with endometrial cancer, and 38.9% with ovarian cancer. METHODS: Questionnaire survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Diagnostic...... experiencing very long delays. Ovarian cancer patients experienced significantly shorter delays compared with other gynecological cancer patients in all parts of the health care system. CONCLUSIONS: Delays occur in all parts of the diagnostic process, suggesting that a multifaceted approach should be adopted...

Transverse plane tendon and median nerve motion in the carpal tunnel: ultrasound comparison of carpal tunnel syndrome patients and healthy volunteers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margriet H M van Doesburg

Full Text Available The median nerve and flexor tendons are known to translate transversely in the carpal tunnel. The purpose of this study was to investigate these motions in differential finger motion using ultrasound, and to compare them in healthy people and carpal tunnel syndrome patients.Transverse ultrasounds clips were taken during fist, index finger, middle finger and thumb flexion in 29 healthy normal subjects and 29 CTS patients. Displacement in palmar-dorsal and radial-ulnar direction was calculated using Analyze software. Additionally, the distance between the median nerve and the tendons was calculated.We found a changed motion pattern of the median nerve in middle finger, index finger and thumb motion between normal subjects and CTS patients (p<0.05. Also, we found a changed motion direction in CTS patients of the FDS III tendon in fist and middle finger motion, and of the FDS II and flexor pollicis longus tendon in index finger and thumb motion, respectively (p<0.05. The distance between the median nerve and the FDS II or FPL tendon is significantly greater in patients than in healthy volunteers for index finger and thumb motion, respectively (p<0.05.Our results suggest a changed motion pattern of the median nerve and several tendons in carpal tunnel syndrome patients compared to normal subjects. Such motion patterns may be useful in distinguishing affected from unaffected individuals, and in studies of the pathomechanics of carpal tunnel syndrome.

'Delayed discharges and boarders': a 2-year study of the relationship between patients experiencing delayed discharges from an acute hospital and boarding of admitted patients in a crowded ED.

Science.gov (United States)

Mustafa, Farah; Gilligan, Peadar; Obu, Deborah; O'Kelly, Patrick; O'Hea, Eimear; Lloyd, Catherine; Kelada, Sherif; Heffernan, Attracta; Houlihan, Patricia

2016-09-01

Many believe that hospital crowding manifesting in the ED with the boarding of admitted patients is a result of significant numbers of acute hospital beds being occupied by patients awaiting discharge to nursing homes, step-down facilities or home with or without additional support. This observational study was performed to establish the actual relationship between boarders in the ED and patients experiencing delayed discharge. Data relating to the number of patients in the ED and their points in their patient pathway were entered into a logbook on a daily basis by the most senior doctor on duty. 630 days of observations of patients boarded in the ED were compared with the number of inpatients with delayed discharges, obtained from the hospital information system, to see if large numbers of inpatients with delayed discharges are associated with crowding in the ED. Two years of data showed an annual ED census of more than 47 000, with a daily mean ED admission rate of 29.85 patients and a daily mean ED boarding figure of 29 patients. A mean of 15.4% of the 823 hospital beds was occupied by patients with delayed discharges, and the hospital ran at, or near, full capacity (99%-105%) all the time. Results obtained highlighted a statistically significant relationship between delayed discharges in the hospital and ED crowding as a result of boarders (p value<0.001, with a regression coefficient of 0.16, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.20). The study also showed that the number of boarders was related to the number of ED admissions in the preceding 24 hours (p=0.036, with a regression coefficient of 0.14, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.28). Delayed hospital discharges significantly contribute to crowding in the ED. Healthcare systems should target timely discharge of inpatients experiencing delayed discharge in an urgent and efficient manner to improve timely access to acute hospital beds for patients requiring emergency admission. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission

Cold intolerance following median and ulnar nerve injuries : prognosis and predictors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruijs, A.C.J; Jaquet, J-B.; van Riel, W. G.; Daanen, H. A M; Hovius, S.E.R.

This study describes the predictors for cold intolerance and the relationship to sensory recovery after median and ulnar nerve injuries. The study population consisted of 107 patients 2 to 10 years after median, ulnar or combined median and ulnar nerve injuries. Patients were asked to fill out the

Cold intolerance following median and ulnar nerve injuries : prognosis and predictors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruijs, A.C.J.; Jaquet, J.B.; Riel, W.G. van; Daanen, H.A.M.; Hovius, S.E.R.

2007-01-01

This study describes the predictors for cold intolerance and the relationship to sensory recovery after median and ulnar nerve injuries. The study population consisted of 107 patients 2 to 10 years after median, ulnar or combined median and ulnar nerve injuries. Patients were asked to fill out the

Extended exposure to alkylator chemotherapy: delayed appearance of myelodysplasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Chamberlain, Marc C; Raizer, Jeffrey

2009-06-01

A case series of gliomas treated with alkylator-based chemotherapy who subsequently developed myelodysplastic syndrome (tMDS) or acute myelocytic leukemia (AML). Alkylator-based chemotherapy is recognized to be leukemogenic; however, it is infrequently described as a delayed consequence of anti-glioma treatment. Seven patients (4 men; 3 women) ages 34-69 years (median 44), with gliomas (3 Grade 2; 4 Grade 3) were treated with surgery, all but one with involved-field radiotherapy and all with alkylator-based chemotherapy (temozolomide; 6 patients, nitrosoureas; 5 patients, both agents; 5 patients). Exposure to alkylator-based chemotherapy ranged from 8 to 30 months (median 24). The diagnosis of tMDS was determined by bone marrow biopsy in 7 patients. Seven patients showed chromosomal abnormalities consistent with chemotherapy induced MDS. Three patients were diagnosed with AML as well (in two determined by bone marrow and one at autopsy). Interval from last chemotherapy exposure to diagnosis of tMDS/AML ranged from 3 to 31 months (median 24 months). Two patients were treated with bone marrow transplantation and 5 received supportive care only. Five patients have died, 2 as a consequence of recurrent brain tumor, 1 as a complication of transplantation, and 2 due to AML. Although rare, induction of tMDS/AML following extended use of alkylator-based chemotherapy may become more relevant with the evolving practice to treat gliomas for protracted periods. Future work to determine at risk patients would be important.

Dissecting delays in trauma care using corporate lean six sigma methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Parks, Jennifer K; Klein, Jorie; Frankel, Heidi L; Friese, Randall S; Shafi, Shahid

2008-11-01

The Institute of Medicine has identified trauma center overcrowding as a crisis. We applied corporate Lean Six Sigma methodology to reduce overcrowding by quantifying patient dwell times in trauma resuscitation units (TRU) and to identify opportunities for reducing them. TRU dwell time of all patients treated at a Level I trauma center were measured prospectively during a 3-month period (n = 1,184). Delays were defined as TRU dwell time >6 hours. Using personnel trained in corporate Lean Six Sigma methodology, we created a detailed process map of patient flow through our TRU and measured time spent at each step prospectively during a 24/7 week-long time study (n = 43). Patients with TRU dwell time below the median (3 hours) were compared with those with longer dwell times to identify opportunities for improvement. TRU delays occurred in 183 of 1,184 trauma patients (15%), and peaked on days with >15 patients or with presence of five simultaneous patients. However, 135 delays (74%) occurred on days when Six Sigma mapping identified four processes that were related to TRU delays. Reduction of TRU dwell time by 1 hour per patient using interventions targeting these specific processes has the potential to improve our TRU capacity to care for more patients. Application of corporate Lean Six Sigma methodology identified opportunities for reducing dwell times in our TRU. Such endeavors are vital to maximize operational efficiency and decrease overcrowding in busy trauma centers working at capacity.

Patient and professional delay in the referral trajectory of patients with diabetic foot ulcers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanders, A.P.; Stoeldraaijers, L.G.M.C.; Pero, M.W.M.; Hermkes, P.J.; Carolina, R.C.A.; Elders, P.J.M.

2013-01-01

Aims: A cohort study investigated referral and treatment trajectories of patients with diabetic foot ulceration consulting podiatrists. The study aims were to quantify patient, professional and treatment (=total) delay and to identify relationships between patient- or professional-related

High mortality during tuberculosis treatment does not indicate long diagnostic delays in Vietnam: a cohort study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sy Dinh N

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Delay in tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment initiation may increase disease severity and mortality. In evaluations of tuberculosis control programmes high fatality rates during tuberculosis treatment, are used as an indicator of long delays in low HIV-prevalence settings. However, data for this presumed association between delay and fatality are lacking. We assessed the association between diagnostic delay and mortality of new smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Vietnam. Methods Follow-up of a patient cohort included in a survey of diagnostic delay in 70 randomly selected districts. Data on diagnosis and treatment were extracted from routine registers. Patients who had died during the course of treatment were compared to those with reported cure, completed treatment or failure (survivors. Results Complete data were available for 1881/2093 (89.9% patients, of whom 82 (4.4% had died. Fatality was 4.5% for patients with ≤ 4 weeks delay, 5.0% for 5- ≤ 8 weeks delay (aOR 1.11, 95%CI 0.67–1.84 and 3.2% for > 9 weeks delay (aOR 0.69, 95%CI 0.37–1.30. Fatality tended to decline with increasing delay but this was not significant. Fatality was not associated with median diagnostic delay at district level (Spearman's rho = -0.08, P = 0.5. Conclusion Diagnostic delay is not associated with treatment mortality in Vietnam at individual nor district level, suggesting that high case fatality should not be used as an indicator of long diagnostic delay in national tuberculosis programmes.

A review of literature on delays in seeking care for tuberculosis in different Indian states

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janmejaya Samal

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The passive case-finding approach of Revised National Tuberculosis (TB Control Programme in India strongly affects the health-seeking behavior of TB patients, the timing of help seeking as well as the subsequent delays associated with the same. Studies carried out in different parts of India reveal a host of several factors for delay in seeking help and the reasons for not seeking help at all. Important reasons for delayed health-seeking behavior include financial constraint, symptoms are not severe (as perceived by the patients, work pressure, lack of awareness, first consulted nonpublic sector, inaccessibility to health facility, home remedy, social stigma, self-medication, transport problem, and dissatisfaction with health facility. Similarly, the median patient delay ranged from 7 to 56 days as reported by various studies. Health-seeking behavior and related delays are of utmost importance in TB care from two important perspectives; first, TB requires timely treatment, and second, it requires protracted treatment. Required level of knowledge and a positive health behavior helps the patients in taking timely help from an appropriate health facility. Moreover, timely help-seeking prevents further spread of the disease and helps in establishing a TB-free society.

Initial Misdiagnosis of Proximal Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Is Associated with Delay in Diagnosis and Advanced Stage at Presentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Swords, Douglas S; Mone, Mary C; Zhang, Chong; Presson, Angela P; Mulvihill, Sean J; Scaife, Courtney L

2015-10-01

Delay in diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with decreased survival. The effect of an initial misdiagnosis on delay in diagnosis and stage of PDAC is unknown. This study is a retrospective review (2000-2010) from a University-based cancer center of new diagnoses of proximal PDAC. Of 313 patients, 98 (31.3 %) had an initial misdiagnosis. Misdiagnosed patients were younger, 62.8 ± 12.6 vs. 68.0 ± 10.1 (p < 0.001). The most common initial misdiagnoses were: gallbladder disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and peptic ulcer disease. After excluding patients with prior cholecystectomy, 14.2 % were misdiagnosed with gallbladder disease and underwent cholecystectomy before PDAC diagnosis. Misdiagnosed patients had higher rates of abdominal pain (p < 0.001), weight loss (p = 0.04), and acute pancreatitis (p < 0.001) and lower rate of jaundice (p < 0.001). Median time between symptoms to PDAC diagnosis was longer in misdiagnosed: 4.2 months vs. 1.4 (p < 0.001). Median time from contact with medical provider to axial imaging was longer in misdiagnosed (p < 0.001). Rate of stages III-IV disease at diagnosis was higher in misdiagnosed: 61.2 vs. 43.7 % (p = 0.004), with a 1.4 (95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.12-1.74) higher risk of stages III-IV disease at diagnosis; however, there was no difference in median overall survival in misdiagnosed patients (9.6 months in misdiagnosed vs. 10.3 months in correctly diagnosed, p = 0.69). Initial misdiagnosis of patients with proximal PDAC is associated with delay in diagnosis and higher risk of locally advanced or advanced disease at time of PDAC diagnosis.

"I Wasted 3 Years, Thinking It's Not a Problem": Patient and Health System Delays in Diagnosis of Leprosy in India: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Muthuvel, Thirumugam; Govindarajulu, Srinivas; Isaakidis, Petros; Shewade, Hemant Deepak; Rokade, Vasudev; Singh, Rajbir; Kamble, Sanjeev

2017-01-01

Worldwide, leprosy is one of the major causes of preventable disability. India contributes to 60% of global leprosy burden. With increasing numbers of leprosy with grade 2 disability (visible disability) at diagnosis, we aimed to determine risk factors associated with grade 2 disability among new cases and explore patients and providers' perspectives into reasons for late presentation. This was an explanatory mixed-methods study where the quantitative component, a matched case-control design, was followed by a qualitative component. A total of 70 cases (grade 2 disability) and 140 controls (grade 0) matched for age and sex were randomly sampled from new patients registered between January 2013-January 2015 in three districts of Maharashtra (Mumbai, Thane and Amaravati) and interviewed using a structured close ended questionnaire. Eight public health care providers involved in leprosy care and 7 leprosy patients were purposively selected (maximum variation sampling) and interviewed using a structured open-ended interview schedule. Among cases, overall median (IQR) diagnosis delay in months was 17.9(7-30); patient and health system delay was 7(4-16.5) and 5.5(0.9-12.5) respectively; this was significantly higher than the delay in controls. Reasons for delayed presentation identified by the quantitative and qualitative data were: poor awareness of leprosy symptoms, first health care provider visited being private practitioners who were not aware about provision of free leprosy treatment at public health care facilities, reduced engagement and capacity of the general health care system in leprosy control. Raising awareness in communities and health care providers regarding early leprosy symptoms, engagement of private health care provider in early leprosy diagnosis and increasing capacity of general health system staff, especially targeting high endemic areas that are hotspots for leprosy transmission may help in reducing diagnosis delays.

Delayed percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute myocardial infarction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Weiming; Tian Fang; Shi Li; Lan Xi

2004-01-01

Objective: To observe the clinical effects, safeness and prognosis of delayed percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for infarct related artery (IRA) in post-infarct patients. Methods: In total 53 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) underwent delayed PCI within 5-15 days after the acute event. Conventional treatment (including thrombolytic therapy) was given in all patients as they were admitted. Results: Intervention was performed in 68 branches of IRA were, including 64 cases of PTCA followed by stent implantation and 4 cases of direct stent implantation. In total 68 stents were implanted. The TIMI classification was improved from the pre-PCI 0-2 to post-PCI 3. No patient died during the treatment. No repeated AMI, post-infarct angina and repeated recanalization happened in the hospitalization. A 5-48 month follow up showed there was 1 death (1.9%), 1 case of repeated myocardial infarction (1.9%), 3 cases of unstable angina (5.7%), 2 cases of repeated PCI and 1 case of CABG. The rate of repeated recanalization was 5.7%. Seven patients (13.2%) were admitted for the second time, who survived 6-48 months after the intervention. Conclusion: Delayed PCT can obviously improve the short and long term prognosis as well as the life quality of patients with AMI, which is a safe interventional procedure

Delay in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in Uzbekistan: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Belkina, Tatiana V; Khojiev, Doniyor S; Tillyashaykhov, Mirzagaleb N; Tigay, Zinaida N; Kudenov, Marat U; Tebbens, Jurjen Duintjer; Vlcek, Jiri

2014-11-25

Early diagnosis and prompt effective therapy are crucial for the prevention of tuberculosis (TB) transmission, particularly in regions with high levels of multi-drug resistant TB. This study aimed to evaluate the extent of delay in diagnosis and treatment of TB in Uzbekistan and identify associated risk factors. A cross-sectional study was performed on hospital patients with newly diagnosed TB. The time between the onset of respiratory symptoms and initiation of anti-TB treatment was assessed and delays were divided into patient, health system and total delays. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate determinants of diagnostic and treatment delay. Among 538 patients enrolled, the median delay from onset of symptoms until treatment with anti-TB drugs was 50 days. Analysis of the factors affecting health-seeking behaviour and timely treatment showed the presence of the patient factor. Self-medication was the first health-seeking action for 231 (43%) patients and proved to be a significant predictor of delay (p = 0.005), as well as coughing (p = 0.009), loss of weight (p = 0.001), and visiting private and primary healthcare facilities (p = 0.03 and p = 0.02, respectively). TB diagnostic and treatment delay was mainly contributed to by patient delay and should be reduced through increasing public awareness of TB symptoms and improving public health-seeking behaviour for timely initiation of anti-TB treatment. Efforts should be made to minimise irrational use of antibiotics and support interventions to restrict over-the-counter availability of antibiotics.

The effect of delayed postoperative irradiation on local control of soft tissue sarcomas of the extremity and torso

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwartz, David L.; Einck, John; Hunt, Karen; Bruckner, James; Conrad, Ernest; Koh, W.-J.; Laramore, George E.

2002-01-01

Purpose: The impact of delayed adjuvant radiotherapy in patients treated by surgical resection for peripheral or torso soft tissue sarcoma has not been well characterized. We retrospectively examined this issue in an institutional patient cohort. Methods and Materials: One hundred two adult patients were treated at the University of Washington Medical Center between 1981 and 1998 with postoperative radiotherapy for cure of a newly diagnosed soft tissue sarcoma. Of this group, 58 patients had primary intermediate- or high-grade disease of the extremity or torso (50 extremity/8 torso). Tumor histology was predominantly malignant fibrohistiocytoma, synovial cell sarcoma, and leiomyosarcoma. The group was dichotomized according to time interval from definitive resection to the start of adjuvant radiation. Twenty-six patients had a short delay, defined as <4 months, and 32 patients had a long delay of ≥4 months. Both groups were balanced with regard to site, size, margin status, and tumor depth; however, the long-delay group had a larger proportion of high histologic grade lesions and was treated more frequently with chemotherapy (31/32 [97%] for long-delay patients vs. 14/26 [54%] for short-delay patients). Median follow-up was 49.5 months (range: 7-113 months). Median follow-up for patients still alive was 54 months (range: 9-113 months). Survival outcomes were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Overall local relapse-free survival at 5 years from the time of definitive resection was 74%. On univariate analysis, estimated 5-year local relapse-free survival was significantly improved in the short-delay group (88% vs. 62% for the long-delay group, p = 0.048 by log rank). Overall distant relapse-free survival, disease-free survival, and overall survival at 5 years were 77%, 68%, and 86%, respectively. These survival outcomes were statistically equivalent in both radiation delay groups. There was no evidence to suggest that delaying adjuvant systemic therapy

Malignant cliomas treated after surgery by combination chemotherapy and delayed irradiation. Pt. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poisson, M.; Mashaly, R.; Pertuiset, B.F.; Metzger, J.

1979-01-01

Forty-six patients with gliomas were introduced after surgery into a therapeutic programme of six cycles of combination chemotherapy with VM 26 and CCNU, followed by delayed irradiation six months after surgery with an average dose of 5,800 rads. After irradiation the same preradiation chemotherapy was readministered for an average of four cycles. The results were compared to those from another group of 28 patients treated only by the same chemotherapy (CRC and C groups successively). Twelve patients (26%) died before irradiation in the CRC groups, six patients (13%) had recurrences at the time of irradiation, and 28 patients (61%) had no clinical or radiological signs of recurrence at the time of irradiation. For the total of treated patients the median survival after surgery was 17 months, and 46% of the patients were surviving at 18 months. The percentage of survivors at 18 months was significantly more elevated in the group treated by combination chemotherapy and delayed irradiation than in a control group treated by the same combination chemotherapy alone. This result suggests that in approximately 50% of cases combination chemotherapy after surgery, and delayed irradiation six months after surgery, cumulated their effects on survival time. (author)

Cost per median overall survival month associated with abiraterone acetate and enzalutamide for treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Pilon, Dominic; Queener, Marykay; Lefebvre, Patrick; Ellis, Lorie A

2016-08-01

To calculate costs per median overall survival (OS) month in chemotherapy-naïve patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated with abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (AA + P) or enzalutamide. Median treatment duration and median OS data from published Phase 3 clinical trials and prescribing information were used to calculate costs per median OS month based on wholesale acquisition costs (WACs) for patients with mCRPC treated with AA + P or enzalutamide. Sensitivity analyses were performed to understand how variations in treatment duration and treatment-related monitoring recommendations influenced cost per median OS month. Cost-effectiveness estimates of other Phase 3 trial outcomes were also explored: cost per month of chemotherapy avoided and per median radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) month. The results demonstrated that AA + P has a lower cost per median OS month than enzalutamide ($3231 vs 4512; 28% reduction), based on the following assumptions: median treatment duration of 14 months for AA + P and 18 months for enzalutamide, median OS of 34.7 months for AA + P and 35.3 months for enzalutamide, and WAC per 30-day supply of $8007.17 for AA + P vs $8847.98 for enzalutamide. Sensitivity analyses showed that accounting for recommended treatment-related monitoring costs or assuming identical treatment durations for AA + P and enzalutamide (18 months) resulted in costs per median OS month 8-27% lower for AA + P than for enzalutamide. Costs per month of chemotherapy avoided were $4448 for AA + P and $5688 for enzalutamide, while costs per month to achieve median rPFS were $6794 for AA + P and $7963 for enzalutamide. This cost-effectiveness analysis demonstrated that costs per median OS month, along with costs of other Phase 3 trial outcomes, were lower for AA + P than for enzalutamide. The findings were robust to sensitivity analyses. These results have important implications

Comparison of Tc-99m ECD brain SPECT between patients with delayed development and cerebral palsy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, I.; Chun, K.; Won, K.; Lee, H.; Jang, S.; Lee, J.

2002-01-01

Purpose: In previous study, thalamic or cerebellar hypoperfusion were reported in patients with cerebral palsy. This study was performed to evaluate cerebral perfusion abnormalities using Tc-99m ECD brain SPECT in patients with delayed motor development. Methods: Nineteen patients (9 boys, 10 girls, mean age 25.5 months) with delayed development underwent brain SPECT after injection of 185∼370 MBq of Tc-99m ECD. The imaging was obtained between 30 minutes and 1hr after injection. The patients were divided clinically as follows, patients with delayed development (n=5) and patients with cerebral palsy (n=14) who has delayed development and abnormal movement. The clinical subtypes of cerebral palsy were spastic quadriplegia (n=5), spastic diplegia (n=6) and spastic hemiplegia (n=3). In each group, decrease of cerebral perfusion was evaluated visually as mild, moderate and severe and quantitation of cerebral perfusion after Lassen's correction was also obtained. Results: SPECT findings showed normal or mildly decreased thalamic perfusion in patients with delayed development and severe decrease of thalamic or cerebellar perfusion in patients with spastic quadriplegia. In patients with spastic diplegia, mild decrease of perfusion was observed in thalamus. In quantified data, thalamic perfusion was lowest in patients with spastic quadriplegia and highest in patients with delayed development, but there were no statistically significant differences. Conclusion: Brain SPECT with Tc-99m ECD has a role in the detection of perfusion abnormalities in patients with delayed development and cerebral palsy

Delays in switching patients onto second-line antiretroviral treatment ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: South Africa has one of the largest antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes globally. In addition to increasing access to ART, it is important that the health system also focuses on the appropriate management of patients who fail first-line ART. Delays in switching patients onto second-line ART can adversely ...

Socio-economic, gender and health services factors affecting diagnostic delay for tuberculosis patients in urban Zambia.

Science.gov (United States)

Needham, D M; Foster, S D; Tomlinson, G; Godfrey-Faussett, P

2001-04-01

In-depth interviews regarding health seeking behaviour were conducted with 202 adults registered with pulmonary tuberculosis at the centralized Chest Clinic in Lusaka, Zambia. The median (mean) diagnostic delay was 8.6 (9) weeks, and was significantly associated with the following factors: female sex, lower education, more than six instances of health-seeking encounters, outpatient diagnosis of tuberculosis, and visiting a private doctor or traditional healer. More effective tuberculosis control interventions require novel methods of accessing women and less educated people. Decentralization of public tuberculosis care and improved integration with private sector health providers may also reduce diagnostic delay.

Offload zone patient selection criteria to reduce ambulance offload delay

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laan, Corine Maartje; Vanberkel, Peter T.; Boucherie, Richardus J.; Carter, Alix J.E.

2016-01-01

Emergency department overcrowding is a widespread problem and often leads to ambulance offload delay. If no bed is available when a patient arrives, the patient has to wait with the ambulance crew. A recent Canadian innovation is the offload zone—an area where multiple patients can wait with a

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Evaluation of Developmental Delay in Pediatric Patients

OpenAIRE

Ali, Althaf S.; Syed, Naziya P.; Murthy, G.S.N.; Nori, Madhavi; Abkari, Anand; Pooja, B.K.; Venkateswarlu, J.

2015-01-01

Introduction: Developmental delay is defined as significant delay in one or more developmental domains. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the best modality to investigate such patients. Evaluation of a child with developmental delay is important not only because it allows early diagnosis and treatment but also helpful for parental counseling regarding the outcome of their child and to identify any possible risk of recurrence in the siblings. Thus this study was undertaken to evaluate the de...

Delays and care seeking behavior among tuberculosis patients in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Delays and care seeking behavior among tuberculosis patients in Tigray of Northern Ethiopia. Mengiste M Mesfin, Tesfay W Tasew, Israel G Tareke, Yohannes T Kifle, Witten H Karen, Madeley J Richard ...

System delay and mortality among patients with STEMI treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Terkelsen, Christian Juhl; Sørensen, Jacob Thorsted; Maeng, Michael

2010-01-01

Timely reperfusion therapy is recommended for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and door-to-balloon delay has been proposed as a performance measure in triaging patients for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, focusing on the time from first...... contact with the health care system to the initiation of reperfusion therapy (system delay) may be more relevant, because it constitutes the total time to reperfusion modifiable by the health care system. No previous studies have focused on the association between system delay and outcome in patients...

The impact of social isolation on delayed hospital discharges of older hip fracture patients and associated costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Landeiro, F; Leal, J; Gray, A M

2016-02-01

Delayed discharges represent an inefficient use of acute hospital beds. Social isolation and referral to a public-funded rehabilitation unit were significant predictors of delayed discharges while admission from an institution was a protective factor for older hip fracture patients. Preventing delays could save between 11.2 and 30.7 % of total hospital costs for this patient group. Delayed discharges of older patients from acute care hospitals are a major challenge for administrative, humanitarian, and economic reasons. At the same time, older people are particularly vulnerable to social isolation which has a detrimental effect on their health and well-being with cost implications for health and social care services. The purpose of the present study was to determine the impact and costs of social isolation on delayed hospital discharge. A prospective study of 278 consecutive patients aged 75 or older with hip fracture admitted, as an emergency, to the Orthopaedics Department of Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria, Portugal, was conducted. A logistic regression model was used to examine the impact of relevant covariates on delayed discharges, and a negative binomial regression model was used to examine the main drivers of days of delayed discharges. Costs of delayed discharges were estimated using unit costs from national databases. Mean age at admission was 85.5 years and mean length of stay was 13.1 days per patient. Sixty-two (22.3 %) patients had delayed discharges, resulting in 419 bed days lost (11.5 % of the total length of stay). Being isolated or at a high risk of social isolation, measured with the Lubben social network scale, was significantly associated with delayed discharges (odds ratio (OR) 3.5) as was being referred to a public-funded rehabilitation unit (OR 7.6). These two variables also increased the number of days of delayed discharges (2.6 and 4.9 extra days, respectively, holding all else constant). Patients who were admitted from an

“I Wasted 3 Years, Thinking It’s Not a Problem”: Patient and Health System Delays in Diagnosis of Leprosy in India: A Mixed-Methods Study

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Govindarajulu, Srinivas; Isaakidis, Petros; Shewade, Hemant Deepak; Rokade, Vasudev; Singh, Rajbir; Kamble, Sanjeev

2017-01-01

Background Worldwide, leprosy is one of the major causes of preventable disability. India contributes to 60% of global leprosy burden. With increasing numbers of leprosy with grade 2 disability (visible disability) at diagnosis, we aimed to determine risk factors associated with grade 2 disability among new cases and explore patients and providers’ perspectives into reasons for late presentation. Methodology/Principal Findings This was an explanatory mixed-methods study where the quantitative component, a matched case-control design, was followed by a qualitative component. A total of 70 cases (grade 2 disability) and 140 controls (grade 0) matched for age and sex were randomly sampled from new patients registered between January 2013-January 2015 in three districts of Maharashtra (Mumbai, Thane and Amaravati) and interviewed using a structured close ended questionnaire. Eight public health care providers involved in leprosy care and 7 leprosy patients were purposively selected (maximum variation sampling) and interviewed using a structured open-ended interview schedule. Among cases, overall median (IQR) diagnosis delay in months was 17.9(7–30); patient and health system delay was 7(4–16.5) and 5.5(0.9–12.5) respectively; this was significantly higher than the delay in controls. Reasons for delayed presentation identified by the quantitative and qualitative data were: poor awareness of leprosy symptoms, first health care provider visited being private practitioners who were not aware about provision of free leprosy treatment at public health care facilities, reduced engagement and capacity of the general health care system in leprosy control. Conclusions Raising awareness in communities and health care providers regarding early leprosy symptoms, engagement of private health care provider in early leprosy diagnosis and increasing capacity of general health system staff, especially targeting high endemic areas that are hotspots for leprosy transmission may

Alternation in F-wave parameters of median nerve from unaffected extremity in stroke patients with hemiplegia under dynamic state

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Hang Zhao; Yong Lin; Wenhua Qi; Shuping Yin; Jiachun Feng

2006-01-01

BACKGROUND: For many years, the extremities of stroke patients are divided into affected side and unaffected side according to clinical symptoms and body signs. Moreover, previous rehabilitation function training is developed simply aiming to the dysfunction manifested by unaffected extremity. Problems of unaffected extremity are always ignored, such as left- and right- side connection dysfunction, abnormal muscular tension of unaffected side and so on.OBJECTIVE: To observe neurophysiological change characteristics of unaffected extremity of stroke patients with hemiplegia by electromyographical method.DESIGN: Case-control observation.SETTING: First Hospital, Jilin University.PARTICIPANTS: Eighty stroke patients with hemiplegia confirmed by skull CT or MRI, who firstly hospitalized in the Department of Neurology, First Hospital, Jilin University between July 2004 and March 2005, were retrieved. They were scored ＞ 8 points in Glasgow Coma Scale and had stable vital sign. Nineteen normal persons who received healthy examination in the clinic were involved in normal control group. Following the classification criteria of Brunnstrom's Recovery Stages of Stroke (BRSS), 80 stroke patients with hemiplegia were assigned into 3 groups: BRSS Ⅰ -Ⅱ group (n =36), BRSS Ⅲ-Ⅳ group (n =23) and BRSSⅤ-Ⅵ (n=21).METHODS: F-wave parameters of median nerve of unaffected extremity were detected by electromyographical technique. The recording electrode (muscular belly of abductor pollicis brevis) and reference electrode (first finger bone) were connected with grounding electrode. Stimulating electrode was placed in the median part of wrist joint with stimulation intensity of 130% that of threshold stimulation, stimulation frequency of 2 Hz, current pulse width of 0.2 ms, time course of 5 ms and sensitivity of 2 mV. The F-wave of median nerve of affected extremity under the resting stage (static status) and that of unaffected extremity under the maximum resistant contracted

Initiation of nutritional support is delayed in critically ill obese patients: a multicenter cohort study.

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Borel, Anne-Laure; Schwebel, Carole; Planquette, Benjamin; Vésin, Aurélien; Garrouste-Orgeas, Maité; Adrie, Christophe; Clec'h, Christophe; Azoulay, Elie; Souweine, Bertrand; Allaouchiche, Bernard; Goldgran-Toledano, Dany; Jamali, Samir; Darmon, Michael; Timsit, Jean-François

2014-09-01

A high catabolic rate characterizes the acute phase of critical illness. Guidelines recommend an early nutritional support, regardless of the previous nutritional status. We aimed to assess whether the nutritional status of patients, which was defined by the body mass index (BMI) at admission in an intensive care unit (ICU), affected the time of nutritional support initiation. We conducted a cohort study that reported a retrospective analysis of a multicenter ICU database (OUTCOMEREA) by using data prospectively entered from January 1997 to October 2012. Patients who needed orotracheal intubation within the first 72 h and >3 d were included. Data from 3257 ICU stays were analyzed. The delay before feeding was different according to BMI groups (P = 0.035). The delay was longer in obese patients [BMI (in kg/m²) ≥30; n = 663] than in other patients with either low weight (BMI nutritional status and a delay in nutrition initiation was independent of potential confounding factors such as age, sex, and diabetes or other chronic diseases. In comparison with normal weight, the adjusted RR (95% CI) associated with a delayed nutrition initiation was 0.92 (0.86, 0.98) for patients with low weight, 1.00 (0.94, 1.05) for overweight patients, and 1.06 (1.00, 1.12) for obese patients (P = 0.004). The initiation of nutritional support was delayed in obese ICU patients. Randomized controlled trials that address consequences of early compared with delayed beginnings of nutritional support in critically ill obese patients are needed. © 2014 American Society for Nutrition.

Determinants of patient delay in seeking treatment among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

lmboera

A descriptive cross sectional study was employed. A face to .... Face validation of the instrument was done through peer review and pretesting. In this ..... patient delay for Christians was about 3.3 fold higher compared with Muslims. ... Grover, A., Kumar, R. & Jindal, K. (2006) Socio-demographic determinants of treatment.

Triple dose of gadolinium-DTPA and delayed MRI in patients with benign multiple sclerosis.

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Filippi, M; Capra, R; Campi, A; Colombo, B; Prandini, F; Marcianò, N; Gasparotti, R; Comi, G

1996-01-01

OBJECTIVES--To evaluate whether a triple dose of gadolinium-DTPA (Gd-DTPA) or delayed MRI increase the number, size, and conspicuousness of enhancing lesions in patients with benign multiple sclerosis. METHODS--T1 weighted brain MRI was carried out on 20 patients with benign multiple sclerosis (expanded disability status scale 10 years) in two sessions. In the first session, one scan was obtained before and two scans five to seven minutes and 20-30 minutes after the injection of 0.1 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA (standard dose). In the second session, six to 24 hours later, the same procedure was repeated with 0.3 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA (triple dose). RESULTS--Nine enhancing lesions were found in seven patients (35%) using the standard dose of Gd-DTPA. The numbers of enhancing lesions increased to 13 (P = 0.03) and the number of patients with such lesions to eight (40%) on the delayed standard dose scans. On the early triple dose scans, we found 19 enhancing lesions in 10 patients (50%). The number of enhancing lesions was significantly higher (P = 0.01) than that obtained with the early standard dose. The number of enhancing lesions was 18 and the number of "active" patients 11 (55%) on the delayed triple dose scans. The enhancing areas increased progressively from the early standard dose scans to the delayed triple dose scans. The contrast ratios of the lesions detected in early standard dose scans was lower than those of lesions present in the early (P = 0.01) and delayed (P = 0.04) triple dose scans. CONCLUSIONS--More enhancing lesions were detected in patients with benign multiple sclerosis with both delay of MRI and the use of triple dose of Gd-DTPA suggesting that the amount of inflammation in the lesions of such patients is mild and heterogeneous. Images PMID:8778257

Functional Median Polish

KAUST Repository

Sun, Ying

2012-08-03

This article proposes functional median polish, an extension of univariate median polish, for one-way and two-way functional analysis of variance (ANOVA). The functional median polish estimates the functional grand effect and functional main factor effects based on functional medians in an additive functional ANOVA model assuming no interaction among factors. A functional rank test is used to assess whether the functional main factor effects are significant. The robustness of the functional median polish is demonstrated by comparing its performance with the traditional functional ANOVA fitted by means under different outlier models in simulation studies. The functional median polish is illustrated on various applications in climate science, including one-way and two-way ANOVA when functional data are either curves or images. Specifically, Canadian temperature data, U. S. precipitation observations and outputs of global and regional climate models are considered, which can facilitate the research on the close link between local climate and the occurrence or severity of some diseases and other threats to human health. © 2012 International Biometric Society.

Treatment seeking behaviour and prevalence of treatment delay among malaria patients along Thailand-Myanmar border in Tak province

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Krit Sonkong

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate treatment seeking behaviour and the prevalence of treatment delay of malaria patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with malaria patients along the ThailandMyanmar border in Tak province, Thailand. Results: Most of patients (70.0% were treated for fever before receiving treatment at a malaria clinic or public hospital. The sources of initial treatments were self-treatment (64.0%, malaria clinics (20.0%, public hospital (11.0%, sub-district health promotion hospital (3.3%, and malaria posts (1.1%. Prevalence of patients delayed more than one day after onset of symptoms was 79.4%, but doctor delay of more than one day occurred in only 1.3%. The prevalence of treatment delay (total delay of more than one day was 79.6%. Patient delay and treatment delay were found to be significantly higher among hill tribe than Thai subjects (P=0.004 and 0.003, respectively but, there was no significant association between ethnicity and doctor delay (P=0.669. Conclusion: Patient delay in seeking treatment is a major problem along the ThailandMyanmar border in Tak province, especially in hill tribe people. Self-treatment accounted for most of initial treatment sought by patients.

Mortality in patients with TIMI 3 flow after PCI in relation to time delay to reperfusion.

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Vichova, Teodora; Maly, Marek; Ulman, Jaroslav; Motovska, Zuzana

2016-03-01

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) performed within 12 h from symptom onset enables complete blood flow restoration in infarct-related artery in 90% of patients. Nevertheless, even with complete restoration of epicardial blood flow in culprit vessel (postprocedural Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow grade 3), myocardial perfusion at tissue level may be insufficient. We hypothesized that the outcome of patients with STEMI/bundle branch block (BBB)-myocardial infarction and post-PCI TIMI 3 flow is related to the time to reperfusion. Observational study based on a retrospective analysis of population of 635 consecutive patients with STEMI/BBB-MI and post-PCI TIMI 3 flow from January 2009 to December 2011 (mean age 63 years, 69.6% males). Mortality of patients was evaluated in relation to the time from symptom onset to reperfusion. A total of 83 patients (13.07%) with postprocedural TIMI 3 flow after PCI had died at 1-year follow-up. Median TD in patients who survived was 3.92 h (iqr 5.43), in patients who died 6.0 h (iqr 11.42), P = 0.004. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified time delay ≥ 9 h as significantly related to 1-year mortality of patients with STEMI/BBB-MI and post-PCI TIMI 3 flow (OR 1.958, P = 0.026). Other significant variables associated with mortality in multivariate regression analysis were: left ventricle ejection fraction 65 years (P 2 (P PCI.

Eleven-year follow-up results in the delay of breast irradiation after conservative breast surgery in node-negative breast cancer patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vujovic, Olga; Yu, Edward; Cherian, Anil; Dar, A. Rashid; Stitt, Larry; Perera, Francisco

2006-01-01

Purpose: This retrospective review was conducted to determine if delay in the start of radiotherapy after conservative breast surgery had any detrimental effect on local recurrence or disease-free survival in node-negative breast cancer patients. Methods and Materials: A total of 568 patients with T1 and T2, N0 breast cancer were treated with breast-conserving surgery and breast irradiation, without adjuvant systemic therapy, between January 1, 1985 and December 31, 1992 at the London Regional Cancer Centre. The time intervals from definitive breast surgery to breast irradiation used for analysis were 0 to 8 weeks (201 patients), greater than 8 to 12 weeks (235 patients), greater than 12 to 16 weeks (91 patients), and greater than 16 weeks (41 patients). Kaplan-Meier estimates of time to local-recurrence and disease-free survival rates were calculated. Results: Median follow-up was 11.2 years. Patients in all 4 time intervals were similar in terms of age and pathologic features. No statistically significant difference was seen between the 4 groups in local recurrence or disease-free survival with surgery radiotherapy interval (p = 0.521 and p = 0.222, respectively). The overall local-recurrence rate at 5 and 10 years was 4.6% and 11.3%, respectively. The overall disease-free survival at 5 and 10 years was 79.6% and 67.0%, respectively. Conclusion: This retrospective study suggests that delay in the start of breast irradiation of up to 16 weeks from definitive surgery does not increase the risk of recurrence in node-negative breast cancer patients. The certainty of these results is limited by the retrospective nature of this analysis

Clinical Outcomes following median to radial nerve transfers

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Ray, Wilson Z.; Mackinnon, Susan E.

2010-01-01

Purpose In this study the authors evaluate the clinical outcomes in patients with radial nerve palsy who underwent nerve transfers utilizing redundant fascicles of median nerve (innervating the flexor digitorum superficialis and flexor carpi radialis muscles) to the posterior interosseous nerve and the nerve to the extensor carpi radialis brevis. Methods A retrospective review of the clinical records of 19 patients with radial nerve injuries who underwent nerve transfer procedures using the median nerve as a donor nerve were included. All patients were evaluated using the Medical Research Council (MRC) grading system. Results The mean age of patients was 41 years (range 17 – 78 years). All patients received at least 12 months of follow-up (20.3 ± 5.8 months). Surgery was performed at a mean of 5.7 ± 1.9 months post-injury. Post-operative functional evaluation was graded according to the following scale: grades MRC 0/5 - MRC 2/5 were considered poor outcomes, while MRC of 3/5 was a fair result, MRC grade 4/5 was a good result, and grade 4+/5 was considered an excellent outcome. Seventeen patients (89%) had a complete radial nerve palsy while two patients (11%) had intact wrist extension but no finger or thumb extension. Post-operatively all patients except one had good to excellent recovery of wrist extension. Twelve patients recovered good to excellent finger and thumb extension, two patients had fair recovery, five patients had a poor recovery. Conclusions The radial nerve is a commonly injured nerve, causing significant morbidity in affected patients. The median nerve provides a reliable source of donor nerve fascicles for radial nerve reinnervation. This transfer was first performed in 1999 and evolved over the subsequent decade. The important nuances of both surgical technique and motor re-education critical for to the success of this transfer have been identified and are discussed. PMID:21168979

Delayed Hospital Discharges of Older Patients: A Systematic Review on Prevalence and Costs.

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Landeiro, Filipa; Roberts, Kenny; Gray, Alastair Mcintosh; Leal, José

2017-05-23

To determine the prevalence of delayed discharges of elderly inpatients and associated costs. We searched Medline, Embase, Global Health, CAB Abstracts, Econlit, Web of Knowledge, EBSCO - CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, Health Management Information Consortium, and SCIE - Social Care Online for evidence published between 1990 and 2015 on number of days or proportion of delayed discharges for elderly inpatients in acute hospitals. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted. Data on proportions of delayed discharges were pooled using a random effects logistic model and the association of relevant factors was assessed. Mean costs of delayed discharge were calculated in USD adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). Of 64 studies included, 52 (81.3%) reported delayed discharges as proportions of total hospital stay and 9 (14.1%) estimated the respective costs for these delays. Proportions of delayed discharges varied widely, from 1.6% to 91.3% with a weighted mean of 22.8%. This variation was also seen in studies from the same country, for example, in the United Kingdom, they ranged between 1.6% and 60.0%. No factor was found to be significantly associated with delays. The mean costs of delayed discharge also varied widely (between 142 and 31,935 USD PPP adjusted), reflecting the variability in mean days of delay per patient. Delayed discharges occur in most countries and the associated costs are significant. However, the variability in prevalence of delayed discharges and available data on costs limit our knowledge of the full impact of delayed discharges. A standardization of methods is necessary to allow comparisons to be made, and additional studies are required-preferably by disease area-to determine the postdischarge needs of specific patient groups and the estimated costs of delays. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Impact of Operative Delay on Sepsis and Mortality in Patients with Acute Diverticulitis

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Robin F. Irons

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Background Ideal operative timing for non-emergent, acute diverticulitis (AD remains unclear. Medical management is initially attempted to convert a high risk urgent surgery to a less morbid elective surgery, or to avoid surgery altogether. A large proportion of patients will fail medical treatment and require colectomy. Objectives To evaluate the effect of operative delay on sepsis and mortality in patients with AD. Methods Patients from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP database who underwent colectomy with a primary diagnosis of diverticulitis between 2005 and 2014 were included. Multiple patient variables were analyzed to see their combined effect on death and sepsis. Patients undergoing surgical intervention on hospital day 0, emergent cases and those with preoperative sepsis were excluded. The impact of operative delay on mortality and sepsis was evaluated using day from admission as the predictor of the primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes included urinary tract infection (UTI, pneumonia (PNA, need for blood transfusion, septic shock, return to the operating room, length of stay (LOS, readmission, wound dehiscence, and surgical site infections (SSI. Frequency of patient variables was recorded and a multiple variable logistic regression analysis was performed to control for possible confounders. Odds ratios (OR with 95% confidence intervals (CI were calculated for primary and secondary outcomes. Results 32,399 patients underwent colectomy for AD on hospital day 1 - 20. Adjusted for other factors, days to operation was found to be a significant predictor for death (OR = 1.038, 95% CI 1.020 - 1.057; P < 0.0001 and sepsis (OR = 1.051, 95% CI, 1.035 - 1.067; P < 0.0001. Each day in which surgical intervention was delayed was associated with a 3.8% increased risk of mortality and 5.1% increased risk of sepsis. Delay of surgery was also associated with an increased risk of blood transfusion

Predictors on delay of initial health-seeking in new pulmonary tuberculosis cases among migrants population in East China.

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Xinxu Li

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: To determine the length of delay in initial health-seeking in new pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB cases among migrant population in the eastern part of China, and factors associated with it. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire in six counties in Shanghai, Guangdong and Jiangsu from May to October, 2008, to estimate the extent and factors responsible for delayed initial health-seeking of the new PTB cases. The interval between self-reported onset of TB symptoms and date of first attendance at any medical institution was determined. More than the median duration was defined as delayed health-seeking. RESULTS: A total of 323 new migrant PTB patients participated in the study. Only 6.5% had medical insurance. The median and mean durations to initial health-seeking were respectively 10 and 31 days. There was no significant association between socio-demographic factors and delayed initial health-seeking. Average monthly working days >24 (AOR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.03-2.51, and hemoptysis or bloody sputum (AOR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.28-0.85 were significantly associated with delayed initial health-seeking. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to improve health seeking behavior among the migrant population in China must focus on strengthening their labor, medical security and health education.

Factors associated with delayed defibrillation in cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A prospective simulation study.

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Christoph Castan

Full Text Available Early defibrillation is an important factor of survival in cardiac arrest. However, novice resuscitators often struggle with cardiac arrest patients. We investigated factors leading to delayed defibrillation performed by final-year medical students within a simulated bystander cardiac arrest situation.Final-year medical students received a refresher lecture and basic life support training before being confronted with a simulated cardiac arrest situation in a simulation ambulance. The scenario was analyzed for factors leading to delayed defibrillation. We compared the time intervals the participants needed for various measures with a benchmark set by experienced resuscitators. After training, the participants were interviewed regarding challenges and thoughts during the scenario.The median time needed for defibrillation was 158 s (n = 49, interquartile range: 107-270 s, more than six-fold of the benchmark time. The major part of total defibrillation time (49%; median, n = 49 was between onset of ventricular fibrillation and beginning to prepare the defibrillator, more specifically the time between end of preparation of the defibrillator and actual delivery of the shock, with a mean proportion of 26% (n = 49, SD = 17% of the overall time needed for defibrillation (maximum 67%. Self-reported reasons for this delay included uncertainty about the next step to take, as reported by 73% of the participants. A total of 35% were unsure about which algorithm to follow. Diagnosing the patient was subjectively difficult for 35% of the participants. Overall, 53% of the participants felt generally confused.Our study shows that novice resuscitators rarely achieve guideline-recommended defibrillation times. The most relative delays were observed when participants had to choose what to do next or which algorithm to follow, and thus i.e. performed extensive airway management before a life-saving defibrillation. Our data provides a first insight in the process of

Clinical Epidemiology of Buruli Ulcer from Benin (2005-2013: Effect of Time-Delay to Diagnosis on Clinical Forms and Severe Phenotypes.

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Carlos Capela

Full Text Available Buruli Ulcer (BU is a neglected infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans that is responsible for severe necrotizing cutaneous lesions that may be associated with bone involvement. Clinical presentations of BU lesions are classically classified as papules, nodules, plaques and edematous infiltration, ulcer or osteomyelitis. Within these different clinical forms, lesions can be further classified as severe forms based on focality (multiple lesions, lesions' size (>15 cm diameter or WHO Category (WHO Category 3 lesions. There are studies reporting an association between delay in seeking medical care and the development of ulcerative forms of BU or osteomyelitis, but the effect of time-delay on the emergence of lesions classified as severe has not been addressed. To address both issues, and in a cohort of laboratory-confirmed BU cases, 476 patients from a medical center in Allada, Benin, were studied. In this laboratory-confirmed cohort, we validated previous observations, demonstrating that time-delay is statistically related to the clinical form of BU. Indeed, for non-ulcerated forms (nodule, edema, and plaque the median time-delay was 32.5 days (IQR 30.0-67.5, while for ulcerated forms it was 60 days (IQR 20.0-120.0 (p = 0.009, and for bone lesions, 365 days (IQR 228.0-548.0. On the other hand, we show here that time-delay is not associated with the more severe phenotypes of BU, such as multi-focal lesions (median 90 days; IQR 56-217.5; p = 0.09, larger lesions (diameter >15 cm (median 60 days; IQR 30-120; p = 0.92 or category 3 WHO classification (median 60 days; IQR 30-150; p = 0.20, when compared with unifocal (median 60 days; IQR 30-90, small lesions (diameter ≤15 cm (median 60 days; IQR 30-90, or WHO category 1+2 lesions (median 60 days; IQR 30-90, respectively. Our results demonstrate that after an initial period of progression towards ulceration or bone involvement, BU lesions become stable regarding size and focal

Delayed pneumothorax complicating minor rib fracture after chest trauma.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Ming-Shian; Huang, Yao-Kuang; Liu, Yun-Hen; Liu, Hui-Ping; Kao, Chiung-Lun

2008-06-01

Pneumothorax (PTX) after trauma is a preventable cause of death. Drainage procedures such as chest tube insertion have been traditionally advocated to prevent fatal tension PTX. We evaluated the safety of close observation in patients with delayed PTX complicating rib fracture after minor chest trauma. Adult patients (>18 years) with a diagnosis of chest trauma and 3 or fewer fractured ribs were reviewed. Case patients were divided according to age, location and number of fractured ribs, mechanism of trauma, and initial pulmonary complication after thoracic trauma for comparative analysis. There were 207 male (70.2%) and 88 female (29.8%) patients whose ages ranged from 18 to 93 years (median, 55 years). The mechanisms of trauma were a motor vehicle accident in 207 patients, falls in 66, pedestrian injury in 10, and assaults in 14. Ninety-five patients sustained 1 rib fracture, 95 had 2 rib fractures, and 105 suffered 3 rib fractures. Right-sided injury occurred in 164 cases, left-sided injury did in 127, and bilateral injury did in 4. The most frequent location of rib fractures was from the fourth rib to the ninth rib. The initial pulmonary complications after trauma were PTX in 16 patients, hemothorax in 43, pneumohemothorax in 14, lung contusion in 75, and isolated subcutaneous emphysema (SubcEmph) in 33. Thirty percent of the patients (n = 5/16) who presented with traumatic PTX were observed safely without drainage. Delayed PTX was recorded in 16 patients, occurring mostly during the first 2 days of their admission. Associated extrathoracic injury was recorded in 189 patients. The mean hospital stay of the patients was 7.66 days. Longer hospital stay was related to increasing number of fractured ribs, need for thoracic drainage, and the presence of associated extrathoracic injury. The mortality rate for the entire group was 2%. The presence of SubcEmph was the only risk factor associated with the development of delayed PTX. Patients sustaining blunt chest

Operative Outcome and Patient Satisfaction in Early and Delayed Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy for Acute Cholecystitis

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Aly Saber

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy is usually associated with reduced hospital stay, sick leave, and health care expenditures. Early diagnosis and treatment of acute cholecystitis reduce both mortality and morbidity and the accurate diagnosis requires specific diagnostic criteria of clinical data and imaging studies. Objectives. To compare early versus delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy regarding the operative outcome and patient satisfaction. Patients and Methods. Patients with acute cholecystitis were divided into two groups, early (A and delayed (B cholecystectomy. Diagnosis of acute cholecystitis was confirmed by clinical examination, laboratory data, and ultrasound study. The primary end point was operative and postoperative outcome and the secondary was patient’s satisfaction. Results. The number of readmissions in delayed treatment group B was three times in 10% of patients, twice in 23.3%, and once in 66.7% while the number of readmissions was once only in patients in group A and the mean total hospital stays were higher in group B than in group A. The overall patient’s satisfaction was 92.66±6.8 in group A compared with 75.34±12.85 in group B. Conclusion. Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy resulted in significant reduction in length of hospital stay and accepted rate of operative complications and conversion rates when compared with delayed techniques.

Dual pathology proximal median nerve compression of the forearm.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Murphy, Siun M

2013-12-01

We report an unusual case of synchronous pathology in the forearm- the coexistence of a large lipoma of the median nerve together with an osteochondroma of the proximal ulna, giving rise to a dual proximal median nerve compression. Proximal median nerve compression neuropathies in the forearm are uncommon compared to the prevalence of distal compression neuropathies (eg Carpal Tunnel Syndrome). Both neural fibrolipomas (Refs. 1,2) and osteochondromas of the proximal ulna (Ref. 3) in isolation are rare but well documented. Unlike that of a distal compression, a proximal compression of the median nerve will often have a definite cause. Neural fibrolipoma, also called fibrolipomatous hamartoma are rare, slow-growing, benign tumours of peripheral nerves, most often occurring in the median nerve of younger patients. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such dual pathology in the same forearm, giving rise to a severe proximal compression of the median nerve. In this case, the nerve was being pushed anteriorly by the osteochondroma, and was being compressed from within by the intraneural lipoma. This unusual case highlights the advantage of preoperative imaging as part of the workup of proximal median nerve compression.

Impact of delay in clinical presentation on the diagnostic management and prognosis of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism.

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den Exter, Paul L; van Es, Josien; Erkens, Petra M G; van Roosmalen, Mark J G; van den Hoven, Pim; Hovens, Marcel M C; Kamphuisen, Pieter W; Klok, Frederikus A; Huisman, Menno V

2013-06-15

The nonspecific clinical presentation of pulmonary embolism (PE) frequently leads to delay in its diagnosis. This study aimed to assess the impact of delay in presentation on the diagnostic management and clinical outcome of patients with suspected PE. In 4,044 consecutive patients with suspected PE, patients presenting more than 7 days from the onset of symptoms were contrasted with those presenting within 7 days as regards the safety of excluding PE on the basis of a clinical decision rule combined with D-dimer testing. Patients were followed for 3 months to assess the rates of recurrent venous thromboembolism and mortality. A delayed presentation (presentation >7 d) was present in 754 (18.6%) of the patients. The failure rate of an unlikely clinical probability and normal D-dimer test was 0.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01-2.7) for patients with and 0.5% (95% CI, 0.2-1.2) for those without diagnostic delay. D-dimer testing yielded a sensitivity of 99% (95% CI, 96-99%) and 98% (95% CI, 97-99%) in these groups, respectively. Patients with PE with diagnostic delay more frequently had centrally located PE (41% vs. 26%; P presentation. PE can be safely excluded based on a clinical decision rule and D-dimer testing in patients with a delayed clinical presentation. A delayed presentation for patients who survived acute PE was associated with a more central PE location, although this did not affect the clinical outcome at 3 months.

Management pathway for patients with cervical cancer in the Auckland region 2003–2007

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Capelle, Lisa; Brooks, Susan; Stevens, Wendy

2011-01-01

This review was performed to describe the patient pathway and timelines involved in the treatment of FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stage IB1 to IVA cervical cancer in a New Zealand cancer centre. Retrospective audit of women with a new diagnosis of FIGO Stage IB1–IVA cervical cancer in the Auckland/Northland regions between 2003 and 2007. Two hundred and seven patients were identified. Median time from referral to first specialist assessment (FSA) was 10 days, from FSA to decision to treat (DTT) 50 days and from DTT to start of treatment 26 days. Overall median time from referral to start of treatment was 97 days. There was no difference in median time from referral to DTT for patients treated with primary surgery (48 days) or radiotherapy (47 days). On univariate analysis, factors associated with reduced time from referral to start of treatment were less socioeconomic deprivation (P = 0.001), shorter time to completion of radiological investigations (P < 0.0005) and private FSA (P < 0.0005). Only private FSA remained significant on multivariate analysis. The greatest delay in the pathway was between FSA and DTT, encompassing presentation at multidisciplinary meeting, examination under anaesthetic and obtaining radiological investigations. Median overall treatment time (OTT) for patients treated with definitive radiotherapy was 56 days and was increased by a median of 3 days where there were delays accessing operating theatre time for brachytherapy insertions. Overall patient pathway and radiotherapy OTT were longer than optimal, and areas of delay potentially amenable to modification were identified.

Usefulness of ultrasound assessment of median nerve mobility in carpal tunnel syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Gi-Young; Kwon, Dong Rak; Seok, Jung Im; Park, Dong-Soon; Cho, Hee Kyung

2018-01-01

Background Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common peripheral compression neuropathy of the upper extremity. Recently, dynamic ultrasound (US) imaging has shown differences in median nerve mobility between the affected and unaffected sides in CTS. Purpose The present study was performed to compare the median nerve mobility between patients with CTS and healthy individuals, and to correlate median nerve mobility with the severity of CTS. Material and Methods A total of 101 patients (128 wrists) with CTS and 43 healthy individuals (70 wrists) were evaluated. Electrodiagnostic studies were initially conducted to determine the neurophysiological grading scale (NGS). The cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve and the grade of median nerve mobility were measured using US. Results The mean grade of median nerve mobility in the CTS group (1.9) was significantly lower than that in the control group (2.6; P mobility and distal motor latency of the median nerve (r = -0.218, P = 0.015), NGS (r = -0.207, P = 0.020) and CSA of the median nerve (r = -0.196, P = 0.028). Conclusion The grade of median nerve mobility was negatively correlated with the severity of CTS. US assessment of median nerve mobility may be useful in diagnosing and determining the severity of CTS.

Diagnostic delay, quality of life and patient satisfaction among women diagnosed with endometrial or ovarian cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Robinson, Kirstine M; Christensen, Karl Bang; Ottesen, Bent

2012-01-01

This study investigates the association between diagnostic delay (total delay), quality of life (QoL) and patient satisfaction, and the associations between QoL and patient satisfaction scores and survival for women diagnosed with ovarian or endometrial cancer....

Early and delayed Tc-99m ECD brain SPECT in SLE patients with CNS involvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kikukawa, Kaoru; Toyama, Hiroshi; Katayama, Masao

2000-01-01

We compared early and delayed Tc-99m ECD SPECT scans in 32 SLE patients (Group 1, definite neuropsychiatric disorders; Group 2, minor neurologic symptoms or normal) with those of normal controls by visual inspection and semi-quantitative evaluation. With visual interpretation, 13 out of 14 patients in Group 1 (93%) and 7 out of 18 patients in Group 2 (39%) had diffuse uneven decrease in early scans. Seven patients in Group 2 (39%) who had normal early scans demonstrated focal decrease in the medial frontal lobe in delayed scans. With cerebral region to cerebellar ratios, in early scans, the medial frontal lobe in Group 1 and Group 2 was significantly lower than in normal controls, and lateral frontal lobe and occipital lobes in Group 1 were significantly lower than in normal controls. Nevertheless, in delayed scans, every cortical region except for the parietal lode in Groups 1 and 2 was significantly lower than in normal controls. The retention rates in all regions in SLE patients were significantly lower than in normal controls. No case showed SPECT improvement on follow-up studies in either group in spite of clinical improvement. Delayed Tc-99m ECD brain SPECT of high sensitivity might be useful in detecting CNS involvement. Although the SPECT findings did not correlate with the neuropsychiatric symptoms, early and delayed Tc-99m ECD SPECT seems to provide useful objective diagnostic information in SLE patients. (author)

Hybrid (laparoscopy + stent treatment of celiac trunk compression syndrome (Dunbar syndrome, median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS

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Maciej Michalik

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction : Celiac trunk (CT compression syndrome caused by the median arcuate ligament (MAL is a rarely diagnosed disease because of its nonspecific symptoms, which cause a delay in the correct diagnosis. Intestinal ischemia occurs, which causes symptoms of abdominal angina. One method of treatment for this disease is surgical release of the CT – the intersection of the MAL. Laparoscopy is the first step of the hybrid technique combined with percutaneous angioplasty and stenting of the CT. Aim: To demonstrate the usefulness and advantages of the laparoscopic approach in the treatment of Dunbar syndrome. Material and methods : Between 2013 and 2016 in the General and Minimally Invasive Surgery Department of the Medical Sciences Faculty of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 6 laparoscopic procedures were performed because of median arcuate ligament syndrome. During the laparoscopy the MAL was cut with a harmonic scalpel. One month after laparoscopy 5 patients had Doppler percutaneous angioplasty of the CT with stent implantation in the Vascular Surgery Department in Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin. Results : In one case, there was a conversion of laparoscopic surgery to open due to unmanageable intraoperative bleeding. In one case, postoperative ultrasound examination of the abdominal cavity demonstrated the presence of a large hematoma in the retroperitoneal space. All patients reported relief of symptoms in the first days after the operation. Conclusions : The hybrid method, combining laparoscopy and angioplasty, seems to be a long-term solution, which increases the comfort of the patient, brings the opportunity for normal functioning and minimizes the risk of restenosis.

Hybrid (laparoscopy + stent) treatment of celiac trunk compression syndrome (Dunbar syndrome, median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS)).

Science.gov (United States)

Michalik, Maciej; Dowgiałło-Wnukiewicz, Natalia; Lech, Paweł; Majda, Kaja; Gutowski, Piotr

2016-01-01

Celiac trunk (CT) compression syndrome caused by the median arcuate ligament (MAL) is a rarely diagnosed disease because of its nonspecific symptoms, which cause a delay in the correct diagnosis. Intestinal ischemia occurs, which causes symptoms of abdominal angina. One method of treatment for this disease is surgical release of the CT - the intersection of the MAL. Laparoscopy is the first step of the hybrid technique combined with percutaneous angioplasty and stenting of the CT. To demonstrate the usefulness and advantages of the laparoscopic approach in the treatment of Dunbar syndrome. Between 2013 and 2016 in the General and Minimally Invasive Surgery Department of the Medical Sciences Faculty of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 6 laparoscopic procedures were performed because of median arcuate ligament syndrome. During the laparoscopy the MAL was cut with a harmonic scalpel. One month after laparoscopy 5 patients had Doppler percutaneous angioplasty of the CT with stent implantation in the Vascular Surgery Department in Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin. In one case, there was a conversion of laparoscopic surgery to open due to unmanageable intraoperative bleeding. In one case, postoperative ultrasound examination of the abdominal cavity demonstrated the presence of a large hematoma in the retroperitoneal space. All patients reported relief of symptoms in the first days after the operation. The hybrid method, combining laparoscopy and angioplasty, seems to be a long-term solution, which increases the comfort of the patient, brings the opportunity for normal functioning and minimizes the risk of restenosis.

Delayed response after repeated {sup 177}Lu-PSMA-617 radioligand therapy in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer

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Rahbar, Kambiz; Schaefers, Michael [University Hospital Muenster, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Muenster (Germany); Boegeman, Martin [University Hospital Muenster, Department of Urology, Muenster (Germany); Yordanova, Anna; Essler, Markus; Ahmadzadehfar, Hojjat [University Hospital Bonn, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Bonn (Germany); Eveslage, Maria [University Hospital Muenster, Institute for Biostatistics, Muenster (Germany)

2018-02-15

Radioligand therapy (RLT) using Lutetium-177 labeled PSMA-617 (Lu-PSMA) ligand is a new therapeutic option for salvage therapy in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer. The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze response in patients receiving 3 cycles of Lu-PSMA. Seventy-one patients (median age: 72 years; range 44-87) received 3 cycles of RLT with Lu-PSMA (mean administered activity: 6.016 ± 0.543 GBq) every 8 weeks. Response was evaluated using serum PSA levels and a PSA decline ≥50% was considered as biochemical response. Additionally, any PSA decline after the first cycle was evaluated for further therapy effects after the second and third cycle. A total of 213 cycles were performed in 71 patients. Data for response and adverse events were available for all patients. A PSA decline ≥50% and some PSA decline occurred in 56% and 66% of the patients. Of 30 patients with a PSA response after the first cycle, 28 remained responders and 12/41 of non-responders responded to further therapy cycles. RLT with Lu-177-PSMA-617 shows respectable response rates. In this retrospective analysis, a relevant number of patients showed a delayed response, even if they did not respond to the first cycle of the therapy. (orig.)

Management Strategies to Facilitate Optimal Outcomes for Patients Treated with Delayed-release Dimethyl Fumarate.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayer, Lori; Fink, Mary Kay; Sammarco, Carrie; Laing, Lisa

2018-04-01

Delayed-release dimethyl fumarate is an oral disease-modifying therapy that has demonstrated significant efficacy in adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Incidences of flushing and gastrointestinal adverse events are common in the first month after delayed-release dimethyl fumarate initiation. Our objective was to propose mitigation strategies for adverse events related to initiation of delayed-release dimethyl fumarate in the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis. Studies of individually developed mitigation strategies and chart reviews were evaluated. Those results, as well as mitigation protocols developed at multiple sclerosis care centers, are summarized. Key steps to optimize the effectiveness of delayed-release dimethyl fumarate treatment include education prior to and at the time of delayed-release dimethyl fumarate initiation, initiation dose protocol gradually increasing to maintenance dose, dietary suggestions for co-administration with food, gastrointestinal symptom management with over-the-counter medications, flushing symptom management with aspirin, and temporary dose reduction. Using the available evidence from clinical trials and evaluations of post-marketing studies, these strategies to manage gastrointestinal and flushing symptoms can be effective and helpful to the patient when initiating delayed-release dimethyl fumarate.

Pre-hospital and hospital delay in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes in tertiary care

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G.S. Youssef

2017-09-01

Conclusion: Pre-hospital delay was mainly patient-related. Hospital delay was mainly related to healthcare resources. Governmental measures to promote ambulance emergency services may reduce the pre-hospital delay, while improving the utilization of healthcare resources may reduce hospital delay.

Median mental sinus in twins.

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, S T; Ngeow, W C

1999-05-01

Sinus on the chin can be the result of a chronic apical abscess due to pulp necrosis of a mandibular anterior tooth. The tooth is usually asymptomatic, and a dental cause is therefore not apparent to the patient or the unsuspecting clinician. Not infrequently, the patient may seek treatment from a dermatologist or general surgeon instead of a dentist. Excision and repair of the fistula may be carried out with subsequent breakdown because the dental pathology is not removed. This paper reports the presence of median mental sinus of dental origin in twins. One case healed following root canal therapy while the other required both root canal therapy and surgery to eliminate the infection.

Dual pathology proximal median nerve compression of the forearm.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Siun M; Browne, Katherine; Tuite, David J; O'Shaughnessy, Michael

2013-12-01

We report an unusual case of synchronous pathology in the forearm- the coexistence of a large lipoma of the median nerve together with an osteochondroma of the proximal ulna, giving rise to a dual proximal median nerve compression. Proximal median nerve compression neuropathies in the forearm are uncommon compared to the prevalence of distal compression neuropathies (eg Carpal Tunnel Syndrome). Both neural fibrolipomas (Refs. 1,2) and osteochondromas of the proximal ulna (Ref. 3) in isolation are rare but well documented. Unlike that of a distal compression, a proximal compression of the median nerve will often have a definite cause. Neural fibrolipoma, also called fibrolipomatous hamartoma are rare, slow-growing, benign tumours of peripheral nerves, most often occurring in the median nerve of younger patients. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such dual pathology in the same forearm, giving rise to a severe proximal compression of the median nerve. In this case, the nerve was being pushed anteriorly by the osteochondroma, and was being compressed from within by the intraneural lipoma. This unusual case highlights the advantage of preoperative imaging as part of the workup of proximal median nerve compression. Copyright © 2013 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Findings chest radiograph and CT in mediastinitis: effcacy of CT in patients with delayed diagnosis

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Son, Eun Ju; Hong, Yong Kook; Choe, Kyu Ok [Yonsei Univ. College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1999-01-01

To analyse the causes the radiologic findings in patients with mediastinitis and to evaluate the efficacy of chest CT scanning in patients with delayed diagnosis. Seventeen patients with histopathologically(n=15) or clinically diagnosed(n=2) mediastinitis were involved in this study. Eleven of the former group underwent surgery, and in four, tube drainage was performed. All underwent chest radiography and CT scanning, and in seven patients, the causes of delayed diagnosis were analysed. The most common cause of mediastinitis was esophageal rupture(n=11). Others were extension from neck abscess to the mediastinum(n=3), complications after a Benthall procedure(n=1), tuberculous lymphadenitis(n=1) and mycotic aneurysm(n=1). Patients with esophageal rupture suffered from underlying diseases such as esophageal cancer(n=2), iatrogenic esophageal rupture(n=2), Boerhaave's syndrome(n=2), and esophagitis(n=1). In patients with neck abscess (n=3), each was secondary to infected cystic hygroma, Ludwig angina, or deep neck infection, respectively. On chest CT, patients with esophageal rupture(n=11) had an abscess in the posterior mediastinum ; nine abscesses extended to the cervical area along the retropharyngeal space, and the patient with Ludwig angina had an abscess involving all compartments of the mediastinum. Among the total of 17 patients, diagnostic delays were found in seven, while five had spontaneous esophageal ruptures and two suffered complications after a Benthall procedure and Tbc lymphadenitis, respectively. The causes of diagnostic delay varied. Among seven patients, pnevmonia was initially diagnosed in two, who were treated ; one had multiorgan failure, and one was suffering from pericardial effusion and lung abscess. In three other patients, chest radiographs initially showed non-specific findings, leading to delayed CT examination. The most common cause of mediastinitis was esophageal rupture, and in these patients, chest radiographs and clinical

Findings chest radiograph and CT in mediastinitis: effcacy of CT in patients with delayed diagnosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Son, Eun Ju; Hong, Yong Kook; Choe, Kyu Ok

1999-01-01

To analyse the causes the radiologic findings in patients with mediastinitis and to evaluate the efficacy of chest CT scanning in patients with delayed diagnosis. Seventeen patients with histopathologically(n=15) or clinically diagnosed(n=2) mediastinitis were involved in this study. Eleven of the former group underwent surgery, and in four, tube drainage was performed. All underwent chest radiography and CT scanning, and in seven patients, the causes of delayed diagnosis were analysed. The most common cause of mediastinitis was esophageal rupture(n=11). Others were extension from neck abscess to the mediastinum(n=3), complications after a Benthall procedure(n=1), tuberculous lymphadenitis(n=1) and mycotic aneurysm(n=1). Patients with esophageal rupture suffered from underlying diseases such as esophageal cancer(n=2), iatrogenic esophageal rupture(n=2), Boerhaave's syndrome(n=2), and esophagitis(n=1). In patients with neck abscess (n=3), each was secondary to infected cystic hygroma, Ludwig angina, or deep neck infection, respectively. On chest CT, patients with esophageal rupture(n=11) had an abscess in the posterior mediastinum ; nine abscesses extended to the cervical area along the retropharyngeal space, and the patient with Ludwig angina had an abscess involving all compartments of the mediastinum. Among the total of 17 patients, diagnostic delays were found in seven, while five had spontaneous esophageal ruptures and two suffered complications after a Benthall procedure and Tbc lymphadenitis, respectively. The causes of diagnostic delay varied. Among seven patients, pnevmonia was initially diagnosed in two, who were treated ; one had multiorgan failure, and one was suffering from pericardial effusion and lung abscess. In three other patients, chest radiographs initially showed non-specific findings, leading to delayed CT examination. The most common cause of mediastinitis was esophageal rupture, and in these patients, chest radiographs and clinical symptoms

Addressing the third delay: implementing a novel obstetric triage system in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, David M; Srofenyoh, Emmanuel K; Ramaswamy, Rohit; Bryce, Fiona; Floyd, Liz; Olufolabi, Adeyemi; Tetteh, Cecilia; Owen, Medge D

2018-01-01

Institutional delivery has been proposed as a method for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality, but little is known about how referral hospitals in low-resource settings can best manage the expected influx of patients. In this study, we assess the impact of an obstetric triage improvement programme on reducing hospital-based delay in a referral hospital in Accra, Ghana. An Active Implementation Framework is used to describe a 5-year intervention to introduce and monitor obstetric triage capabilities. Baseline data, collected from September to November 2012, revealed significant delays in patient assessment on arrival. A triage training course and monitoring of quality improvement tools occurred in 2013 and 2014. Implementation barriers led to the construction of a free-standing obstetric triage pavilion, opened January 2015, with dedicated midwives. Data were collected at three time intervals following the triage pavilion opening and compared with baseline including: referral indications, patient and labour characteristics, waiting time from arrival to assessment and the documentation of a care plan. An obstetric triage improvement programme reduced the median (IQR) patient waiting time from facility arrival to first assessment by a midwife from 40 min (15-100) to 5 min (2-6) (p<0.001) over the 5-year intervention. The triage pavilion enhanced performance resulting in the elimination of previous delays associated with the time of admission and disease acuity. Care plan documentation increased from 51% to 96%. Obstetric triage, when properly implemented, reduced delay in a busy, low-resource hospital. The implementation process was sustained under local leadership during transition to a new hospital.

Reliability Of A Novel Intracardiac Electrogram Method For AV And VV Delay Optimization And Comparability To Echocardiography Procedure For Determining Optimal Conduction Delays In CRT Patients

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N Reinsch

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Echocardiography is widely used to optimize CRT programming. A novel intracardiac electrogram method (IEGM was recently developed as an automated programmer-based method, designed to calculate optimal atrioventricular (AV and interventricular (VV delays and provide optimized delay values as an alternative to standard echocardiographic assessment.Objective: This study was aimed at determining the reliability of this new method. Furthermore the comparability of IEGM to existing echocardiographic parameters for determining optimal conduction delays was verified.Methods: Eleven patients (age 62.9± 8.7; 81% male; 73% ischemic, previously implanted with a cardiac resynchronisation therapy defibrillator (CRT-D underwent both echocardiographic and IEGM-based delay optimization.Results: Applying the IEGM method, concordance of three consecutively performed measurements was found in 3 (27% patients for AV delay and in 5 (45% patients for VV delay. Intra-individual variation between three measurements as assessed by the IEGM technique was up to 20 ms (AV: n=6; VV: n=4. E-wave, diastolic filling time and septal-to-lateral wall motion delay emerged as significantly different between the echo and IEGM optimization techniques (p < 0.05. The final AV delay setting was significantly different between both methods (echo: 126.4 ± 29.4 ms, IEGM: 183.6 ± 16.3 ms; p < 0.001; correlation: R = 0.573, p = 0.066. VV delay showed significant differences for optimized delays (echo: 46.4 ± 23.8 ms, IEGM: 10.9 ± 7.0 ms; p <0.01; correlation: R = -0.278, p = 0.407.Conclusion: The automated programmer-based IEGM-based method provides a simple and safe method to perform CRT optimization. However, the reliability of this method appears to be limited. Thus, it remains difficult for the examiner to determine the optimal hemodynamic settings. Additionally, as there was no correlation between the optimal AV- and VV-delays calculated by the IEGM method and the echo

Praeoperativt delay hos patienter med perforeret ulcus: en klinisk audit fra Det Nationale Indikatorprojekt

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Morten Hylander; Nørgård, Bente Mertz; Mehnert, Frank

2009-01-01

size, this audit suggests that long preoperative delay in patients with peptic ulcer perforation is associated with factors related to both the internal organisation of the healthcare system, the patient's pathological picture, and the quality of diagnosis and treatment given. Udgivelsesdato: 2009-Nov......INTRODUCTION: Mortality following perforated peptic ulcer in Denmark is nearly 30%. Delayed surgery is a prognostic factor, but only half of the patients are operated within six hours of perforation - a predefined quality of care criterion in The Danish National Indicator Project. A clinical audit...

Median sep and blink reflex in thyroid diseases.

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Oflazoğlu, B; Somay, G; Us, O; Surardamar, A; Tanridağ, T

2006-11-01

Pathological disturbances of thyroid hormones is associated with central and peripheral nervous system disturbances. The aim of this study is to evaluate median nerve stimulated somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) and blink reflex of thyroid patients (hypo and hyperthyroidism). Median SEP was performed in 40 patients (21 with hyperthyroidism and 19 with hypothyroidism). We evaluated the latencies of N9, N11, N13, P9, P11, P14, N20 and P25 waves and the N9-N20, N9-N13, N13-N20 and P14-N20 interpeak latencies. We compared the results of patients with the control group (26 persons). We found that the N20 latency was longer in patients with hyperthyroidism than in the control group and the difference was statistically significant. There was not any statistically significant difference regarding the N9, N11, N13, P9, P11, P14, N20 and P25 latencies and the N9-N20, N9-N13, N13-N20 and P14-N20 interpeak latencies between hypothyroid patients and controls. We performed the blink reflex study in 28 of 40 patients (14 patients with hyperthyroidism and 14 patients with hypothyroidism). Comparing the R1, R2, CR2 (contralateral R2) latencies and durations of the patients and controls, we found that R2 and CR2 duration was shorter in patients with hyperthyroidism. This difference was statistically significant.

Time to sputum conversion in smear positive pulmonary TB patients on category I DOTS and factors delaying it.

Science.gov (United States)

Parikh, Raunak; Nataraj, Gita; Kanade, Swapna; Khatri, Vijay; Mehta, Preeti

2012-08-01

Sputum smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients expel infectious viable bacilli for a period following commencement of treatment. Patients on Directly Observed Treatment Shortcourse (DOTS) receive intermittent therapy with multidrug regimen. To determine the time to sputum smear and culture conversion following initiation of DOTS treatment and study the factors that influence it. A prospective study was undertaken at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Mumbai over a one year period on a cohort of 71 sputum smear positive patients on Category I DOTS treatment. Patients were followed up weekly for upto 20 weeks or until they underwent smear and culture conversion whichever was earlier. At each follow up, specimens were collected and processed for microscopy and culture using standard protocol. 60/71 [84.55%] patients completed the study. 56/60 [93.3%] patients underwent sputum smear and culture conversion. The median time to smear and culture conversion was end of 5th week [day 35] and 6 1/2 weeks [day 45] respectively. Univariate and stepwise regression analysis showed that patients who had cavitatory disease, high pretreatment smear grade and a past history of tuberculosis were more likely to undergo delayed or nonconversion [P culture conversion under DOTS is similar to previous antituberculosis regimens. Since viable bacilli continue to be expelled for upto two months, infection control measures should be maintained for such time. Patients with cavitatory disease, high pretreatment smear grade or a past history of tuberculosis need to be monitored more closely.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Use of Delayed Contrast-Enhanced Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in Risk Assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bessa, Luiz Gustavo Pignataro; Junqueira, Flávia Pegado; Bandeira, Marcelo Luiz da Silva; Garcia, Marcelo Iorio; Xavier, Sérgio Salles; Lavall, Guilherme; Torres, Diego; Waetge, Daniel

2013-01-01

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a severe and progressive disease. Its early diagnosis is the greatest clinical challenge. To evaluate the presence and extension of the delayed myocardial contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance, as well as to verify if the percentage of the myocardial fibrosis mass is a severity predictor. Cross-sectional study with 30 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension of groups I and IV, subjected to clinical, functional and hemodynamic evaluation, and to cardiac magnetic resonance. The mean age of patients was 52 years old, with female predominance (77%). Among the patients, 53% had right ventricular failure at diagnosis, and 90% were in functional class II/III. The mean of the 6-minute walk test was 395m. In hemodynamic study with right catheterism, the mean average pulmonary arterial pressure was 53.3mmHg, of the cardiac index of 2.1L/ min.m 2 , and median right atrial pressure was 13.5 mmHg. Delayed myocardial contrast enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance was found in 28 patients. The mean fibrosis mass was 9.9 g and the median percentage of fibrosis mass was 6.17%. The presence of functional class IV, right ventricular failure at diagnosis, 6-minute walk test < 300 meters and right atrial pressure ≥ 15 mmHg, with cardiac index < 2.0 L/ min.m 2 , there was a relevant association with the increased percentage of myocardial fibrosis. The percentage of the myocardial fibrosis mass indicates a non-invasive marker with promising perspectives in identifying patients with high risk factors for pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Use of Delayed Contrast-Enhanced Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in Risk Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bessa, Luiz Gustavo Pignataro, E-mail: lgpignataro@ig.com.br; Junqueira, Flávia Pegado; Bandeira, Marcelo Luiz da Silva; Garcia, Marcelo Iorio; Xavier, Sérgio Salles; Lavall, Guilherme; Torres, Diego; Waetge, Daniel [Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Ilha do Fundão, RJ (Brazil)

2013-10-15

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a severe and progressive disease. Its early diagnosis is the greatest clinical challenge. To evaluate the presence and extension of the delayed myocardial contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance, as well as to verify if the percentage of the myocardial fibrosis mass is a severity predictor. Cross-sectional study with 30 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension of groups I and IV, subjected to clinical, functional and hemodynamic evaluation, and to cardiac magnetic resonance. The mean age of patients was 52 years old, with female predominance (77%). Among the patients, 53% had right ventricular failure at diagnosis, and 90% were in functional class II/III. The mean of the 6-minute walk test was 395m. In hemodynamic study with right catheterism, the mean average pulmonary arterial pressure was 53.3mmHg, of the cardiac index of 2.1L/ min.m{sup 2}, and median right atrial pressure was 13.5 mmHg. Delayed myocardial contrast enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance was found in 28 patients. The mean fibrosis mass was 9.9 g and the median percentage of fibrosis mass was 6.17%. The presence of functional class IV, right ventricular failure at diagnosis, 6-minute walk test < 300 meters and right atrial pressure ≥ 15 mmHg, with cardiac index < 2.0 L/ min.m{sup 2}, there was a relevant association with the increased percentage of myocardial fibrosis. The percentage of the myocardial fibrosis mass indicates a non-invasive marker with promising perspectives in identifying patients with high risk factors for pulmonary hypertension.

Median sternotomy for double lung transplantation with cardiopulmonary bypass in seven consecutive patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kohno, Mitsutomo; Steinbrüchel, Daniel A

2012-01-01

We describe our technique of using median sternotomy to perform double lung transplantations with cardiopulmonary bypass. By sparing the respiratory muscles, median sternotomy is probably less invasive and preserves lung function. Furthermore, it causes less long-term discomfort than intercostal...

The Haiti Breast Cancer Initiative: Initial Findings and Analysis of Barriers-to-Care Delaying Patient Presentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ketan Sharma

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background. In Haiti, breast cancer patients present at such advanced stages that even modern therapies offer modest survival benefit. Identifying the personal, sociocultural, and economic barriers-to-care delaying patient presentation is crucial to controlling disease. Methods. Patients presenting to the Hôpital Bon Sauveur in Cange were prospectively accrued. Delay was defined as 12 weeks or longer from initial sign/symptom discovery to presentation, as durations greater than this cutoff correlate with reduced survival. A matched case-control analysis with multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors predicting delay. Results. Of N=123 patients accrued, 90 (73% reported symptom-presentation duration and formed the basis of this study: 52 patients presented within 12 weeks of symptoms, while 38 patients waited longer than 12 weeks. On logistic regression, lower education status (OR = 5.6, P=0.03, failure to initially recognize mass as important (OR = 13.0, P<0.01, and fear of treatment cost (OR = 8.3, P=0.03 were shown to independently predict delayed patient presentation. Conclusion. To reduce stage at presentation, future interventions must educate patients on the recognition of initial breast cancer signs and symptoms and address cost concerns by providing care free of charge and/or advertising that existing care is already free.

Predictors of delayed wound healing after endovascular therapy of isolated infrapopliteal lesions underlying critical limb ischemia in patients with high prevalence of diabetes mellitus and hemodialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiraki, T; Iida, O; Takahara, M; Soga, Y; Yamauchi, Y; Hirano, K; Kawasaki, D; Fujihara, M; Utsunomiya, M; Tazaki, J; Yamaoka, T; Shintani, Y; Suematsu, N; Suzuki, K; Miyashita, Y; Tsuchiya, T; Uematsu, M

2015-05-01

Acceptable limb salvage rates underlie the widespread use of endovascular therapy (EVT) for patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) secondary to isolated infrapopliteal lesions; however, post-EVT delayed wound healing remains a challenge. Predictors of delayed wound healing and their use in risk stratification of EVT in patients with CLI due to isolated infrapopliteal lesions are explored. This was a retrospective multicenter study. 871 consecutive critically ischemic limbs were studied. There was tissue loss in 734 patients (age: 71 ± 10 years old; 71% male) who had undergone EVT between April 2004 and December 2012. The wound healing rate after EVT was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The association between baseline characteristics and delayed wound healing was assessed by the Cox proportional hazard model. Diabetes mellitus and regular dialysis were present in 75% (553/734) and 64% (476/734) of patients, respectively; 67% of limbs (585/871) had Rutherford class 5 CLI; 8% (67/871) of wounds were located in the heel only; 25% (219/871) of limbs had Rutherford 6 (involving not only the heel); and 42% (354/871) of wounds were complicated by infection. The rate of freedom from major amputation at 1 year reached 88%, whereas the wound healing rate was 67%. Median time to wound healing was 146 days. By multivariate analysis, non-ambulatory status (hazard ratio [HR], 1.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.31-1.91) serum albumin wound infection (HR 1.24; 95% CI 1.03-1.50), EVT not based on angiosome concept (HR 1.28; 95% CI 1.06-1.55), and below the ankle (BTA) 0 vessel runoff after EVT (HR 1.45; 95% CI 1.14-1.86) were independent predictors of delayed wound healing. Non-ambulatory status, low albumin level, Rutherford 6 (not only heel), wound infection, indirect intervention, and poor BTA runoff were independent predictors for delayed wound healing after EVT in patients with CLI secondary to infrapopliteal lesions, and their use in risk stratification allows

The influence of procedure delay on resource use: a national study of patients with open tibial fracture.

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Sears, Erika Davis; Burke, James F; Davis, Matthew M; Chung, Kevin C

2013-03-01

The purpose of this study was to (1) understand national variation in delay of emergency procedures in patients with open tibial fracture at the hospital level and (2) compare length of stay and cost in patients cared for at the best- and worst-performing hospitals for delay. The authors retrospectively analyzed the 2003 to 2009 Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Adult patients with open tibial fracture were included. Hospital probability of delay in performing emergency procedures beyond the day of admission was calculated. Multilevel linear regression random-effects models were created to evaluate the relationship between the treating hospital's tendency for delay (in quartiles) and the log-transformed outcomes of length of stay and cost. The final sample included 7029 patients from 332 hospitals. Patients treated at hospitals in the fourth (worst) quartile for delay were estimated to have 12 percent (95 percent CI, 2 to 21 percent) higher cost compared with patients treated at hospitals in the first quartile. In addition, patients treated at hospitals in the fourth quartile had an estimated 11 percent (95 percent CI, 4 to 17 percent) longer length of stay compared with patients treated at hospitals in the first quartile. Patients with open tibial fracture treated at hospitals with more timely initiation of surgical care had lower cost and shorter length of stay than patients treated at hospitals with less timely initiation of care. Policies directed toward mitigating variation in care may reduce unnecessary waste.

Factors associated with patient and provider delays for tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment in Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Jing Cai

Full Text Available Delays in tuberculosis (TB diagnosis and treatment is a major barrier to effective management of the disease. Determining the factors associated with patient and provider delay of TB diagnosis and treatment in Asia may contribute to TB prevention and control.We searched the PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science for studies that assessed factors associated with delays in care-seeking, diagnosis, or at the beginning of treatment, which were published from January 1992 to September 2014. Two reviewers independently identified studies that were related to our meta-analysis and extracted data from each study. Independent variables were categorized in separate tables for patient and provider delays.Among 45 eligible studies, 40 studies assessed patient delay whereas 30 assessed provider delay. Cross-sectional surveys were used in all but two articles, which included 17 countries and regions. Socio-demographic characteristics, TB-related symptoms and medical examination, and conditions of seeking medical care in TB patients were frequently reported. Male patients and long travel time/distance to the first healthcare provider led to both shorter patient delays [odds ratio (OR (95% confidence intervals, CI = 0.85 (0.78, 0.92; 1.39 (1.08, 1.78] and shorter provider delays [OR (95%CI = 0.96 (0.93, 1.00; 1.68 (1.12, 2.51]. Unemployment, low income, hemoptysis, and positive sputum smears were consistently associated with patient delay [ORs (95%CI = 1.18 (1.07, 1.30, 1.23 (1.02, 1.49, 0.64 (0.40, 1.00, 1.77 (1.07, 2.94, respectively]. Additionally, consultation at a public hospital was associated with provider delay [OR (95%CI = 0.43 (0.20, 0.91].We propose that the major opportunities to reduce delays involve enabling socio-demographic factors and medical conditions. Male, unemployed, rural residence, low income, hemoptysis, positive sputum smear, and long travel time/distance significantly correlated with patient delay. Male, long travel time/distance and

Effect of delayed diagnosis on disease course and management of Churg-Strauss syndrome: a retrospective study.

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Sokołowska, Barbara; Szczeklik, Wojciech; Mastalerz, Lucyna; Kuczia, Paweł; Wodkowski, Michał; Stodółkiewicz, Edyta; Macioł, Karolina; Musiał, Jacek

2013-03-01

Delayed diagnosis in patients with Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) is largely attributed to the variable and nonspecific presentation of the disease's initial symptoms. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of delayed diagnosis on the course of CSS. We conducted a retrospective study of 30 CSS patients followed up in our department. In each patient, we assessed the delay in CSS diagnosis (the time when patients already fulfilled four out of six of the American College of Rheumatology criteria and the diagnosis was not yet established), the disease activity at the time of diagnosis, and organ involvement during CSS course. A median value of 2 weeks was chosen as the cutoff point after which the diagnosis was considered as delayed. Sixteen patients were diagnosed before (group 1) and 14 patients after this cutoff point (group 2). In group 2, we found a higher Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score at the moment of diagnosis (20.4 vs 25.1, p < 0.05) and a more severe disease course, resulting in more frequent hospitalization rates (0.64 vs 2.26/year, p < 0.00001), higher corticosteroids dose requirements (5.87 vs 11.57 mg/day converted to methylprednisolone, p < 0.0001), and additional immunosuppressive therapy administration (56.2 vs 92.8 %, p < 0.05) to maintain disease remission. All six perinuclear pattern of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibobodies (pANCA)-positive patients (20 %) were found in group 1. Concluding, the delay in diagnosis of CSS of more than 2 weeks was found to be associated with a disease course that was more severe. The presence of the pANCA antibodies may occasionally facilitate establishment of the diagnosis.

10-minute delayed recall from the modified mini-mental state test predicts Alzheimer's disease pathology.

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Lyness, Scott A; Lee, Ae Young; Zarow, Chris; Teng, Evelyn L; Chui, Helena C

2014-01-01

We compared the sensitivity and specificity of two delayed recall scores from the Modified Mini-Mental State (3MS) test with consensus clinical diagnosis to differentiate cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) versus non-AD pathologies. At a memory disorders clinic, 117 cognitively impaired patients were administered a baseline 3MS test and received a contemporaneous consensus clinical diagnosis. Their brains were examined after death about 5 years later. Using logistic regression with forward selection to predict pathologically defined AD versus non-AD, 10-min delayed recall entered first (p = 0.001), followed by clinical diagnosis (p = 0.02); 1-min delayed recall did not enter. 10-min delayed recall scores ≤4 (score range = 0-9) were 87% sensitive and 47% specific in predicting AD pathology; consensus clinical diagnosis was 82% sensitive and 45% specific. For the 57 patients whose initial Mini-Mental State Examination scores were ≥19 (the median), 3MS 10-min delayed recall scores ≤4 showed some loss of sensitivity (80%) but a substantial gain in specificity (77%). In conclusion, 10-min delayed recall score on the brief 3MS test distinguished between AD versus non-AD pathology about 5 years before death at least as well as consensus clinical diagnosis that requires much more comprehensive information and complex deliberation.

[Effect of nutritional support on survival in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis].

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López Gómez, J J; Ballesteros Pomar, Ma D; Vázquez Sánchez, F; Vidal Casariego, A; Calleja Fernández, A; Cano Rodríguez, I

2011-01-01

Malnutrition affects morbidity and mortality of patients with ALS. The nutrition unit should evaluate these patients early and regularly providing the necessary steps in the evolution of the disease. A retrospective cohort study in which we analyzed 46 patients diagnosed with ALS, 21 of them received nutritional therapy. We studied age, mode of onset, date of entry into a nutritional protocol, placement of PEG and survival. We performed a test of Breslow comparing patients who were at nutritional protocol with those not receiving nutritional support, and those who received early nutritional therapy with those with delayed nutrition. There was an increase in median survival for patients in nutritional therapy in bulbar ALS (452 vs 55 days) and in spinal ALS (1,798 vs 357 days) (p = 0.002). The median delay in the initiation of nutritional therapy in spinal ALS was 557 days while in bulbar ALS was 230 days. The survival in the spinal ALS of those who entered into nutritional protocol before the median survival was 325 days to 181 days (p = 0.09) while in bulbar ALS those who entered before had a median survival of 435 days to 177 days (p = 0.38). The entry of patients with ALS in a nutritional protocol increases survival. There is an advantage in the evolution of patients with early nutritional treatment.

Delayed versus immediate treatment for patients with acute hepatitis C: a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.

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Deterding, Katja; Grüner, Norbert; Buggisch, Peter; Wiegand, Johannes; Galle, Peter R; Spengler, Ulrich; Hinrichsen, Holger; Berg, Thomas; Potthoff, Andrej; Malek, Nisar; Großhennig, Anika; Koch, Armin; Diepolder, Helmut; Lüth, Stefan; Feyerabend, Sandra; Jung, Maria Christina; Rogalska-Taranta, Magdalena; Schlaphoff, Verena; Cornberg, Markus; Manns, Michael P; Wedemeyer, Heiner

2013-06-01

Early treatment of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with interferon alfa monotherapy is very effective, with cure rates of greater than 85%. However, spontaneous clearance of HCV occurs in 10-50% of cases. We aimed to assess an alternative treatment strategy of delayed antiviral therapy in patients who do not eliminate the virus spontaneously compared with immediate treatment. In our open-label phase 3 non-inferiority trial, we enrolled adults (≥18 years) with acute hepatitis C but no HIV or hepatitis B co-infection at 72 centres in Germany. We randomly allocated patients with symptomatic acute hepatitis C (1:1) to receive immediate pegylated interferon alfa-2b treatment for 24 weeks or delayed treatment with pegylated interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin (for 24 weeks) starting 12 weeks after randomisation if HCV RNA remained positive. We used a computer-generated randomisation sequence and block sizes of eight, stratified by bilirubin concentration. We assigned all asymptomatic patients to immediate treatment with pegylated interferon alfa-2b for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was sustained HCV RNA negativity in all randomly allocated participants who completed screening (intention-to-treat analysis), with a non-inferiority margin of 10%. For the primary analysis, we calculated the virological response of patients in the immediate and delayed treatment groups and an absolute risk difference stratified by bilirubin status. The trial was stopped early on advice from the study advisory committee because of slow recruitment of participants. This study is registered, number ISRCTN88729946. Between April, 2004, and February, 2010, we recruited 107 symptomatic and 25 asymptomatic patients. 37 (67%) of 55 symptomatic patients randomly allocated to receive immediate treatment and 28 (54%) of 52 symptomatic patients randomly allocated to receive delayed treatment had a sustained virological response (difference 13·7%, 95% CI -4·6 to 32·0; p=0·071). 18 (72%) of 25

Diagnosis and treatment delays among elderly breast cancer patients with pre-existing mental illness.

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Iglay, Kristy; Santorelli, Melissa L; Hirshfield, Kim M; Williams, Jill M; Rhoads, George G; Lin, Yong; Demissie, Kitaw

2017-11-01

This study aimed to compare diagnosis and treatment delays in elderly breast cancer patients with and without pre-existing mental illness. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare data including 16,636 women 68+ years, who were diagnosed with stage I-IIIa breast cancer in the United States from 2005 to 2007. Mental illness was identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes recorded on inpatient and outpatient claims during the 3 years prior to breast cancer diagnosis. Patients were classified as having no mental illness, anxiety, depression, anxiety and depression, or severe mental illness (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other psychotic disorder). Multivariable binomial regression was used to assess the association between mental illness and delays of ≥60 and ≥90 days after adjustment for confounders. Patients with comorbid anxiety and depression had an increased risk for diagnosis delay of ≥90 days from symptom recognition (RR 1.11; 95% CI 1.00, 1.23), and those with severe mental illness had an increased risk for initial treatment delay of ≥60 days from diagnosis (RR 1.36; 95% CI 1.06, 1.74). Patients with any mental illness experienced an increased risk for adjuvant chemotherapy delay of ≥90 days from last operation (RR 1.13; 95% CI 1.01, 1.26) and each category of mental illness, except depression, showed a non-significant trend for this association. Breast cancer patients with mental illness should be closely managed by a cross-functional care team, including a psychiatrist, a primary care physician, and an oncologist, to ensure adequate care is received within an appropriate timeframe.

Comparison of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Transport Types and Delays on Patient Outcomes at Two Level I Trauma Centers.

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Nolan, Brodie; Tien, Homer; Sawadsky, Bruce; Rizoli, Sandro; McFarlan, Amanda; Phillips, Andrea; Ackery, Alun

2017-01-01

Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) have become an engrained component of trauma systems. In Ontario, transportation for trauma patients is through one of three ways: scene call, modified scene call, or interfacility transfer. We hypothesize that differences exist between these types of transports in both patient demographics and patient outcomes. This study compares the characteristics of patients transported by each of these methods to two level 1 trauma centers and assesses for any impact on morbidity or mortality. As a secondary outcome reasons for delay were identified. A local trauma registry was used to identify and abstract data for all patients transported to two trauma centers by HEMS over a 36-month period. Further chart abstraction using the HEMS patient care reports was done to identify causes of delay during HEMS transport. During the study period HEMS transferred a total of 911 patients of which 139 were scene calls, 333 were modified scene calls and 439 were interfacility transfers. Scene calls had more patients with an ISS of less than 15 and had more patients discharged home from the ED. Modified scene calls had more patients with an ISS greater than 25. The most common delays that were considered modifiable included the sending physician doing a procedure, waiting to meet a land EMS crew, delays for diagnostic imaging and confirming disposition or destination. Differences exist between the types of transports done by HEMS for trauma patients. Many identified reasons for delay to HEMS transport are modifiable and have practical solutions. Future research should focus on solutions to identified delays to HEMS transport. Key words: helicopter emergency medical services; trauma; prehospital care; delays.

Factors Responsible for the Diagnostic Delay in Oral Cancer Patients: A Hospital Based Sociodemographic Study in Kolkata

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Pramitasri Bhattacharyya

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction Oral cancer is a challenging health problem globally. Delay in diagnosis is an important factor in determining the outcome of the disease. It is a major determinant of mortality and morbidity of oral cancer patients. Present observational study was conducted with the objective of finding the factors responsible for delay in diagnosis of oral cancer in patients. Materials and Methods Hospital based observational study where patient register was used as data source from 15th Nov, 2013-15th Jan, 2014. Results Among the causes for delay in reporting to hospital, financial constraint (84% and illiteracy (56.5% have been found to contribute the most. The risk of primary delay is 3.53 times more among illiterate in comparison with literate. Age, gender, stage of cancer, religion, caste, tobacco use and delayed referral from the first physician were the other factors found to be significant in relation to primary delay. Discussion Early diagnosis is a major factor for favorable outcome of a disease and several factors hinder early diagnosis. Some of these factors can be easily modified through Information, Education and Communication (IEC. Conclusion Some important factors that lead to delay are identified and some of them are preventable. So, IEC regarding cancer among general population will not only provide knowledge to them, but also will break myths regarding cancer and reduce the burden of disease. These identified predictors of delay may be used for designing an educational intervention program for patients with oral cancers.

Delayed treatment of decompression sickness with short, no-air-break tables: review of 140 cases.

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Cianci, Paul; Slade, John B

2006-10-01

Most cases of decompression sickness (DCS) in the U.S. are treated with hyperbaric oxygen using U.S. Navy Treatment Tables 5 and 6, although detailed analysis shows that those tables were based on limited data. We reviewed the development of these protocols and offer an alternative treatment table more suitable for monoplace chambers that has proven effective in the treatment of DCS in patients presenting to our facility. We reviewed the outcomes for 140 cases of DCS in civilian divers treated with the shorter tables at our facility from January 1983 through December 2002. Onset of symptoms averaged 9.3 h after surfacing. At presentation, 44% of the patients demonstrated mental aberration. The average delay from onset of symptoms to treatment was 93.5 h; median delay was 48 h. Complete recovery in the total group of 140 patients was 87%. When 30 patients with low probability of DCS were excluded, the recovery rate was 98%. All patients with cerebral symptoms recovered. Patients with the highest severity scores showed a high rate of complete recovery (97.5%). Short oxygen treatment tables as originally described by Hart are effective in the treatment of DCS, even with long delays to definitive recompression that often occur among civilian divers presenting to a major Divers Alert Network referral center.

The diagnostic value of adding dynamic scintigraphy to standard delayed planar imaging for sentinel node identification in melanoma patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nielsen, Kristina Rue; Nielsen, Michael B.; Chakera, Annette H.; Hesse, Birger; Oturai, Peter S.; Scolyer, Richard A.; Stretch, Jonathan F.; Thompson, John F.; Uren, Roger F.

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare early dynamic imaging combined with delayed static imaging and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT with delayed, planar, static imaging alone for sentinel node (SN) identification in melanoma patients. Three hundred and seven consecutive melanoma patients referred for SN biopsy (SNB) were examined using combined imaging. Secondary interpretation of only the delayed static images was subsequently performed. In 220 patients (72%), complete surgical and pathological information relating to the SNB was available. The number of SNs identified and number of patients with positive SNs were compared between the two interpretations of the imaging studies and, when available, related to pathology data. A slightly higher number of SNs (mean 0.12/patient) was identified when interpreting only delayed static images compared to combined imaging. In a direct patient-to-patient comparison, the number of SN(s) identified on the combined vs static images only showed moderate agreement (kappa value 0.56). In 38 patients (17%), positive SNs were identified by the combined procedure compared to 35 (16%) by static imaging only. Thus by static imaging only, tumour-positive SNs were not identified in 3 of 38 patients (8%). For SN identification in melanoma patients, dynamic imaging combined with delayed static imaging and SPECT/CT is superior to delayed static imaging only because the latter is more likely to fail to identify SNs containing metastases. (orig.)

Delayed-onset complications of facial soft tissue augmentation with permanent fillers in 85 patients.

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Kadouch, Jonathan A; Kadouch, Daniel J; Fortuin, Shai; van Rozelaar, Leo; Karim, Refaat B; Hoekzema, Rick

2013-10-01

To evaluate factors influencing the onset and type of adverse events in patients injected with permanent fillers in the face and to propose a therapeutic strategy for these complications. A prospectively attained series of 85 patients with delayed-onset complications after facial injection with permanent fillers underwent clinical follow-up and treatment of the complications. Lag times until onset and type of delayed-onset complication varied according to filler material. In 28% (n = 24) of the cases, patients reported the onset of complications after dental procedures, additional injections with fillers, or other invasive treatments in the facial area. Forty-eight (57%) patients required invasive treatment. Abscess formation was significantly more frequent in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection and facial lipoatrophy (p = .001). The intrinsic characteristics of the injected filler and the immune status of the patient play important roles in the diversity of time of onset and type of delayed-onset adverse events observed. It seems that invasive facial or oral procedures in the vicinity of filler depots can provoke such complications. We propose a strategy for treating these complications and advise great caution when using permanent filling agents. © 2013 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Median forehead flap - beyond classic indication

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Cristian R. Jecan

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction. The paramedian forehead flap is one of the best options for reconstruction of the median upper two-thirds of the face due to its vascularity, color, texture match and ability to resurface all or part of the reconstructed area. The forehead flap is the gold standard for nasal soft tissue reconstruction and the flap of choice for larger cutaneous nasal defects having a robust pedicle and large amount of tissue. Materials and Methods. We are reporting a clinical series of cutaneous tumors involving the nose, medial canthus, upper and lower eyelid through a retrospective review of 6 patients who underwent surgical excision of the lesion and primary reconstruction using a paramedian forehead flap. Results. The forehead flap was used for total nose reconstruction, eyelids and medial canthal reconstruction. All flaps survived completely and no tumor recurrence was seen in any of the patients. Cosmetic and functional results were favorable. Conclusions. The forehead flap continues to be one of the best options for nose reconstruction and for closure of surgical defects of the nose larger than 2 cm. Even though is not a gold standard, median forehead flap can be an advantageous technique in periorbital defects reconstruction.

Wound healing complications in brain tumor patients on Bevacizumab.

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Ladha, Harshad; Pawar, Tushar; Gilbert, Mark R; Mandel, Jacob; O-Brien, Barbara; Conrad, Charles; Fields, Margaret; Hanna, Teresa; Loch, Carolyn; Armstrong, Terri S

2015-09-01

Bevacizumab (BEV) is commonly used for treating recurrent glioblastoma (GBM), and wound healing is a well-established adverse event. Retrospective analysis of GBM patients with and without wound healing complications while on BEV treatment is reported. 287 patients identified, majority were males (60 %) with median age of 52.5 years. 14 cases identified with wound healing problems, related to either craniotomy (n = 8) or other soft tissue wounds (n = 6). Median duration of BEV treatment to complication was 62 days (range 6-559). Majority received 10 mg/kg (n = 11) and nine (64.3 %) were on corticosteroids, with median daily dose of 6 mg (range 1-16 mg) for median of 473 days before starting BEV. For dehisced craniotomy wounds, median time for starting BEV from last surgery was 29 days (range 27-345). Median time from starting BEV to developing wound complication was 47 days (range 16-173). Seven (87.5 %) had infected wounds requiring antibiotics, hospitalization. Four (50 %) required plastic surgery. BEV stopped and safely resumed in 6 (75 %) patients; median delay was 70 days (range 34-346). Soft tissue wounds included decubitus ulcer, dehisced striae, herpes simplex, trauma to hand and back, and abscess. Median time from starting BEV to wound issues was 72 days (range 6-559). Five (83.3 %) were infected, requiring antibiotics. While three (50 %) required hospitalization, none required plastic surgery. Treatment stopped in five (83.3 %) and restarted in two (median delay 48 days, range 26-69). Wound healing complications are uncommon but associated with significant morbidity. Identifying those at risk and contributing factors warrants further investigation.

A Systematic Review of Barriers to Breast Cancer Care in Developing Countries Resulting in Delayed Patient Presentation

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Ketan Sharma

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Within the developing world, many personal, sociocultural, and economic factors cause delayed patient presentation, a prolonged interval from initial symptom discovery to provider presentation. Understanding these barriers to care is crucial to optimizing interventions that pre-empt patient delay. Methods. A systematic review was conducted querying: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, J East, CAB, African Index Medicus, and LiLACS. Of 763 unique abstracts, 122 were extracted for full review and 13 included in final analysis. Results. Studies posed variable risks of bias and produced mixed results. There is strong evidence that lower education level and lesser income status contribute to patient delay. There is weaker and, sometimes, contradictory evidence that other factors may also contribute. Discussion. Poverty emerges as the underlying common denominator preventing earlier presentation in these settings. The evidence for sociocultural variables is less strong, but may reflect current paucity of high-quality research. Conflicting results may be due to heterogeneity of the developing world itself. Conclusion. Future research is required that includes patients with and without delay, utilizes a validated questionnaire, and controls for potential confounders. Current evidence suggests that interventions should primarily increase proximal and affordable healthcare access and secondarily enhance breast cancer awareness, to productively reduce patient delay.

Supratentorial gangliogliomas: histopathologic grading and tumor recurrence in 184 patients with a median follow-up of 8 years.

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Luyken, Cordelia; Blümcke, Ingmar; Fimmers, Rolf; Urbach, Horst; Wiestler, Otmar D; Schramm, Johannes

2004-07-01

Supratentorial gangliogliomas (GGs) are rare tumors of the central nervous system and are commonly associated with chronic seizures. To date, only case reports and small series of patients with short-term follow-up have been available for the assessment of the potential of GGs to recur and progress. Data from 184 patients who underwent resection of GGs between 1988 and 2001 were available from the University of Bonn Epilepsy Surgery Center (Bonn, Germany). Analysis of factors that influenced tumor recurrence and patient survival, such as preoperative history, age at operation, tumor location, histopathologic findings (including immunohistochemical findings), extent of tumor resection, and recurrence evaluated on postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), was performed. The median follow-up period was 8 years (range, 1-14 years). One hundred seventy-eight patients (97%) presented with long-term seizures (> or = 2 years). The median age at surgery was 26 years (range, 2-65 years). Tumor location was temporal in 79% of patients and frontal in 12% of patients. Eleven tumors (6%) were classified as World Health Organization (WHO) Grade 2 lesions, and 2 tumors were classified as anaplastic WHO Grade 3 lesions. For 38 patients (21%), postoperative MRIs revealed residual tumors. Two years after surgery, 5 patients (3%) experienced tumor recurrence, which resulted in malignant progression in 3 patients (2%) and death in 2 patients (1%). Eighty-four percent of patients with epilepsy had complete and sustained seizure relief. The calculated 7.5-year recurrence-free survival rate was 97%. Lower rates of recurrence were found in patients with tumors classified as WHO Grade 1 lesions (P < 0.0001), patients with temporal lesions (P < 0.0001), patients who underwent complete tumor resection (P = 0.0278), and patients with long-standing epilepsy (P < 0.0001). Supratentorial GGs are benign tumors, and the surgical goal for patients with GG should be complete resection. Residual

Relevance of I-BMIPP delayed scintigraphic imaging for patients with angina pectoris - a pilot study.

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Koyama, Kohei; Akashi, Yoshihiro J; Kida, Keisuke; Suzuki, Kengo; Ishibashi, Yuki; Musha, Haruki; Banach, Maciej

2011-06-01

The study was designed to clarify the role of (123)I-β-methyl-iodophenylpentadecanoic acid ((123)I-BMIPP) in the evaluation of myocardial fatty acid metabolism in patients with stable angina pectoris (AP) before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). TEN CONTROLS (MEAN AGE: 70.4 ±10.5 years) and 12 patients with AP (mean age: 67.4 ±11.6 years) and single vessel coronary artery disease participated in the radionuclide cardiac study. Scintigraphic images were acquired at 30 min and at 4 h after (123)I-BMIPP injection to determine early and delayed BMIPP uptake, respectively. The heart-to-mediastinum (H/M) ratio and the washout rate (WR) were calculated from the planar images. All patients underwent scintigraphy one day before PCI and again 1 month after successful PCI. NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE EARLY OR DELAYED H/M RATIOS WERE OBSERVED BETWEEN THE PATIENTS AND THE CONTROLS BEFORE PCI (EARLY: 2.70 ±0.36 vs. 2.73 ±0.57; delayed: 2.26 ±0.33 vs. 2.40 ±0.43; p > 0.2 for both). The early and delayed H/M ratios remained unchanged with the comparison with before PCI (early: 2.72 ±0.27, delayed: 2.23 ±0.22; p > 0.2 for both). The global WR before PCI was significantly higher in the patients than in the control group (36.7 ±9.3%, vs. 28.1 ±8.2%, p = 0.02). However, the WR after PCI did not significantly differ between the patients and the controls (34.3 ±7.8% vs. 28.1 ±8.2%, p = 0.1). These data may suggest that the WR of (123)I-BMIPP determined from the planar images enhances the presence of myocardial ischaemia.

Assessment of Gastric Emptying in Patients with Autoimmune Gastritis.

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Kalkan, Çağdaş; Soykan, Irfan; Soydal, Çiğdem; Özkan, Elgin; Kalkan, Emra

2016-06-01

Symptoms of patients with autoimmune gastritis are not specific, and some patients may present symptoms suggestive of delayed gastric emptying. This study aims to investigate whether any delay in gastric emptying of solid food exists in patients with autoimmune gastritis and, if so, to identify the factors that might affect delayed gastric emptying. A total of 165 patients (106 women) diagnosed as having autoimmune gastritis were analyzed by means of a gastric emptying test. All patients underwent a standardized scintigraphic gastric emptying study. Patients with delayed gastric emptying and normal gastric emptying tests were then compared by means of factors that might affect gastric emptying. Also 65 patients with functional dyspepsia who had a gastric emptying study constituted the control group. The median gastric emptying T ½ time was 127.43 min (min-max 50-953) for patients with AIG and 81 min (min-max 21-121.6) for functional dyspepsia patients (p gastritis, gastric emptying is generally delayed. Autoimmune gastritis is an important etiology to explain the finding of delayed gastric emptying on a radionuclide test. This new finding is likely to be relevant to clinicians when evaluating and initiating appropriate medical treatment for patients with autoimmune gastritis manifesting upper gastrointestinal symptoms.

Effect of metoclopramide on normal and delayed gastric emptying in gastroesophageal reflux patients

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Fink, S.M.; Lange, R.C.; McCallum, R.W.

1983-12-01

Gastric emptying has an important role in the pathophysiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease. The effect of metoclopramide, a gastric prokinetic agent, in gastroesophageal reflux patients with normal as well as delayed emptying was investigated. Twenty-six patients with subjective and objective evidence of gastroesophageal reflux ingested an egg salad sandwich meal labeled with /sub 99m/technetium-DTPA for a baseline study, and then again on a separate day after receiving oral metoclopramide, 10 mg, 30 min prior to the test meal. The mean percent isotope remaining in the stomach after 90 min improved significantly from 70.3 +/- 3.9% (SEM) to 55.2 +/- 4.2% after metoclopramide. Fourteen (54%) had a basal emptying in the normal range of 34-69% retention of isotope at 90 min, (means +/- 2 SD), while it was slow in 12 (46%). For those with delayed basal gastric emptying, the mean retention of 88.9 +/- 2.9% at 90 min was significantly decreased by metoclopramide to 68.6 +/- 6.1%. In those patients with a normal basal gastric emptying and a mean retention of 54.4 +/- 2.3% at 90 min, there was also significant improvement (P less than 0.025) to 43.6 +/- 3.6% after metoclopramide. These data indicate that metoclopramide increased gastric emptying in gastroesophageal reflux patients with normal as well as delayed gastric emptying. Therefore on a patient management level a trial of metoclopramide is warranted in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and is not limited by the gastric emptying status of the patient.

Effect of metoclopramide on normal and delayed gastric emptying in gastroesophageal reflux patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fink, S.M.; Lange, R.C.; McCallum, R.W.

1983-01-01

Gastric emptying has an important role in the pathophysiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease. The effect of metoclopramide, a gastric prokinetic agent, in gastroesophageal reflux patients with normal as well as delayed emptying was investigated. Twenty-six patients with subjective and objective evidence of gastroesophageal reflux ingested an egg salad sandwich meal labeled with /sub 99m/technetium-DTPA for a baseline study, and then again on a separate day after receiving oral metoclopramide, 10 mg, 30 min prior to the test meal. The mean percent isotope remaining in the stomach after 90 min improved significantly from 70.3 +/- 3.9% (SEM) to 55.2 +/- 4.2% after metoclopramide. Fourteen (54%) had a basal emptying in the normal range of 34-69% retention of isotope at 90 min, (means +/- 2 SD), while it was slow in 12 (46%). For those with delayed basal gastric emptying, the mean retention of 88.9 +/- 2.9% at 90 min was significantly decreased by metoclopramide to 68.6 +/- 6.1%. In those patients with a normal basal gastric emptying and a mean retention of 54.4 +/- 2.3% at 90 min, there was also significant improvement (P less than 0.025) to 43.6 +/- 3.6% after metoclopramide. These data indicate that metoclopramide increased gastric emptying in gastroesophageal reflux patients with normal as well as delayed gastric emptying. Therefore on a patient management level a trial of metoclopramide is warranted in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and is not limited by the gastric emptying status of the patient

Menstrual management in developmentally delayed adolescent females.

Science.gov (United States)

Chuah, Irene; McRae, Alexandra; Matthews, Kim; Maguire, Ann M; Steinbeck, Katharine

2017-06-01

Requests for assistance in menstrual management and menstrual suppression are a common, emotive and sometimes controversial aspect of adolescent disability care. To review the uptake and outcomes of menstrual suppression among adolescent patients with developmental delay. A retrospective review of the medical records of adolescent females with intellectual disability referred for menstrual management to the Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology Clinic, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, for the three-year period between January 1, 2010 and January 1, 2013. Eighty adolescent patients with developmental delay were identified. A third (n = 28) of the patients were pre-menarcheal at first review with parent/caregivers seeking anticipatory advice. Of the post-menarcheal patients, the median age of menarche was 12 years (range 10-15 years). First and second line interventions were documented as were reasons for change where applicable. The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) was the most frequently used therapy (67%), and 19 patients in total had a levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) inserted (31%). Our study population differs from similar previously published groups in the marked absence of the use of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate or the subdermal etonogestrel releasing device. As a paediatrician, it is important to address menstrual management issues and allay caregiver concerns with appropriate advice. Our study supports the use of the COCP as sound first line management in achieving menstrual suppression. The LNG-IUS appears to be a favourable second line option. Further investigation into longer-term outcomes and potential complications of device insertion is recommended. © 2017 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Time to treatment as a quality metric in lung cancer: Staging studies, time to treatment, and patient survival

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomez, Daniel R.; Liao, Kai-Ping; Swisher, Stephen G.; Blumenschein, George R.; Erasmus, Jeremy J.; Buchholz, Thomas A.; Giordano, Sharon H.; Smith, Benjamin D.

2015-01-01

Purpose: Prompt staging and treatment are crucial for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We determined if predictors of treatment delay after diagnosis were associated with prognosis. Materials and methods: Medicare claims from 28,732 patients diagnosed with NSCLC in 2004–2007 were used to establish the diagnosis-to-treatment interval (ideally ⩽35 days) and identify staging studies during that interval. Factors associated with delay were identified with multivariate logistic regression, and associations between delay and survival by stage were tested with Cox proportional hazard regression. Results: Median diagnosis-to-treatment interval was 27 days. Receipt of PET was associated with delays (57.4% of patients with PET delayed [n = 6646/11,583] versus 22.8% of those without [n = 3908/17,149]; adjusted OR = 4.48, 95% CI 4.23–4.74, p < 0.001). Median diagnosis-to-PET interval was 15 days; PET-to-clinic, 5 days; and clinic-to-treatment, 12 days. Diagnosis-to-treatment intervals <35 days were associated with improved survival for patients with localized disease and those with distant disease surviving ⩾1 year but not for patients with distant disease surviving <1 year. Conclusion: Delays between diagnosing and treating NSCLC are common and associated with use of PET for staging. Reducing time to treatment may improve survival for patients with manageable disease at diagnosis

Sosiaalisen median mahdollisuudet Tilastokeskukselle

OpenAIRE

Vesterinen, Anu

2011-01-01

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena oli sosiaalisen median mahdollisuudet Tilastokeskuksen viestinnässä. Työn tavoitteena oli kartoittaa sosiaalisen median käyttöön liittyviä mahdollisuuksia ja haasteita sekä selvittää siihen liittyviä odotuksia Tilastokeskuksen henkilöstön keskuudessa. Työn teoriaosuudessa tarkasteltiin sosiaalista mediaa käsitteenä ja esiteltiin sosiaalisen median käyttöä organisaation ulkoisen viestinnän välineenä. Opinnäytetyössä selvitettiin teoriatietoon pohjautuen sekä ca...

Delayed pneumothorax after laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy in a patient without underlying lung disease

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Richie K Huynh

2014-10-01

Full Text Available We present an unusual case of a delayed pneumothorax occurring approximately 72 h post-operatively in a patient without any underlying lung disease who had undergone laparoscopic sigmoid colon resection. The patient was in her mid-40s with a body mass index of 28.0 and had no history of smoking. Her spontaneous pneumothorax manifested without any precipitating events or complications during recovery. There was no evidence of any infectious process. There were no central line attempts and all ports were placed intra-peritoneally, and there was no evidence of any subcutaneous emphysema. One possible mechanism of injury that we propose is barotrauma from an extended period of time in Trendelenburg position. Notably, the only abnormal finding throughout the entire post-operative period preceding the delayed pneumothorax was a PO 2 desaturation the day before. This case highlights the necessity to examine and investigate any desaturation post-operatively and deliberate its possible significance. Furthermore, it demonstrates that, even during a normal recovery period for a patient without any underlying lung disease or risk factors, spontaneous pneumothorax could still develop in a delayed fashion multiple days post-operatively from a laparoscopic procedure.

The diagnostic value of adding dynamic scintigraphy to standard delayed planar imaging for sentinel node identification in melanoma patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Marie Kristina Rue; Chakera, Annette H; Hesse, Birger

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare early dynamic imaging combined with delayed static imaging and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT with delayed, planar, static imaging alone for sentinel node (SN) identification in melanoma patients.......The aim of this study was to compare early dynamic imaging combined with delayed static imaging and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT with delayed, planar, static imaging alone for sentinel node (SN) identification in melanoma patients....

Patient characteristics associated with self-presentation, treatment delay and survival following primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, David; Yan, Andrew T; Spratt, James C; Kunadian, Vijay; Edwards, Richard J; Egred, Mohaned; Bagnall, Alan J

2014-09-01

Delayed arrival to a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI)-capable hospital following ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with poorer outcome. The influence of patient characteristics on delayed presentation during STEMI is unknown. This was a retrospective observational study. Patients presenting for PPCI from March 2008 to November 2011 in the north of England (Northumbria, Tyne and Wear) were included. The outcomes were self-presentation to a non-PPCI-capable hospital, symptom to first medical contact (STFMC) time, total ischaemic time and mortality during follow-up. STEMI patients included numbered 2297; 619 (26.9%) patients self-presented to a non-PPCI-capable hospital. STFMC of >30 min and total ischaemic time of >180 min was present in 1521 (70.7%) and 999 (44.9%) cases, respectively. Self-presentation was the strongest predictor of prolonged total ischaemic time (odds ratio, OR (95% confidence interval, CI): 5.05 (3.99-6.39)). Married patients (OR 1.38 (1.10-1.74)) and patients living closest to an Emergency Room self-presented more commonly (driving time (vs. ≤10 min) 11-20 min OR 0.66 (0.52-0.83), >20 minutes OR 0.46 (0.33-0.64). Unmarried females waited longest to call for help (OR vs. married males 1.89 (1.29-2.78) and experienced longer total ischaemic times (OR 1.51 (1.10-2.07)). Married patients had a borderline association with lower mortality (hazard ratio 0.75 (0.53-1.05), p=0.09). Unmarried female patients had the longest treatment delays. Married patients and those living closer to an Emergency Room self-present more frequently. Early and exclusive use of the ambulance service may reduce treatment delay and improve STEMI outcome. © The European Society of Cardiology 2014.

Clinical Factors and Disease Course Related to Diagnostic Delay in Korean Crohn's Disease Patients: Results from the CONNECT Study.

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Chang Mo Moon

Full Text Available Diagnostic delay frequently occurs in Crohn's disease (CD patients because of diagnostic limitations. However, diagnostic delay and its related factors remain poorly defined. Therefore, we aimed to identify the predictors associated with diagnostic delay and to evaluate the impact of diagnostic delay on clinical course in a Korean CD patient cohort. We performed a multicenter retrospective analysis of 1,047 CD patients registered in the Crohn's Disease Clinical Network and Cohort study in Korea. The mean interval of diagnostic delay was 16.0 ± 33.1 months. Multivariate analysis showed that older age at diagnosis (≥40 years (p = 0.014, concomitant upper gastrointestinal (UGI disease (p = 0.012 and penetrating disease behavior at diagnosis (p = 0.001 were positively associated with long diagnostic delay (≥18 months. During the longitudinal follow-up, long diagnostic delay was independently predictive of further development of intestinal stenosis (hazard ratio [HR], 1.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.93; p = 0.017, internal fistulas (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.12-2.33; p = 0.011, and perianal fistulas (HR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.06-1.80; p = 0.016. However, as for the risk of abscess formation, bowel perforation, and CD-related abdominal surgery, no significant association with diagnostic delay was observed. Older age at diagnosis, UGI involvement, and penetrating behavior are associated with long diagnostic delay in Korean CD patients. Moreover, diagnostic delay is associated with an increased risk of CD-related complications such as intestinal stenosis, internal fistulas, and perianal fistulas.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Early Versus Delayed Statin Therapy in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: ASSORT Trial (Administration of Statin on Acute Ischemic Stroke Patient).

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimura, Shinichi; Uchida, Kazutaka; Daimon, Takashi; Takashima, Ryuzo; Kimura, Kazuhiro; Morimoto, Takeshi

2017-11-01

Several studies suggested that statins during hospitalization were associated with better disability outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke, but only 1 small randomized trial is available. We conducted a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial in patients with acute ischemic strokes in 11 hospitals in Japan. Patients with acute ischemic stroke and dyslipidemia randomly received statins within 24 hours after admission in the early group or on the seventh day in the delayed group, in a 1:1 ratio. Statins were administered for 12 weeks. The primary outcome was patient disability assessed by modified Rankin Scale at 90 days. A total of 257 patients were randomized and analyzed (early 131, delayed 126). At 90 days, modified Rankin Scale score distribution did not differ between groups ( P =0.68), and the adjusted common odds ratio of the early statin group was 0.84 (95% confidence interval, 0.53-1.3; P =0.46) compared with the delayed statin group. There were 3 deaths at 90 days (2 in the early group, 1 in the delayed group) because of malignancy. Ischemic stroke recurred in 9 patients (6.9%) in the early group and 5 patients (4.0%) in the delayed group. The safety profile was similar between groups. Our randomized trial involving patients with acute ischemic stroke and dyslipidemia did not show any superiority of early statin therapy within 24 hours of admission compared with delayed statin therapy 7 days after admission to alleviate the degree of disability at 90 days after onset. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02549846. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Sosiaalisen median markkinointistrategia

OpenAIRE

Tran, Jenny

2017-01-01

Insinöörityön tavoitteena oli suunnitella toimeksiantajayritykselle sopiva sosiaalisen median markkinointistrategia ja avustaa sen toteutuksessa sekä tuottaen sisältöä sovittuihin kanaviin. Pyrkimyksenä oli myös kouluttaa yrityksen henkilökuntaa käyttämään sosiaalista mediaa yleisellä tasolla ja markkinoinnissa tutustuttamalla heidät sosiaalisen median erilaisiin kanaviin ja mainostyökaluihin. Opinnäytetyössä keskityttiin tutkimaan Facebookissa toimivaa markkinointia ja siinä toimivia mai...

The significance of 123I-BMIPP delayed scintigraphic imaging in cardiac patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Akashi, Yoshihiro J; Kida, Keisuke; Suzuki, Kae; Inoue, Koji; Kawasaki, Kensuke; Yamauchi, Masahiro; Musha, Haruki; Anker, Stefan D

2007-04-25

Earlier studies have not fully investigated the significance of radionuclide planar imaging in cardiac patients using the fatty acid analogue 123I-beta-methyl-iodophenylpentadecanoic acid (123I-BMIPP). This study was to clarify the effectiveness of 123I-BMIPP in assessing the heart-to-mediastinum ratio (H/M) and myocardial washout rate (WR) in patients with heart disease. Myocardial 123I-BMIPP imaging was performed in 33 patients (20 with chronic heart failure [CHF] and 13 with stable angina pectoris [AP]) and 11 control subjects. Myocardial 123I-BMIPP planner images were obtained 30 min (early image) and 4 h (delayed image) after tracer injection. The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was measured by quantitative gated single photon emission computed tomography. The concentration of plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) was measured before the scintigraphic study. (1) Delayed H/M was much lower in CHF than in AP (1.93 +/- 0.37 vs. 2.21 +/- 0.38, p acid metabolism disorders in patients with heart disease in both masked and unmasked conditions.

Earlier reperfusion in patients with ST-elevation Myocardial infarction by use of helicopter

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background In patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) reperfusion therapy should be initiated as soon as possible. This study evaluated whether use of a helicopter for transportation of patients is associated with earlier initiation of reperfusion therapy. Material and methods A prospective study was conducted, including patients with STEMI and symptom duration less than 12 hours, who had primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) performed at Aarhus University Hospital in Skejby. Patients with a health care system delay (time from emergency call to first coronary intervention) of more than 360 minutes were excluded. The study period ran from 1.1.2011 until 31.12.2011. A Western Denmark Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) project was initiated 1.6.2011 for transportation of patients with time-critical illnesses, including STEMI. Results The study population comprised 398 patients, of whom 376 were transported by ambulance Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and 22 by HEMS. Field-triage directly to the PCI-center was used in 338 of patients. The median system delay was 94 minutes among those field-triaged, and 168 minutes among those initially admitted to a local hospital. Patients transported by EMS and field-triaged were stratified into four groups according to transport distance from the scene of event to the PCI-center: ≤25 km., 26–50 km., 51–75 km. and > 75 km. For these groups, the median system delay was 78, 89, 99, and 141 minutes. Among patients transported by HEMS and field-triaged the estimated median transport distance by ground transportation was 115 km, and the observed system delay was 107 minutes. Based on second order polynomial regression, it was estimated that patients with a transport distance of >60 km to the PCI-center may benefit from helicopter transportation, and that transportation by helicopter is associated with a system delay of less than 120 minutes even at a transport distance up to 150 km

Cognitive and personality factors in the delay of gratification of hemodialysis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbaum, M; Ben-Ari Smira, K

1986-08-01

On the basis of Mischel's (1984) social learning analysis of the process of delay of gratification in children and in line with Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy theory, we developed a model of delay of gratification in adults and tested it on dialysis patients who were continuously required to comply with a stringent regimen of fluid-intake to keep alive. We hypothesized that patients' self-evaluations of their past compliance and their efficacy expectations would be associated with their actual delay behavior. Underlying these process-regulating cognitions would be stable competencies, such as learned resourcefulness (i.e., one's self-control skills). Fifty-three dialysis patients self-evaluated their fluid intake compliance, their efficacy expectations, and their health beliefs. Resourcefulness was assessed by Rosenbaum's Self-Control Schedule. Actual fluid-intake compliance was reliably assessed by the mean body weight increase between dialyses during the 3-month period prior to the study and during two follow-up periods. The results supported the model. On the one hand, self-efficacy expectations were related to persistence with the fluid diet and on the other hand to subjects' self-evaluation of their past adherence behavior as well as to their resourcefulness. Although the path model suggested a causal pattern, the correlational nature of the study precluded any conclusions on cause-effect relationship.

Study of Relationship Between Illness Perception and Delay in Seeking Help for Breast Cancer Patients Based on Leventhal's Self-Regulation Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Attari, Seyedeh Maryam; Ozgoli, Giti; Solhi, Mahnaz; Alavi Majd, Hamid

2016-01-01

One of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in breast cancer patients is delay in seeking help. Leventhal's self-regulation model provides an appropriate framework to assess delay in seeking help. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between "illness perception" and "help seeking delay" in breast cancer patients based on Leventhal's self-regulation model. In this correlational descriptive study with convenience sampling conducted in 2013, participants were 120 women with breast cancer who were diagnosed in the last year and referred to chemotherapy and radiotherapy centers in Rasht, Iran. Data collection scales included demographic data, Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R)and a researcher made questionnaire to measure the delay in seeking help. Pre-hospital delay (help seeking delay) was evaluated in 3 phases (assessment, disease, behavior). The data were analyzed using SPSS-19. The mean (SD) age calculated for the patients was 47.3±10.2. Some 43% of the patients had a high school or higher education level and 82% were married. The "pre-hospital delay" was reported ≥3 months. Logistic regression analysis showed that none of the illness perception components were correlated with appraisal and behavioral delay phases. In the illness delay phase, "time line" (p-value =0.04) and "risk factors"(p-value=0.03) had significant effects on reducing and "psychological attributions" had significant effects on increasing the delay (p-value =0.01). "Illness coherence" was correlated with decreased pre-hospital patient delay (p-valueperceptions of breast cancer influences delay in seeking help. In addition to verifying the validity of Leventhal's self-regulation model in explaining delay in seeking help, the results signify the importance of the "illness delay phase" (decision to seek help) and educational interventions-counseling for women in the community.

Praeoperativt delay hos patienter med perforeret ulcus: en klinisk audit fra Det Nationale Indikatorprojekt

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Morten Hylander; Nørgård, Bente Mertz; Mehnert, Frank

2009-01-01

was conducted to investigate possible reasons. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients (n = 89) surgically treated for peptic ulcer perforation in six university hospitals in Denmark over a period of one year were included. The association between a number of predefined variables related to the internal organisation......INTRODUCTION: Mortality following perforated peptic ulcer in Denmark is nearly 30%. Delayed surgery is a prognostic factor, but only half of the patients are operated within six hours of perforation - a predefined quality of care criterion in The Danish National Indicator Project. A clinical audit...... size, this audit suggests that long preoperative delay in patients with peptic ulcer perforation is associated with factors related to both the internal organisation of the healthcare system, the patient's pathological picture, and the quality of diagnosis and treatment given. Udgivelsesdato: 2009-Nov...

A Study on Health Seeking Behaviors of Patients of Post-Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis

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Ariful Basher

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Post-Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL remains a major public health threat in Bangladesh. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Surya Kanta Kala azar Research Centre (SKKRC, Mymensingh, from January 2012 to July 2013 to evaluate the health seeking behaviour and the length of delay of PKDL management. The consecutive 200 diagnosed PKDL cases that got treatment in SKKRC hospital were subjected to evaluation. Most (98% of the patients were not aware and had no knowledge about PKDL, though 87.5% had a history of history of Kala-azar treatment. Many patients reported first to village doctor (15.5%, the pharmacy shop (10%, or traditional health provider (7.5% upon recognition of symptom. The time between the initial symptom recognition and first medical consultation (patient delay ranged from 10 days to 4745 days (13 years with a median of 373 days (mean: 696; IQR: 138 to 900 days. The time between first medical consultations to definite treatment (system delay ranged from 0 days to 1971 days (5.4 years, with a median delay of 14 days (mean: 46.48; IQR: 7 to 44 days that was reported in this study. Age, education, occupation, and residential status had significant association with patient delay (P<0.05. Educational status, occupation, number of treatment providers, and first health care provider had a significant association with system delay (P<0.05. Success in PKDL diagnosis and treatment requires specific behavior from patients and health care providers which facilitate those practices.

Isolated neurodevelopmental delay in childhood: clinicoradiological correlation in 170 patients

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Demaerel, P. (Department of Neuroradiology, Hospital for Sick Children, London (United Kingdom)); Kingsley, D.P.E. (Department of Neuroradiology, Hospital for Sick Children, London (United Kingdom)); Kendall, B.E. (Department of Neuroradiology, Hospital for Sick Children, London (United Kingdom))

1993-03-01

CT findings on 170 patients presenting with isolated moderate to severe neurodevelopmental delay have been compared with the final diagnosis. MRI was undertaken in 29 patients. Eighty per cent of the patients remained undiagnosed, and although the MRI findings were abnormal in 65.5% compared with only 30% of the CT examinations, imaging uncommonly suggested a specific diagnosis. Biochemical and chromosomal investigations were significantly more diagnostic. The results of these studies should restrict the number of non-contributory neuroradiological examinations. The superior intrinsic contrast of MRI will detect more lesions, particularly in white matter, but these are rarely diagnostic and where access to MRI is limited, CT is usually adequate. (orig.)

Isolated neurodevelopmental delay in childhood: clinicoradiological correlation in 170 patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demaerel, P.; Kingsley, D.P.E.; Kendall, B.E.

1993-01-01

CT findings on 170 patients presenting with isolated moderate to severe neurodevelopmental delay have been compared with the final diagnosis. MRI was undertaken in 29 patients. Eighty per cent of the patients remained undiagnosed, and although the MRI findings were abnormal in 65.5% compared with only 30% of the CT examinations, imaging uncommonly suggested a specific diagnosis. Biochemical and chromosomal investigations were significantly more diagnostic. The results of these studies should restrict the number of non-contributory neuroradiological examinations. The superior intrinsic contrast of MRI will detect more lesions, particularly in white matter, but these are rarely diagnostic and where access to MRI is limited, CT is usually adequate. (orig.)

Patient and Process Factors Associated With Type of First Neuroimaging and Delayed Diagnosis in Childhood Arterial Ischemic Stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Daverio, Marco; Bressan, Silvia; Gregori, Dario; Babl, Franz E; Mackay, Mark T

2016-09-01

In-hospital factors contribute more to delayed diagnosis of childhood arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) than prehospital factors. We aimed to explore process and patient factors associated with type of and timing to neuroimaging in childhood AIS in the emergency department (ED). This was a retrospective hospital registry-based study of children with AIS, presenting to an Australian tertiary pediatric ED between January 2003 and December 2012. Neuroimaging data and timelines of care were also collected from referring hospitals for transferred patients. Seventy-one AIS episodes and 19 transient ischemic attacks were recorded. The majority (56%) were initially seen at a referring hospital. Patients underwent computed tomography (CT) as first scan more frequently than magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as first scan (61% vs. 32%) at both the referring and the tertiary hospitals. Time to first scan as CT was significantly shorter compared with MRI (median = 1.5 hours vs. 10.9 hours, p first presenting to a referring hospital and those directly accessing the tertiary center. Patient characteristics including age, past medical history, conscious state, focal symptoms, and signs on arrival were not associated with the type of first neuroimaging or time to diagnostic MRI. Patients presenting during weekends were less likely to receive an MRI as first scan (odds ratio [OR] = 0.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.1-0.8), while time to MRI was significantly longer for children presenting after hours (5 pm-8 am; median = 17.6 hours vs. 8.4 hours, p = 0.026). MRI overall and as first scan was associated with a higher use of sedation than CT (OR = 6.5, 95% CI = 1.3-32.9; and OR = 3.9, 95% CI = 1.3-11.8), particularly for children younger than 5 years of age (OR = 12.5, 95% CI = 3-52.4). Strategies to improve rapid diagnosis of pediatric stroke should include shared regional hospital networks protocols to optimize local imaging strategies and where possible rapid transfer to the

Patient reported delays in seeking treatment for Tuberculosis (TB among adult and pediatric TB patients and TB patients co-infected with HIV in Lima, Peru: a qualitative study

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Valerie A Paz-Soldan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Tuberculosis (TB remains a significant public health challenge worldwide, and particularly in Peru with one of the highest incidence rates in Latin America. TB patient behavior has a direct influence on whether a patient will receive timely diagnosis and successful treatment of their illness. Objectives: The objective was to understand the complex factors that can impact TB patient health seeking behavior. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with adult and parents of pediatric patients receiving TB treatment (n=43, within that group a sub-group was also co-infected with HIV (n=11. Results: Almost all of the study participants recognized delays in seeking either their child’s or their own diagnosis of their TB symptoms. The principal reasons for treatment-seeking delays were lack of knowledge and confusion of tuberculosis symptoms, fear and embarrassment of receiving a TB diagnosis, and a patient tendency to self-medicate prior to seeking formal medical attention.Conclusions: Health promotion activities that target patient delays have the potential to improve individual patient outcomes and mitigate the spread of TB at a community level.

Delays in clinical development of neurological drugs in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Ikeda, Masayuki

2017-06-28

The delays in the approval and development of neurological drugs between Japan and other countries have been a major issue for patients with neurological diseases. The objective of this study was to analyze factors contributing to the delay in the launching of neurological drugs in Japan. We analyzed data from Japan and the US for the approval of 42 neurological drugs, all of which were approved earlier in the US than in Japan, and examined the potential factors that may cause the delay of their launch. Introductions of the 42 drugs in Japan occurred at a median of 87 months after introductions in the US. The mean review time of new drug applications for the 20 drugs introduced in Japan in January 2011 or later (15 months) was significantly shorter than that for the other 22 drugs introduced in Japan in December 2010 or earlier (24 months). The lag in the Japan's review time behind the US could not explain the approval delays. In the 31 of the 42 drugs, the application data package included overseas data. The mean review time of these 31 drugs (17 months) was significantly shorter than that of the other 11 drugs without overseas data (26 months). The mean approval lag behind the US of the 31 drugs (78 months) was also significantly shorter than that of the other 11 drugs (134 months). These results show that several important reforms in the Japanese drug development and approval system (e.g., inclusion of global clinical trial data) have reduced the delays in the clinical development of neurological drugs.

MDCT urography: retrospective determination of optimal delay time after intravenous contrast administration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meindl, Thomas; Coppenrath, Eva; Kahlil, Rami; Reiser, Maximilian F.; Mueller-Lisse, U.G.; Mueller-Lisse, Ulrike L.

2006-01-01

The optimal delay time after intravenous (i.v.) administration of contrast medium (CM) for opacifcation of the upper urinary tract (UUT) for multidetector computed tomography urography (MDCTU) was investigated. UUT opacification was retrospectively evaluated in 36 four-row MDCTU examinations. Single- (n=10) or dual-phase (n=26) MDCTU was performed with at least 5-min delay after i.v. CM. UUT was divided into four sections: intrarenal collecting system (IRCS), proximal, middle and distal ureter. Two independent readers rated UUT opacification: 1, none; 2, partial; 3, complete. Numbers and percentages of scores, and the 5%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 95% percentiles of delay time were calculated for each UUT section. After removing diseased segments, 344 segments were analysed. IRCS, proximal and middle ureter were completely opacified in 94% (81/86), 93% (80/86) and 77% (66/86) of cases, respectively. Median delay time was 15 min for complete opacification. The distal ureter was completely opacified in 37% (32/86) of cases and not opacified in 26% (22/86). Median delay time for complete opacification was 11 min with 25% and 75% percentiles of 10 and 16 min, respectively. At MDCTU, opacification of the IRCS, proximal and middle ureter was hardly sensitive to delay time. Delay times between 10 and 16 min were favourable in the distal ureter. (orig.)

The reasons for delay lumbar puncture

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MH. Lotfi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Early diagnosis of meningitis and encephalitis and prompt initiation of appropriate therapy is vital and any delay will lead to high mortality and serious and permanent morbidity. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the management of 220 patients with suspected central nervous system (CNS infections (meningitis and encephalitis to determine the percentage of patients’ suspected CNS infection undergo lumbar puncture in acceptable time (in accordance with conventional algorithms. In this descriptive study, patients with suspected CNS infections admitted to Bu-Ali and Qods hospitals, in the period July 2013 to December 2015 were studied. Information of 220 patients was collected. Continuous variables were summarized as means ± standard deviation and categorical variables as frequencies and percentages. Lumbar puncture (LP in patients was delayed in 200 cases (91%. Most common causes of delay in performing LP were prolongation of the process of determining patient needs to puncture, satisfying patients, CT scan delay and the delay in allowing LP by neurologist. In this study, delaying LP rate was higher than other studies. It seems certain pattern in assistants’ visits for counseling. CT requests and neurologic consultation before LP performed for all adult patients.

Hyperglycaemia and ketosis in a non-diabetic patient--an unusual cause of delayed recovery.

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Pawar, Sundeep T; Nath, Soumya S; Ansari, Farrukh

2014-01-01

We report a case of hyperglycaemia and ketosis developing in a non-diabetic patient who underwent a neurosurgical procedure under general anaesthesia. A 52-year-old non-diabetic female patient underwent excision of acoustic neuroma under general anaesthesia. Pancreatic function was not disturbed and she received a single dose of dexamethasone (8 mg) and paracetamol (1 g). Delayed recovery from anaesthesia occurred. On investigation, she was found to have hyperglycaemia and ketosis. She was further managed on the line of diabetic ketoacidosis. After 24 hours, when blood glucose had normalised and ketosis abated, she could be weaned from mechanical ventilation and extubated. The patient did not receive any drugs known to cause such a condition. To the best of our knowledge, hyperglycaemia and ketosis developing in a non-diabetic patient causing delayed recovery and extubation is here reported for the first time.

123I-BMIPP delayed scintigraphic imaging in patients with chronic heart failure.

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Kida, Keisuke; Akashi, Yoshihiro J; Yoneyama, Kihei; Shimokawa, Mitsuhiro; Musha, Haruki

2008-11-01

The objective of the present study was to clarify the ability of 123I-beta-methyl-iodophenylpentadecanoic acid (123I-BMIPP) to evaluate the heart-to-mediastinum (H/M) ratio and myocardial global washout rate (WR) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). The severity of CHF was evaluated on the basis of the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Twenty patients with CHF (13 with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and 7 with ischemic cardiomyopathy) and 11 age-matched controls underwent myocardial radionuclide imaging. Scintigraphic images were obtained from each participant at the early (30 min following radio-isotope injection) and late (4 h) phases using 123I-BMIPP. The H/M ratio and WR were calculated from planar images. Concentrations of plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were measured prior to the scintigraphic study. The 123I-BMIPP uptake of early H/M and global WR did not significantly differ among groups, but uptake of delayed H/M was significantly lower in patients with NYHA class III than in controls (control 2.47 +/- 0.39; class III 1.78 +/- 0.28, P < 0.05). The uptake of delayed H/M and global WR correlated with plasma log BNP in all participants (r = -0.38, P < 0.05; 0.43, P < 0.05, respectively). These data suggest that 123I-BMIPP uptake of delayed H/M enhances the image of CHF severity. The myocardial WR of 123I-BMIPP also effectively depicted the severity of CHF.

Beneficial Effects of Adjuvant Melatonin in Minimizing Oral Mucositis Complications in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Receiving Concurrent Chemoradiation.

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Onseng, Kittipong; Johns, Nutjaree Pratheepawanit; Khuayjarernpanishk, Thanut; Subongkot, Suphat; Priprem, Aroonsri; Hurst, Cameron; Johns, Jeffrey

2017-12-01

Oral mucositis is a major cause of pain and delayed cancer treatment leading to poor survival in head and neck cancer patients receiving concurrent chemoradiation. The study evaluated the effect of adjuvant melatonin on minimizing oral mucositis complications to reduce these treatment delays and interruptions. A randomized, double-blind, double dummy, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Ubon Ratchathani Cancer Hospital, Thailand. Thirty-nine head and neck cancer patients receiving concurrent chemoradiation (5 days/week of radiation plus chemotherapy three or six cycles). Patients were randomized to receive 20 mg melatonin gargle (or matched placebo) before each irradiation, and 20 mg melatonin capsules (or matched placebo) taken nightly during 7 weeks of concurrent chemoradiation. Endpoints were oral mucositis events (incidence and time to grade 3 mucositis or grade 2 xerostomia), pain medication consumption and quality of life (QOL). Melatonin group reported lower incidence of grade 3 oral mucositis (42% vs. 55%) and grade 2 xerostomia (20% vs. 21%); no statistical significance was detected. Melatonin regimen delayed onset of grade 3 mucositis (median 34 days vs. 50 days; p = 0.0318), allowing median time of 16 more patient visits before its onset and fewer interrupted treatments due to oral mucositis were reported (n = 1 vs. n = 5). There was no difference of grade 2 xerostomia (median 32 days vs. 50 days; p = 0.624). Morphine consumption was also reduced (median 57 mg vs. 0 mg; p = 0.0342), while QOL was comparable during the study period. Adjuvant melatonin delayed the onset of oral mucositis, which enables uninterrupted cancer treatment and reduced the amount of morphine used for pain treatment.

Evaluation of median survival patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia exposed ionizing radiation by the Chornobyl accident, depending on the aminoacid composition of stromal fibroblasts bone marrow and indicators of myelogram

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bebeshko, V.G.; Bruslova, K.M.; Tsvjetkova, N.M.; Pushkar'ova, T.Yi.; Panchenko, L.M.; Yatsemirs'kij, S.N.; Volodyina, T.T.; Lyashenko, L.O.

2015-01-01

The aminoacid composition in the stromal fibroblasts of bone marrow and indexes of hemogram in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemias, which exposed to radiation from the Chornobyl accident, for evaluation of the median survival was investigated. In the study 54 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, residents of Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine were involved. Effectiveness of stromal fibroblasts colony forming units of bone marrow and aminoacid composition of fibroblasts were studied. Bone marrow examination was conducted on day 33 and after stop of chemotherapy, the median survival of patients and exposure dose were evaluated. In children with acute leukemias effectiveness of stromal fibroblasts of bone marrow was 2-2.3 times lower than normative. Correlation (r_s = +0.83) between the number of erythroid progenitor cells in the bone marrow and proline content in stromal fibroblasts established . The correlation between patients median survival and number of granulocytes in myelogram (r_s = + 0.82) was proven. Mean exposure doses in patients was (5.86 ±1.11) mSv and it did not correlate with myelogram results, effectiveness of stromal fibroblasts of bone marrow and median survival. The median survival of patients with acute leukemias depends on the content of amino acids in stromal fibroblasts of bone marrow and recover of hematopoiesis after chemotherapy

Survival analysis for predictive factors of delay vaccination in Iranian children

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Abolfazl Mohammadbeigi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Today, beside immunization coverage the age appropriate vaccination is another helpful index in public health. Evidences have shown that high immunization coverage rates do not necessarily imply age-appropriate vaccination status. The current study aimed to show the predictive factors of delayed vaccination by survival models. Methods: A historical cohort study conducted on 3610 children aged between 24 and 47 months who was living in the suburbs of five big cities of Iran. Time of delay in vaccination of first dose of mumps-measles-rubella (MMR was calculated from date of vaccination minus age appropriate time according to vaccine card. Kaplan-Maier and Log rank tests were used for comparison the median of delay time. For controlling of confounding variables, multivariate cox model was used and hazard ratio with 95% confidence interval (95% was reported. Results: The mean ± standard deviation and median interquartile range of delay time was 38.34 ± 73.1 and 16 (11-31 days in delayed group. The Log rank test showed that city of living, nationality, parents′ education, and birth order are related with prolonged delay time in MMR vaccination (P 0.05. Cox regression showed that city of living, mother education, and nationality are the most predictive factors of delay time duration in MMR vaccination. Conclusions: Delay time duration of vaccination increased by faring from capital to the east south. Moreover, concentration of foreign immigrants in big cities and low level of mother education are the most predictors of delayed vaccination. Educational intervention should focus on immigrants and mothers with low education level.

Delay in estrogen commencement is associated with lower bone mineral density in Turner syndrome.

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Nguyen, H H; Wong, P; Strauss, B J; Jones, G; Ebeling, P R; Milat, F; Vincent, A

2017-10-01

Turner syndrome (TS) is associated with hypogonadism, osteoporosis and fractures. We investigated the prevalence and risk factors for low bone density and fractures in a TS cohort. We included 76 TS patients (median age 28.5 years) attending a tertiary hospital between 1998 and 2015 who underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Spine and femoral neck (FN) areal bone mineral density (aBMD) were compared with those of a control group. To adjust for smaller bone size, bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) was calculated. Primary amenorrhea was common (83%) in the TS cohort; the median age of pubertal induction was 15 years (range 11-30 years), and non-continuous estrogen therapy (ET) recorded in 40%. Almost one-third of TS patients reported fractures. TS patients had lower median spinal aBMD (1.026 g/cm 2 vs. 1.221 g/cm 2 ) and BMAD (0.156 g/cm 3 vs. 0.161 g/cm 3 ) than controls, and lower median FN aBMD (0.850 g/cm 2 vs. 1.026 g/cm 2 ) (all p < 0.01). More women with TS had spinal Z-score < -2.0 compared to controls (26.0% vs. 3.6%, p = 0.001). Spine and FN aBMD, BMAD and Z-scores were inversely associated with age commencing ET or years of estrogen deficiency. Delay in ET commencement was an independent risk factor for the lower bone density observed in women with TS. Early pubertal induction and ET compliance are important targets to optimize aBMD.

Delayed follow-up in patients with diabetic retinopathy in South India: Social factors and impact on disease progression

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Natrajan Vengadesan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To identify social factors associated with delayed follow-up in South Indian patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR and to study DR progression during the delayed follow-up period. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 500 consecutive patients with DR returning after greater than twice the advised follow-up period were identified from a tertiary referral center in South India. A previously validated 19-item questionnaire was administered to study patients to assess causes for the follow-up delay. Patient demographics, DR status, and treatment plan were recorded at the study visit and the visit immediately before the delay. The eye with the most severe disease was included in the analysis. Results: Complete data were available for 491 (98.2% patients. Among these, 248 (50.5% cited “my eyes were okay at the time,” 201 (41.0% cited “no attender to accompany me,” and 190 (38.6% cited “financial cost” as causes of the follow-up delay. Those with vision-threatening DR (VTDR, n = 233 predominantly reported “financial cost” (47% vs. 32%, P= 0.001, whereas those with non-VTDR more frequently reported “my eyes were okay at the time” (58% vs. 42%, P= 0.001. Evidence of disease progression from non-VTDR to VTDR was seen in 67 (26% patients. Almost 1/3rd (29% of patients who were previously advised regular examination required additional intervention. Conclusion: Many patient-level factors affect poor compliance with follow-up in DR, and these factors vary by disease severity. Targeting these barriers to care through patient education and clinic procedures may promote timely follow-up and better outcomes in these patients.

Characteristics of patients in a ward of Academic Internal Medicine: implications for medical care, training programmes and research.

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Becchi, Maria Angela; Pescetelli, Michele; Caiti, Omar; Carulli, Nicola

2010-06-01

To describe the characteristics of "delayed discharge patients" and the factors associated with "delayed discharges", we performed a 12-month observational study on patients classified as "delayed discharge patients" admitted to an Academic Internal Medicine ward. We assessed the demographic variables, the number and severity of diseases using the Geriatric Index of Comorbidity (GIC), the cognitive, affective and functional status using, respectively, the Mini Mental Stare Examination, the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Barthel Index. We assessed the total length of stay (T-LHS), the total inappropriate length of stay (T-ILHS), the median length of stays (M-LHS), the median inappropriate length of stay (M-ILHS) and evaluated the factors associated with delayed discharge. "Delayed discharge patients" were 11.9% of all patients. The mean age was 81.9 years, 74.0% were in the IV class of GIC and 33.5% were at the some time totally dependent and affected by severe or non-assessable cognitive impairments. The patients had 2584 T-LHS, of which 1058 (40.9%) were T-ILHS. Their M-LHS was 15 days, and the M-ILHS was 5 days. In general, the greater the LHS, the greater is the ILHS (Spearman's rho + 0.68, P < 0.001). Using a multivariate analysis, only the absence of formal aids before hospitalisation is independently associated with delayed discharge (F = 4.39, P = 0.038). The majority of the delays (69%) resulted from the difficulty in finding beds in long-term hospital wards, but the longest M-ILHS (9 days) was found in patients waiting for the Geriatric Evaluation Unit. The profile of patients and the pattern of hospital utilisation suggest a need to reorient the health care system, and to develop appropriate resources for the academic functions of education, research and patient care.

Emotions delay care-seeking in patients with an acute myocardial infarction.

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Nymark, Carolin; Mattiasson, Anne-Cathrine; Henriksson, Peter; Kiessling, Anna

2014-02-01

In acute myocardial infarction the risk of death and loss of myocardial tissue is at its highest during the first few hours. However, the process from symptom onset to the decision to seek medical care can take time. To comprehend patients' pre-hospital delay, attention must be focused on the circumstances preceding the decision to seek medical care. To add a deeper understanding of patients' thoughts, feelings and actions that preceded the decision to seek medical care when afflicted by an acute myocardial infarction. Fourteen men and women with a first or second acute myocardial infarction were interviewed individually in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed by qualitative content analysis. Four themes were conceptualized: 'being incapacitated by fear, anguish and powerlessness', 'being ashamed of oneself', 'fear of losing a healthy identity' and 'striving to avoid fear by not interacting with others'. Patients were torn between feelings such as anguish, fear, shame and powerlessness. They made an effort to uphold their self-image as being a healthy person thus affected by an unrecognized discomfort. This combined with a struggle to protect others from involvement, strengthened the barriers to seeking care. The present study indicates that emotional reactions are important and influence patients' pre-hospital behaviour. Being ashamed of oneself stood out as a novel finding. Emotions might be an important explanation of undesired and persisting patient delays. However, our findings have to and should be evaluated quantitatively. Such a study is in progress.

Antibiotic treatment delay and outcome in acute bacterial meningitis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Køster-Rasmussen, Rasmus; Korshin, André; Meyer, Christian N

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To identify to what degree in-hospital delay of antibiotic therapy correlated to outcome in community acquired bacterial meningitis. METHODS: All cases of culture-positive cerebrospinal fluids in east Denmark from 2002 to 2004 were included. Medical records were collected retrospectiv......OBJECTIVES: To identify to what degree in-hospital delay of antibiotic therapy correlated to outcome in community acquired bacterial meningitis. METHODS: All cases of culture-positive cerebrospinal fluids in east Denmark from 2002 to 2004 were included. Medical records were collected......=1.30/h, CI: 1.08-1.57). The median delay to the first dose of adequate antibiotics was 1h and 39min (1h and 14min in children vs. 2h in adults, pmeningitis. CONCLUSION: The delay in antibiotic therapy correlated...

Delay discounting, impulsiveness, and addiction severity in opioid-dependent patients.

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Robles, Elias; Huang, B Emma; Simpson, Pippa M; McMillan, Donald E

2011-12-01

Individuals who abuse drugs show higher delay discounting (DD) rate and impulsiveness scores compared with controls; however, it is unclear if DD rate covaries with severity of the addiction or if an individual's discounting rate can be changed by effective substance abuse treatment. This study compared methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) patients (n = 30) who had not used illegal drugs for 2 years with drug-using MMT patients (n = 30) and controls (n = 25) in terms of addiction severity, DD rate, and impulsiveness. Methadone patients abstinent from illegal drugs scored significantly lower on a number of addiction severity measures than the drug-using methadone patients. In addition, both groups of MMT patients showed significantly higher rates of DD and impulsiveness than the control group; however, no differences in DD rate or impulsiveness were found between the groups of patients. Results suggest that DD rate and impulsiveness may not covary with indicators of addiction severity in MMT patients. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Quantification of FDG-PET/CT with delayed imaging in patients with newly diagnosed recurrent breast cancer.

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Baun, Christina; Falch, Kirsten; Gerke, Oke; Hansen, Jeanette; Nguyen, Tram; Alavi, Abass; Høilund-Carlsen, Poul-Flemming; Hildebrandt, Malene G

2018-05-09

Several studies have shown the advantage of delayed-time-point imaging with 18F-FDG-PET/CT to distinguish malignant from benign uptake. This may be relevant in cancer diseases with low metabolism, such as breast cancer. We aimed at examining the change in SUV from 1 h (1h) to 3 h (3h) time-point imaging in local and distant lesions in patients with recurrent breast cancer. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of partial volume correction in the different types of metastases, using semi-automatic quantitative software (ROVER™). One-hundred and two patients with suspected breast cancer recurrence underwent whole-body PET/CT scans 1h and 3h after FDG injection. Semi-quantitative standardised uptake values (SUVmax, SUVmean) and partial volume corrected SUVmean (cSUVmean), were estimated in malignant lesions, and as reference in healthy liver tissue. The change in quantitative measures from 1h to 3h was calculated, and SUVmean was compared to cSUVmean. Metastases were verified by biopsy. Of the 102 included patients, 41 had verified recurrent disease with in median 15 lesions (range 1-70) amounting to a total of 337 malignant lesions included in the analysis. SUVmax of malignant lesions increased from 6.4 ± 3.4 [0.9-19.7] (mean ± SD, min and max) at 1h to 8.1 ± 4.4 [0.7-29.7] at 3h. SUVmax in breast, lung, lymph node and bone lesions increased significantly (p < 0.0001) between 1h and 3h by on average 25, 40, 33, and 27%, respectively. A similar pattern was observed with (uncorrected) SUVmean. Partial volume correction increased SUVmean significantly, by 63 and 71% at 1h and 3h imaging, respectively. The highest impact was in breast lesions at 3h, where cSUVmean increased by 87% compared to SUVmean. SUVs increased from 1h to 3h in malignant lesions, SUVs of distant recurrence were in general about twice as high as those of local recurrence. Partial volume correction caused significant increases in these values. However, it is questionable, if

Delayed-onset complications of facial soft tissue augmentation with permanent fillers in 85 patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kadouch, Jonathan A.; Kadouch, Daniel J.; Fortuin, Shai; van Rozelaar, Leo; Karim, Refaat B.; Hoekzema, Rick

2013-01-01

To evaluate factors influencing the onset and type of adverse events in patients injected with permanent fillers in the face and to propose a therapeutic strategy for these complications. A prospectively attained series of 85 patients with delayed-onset complications after facial injection with

Myofibroma in the Palm Presenting with Median Nerve Compression Symptoms

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Heidi Sarkozy, PA-C, BS

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Summary: A myofibroma is a benign proliferation of myofibroblasts in the connective tissue. Solitary myofibromas are a rare finding especially in an adult. We report a case of a 23-year-old man presenting with an enlarging mass over his right palm. The patient is an active weight lifter. He reported numbness and tingling in the median nerve distribution. Nerve conduction studies and magnetic resonance imaging scans suggested a tumor involving or compressing the median nerve. The final diagnosis of myofibroma was made only after the histopathological diagnosis.

Delay in presentation to the hospital and factors affecting it in breast cancer patients attending tertiary care center in Central India.

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Thakur, N A; Humne, A Y; Godale, L B

2015-01-01

Despite lower incidence of breast cancer in India, the total number of cases and the net mortality is high. To reduce this increasing load of mortality due to breast cancer we need to lay emphasis on early detection and increased use of systemic therapy. Early detection itself depends on early presentation to a health facility; thus, it is important to identify factors affecting delay in a presentation to hospital. To study the clinico-social profile of breast carcinoma patients attending a tertiary care hospital and to study the time lag since detection of lump by women and presentation to the hospital and factors affecting them. A total of 120 primary breast cancer patients visiting a tertiary care hospital over a period of 7 months (August 2010 to February 2011) were taken up for study. A detailed retrospective analysis of patients was done according to planned proforma. Maximum study subjects were in the age group of 41-50 years. Right and left breasts were equally affected. The most common histo-pathological type of breast carcinoma observed was invasive ductal carcinoma (NOS) in 105 (87.50%) cases. Majority of the cases were in stage III or stage II. The median time lag self-detection of lump in the breast by women and presentation to the hospital was 6 months. Women living in a rural area, those with lower socio-economic status and those with older age tend to assess health-care late. Carcinoma of the breast is a common cancer affecting young to middle age group with invasive ductal carcinoma being the most common histological type. Delay in presentation and late stage presentation is a major concern. Hence, proper awareness and screening programmers are needed to identify, inform and educate these categories of women.

A comparison of freeway median crash frequency, severity, and barrier strike outcomes by median barrier type.

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Russo, Brendan J; Savolainen, Peter T

2018-08-01

Median-crossover crashes are among the most hazardous events that can occur on freeways, often resulting in severe or fatal injuries. The primary countermeasure to reduce the occurrence of such crashes is the installation of a median barrier. When installation of a median barrier is warranted, transportation agencies are faced with the decision among various alternatives including concrete barriers, beam guardrail, or high-tension cable barriers. Each barrier type differs in terms of its deflection characteristics upon impact, the required installation and maintenance costs, and the roadway characteristics (e.g., median width) where installation would be feasible. This study involved an investigation of barrier performance through an in-depth analysis of crash frequency and severity data from freeway segments where high-tension cable, thrie-beam, and concrete median barriers were installed. A comprehensive manual review of crash reports was conducted to identify crashes in which a vehicle left the roadway and encroached into the median. This review also involved an examination of crash outcomes when a barrier strike occurred, which included vehicle containment, penetration, or re-direction onto the travel lanes. The manual review of crash reports provided critical supplementary information through narratives and diagrams not normally available through standard fields on police crash report forms. Statistical models were estimated to identify factors that affect the frequency, severity, and outcomes of median-related crashes, with particular emphases on differences between segments with varying median barrier types. Several roadway-, traffic-, and environmental-related characteristics were found to affect these metrics, with results varying across the different barrier types. The results of this study provide transportation agencies with important guidance as to the in-service performance of various types of median barrier. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

Relevance of 123I-BMIPP delayed scintigraphic imaging for patients with angina pectoris – a pilot study

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Koyama, Kohei; Akashi, Yoshihiro J.; Kida, Keisuke; Suzuki, Kengo; Ishibashi, Yuki; Musha, Haruki; Banach, Maciej

2011-01-01

Introduction The study was designed to clarify the role of 123I-β-methyl-iodophenylpentadecanoic acid (123I-BMIPP) in the evaluation of myocardial fatty acid metabolism in patients with stable angina pectoris (AP) before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Material and methods Ten controls (mean age: 70.4 ±10.5 years) and 12 patients with AP (mean age: 67.4 ±11.6 years) and single vessel coronary artery disease participated in the radionuclide cardiac study. Scintigraphic images were acquired at 30 min and at 4 h after 123I-BMIPP injection to determine early and delayed BMIPP uptake, respectively. The heart-to-mediastinum (H/M) ratio and the washout rate (WR) were calculated from the planar images. All patients underwent scintigraphy one day before PCI and again 1 month after successful PCI. Results No significant differences in the early or delayed H/M ratios were observed between the patients and the controls before PCI (early: 2.70 ±0.36 vs. 2.73 ±0.57; delayed: 2.26 ±0.33 vs. 2.40 ±0.43; p > 0.2 for both). The early and delayed H/M ratios remained unchanged with the comparison with before PCI (early: 2.72 ±0.27, delayed: 2.23 ±0.22; p > 0.2 for both). The global WR before PCI was significantly higher in the patients than in the control group (36.7 ±9.3%, vs. 28.1 ±8.2%, p = 0.02). However, the WR after PCI did not significantly differ between the patients and the controls (34.3 ±7.8% vs. 28.1 ±8.2%, p = 0.1). Conclusions These data may suggest that the WR of 123I-BMIPP determined from the planar images enhances the presence of myocardial ischaemia. PMID:22295024

Wound infection after median sternotomy during the war in Croatia.

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Jelić, I; Anić, D; Alfirević, I; Kalinić, S; Ugljen, R; Letica, D; Ante Korda, Z; Vucemilo, I; Bulat, C; Predrijevac, M; Corić, V; Husar, J; Jelic, M; Hulina, D; Depina, I; Dadić, D

1996-12-01

From 1990 to 1994 at Clinical Hospital Center, Zagreb, 1904 median sternotomies were performed for cardiac operations. Patients shared the same intensive care unit (ICU) with the wounded persons, admitted to the hospital from battlefield. Infection developed in 124 patients, an incidence of 6.51%. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was isolated from 90, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) from 19, and gram negative bacilli (GNB) from 56 patients, Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 2, and Clostridium pneumoniae in 1 case. Ninety-six patients (5.04%) developed superficial localized infection of subcutaneous tissues and they were treated with frequent dressing changes with antibiotic-soaked gauze in combination with systemic antibiotics. Twenty-eight patients (1.47%) developed mediastinitis and sternal dehiscence. They were treated by operative debridement followed by reclosure of the sternum with continuous antibiotic irrigation. We obtained satisfactory results with our method of closure of sternum which is a modification of Robicsek's technique. Nine of them required further operation. In seven cases we performed muscle flaps and in two omentoplasty. One hundred and twenty patients were discharged in satisfactory condition. The uncontrolled mediastinal sepsis caused death in 4 patients. Higher infection rate after median sternotomy during 1991 and 1992 could be possibly explained with the war circumstances in Croatia, and especially with MRSA strain becoming endemic in surgical ICU.

Impact of health care system delay in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction on return to labor market and work retirement.

Science.gov (United States)

Laut, Kristina Grønborg; Hjort, Jacob; Engstrøm, Thomas; Jensen, Lisette Okkels; Tilsted Hansen, Hans-Henrik; Jensen, Jan Skov; Pedersen, Frants; Jørgensen, Erik; Holmvang, Lene; Pedersen, Alma Becic; Christensen, Erika Frischknecht; Lippert, Freddy; Lang-Jensen, Torsten; Jans, Henning; Hansen, Poul Anders; Trautner, Sven; Kristensen, Steen Dalby; Lassen, Jens Flensted; Lash, Timothy L; Clemmensen, Peter; Terkelsen, Christian Juhl

2014-12-15

System delay (delay from emergency medical service call to reperfusion with primary percutaneous coronary intervention [PPCI]) is acknowledged as a performance measure in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), as shorter system delay is associated with lower mortality. It is unknown whether system delay also impacts ability to stay in the labor market. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate whether system delay is associated with duration of absence from work or time to retirement from work among patients with STEMI treated with PPCI. We conducted a population-based cohort study including patients ≤67 years of age who were admitted with STEMI from January 1, 1999, to December 1, 2011 and treated with PPCI. Data were derived from Danish population-based registries. Only patients who were full- or part-time employed before their STEMI admission were included. Association between system delay and time to return to the labor market was analyzed using a competing-risk regression analysis. Association between system delay and time to retirement from work was analyzed using a Cox regression model. A total of 4,061 patients were included. Ninety-three percent returned to the labor market during 4 years of follow-up, and 41% retired during 8 years of follow-up. After adjustment, system delay >120 minutes was associated with reduced resumption of work (subhazard ratio 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.81 to 0.92) and earlier retirement from work (hazard ratio 1.21, 95% confidence interval 1.08 to 1.36). In conclusion, system delay was associated with reduced work resumption and earlier retirement. This highlights the value of system delay as a performance measure in treating patients with STEMI. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An empirical assessment of boarding and quality of care: delays in care among chest pain, pneumonia, and cellulitis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shan W; Chang, Yuchiao; Weissman, Joel S; Griffey, Richard T; Thomas, James; Nergui, Suvd; Hamedani, Azita G; Camargo, Carlos A; Singer, Sara

2011-12-01

As hospital crowding has increased, more patients have ended up boarding in the emergency department (ED) awaiting their inpatient beds. To the best of our knowledge, no study has compared the quality of care of boarded and nonboarded patients. This study sought to examine whether being a boarded patient and boarding longer were associated with more delays, medication errors, and adverse events among ED patients admitted with chest pain, pneumonia, or cellulitis. This study was a retrospective cohort design in which data collection was accomplished via medical record review from two urban teaching hospitals. Patients admitted with chest pain, pneumonia, or cellulitis between August 2004 and January 2005 were eligible for inclusion. Our outcomes measures were: 1) delays in administration of home medications, cardiac enzyme tests, partial thromboplastin time (PTT), and antibiotics; 2) medication errors; and 3) adverse events or near misses. Primary independent variables were boarded status, boarding time, and boarded time interval. Multiple logistic regression models controlling for patient, ED, and hospital characteristics were used. A total of 1,431 patient charts were included: 811 with chest pain, 387 with pneumonia, and 233 with cellulitis. Boarding time was associated with an increased odds of home medication delays (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05 to 1.10), as were boarded time intervals of 12, 18, and 24 hours. Boarding time also was associated with lower odds of having a late cardiac enzyme test (AOR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.88 to 0.97). Boarding was associated with home medication delays, but fewer cardiac enzyme test delays. Boarding was not associated with delayed PTT checks, antibiotic administration, medication errors, or adverse events/near misses. These findings likely reflect the inherent resources of the ED and the inpatient units. © 2011 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Sosiaalisen median riskit yritysmaailmassa

OpenAIRE

Kilpinen, Joni

2015-01-01

Sosiaalisen median palveluista on kirjoitettu lukuisia kirjoja ja artikkeleita, joissa niitä ylistetään varsinkin yritysnäkökulmasta. Vaikka sosiaalinen media on muuttanut olennaisesti tapaa, jolla keskustella, mainostaa, etsiä ja jakaa tietoa, piilee sen palveluiden käytössä kuitenkin erilaisia uhkakuvia. Yritykset ja asiantuntijat pelkäävät sosiaalisen median avoimuuden aiheuttavan suuria tietoturvariskejä. Lisäksi asiantuntijat ovat varoitelleet sosiaalisessa mediassa olevista haittaohjelm...

GPU Accelerated Vector Median Filter

Science.gov (United States)

Aras, Rifat; Shen, Yuzhong

2011-01-01

Noise reduction is an important step for most image processing tasks. For three channel color images, a widely used technique is vector median filter in which color values of pixels are treated as 3-component vectors. Vector median filters are computationally expensive; for a window size of n x n, each of the n(sup 2) vectors has to be compared with other n(sup 2) - 1 vectors in distances. General purpose computation on graphics processing units (GPUs) is the paradigm of utilizing high-performance many-core GPU architectures for computation tasks that are normally handled by CPUs. In this work. NVIDIA's Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) paradigm is used to accelerate vector median filtering. which has to the best of our knowledge never been done before. The performance of GPU accelerated vector median filter is compared to that of the CPU and MPI-based versions for different image and window sizes, Initial findings of the study showed 100x improvement of performance of vector median filter implementation on GPUs over CPU implementations and further speed-up is expected after more extensive optimizations of the GPU algorithm .

Predictors of delay in starting radiation treatment for patients with early stage breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benk, Veronique; Ho, Vivian; Fortin, Paul R.; Zhang, G.; Levinton, Carey; Freeman, C.R.

1998-01-01

Purpose: To describe the factors predicting waiting time for radiation treatment in early breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Between January 1992 and December 1993, 739 patients with Stage I and II breast cancer were treated with conservative treatment at three McGill University Hospitals. Waiting time was defined as the interval between the date of surgery and the date of the first radiation treatment. Delay was defined as a waiting time of more than 7 weeks for women who did not receive chemotherapy (Group NC, n 478), and as a waiting time of more than 24 weeks for those who received chemotherapy (Group C, n = 261). We analyzed predictive factors related to the patient (age, stage, treatment on protocol, income by postal code) and to the referring hospital (university or community hospital). Results: For the entire population, 54% of patients were delayed, 72% in Group NC and 21.4% in Group C. Univariate analysis showed an impact of referring hospital in both groups, and of stage and treatment on protocol in Group C (all p = 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that delays were significantly less in Group NC for women referred from a community hospital (p = 0.001) and in Group C for women with Stage I disease (p = 0.06), those treated on protocol, and those referred from a university hospital (p = 0.001). Conclusion: More than half of patients with early breast cancer waited more than the recommended intervals for radiation therapy. However, lower income breast cancer patients did not wait longer for treatment than higher income patients, possibly a result of the Canadian Medicare system which provides universal access to health care

Delay From First Medical Contact to Primary PCI and All‐Cause Mortality: A Nationwide Study of Patients With ST‐Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Science.gov (United States)

Koul, Sasha; Andell, Pontus; Martinsson, Andreas; Gustav Smith, J.; van der Pals, Jesper; Scherstén, Fredrik; Jernberg, Tomas; Lagerqvist, Bo; Erlinge, David

2014-01-01

Background Early reperfusion in the setting of an ST‐elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is of utmost importance. However, the effects of early versus late reperfusion in this patient group undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have so far been inconsistent in previous studies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate in a nationwide cohort the effects of delay from first medical contact to PCI (first medical contact [FMC]‐to‐PCI) and secondarily delay from symptom‐to‐PCI on clinical outcomes. Methods and Results Using the national Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Register (SCAAR) registry, STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI between the years 2003 and 2008 were screened for. A total of 13 790 patients were included in the FMC‐to‐PCI analysis and 11 489 patients were included in the symptom‐to‐PCI analyses. Unadjusted as well as multivariable analyses showed an overall significant association between increasing FMC‐to‐PCI delay and 1‐year mortality. A statistically significant increase in mortality was noted at FMC‐to‐PCI delays exceeding 1 hour in an incremental fashion. FMC‐to‐PCI delays in excess of 1 hour were also significantly associated with an increase in severe left ventricular dysfunction at discharge. An overall significant association between increasing symptom‐to‐PCI delays and 1‐year mortality was noted. However, when stratified into time delay cohorts, no symptom‐to‐PCI delay except for the highest time delay showed a statistically significant association with increased mortality. Conclusions Delays in FMC‐to‐PCI were strongly associated with increased mortality already at delays of more than 1 hour, possibly through an increase in severe heart failure. A goal of FMC‐to‐PCI of less than 1 hour might save patient lives. PMID:24595190

Switching non-local median filter

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuoka, Jyohei; Koga, Takanori; Suetake, Noriaki; Uchino, Eiji

2015-06-01

This paper describes a novel image filtering method for removal of random-valued impulse noise superimposed on grayscale images. Generally, it is well known that switching-type median filters are effective for impulse noise removal. In this paper, we propose a more sophisticated switching-type impulse noise removal method in terms of detail-preserving performance. Specifically, the noise detector of the proposed method finds out noise-corrupted pixels by focusing attention on the difference between the value of a pixel of interest (POI) and the median of its neighboring pixel values, and on the POI's isolation tendency from the surrounding pixels. Furthermore, the removal of the detected noise is performed by the newly proposed median filter based on non-local processing, which has superior detail-preservation capability compared to the conventional median filter. The effectiveness and the validity of the proposed method are verified by some experiments using natural grayscale images.

Diagnostics of septic arthritis in the sternoclavicular region - 10 consecutive patients and literature review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bodker, Tina; Jurik, Anne Grethe; Toettrup, Mikkel; Kjaer Petersen, Klaus

2013-01-01

Background: Septic arthritis in the sternoclavicular (SC) region is rare and may be difficult to diagnose clinically and radiologically. It mainly affects immunocompromised persons, and can clinically be misinterpreted as tumor and rheumatic disorders. Lacking radiological reference standard, a multimodality approach may contribute to a prolonged diagnostic process. Purpose: To describe the diagnostics of septic arthritis in the SC region. Material and Methods: Between 2001 and 2011, 10 patients with Staphylococcus infection in the SC region were investigated in our institution. Clinical, biochemical, radiological, and microbiological findings were studied retrospectively; all CT and MR examinations were re-evaluated. Results: Initial radiography in nine patients and ultrasonography in six patients were inconclusive resulting in supplementary MRI and/or CT. Five patients examined by MRI were immediately diagnosed with septic arthritis whereas CT in five patients led to the diagnosis in only one. Three were subsequently diagnosed by MRI, but delayed more than 2.5 weeks, and one was diagnosed by surgery. The median time to diagnosis was 1.5 weeks. The delay caused by imaging was 0 days to 11.5 weeks (median 0 days). By re-evaluation overlooked complications included mediastinitis in seven patients (three diffuse, four localized), and abscesses and pleuritis each in four patients. Conclusion: Awareness of infection in the SC region is important to avoid diagnostic delay. MRI is proposed as the initial imaging procedure

Patient Related Factors Associated with Delayed Reporting in Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Akram

2014-01-01

Conclusions: The results of this study provide guidance towards interventions to reduce patient delay. Interventions should target the rural, older age group and lower socioeconomic population for educating them and to change their psychosocial behavior for oral and oropharyngeal cancer.

Functional Median Polish

KAUST Repository

Sun, Ying; Genton, Marc G.

2012-01-01

polish is demonstrated by comparing its performance with the traditional functional ANOVA fitted by means under different outlier models in simulation studies. The functional median polish is illustrated on various applications in climate science

Dyspeptic symptoms and delayed gastric emptying of solids in patients with inactive Crohn’s disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nóbrega Ana Carolina Mello

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients with Crohn’s disease (CD have been shown to present dyspeptic symptoms more frequently than the general population. Some of these symptoms could be related to motility disorders to some degree. Then, we propose to investigate whether gastric emptying of solids in patients with inactive CD is delayed and to determine the relationships between gastric emptying and dyspeptic symptoms in inactive CD. Methods Twenty-six patients with inactive Crohn’s disease, as defined by a Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI 13C octanoic acid coupled to a solid meal and answered a validated questionnaire (The Porto Alegre Dyspeptic Symptoms Questionnaire to assess dyspeptic symptoms. Patients with scores ≥ 6 were considered to have dyspepsia. The control group was composed by 19 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Results Patients with CD had a significantly longer t 1/2 and t lag (p Conclusion Delayed gastric emptying in inactive Crohn’s disease patients seems to be associated with dyspeptic symptoms, particularly vomiting, even without any evidence of gastrointestinal obstruction.

Five Roots Pattern of Median Nerve Formation

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Konstantinos Natsis

2016-04-01

Full Text Available An unusual combination of median nerve’s variations has been encountered in a male cadaver during routine educational dissection. In particular, the median nerve was formed by five roots; three roots originated from the lateral cord of the brachial plexus joined individually the median nerve’s medial root. The latter (fourth root was united with the lateral (fifth root of the median nerve forming the median nerve distally in the upper arm and not the axilla as usually. In addition, the median nerve was situated medial to the brachial artery. We review comprehensively the relevant variants, their embryologic development and their potential clinical applications.

Service factors causing delay in specialist assessment for TIA and minor stroke: a qualitative study of GP and patient perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Andrew; Coleby, Dawn; Regen, Emma; Phelps, Kay; Windridge, Kate; Willars, Janet; Robinson, Tom

2016-05-17

To understand how service factors contribute to delays to specialist assessment following transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke. Qualitative study using semistructured interviews, analysis by constant comparison. Leicester, UK. Patients diagnosed with TIA or minor stroke, at hospital admission or in a rapid-access TIA clinic (n=42), general practitioners (GPs) of participating patients if they had been involved in the patients' care (n=18). Accounts from patients and GPs of factors contributing to delay following action to seek help from a healthcare professional (HCP). The following categories of delay were identified. First, delay in assessment in general practice following contact with the service; this related to availability of same day appointments, and the role of the receptionist in identifying urgent cases. Second, delays in diagnosis by the HCP first consulted, including GPs, optometrists, out-of-hours services, walk-in centres and the emergency department. Third, delays in referral after a suspected diagnosis; these included variable use of the ABCD(2) (Age, Blood pressure, Clinical features, Duration, Diabetes) risk stratification score and referral templates in general practice, and referral back to the patients' GP in cases where he/she was not the first HCP consulted. Primary and emergency care providers need to review how they can best handle patients presenting with symptoms that could be due to stroke or TIA. In general practice, this may include receptionist training and/or triage by a nurse or doctor. Mechanisms need to be established to enable direct referral to the TIA clinic when patients whose symptoms have resolved present to other agencies. Further work is needed to improve diagnostic accuracy by non-specialists. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Intraneural hemangioma of the median nerve: A case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sevinç Teoman

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Hemangiomas of the median nerve are very rare and, so far, only ten cases of intraneural hemangioma of this nerve have been reported in the literature. We present a case of 14-year-old girl who had a soft tissue mass in the region of the left wrist with signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Total removal of the mass was achieved using microsurgical epineural and interfasicular dissection. The symptoms were relieved completely, after this procedure, without any neurologic deficit. On follow-up two years later, no recurrence was observed. Whenever a child or young adult patient presents with CTS the possibility of a hemangioma involving the median nerve should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis.

Monitoring delays in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in eight cities in Colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David A. Rodríguez

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective To measure time between onset of tuberculosis (TB symptoms and start of treatment, and to identify factors associated with delay in eight Colombian cities. Methods Operational research with a retrospective analytical cohort design was conducted in 2014 using routinely collected data about new smear-positive pulmonary TB patients from eight cities in Colombia (Barranquilla, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cúcuta, Medellín, Pereira, and Villavicencio. Date of symptom onset was sourced from TB surveillance databases. Data on all other variables came from National TB Program (NTP registers. Results There were 2 545 new cases of smear-positive pulmonary TB, but a plausible date of symptom onset was available for only 1 456 (57%. Median number of days between symptom onset and treatment start was 51 days (interquartile range: 27–101. A total of 72% of patients had a delay (> 30 days between symptom onset and treatment start, and 28% had a 3+ bacillary load at diagnosis. Based on multiple logistic regression, three factors were significantly associated with delay: being uninsured (odds ratio (OR: 1.30; 95% confidence interval (CI: 1.01–1.68 and having an unknown HIV status (OR: 1.81; CI: 1.04–3.17, which increased risk, and coming from a neighborhood with NTP-employed community health workers, which decreased risk (OR: 0.56; CI: 0.34–0.90. Conclusions Delays still prevent timely TB diagnosis and treatment in Colombia. As the country aims for TB elimination, delays must be reduced, especially in cities and vulnerable neighborhoods, to stop community transmission. The NTP should focus not only on the number of cases detected but also on how long it takes to detect them. To monitor interventions designed to reduce delays, additional dates in the process should be recorded routinely. In addition, reliability and completeness of data are crucial for monitoring.

Reducing time delays in the management of ischemic stroke patients in Northern Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Vidale, Simone; Arnaboldi, Marco; Bezzi, Giacomo; Bono, Giorgio; Grampa, Giampiero; Guidotti, Mario; Perrone, Patrizia; Salmaggi, Andrea; Zarcone, Davide; Zoli, Alberto; Agostoni, Elio

2016-07-15

Thrombolysis represents the best therapy for ischemic stroke but the main limitation of its administration is time. The avoidable delay is a concept reflecting the effectiveness of management pathway. For this reason, we projected a study concerning the detection of main delays with following introduction of corrective factors. In this paper we describe the results after these corrections. Consecutive patients admitted for ischemic stroke during a 3-months period to 35 hospitals of a macro-area of Northern Italy were enrolled. Each time of management was registered, identifying three main intervals: pre-hospital, in-hospital and total times. Previous corrective interventions were: 1.increasing of population awareness to use the Emergency Medical Service (EMS); 2.pre-notification of Emergency Department; 3.use of high urgency codes; 4.use of standardised operational algorithm. Statistical analysis was conducted using time-to-event analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression. 1084 patients were enrolled. EMS was alerted for 56.3% of subjects, mainly in females and severe strokes (ptimes were 113 and 105min, while total time was 240. High urgency codes at transport contributed to reduce pre-hospital and in-hospital time (p<0.05). EMS use and high urgency codes promoted thrombolysis. Treatment within 4.5hours from symptom onset was performed in 14% of patients more than the first phase of study. The implementation of an organizational system based on EMS and concomitant high urgency codes use was effective to reduce avoidable delay and to increase thrombolysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A prospective comparison of times to presentation and treatment of regional and remote head and neck patients in North Queensland, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, J Y-A; Otty, Z A; Vangaveti, V N; Buttner, P; Varma, S C; Joshi, A J; Kelly, J; Collins, M; Sabesan, S S

2016-08-01

This study aims to examine differences between outer regional (OR) and remote/very remote (RVR) patients in northern Queensland, Australia in the times taken to receive various aspects of head and neck cancer management. Our study prospectively recruited head and neck cancer patients presenting to three North Queensland regional hospitals from January 2009 to January 2011. Data on demographic and cancer-specific details, comorbidities and timing of presentation to various services, were collected using a self-administered questionnaire that included two questions in relation to possible reason for delays to health services. Multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the effects of various demographic characteristics on time delays. Survival and disease recurrence data were analysed in 2014. One hundred and fifty-eight patients participated. RVR patients had significantly longer median times between diagnosis and first treatment compared with OR patients (P = 0.015). Indigenous patients had significant delays from diagnosis to first treatment (P = 0.013) and visit to first specialist and treatment (P = 0.031) compared to non-Indigenous patients. Longer median times between symptoms and first treatment was associated with low income (P = 0.03) and lower education level (P = 0.04). Disease recurrence was higher for RVR patients compared with OR patients (P = 0.04), without significant differences in overall survival. Possible reasons for delays included patient and professional factors. Significant delays in various aspects of head and neck cancer management were associated with remoteness, Indigenous and socioeconomic status. While patient and professional factors could be addressed at local levels, sustainable improvement in outcomes requires a state and national level approach. © 2016 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Impact of health care system delay in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction on return to labor market and work retirement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laut, Kristina Grønborg; Hjort, Jacob; Engstrøm, Thomas

2014-01-01

system delay also impacts ability to stay in the labor market. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate whether system delay is associated with duration of absence from work or time to retirement from work among patients with STEMI treated with PPCI. We conducted a population-based cohort study...... including patients ≤67 years of age who were admitted with STEMI from January 1, 1999, to December 1, 2011 and treated with PPCI. Data were derived from Danish population-based registries. Only patients who were full- or part-time employed before their STEMI admission were included. Association between...... system delay and time to return to the labor market was analyzed using a competing-risk regression analysis. Association between system delay and time to retirement from work was analyzed using a Cox regression model. A total of 4,061 patients were included. Ninety-three percent returned to the labor...

Delayed flumazenil injection after endoscopic sedation increases patient satisfaction compared with immediate flumazenil injection.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Hyun Jung; Bang, Byoung Wook; Kim, Hyung Gil; Kwon, Kye Sook; Shin, Yong Woon; Jeong, Seok; Lee, Don Haeng; Park, Shin Goo

2014-01-01

Flumazenil was administered after the completion of endoscopy under sedation to reduce recovery time and increase patient safety. We evaluated patient satisfaction after endoscopy under sedation according to the timing of a postprocedural flumazenil injection. In total, 200 subjects undergoing concurrent colonoscopy and upper endoscopy while sedated with midazolam and meperidine were enrolled in our investigation. We randomly administered 0.3 mg of flumazenil either immediately or 15 minutes after the endoscopic procedure. A postprocedural questionnaire and next day telephone interview were conducted to assess patient satisfaction. Flumazenil injection timing did not affect the time spent in the recovery room when comparing the two groups of patients. However, the subjects in the 15 minutes injection group were more satisfied with undergoing endoscopy under sedation than the patients in the immediate injection group according to the postprocedural survey (p=0.019). However, no difference in overall satisfaction, memory, or willingness to undergo a future endoscopy was observed between the two groups when the telephone survey was conducted on the following day. This study demonstrated that a delayed flumazenil injection after endoscopic sedation increased patient satisfaction without prolonging recovery time, even though the benefit of the delayed flumazenil injection did not persist into the following day.

123I-BMIPP delayed scintigraphic imaging in patients with chronic heart failure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kida, Keisuke; Akashi, Yoshihiro J.; Yoneyama, Kihei; Shimokawa, Mitsuhiro; Musha, Haruki

2008-01-01

The objective of the present study was to clarify the ability of 123 I-beta-methyl-iodophenylpentadecanoic acid ( 123 I-BMIPP) to evaluate the heart-to-mediastinum (H/M) ratio and myocardial global washout rate (WR) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). The severity of CHF was evaluated on the basis of the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Twenty patients with CHF (13 with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and 7 with ischemic cardiomyopathy) and 11 age-matched controls underwent myocardial radionuclide imaging. Scintigraphic images were obtained from each participant at the early (30 min following radio-isotope injection) and late (4 h) phases using 123 I-BMIPP. The H/M ratio and WR were calculated from planar images. Concentrations of plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were measured prior to the scintigraphic study. The 123 I-BMIPP uptake of early H/M and global WR did not significantly differ among groups, but uptake of delayed H/M was significantly lower in patients with NYHA class III than in controls (control 2.47±0.39; class III 1.78±0.28 P 123 I-BMIPP uptake of delayed H/M enhances the image of CHF severity. The myocardial WR of 123 I-BMIPP also effectively depicted the severity of CHF. (author)

Help seeking behavior of women with self-discovered breast cancer symptoms: a meta-ethnographic synthesis of patient delay.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zohreh Khakbazan

Full Text Available BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patient delay makes a critical contribution to late diagnosis and poor survival in cases of breast cancer. Identifying the factors that influence patient delay could provide information for adopting strategies that shorten this delay. The aim of this meta-ethnography was to synthesize existing qualitative evidence in order to gain a new understanding of help seeking behavior in women with self-discovered breast cancer symptoms and to determine the factors that influence patient delay. METHODS: The design was a meta-ethnography approach. A systematic search of the articles was performed in different databases including Elsevier, PubMed, ProQuest and SCOPUS. Qualitative studies with a focus on help seeking behaviors in women with self-discovered breast cancer symptoms and patient delay, published in the English language between 1990 and 2013 were included. The quality appraisal of the articles was carried out using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme qualitative research checklist and 13 articles met the inclusion criteria. The synthesis was conducted according to Noblit and Hare's meta-ethnographic approach (1988, through reciprocal translational analysis and lines-of-argument. FINDINGS: The synthesis led to identification of eight repeated key concepts including: symptom detection, initial symptom interpretation, symptom monitoring, social interaction, emotional reaction, priority of medical help, appraisal of health services and personal-environmental factors. Symptom interpretation is identified as the important step of the help seeking process and which changed across the process through active monitoring of their symptoms, social interactions and emotional reactions. The perceived seriousness of the situation, priority to receive medical attention, perceived inaccessibility and unacceptability of the health care system influenced women's decision-making about utilizing health services. CONCLUSION: Help seeking

CT morphology of benign median nerve tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feyerabend, T.; Schmitt, R.; Lanz, U.; Warmuth-Metz, M.; Wuerzburg Univ.

1990-01-01

Computed tomography (CT) was performed in 3 patients with benign tumors of the median nerve, histologically confirmed as neurilemmoma, fibrolipoma and hemangioma. The neurilemmoma showed a ring-shaped contrast enhancement. The fibrolipoma presented with areas of solid soft tissue and areas of fat. The hemangioma was a solid tumor with a lacunar, vascular contrast enhancement. According to our experience and to the previous literature CT gives useful information regarding the anatomic location, size, and relationship of peripheral nerve sheath tumors to surrounding structures, and may help to differentiate between various tumor types. (orig.)

Barriers and Explanatory Mechanisms of Delays in the Patient and Diagnosis Intervals of Care for Breast Cancer in Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Unger-Saldaña, Karla; Ventosa-Santaulària, Daniel; Miranda, Alfonso; Verduzco-Bustos, Guillermo

2018-04-01

Most breast cancer patients in low- and middle-income settings are diagnosed at advanced stages due to lengthy intervals of care. This study aimed to understand the mechanisms through which delays occur in the patient interval and diagnosis interval of care. We conducted a cross-sectional survey including 886 patients referred to four major public cancer hospitals in Mexico City. Based in a conceptual model of help-seeking behavior, a path analysis strategy was used to identify the relationships between explanatory factors of patient delay and diagnosis delay. The patient and the diagnosis intervals were greater than 3 months in 20% and 65% of participants, respectively. We present explanatory models for each interval and the interrelationship between the associated factors. The patient interval was longer among women who were single, interpreted their symptoms as not worrisome, concealed symptoms, and perceived a lack of financial resources and the difficulty of missing a day of work as barriers to seek care. These barriers were more commonly perceived among patients who were younger, had lower socioeconomic status, and lived outside of Mexico City. The diagnosis interval was longer among those who used several different health services prior to the cancer hospital and perceived medical errors in these services. More health services were used among those who perceived errors and long waiting times for appointments, and who first consulted private services. Our findings support the relevance of strengthening early cancer diagnosis strategies, especially the improvement of quality of primary care and expedited referral routes to cancer services. This study's findings suggest that policy in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) should be directed toward reducing delays in diagnosis, before the implementation of mammography screening programs. The results suggest several factors susceptible to early diagnosis interventions. To reduce patient delays, the usually

Pathophysiology and therapy of irinotecan-induced delayed-onset diarrhea in patients with advanced colorectal cancer: a prospective assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Saliba, F; Hagipantelli, R; Misset, J L; Bastian, G; Vassal, G; Bonnay, M; Herait, P; Cote, C; Mahjoubi, M; Mignard, D; Cvitkovic, E

1998-08-01

Irinotecan (CPT-11), a camptothecin derivative, has shown efficacy against colorectal cancer. Delayed-onset diarrhea is its main limiting toxicity. The aim of this study was to determine the pathophysiology of CPT-11-induced delayed-onset diarrhea and assess the efficacy of combined antidiarrheal medication in a phase II, prospective, successive-cohorts, open study. Twenty-eight patients with advanced colorectal cancer refractory to fluorouracil (5-FU) therapy received CPT-11 350 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. The first cohort of 14 consecutive patients explored for the mechanism of diarrhea received acetorphan (a new enkephalinase inhibitor) 100 mg three times daily; the second 14-patient cohort received, in addition to acetorphan, loperamide 4 mg three times daily. Before treatment, and if late diarrhea occurred, patients underwent colon mucosal biopsies for CPT-11 and topoisomerase I levels; intestinal transit time; fecalogram; fat and protein excretion; alpha1-antitrypsin clearance; D-xylose test; blood levels for vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, glucagon, gastrin, somatostatin, prostaglandin E2, and carboxylesterase; CPT-11/SN-38 and SN-38 glucuronide pharmacokinetics; and stool cultures. Delayed-onset diarrhea occurred during the first three treatment cycles in 23 patients (82%). Electrolyte fecal measurements showed a negative or small osmotic gap in nine of nine patients and an increased alpha1-antitrypsin clearance in six of six patients. There were no modifications in stool cultures or hormonal dysfunction. Four of 11 patients (36%) with delayed-onset diarrhea in the first cohort responded to acetorphan, whereas nine of 10 patients (90%) responded to the combination of acetorphan and loperamide (P diarrhea is caused by a secretory mechanism with an exudative component. Early combined treatment with loperamide and acetorphan seems effective in controlling the diarrheal episodes.

Case Report: A true median facial cleft (crano-facial dysraphia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Case Report: A true median facial cleft (crano-facial dysraphia, atessier type O) in Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos. ... Patient had a multidisciplinary care by the obstetrician, Neonatologist, anesthesiologist and the plastic surgery team who scheduled a soft tissue repair of the upper lip defect, columella and ...

Impact of delay in clinical presentation on the diagnostic management and prognosis of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Den Exter, Paul L.; Van Es, Josien; Erkens, Petra M.G.; Van Roosmalen, Mark J.G.; Van Den Hoven, Pim; Hovens, Marcel M.C.; Kamphuisen, Pieter W.; Klok, Frederikus A.; Huisman, Menno V.

2013-01-01

Rationale: The nonspecific clinical presentation of pulmonary embolism (PE) frequently leads to delay in its diagnosis. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of delay in presentation on the diagnostic management and clinical outcome of patients with suspected PE. Methods: In 4,044

Characteristics of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy on delayed contrast-enhanced MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Chaowu; Zhao Shihua; Li Hua; Jiang Shiliang; Lu Minjie; Zhang Yan; Wei Yunqing; Ling Jian; Fang Wei

2010-01-01

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) on delayed contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI). Methods: All patients underwent delayed contrast-enhanced CMRI. The left ventricle was divided into 9 segments to assess the location, extent and function of the hypertrophic segments. The t test was applied for the statistics. Results: Of 154 patients, delayed enhancement of' hypertrophic segment was found in 95 cases and non-delayed enhancement in 59 cases. The thickness and number of hypertrophic segment in patients with delayed enhancement were larger than those with non-delayed enhancement [(24.8±5.5) mm vs (20.4± 3.8) mm, t=3.82, P<0.05; (3.3±1.9) vs (2.4±1.7), t=2.26, P<0.05], and the age was younger [(46.0±15.2) years vs (55.0±11.9) years, t=-3.67, P<0.05]. The diffuse enhancement was found in 62 patients, and confluent enhancement in 33 patients. Confluent enhancement was found in all 14 patients after the alcohol ablation procedure. Conclusion: The age, thickness and number of hypertrophic segments in patients with delayed enhancement are different from those with non-delayed enhancement. (authors)

Chicken pox infection in patients undergoing chemotherapy: A retrospective analysis from a tertiary care center in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Noronha, Vanita; Ostwal, Vikas; Ramaswamy, Anant; Joshi, Amit; Nair, Reena; Banavali, Shripad D; Prabhash, Kumar

There is paucity of data on the incidence, severity and management of chicken pox in patients receiving active chemotherapy for cancer. From October 2010 to October 2011, patients were included in this study if they developed a chicken pox infection during their chemotherapy. The details of patients' cancer diagnosis and treatment along with clinical and epidemiological data of the chicken pox infections were assessed from a prospectively maintained database. Twenty-four patients had a chicken pox infection while receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. The median age of the patients was 21 years, and two-thirds of the patients had solid tumor malignancies. Overall, eight (33%) patients had complications, six (25%) patients had febrile neutropenia, four (17%) had diarrhea/mucositis, and four (17%) had pneumonia. The median time for recovery of the infection and complications in the patients was 9.5 days (5-29 days), whereas for neutropenic patients, it was 6.5 days (3-14 days). The median time for recovery from chicken pox infections in neutropenic patients was 10 days (5-21 days), compared with 8.5 days (0-29 days) in non-neutropenic patients (P=0.84). The median time for recovery from infections was 8.5 days in patients with comorbidities (N=4), which was the same for patients with no comorbidities. The clinical presentation and complication rates of chicken pox in cancer patients, who were on active chemotherapy, are similar to the normal population. The recovery from a varicella infection and complications may be delayed in patients with neutropenia. The varicella infection causes a therapy delay in 70% of patients. Aggressive antiviral therapy, supportive care and isolation of the index cases remain the backbone of treatment. Copyright © 2016 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Correction for Delay and Dispersion Results in More Accurate Cerebral Blood Flow Ischemic Core Measurement in Acute Stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Longting; Bivard, Andrew; Kleinig, Timothy; Spratt, Neil J; Levi, Christopher R; Yang, Qing; Parsons, Mark W

2018-04-01

This study aimed to assess how the ischemic core measured by perfusion computed tomography (CTP) was affected by the delay and dispersion effect. Ischemic stroke patients having CTP performed within 6 hours of onset were included. The CTP data were processed twice, generating standard cerebral blood flow (sCBF) and delay- and dispersion-corrected CBF (ddCBF), respectively. Ischemic core measured by the sCBF and ddCBF was then compared at the relative threshold core were used: acute diffusion-weighted imaging or 24-hour diffusion-weighted imaging in patients with complete recanalization. Difference of core volume between CTP and diffusion-weighted imaging was estimated by Mann-Whitney U test and limits of agreement. Patients were also classified into favorable and unfavorable CTP patterns. The imaging pattern classification by sCBF and ddCBF was compared by the χ 2 test; their respective ability to predict good clinical outcome (3-month modified Rankin Scale score) was tested in logistic regression. Fifty-five patients were included in this study. Median sCBF ischemic core volume was 38.5 mL (12.4-61.9 mL), much larger than the median core volume of 17.2 mL measured by ddCBF (interquartile range, 5.5-38.8; P core much closer to diffusion-weighted imaging core references, with the mean volume difference of -0.1 mL (95% limits of agreement, -25.4 to 25.2; P =0.97) and 16.7 mL (95% limits of agreement, -21.7 to 55.2; P core measurement on CTP. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.

Prospective analysis of delayed colorectal post-polypectomy bleeding.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Soo-Kyung; Seo, Jeong Yeon; Lee, Min-Gu; Yang, Hyo-Joon; Jung, Yoon Suk; Choi, Kyu Yong; Kim, Hungdai; Kim, Hyung Ook; Jung, Kyung Uk; Chun, Ho-Kyung; Park, Dong Il

2018-01-17

Although post-polypectomy bleeding is the most frequent complication after colonoscopic polypectomy, only few studies have investigated the incidence of bleeding prospectively. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of delayed post-polypectomy bleeding and its associated risk factors prospectively. Patients who underwent colonoscopic polypectomy at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital from January 2013 to December 2014 were prospectively enrolled in this study. Trained nurses contacted patients via telephone 7 and 30 days after polypectomy and completed a standardized questionnaire regarding the development of bleeding. Delayed post-polypectomy bleeding was categorized as minor or major and early or late bleeding. Major delayed bleeding was defined as a > 2-g/dL drop in the hemoglobin level, requiring hospitalization for control of bleeding or blood transfusion; late delayed bleeding was defined as bleeding occurring later than 24 h after polypectomy. A total of 8175 colonoscopic polypectomies were performed in 3887 patients. Overall, 133 (3.4%) patients developed delayed post-polypectomy bleeding. Among them, 90 (2.3%) and 43 (1.1%) patients developed minor and major delayed bleeding, respectively, and 39 (1.0%) patients developed late delayed bleeding. In the polyp-based multivariate analysis, young age ( 10 mm (OR 2.45; 95% CI 1.38-4.36) were significant risk factors for major delayed bleeding, while young age (< 50 years; OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.35-5.12) and immediate bleeding (OR 3.3; 95% CI 1.49-7.30) were significant risk factors for late delayed bleeding. Young age, aspirin use, polyp size, and immediate bleeding were found to be independent risk factors for delayed post-polypectomy bleeding.

Chicken pox infection in patients undergoing chemotherapy: A retrospective analysis from a tertiary care center in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vanita Noronha

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Summary: There is paucity of data on the incidence, severity and management of chicken pox in patients receiving active chemotherapy for cancer.From October 2010 to October 2011, patients were included in this study if they developed a chicken pox infection during their chemotherapy. The details of patients’ cancer diagnosis and treatment along with clinical and epidemiological data of the chicken pox infections were assessed from a prospectively maintained database.Twenty-four patients had a chicken pox infection while receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. The median age of the patients was 21 years, and two-thirds of the patients had solid tumor malignancies.Overall, eight (33% patients had complications, six (25% patients had febrile neutropenia, four (17% had diarrhea/mucositis, and four (17% had pneumonia. The median time for recovery of the infection and complications in the patients was 9.5 days (5–29 days, whereas for neutropenic patients, it was 6.5 days (3–14 days. The median time for recovery from chicken pox infections in neutropenic patients was 10 days (5–21 days, compared with 8.5 days (0–29 days in non-neutropenic patients (P = 0.84. The median time for recovery from infections was 8.5 days in patients with comorbidities (N = 4, which was the same for patients with no comorbidities.The clinical presentation and complication rates of chicken pox in cancer patients, who were on active chemotherapy, are similar to the normal population. The recovery from a varicella infection and complications may be delayed in patients with neutropenia. The varicella infection causes a therapy delay in 70% of patients. Aggressive antiviral therapy, supportive care and isolation of the index cases remain the backbone of treatment. Keywords: Chicken pox, Chemotherapy, Solid tumor cancers

Impact of delay in clinical presentation on the diagnostic management and prognosis of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Den Exter, P. L.; Van Es, J.; Erkens, P. G. M.; Roosmalen, M.; Hoven, P.; Hovens, M.; Kamphuisen, P. W.; Klok, F. A.; Huisman, M.

Background: The non-specific clinical presentation of pulmonary embolism (PE) frequently leads to delay in its diagnosis. Aims: To assess the impact of delay in presentation on the diagnostic management and clinical outcome of patients with suspected PE. Methods: For this post-hoc analysis, we used

Assessment of Confounding in Studies of Delay and Survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tørring, Marie Louise; Vedsted, Peter; Frydenberg, Morten

BACKGROUND: Whether longer time to diagnosis (diagnostic delay) in patients with cancer symptoms is directly and independently associated with poor prognosis cannot be determined in randomised controlled trials. Analysis of observational data is therefore necessary. Many previous studies of the i......BACKGROUND: Whether longer time to diagnosis (diagnostic delay) in patients with cancer symptoms is directly and independently associated with poor prognosis cannot be determined in randomised controlled trials. Analysis of observational data is therefore necessary. Many previous studies......) Clarify which factors are considered confounders or intermediate variables in the literature. 2) Assess how and to what extent these factors bias survival estimates. CONSIDERATIONS: As illustrated in Figure 1, symptoms of cancer may alert patients, GP's, and hospital doctors differently and influence both...... delay and survival time in different ways. We therefore assume that the impact of confounding factors depends on the type of delay studied (e.g., patient delay, GP delay, referral delay, or treatment delay). MATERIALS & METHODS: The project includes systematic review and methodological developments...

Is whole brain radiation therapy needed for all patients with newly diagnosed brain metastases undergoing stereotactic radiosurgery?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, John H.; Barnett, Gene H.; Miller, David W.; Kupelian, Patrick A.; Cohen, Bruce H.

1997-01-01

PURPOSE: Since whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) carries risks for long term survivors of brain metastases, some have advocated the use of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) alone for patients with brain metastases. We retrospectively reviewed our results of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) with immediate or delayed WBRT. MATERIALS/METHODS: From March 1990 to December 1996, linear accelerator-based SRS was performed on patients with Karnofsky score ≥ 70 and asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic brain metastases < 4 cm diameter. After excluding those patients with recurrent disease, 87 patients with 106 metastatic lesions (72 pts- single or solitary lesion, 13 pts- 2 lesions, 1 pt- 3 lesions, and 1 pt- 5 lesions) remained for analysis. The use of WBRT was dependent on physician preference but was given to all patients who developed local or regional failure after SRS. Survival was measured from the date of SRS until death or last follow-up using Kaplan-Meier method. Freedom from progression (FFP) was defined as no local or regional brain failure on follow-up radiographs and was measured from the date of SRS. RESULTS: Prognostic variables (age, sex, initial KPS, systemic disease, and extent of surgical resection) were similar for the 40 patients in the immediate WBRT group (iWBRT) and for the 47 patients in the delayed WBRT group (dWBRT). With a median follow-up of 5.8 months, no significant difference in median survival (6.9 months for both groups) was noted. On multivariate analysis, absence of systemic disease (p=0.008) and KPS 90-100 (p=0.001) were the only significant predictors for survival. For the 29 patients with a minimum KPS of 90 and no systemic disease, the median survival was 17.8 months. For those patients with a solitary lesion (no systemic disease), there was a trend for better median survival for the iWBRT group (22.8 months) versus the dWBRT group (9.3 months), p=0.06. FFP data was available on 78 patients (97 lesions). A significant difference was

Tessier Number 30 Median Mandibular Cleft With Congenital Heart Anomalies in Qena, Egypt.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Ahmed Ali Abdelrahim

2018-01-01

Median cleft deformities of the lower lip and mandible are very rare congenital anomalies. Our patient had median cleft of the lower lip, mandible, and the chin with tongue duplication, ankyloglossia, and cleft strap muscles with 2 neck contracture bands. This anomaly was associated with congenital heart disease transposition of great vessels, large ventricular septal defect, and severe pulmonary stenosis. Early repair was done at 6 months to improve feeding.

Boarding is associated with higher rates of medication delays and adverse events but fewer laboratory-related delays.

Science.gov (United States)

Sri-On, Jiraporn; Chang, Yuchiao; Curley, David P; Camargo, Carlos A; Weissman, Joel S; Singer, Sara J; Liu, Shan W

2014-09-01

Hospital crowding and emergency department (ED) boarding are large and growing problems. To date, there has been a paucity of information regarding the quality of care received by patients boarding in the ED compared with the care received by patients on an inpatient unit. We compared the rate of delays and adverse events at the event level that occur while boarding in the ED vs while on an inpatient unit. This study was a secondary analysis of data from medical record review and administrative databases at 2 urban academic teaching hospitals from August 1, 2004, through January 31, 2005. We measured delayed repeat cardiac enzymes, delayed partial thromboplastin time level checks, delayed antibiotic administration, delayed administration of home medications, and adverse events. We compared the incidence of events during ED boarding vs while on an inpatient unit. Among 1431 patient medical records, we identified 1016 events. Emergency department boarding was associated with an increased risk of home medication delays (risk ratio [RR], 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.26-1.88), delayed antibiotic administration (RR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.72-3.52), and adverse events (RR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.15-4.72). On the contrary, ED boarding was associated with fewer delays in repeat cardiac enzymes (RR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.09-0.27) and delayed partial thromboplastin time checks (RR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.27-0.96). Compared with inpatient units, ED boarding was associated with more medication-related delays and adverse events but fewer laboratory-related delays. Until we can eliminate ED boarding, it is critical to identify areas for improvement. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Permasalahan P-Hub Median Dengan Lintasan Terpendek

OpenAIRE

Pasaribu, Raja David

2013-01-01

Hub are facilities that serve as sorting, switching, and transhipment in a transportation network. P-hub median problem is a discrete case location allocation problem which all hub is fully connected. In this paper will be intoduced Mixed Integrer Linear Programming (MILP) formulation models of cost for p-hub median problem allocation for uncapacitaced single allocation p-hub median(USApHMP). In this paper also introduced Floyd-Warshall shortest path algorithm to solve p-hub median problems a...

Early and delayed Tc-99m-tetrofosmin myocardial SPECT in patients with left bundle branch block

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugihara, Hiroki; Kinoshita, Noriyuki; Adachi, Yoshihiko

1998-01-01

To determine the utility of the myocardial tracer Tc-99m-tetrofosmin in the examination of patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB) and to investigate Tc-99m-tetrofosmin uptake and retention in the myocardium, early and delayed Tc-99m-tetrofosmin SPECT was performed in 10 patients having LBBB without coronary stenosis. After 740 MBq of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin injection in the resting state, the early and delayed SPECT imaging was done at 30 min and 180 min, respectively. Decreased Tc-99m-tetrofosmin uptake in the septal segments was observed in 4 patients (40%) at 30 min and in 9 (90%) at 180 min. Reverse redistribution was seen in 9 of 10 patients. In patients with LBBB, the septal-to-lateral uptake ratio was lower in the delayed images than in the early images (0.80±0.09 vs. 0.89±0.09, p<0.001). In patients with LBBB, the washout rate of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin was higher in the septal segments than in the lateral segments (28.3±4.3% vs. 22.8±3.3%, p<0.001). The SPECT data indicate that in LBBB without coronary stenosis, the uptake of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin is decreased in the septal wall, and that reverse redistribution occurs frequently. Our results contribute to the elucidation of both the cellular biokinetics of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin in the myocardium and the hemodynamics of the septum in LBBB, and indicate the possible clinical utility of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin. (author)

Observations on early and delayed colostomy closure.

Science.gov (United States)

Tade, A O; Salami, B A; Ayoade, B A

2011-06-01

Traditional treatment of a variety of colorectal pathologies had included a diverting colostomy that was closed eight or more weeks later during a readmission. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the outcomes of early colostomy closure and delayed colostomy closure in patients with temporary colostomies following traumatic and non-traumatic colorectal pathologies. In this study early colostomy closure was the closure of a colostomy within three weeks of its construction, while delayed colostomy closure referred to closure after 3 weeks. Complete records of the 37 adult patients who had temporary colostomy constructed and closed between Jan. 1997 December 2003 for various colorectal pathologies were studied. Fourteen patients had early colostomy closure while 23 had delayed closure. In the early colostomy closure group there were 10 men and 4 women. The mean age of the patients was 28yr with a range of 18-65yr. Colostomies were closed 9-18 days after initial colostomy construction. There was no mortality. Morbidity rate 28.6% (4 out of 14). There were two faecal fistulas (14.3%). Twenty-three patients had delayed colostomy closure 8 weeks to 18 months after initial colostomy construction. These were patients unfit for early surgery after initial colostomy construction because of carcinoma, significant weight loss, or sepsis. There was no mortality. Morbidity rate was 26.1%. There were 3 faecal fistulas (13.2%). Outcomes following early colostomy closure and delayed closure were comparable. Patients fit for surgery should have early closure whilst patients who may have compromised health should have delayed closure.

Delay of insulin initiation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus inadequately controlled with oral hypoglycemic agents (analysis of patient- and physician-related factors): A prospective observational DIPP-FACTOR study in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sin Gon; Kim, Nam Hoon; Ku, Bon Jeong; Shon, Ho Sang; Kim, Doo Man; Park, Tae Sun; Kim, Yong-Seong; Kim, In Joo; Choi, Dong Seop

2017-05-01

To assess the time to initiation of insulin therapy, and concurrently investigate both patient- and physician-related factors associated with delaying insulin therapy in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes uncontrolled by oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs). This prospective, observational disease registry study was carried out across 69 centers in Korea. Type 2 diabetes patients who had received two or more OHAs within the past 5 years, had a glycated hemoglobin ≥8% in the past 6 months and had not received insulin were included. Data recorded on data collection forms during a 12-month period were analyzed. Of 2168 patients enrolled, 1959 were evaluated and classified as the insulin-initiated or insulin-delayed group. Insulin was prescribed for just 20% of the patients during a 1-year follow-up period, and less than half (44.5%) of the patients who were taking two OHAs started insulin after 6 years. Patient-related factors for delay in insulin initiation included older age, shorter duration of diabetes and lower glycated hemoglobin. Physician-related factors included age (~50 to 1000) of patients consulted per month. Patient refusal (33.6%) and physicians' concerns of patient non-compliance (26.5%) were the major physician-reported reasons for delaying insulin therapy. Inconvenience of insulin therapy (51.6%) and fear of injection (48.2%) were the major reasons for patient refusal. Insulin initiation is delayed in patients with type 2 diabetes uncontrolled by two or more OHAs in Korea. Patient- and physician-related factors associated with this delay need to be addressed for better diabetes management. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Diabetes Investigation published by Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes (AASD) and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Surgical intervention after transvaginal Prolift mesh repair: retrospective single-center study including 524 patients with 3 years' median follow-up.

Science.gov (United States)

de Landsheere, Laurent; Ismail, Sharif; Lucot, Jean-Philippe; Deken, Valérie; Foidart, Jean-Michel; Cosson, Michel

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the nature and rate of surgical intervention after transvaginal Prolift mesh repair for pelvic organ prolapse. This was a retrospective study of all patients who underwent Prolift mesh repair between January 2005 and January 2009. Patient data were obtained from medical records, and patients were telephoned to check if they had surgery in other hospitals. A total of 600 consecutive patients were identified. Of these, 524 patients (87.3%) were included in the study, with a median follow-up duration of 38 months (range, 15-63). Global reoperation rate was 11.6%. Indications of intervention were surgery for urinary incontinence (6.9%), mesh-related complications (3.6%), or prolapse recurrence (3%). The global reoperation rate after transvaginal Prolift mesh repair was 11.6%, with urinary incontinence surgery being the most common indication. Rates of mesh complications and prolapse recurrence are relatively low in an experienced team. Copyright © 2012 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of conduction delay of the right atrium in patients with SSS: implications for pacing site selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Verlato, Roberto; Zanon, Francesco; Bertaglia, Emanuele; Turrini, Pietro; Baccillieri, Maria Stella; Baracca, Enrico; Bongiorni, Maria Grazia; Zampiero, Aldo; Zonzin, Pietro; Pascotto, Pietro; Venturini, Diego; Corbucci, Giorgio

2007-09-01

To evaluate the prevalence of severe right atrial conduction delay in patients with sinus node dysfunction (SND) and atrial fibrillation (AF) and the effects of pacing in the right atrial appendage (RAA) and in the inter-atrial septum (IAS). Forty-two patients (15 male, 72 +/- 7 years) underwent electrophysiologic study to measure the difference between the conduction time from RAA to coronary sinus ostium during stimulation at 600 ms and after extrastimulus (DeltaCTos). Patients were classified as group A if DeltaCTos > 60 ms and group B if IAS pacing and algorithms ON/OFF. Fifteen patients (36%, group A) had DeltaCTos = 76 +/- 11 ms and 27 patients (64%, group B) had DeltaCTos = 36 +/- 20 ms. Twenty-two patients were paced at the RAA and 20 at the IAS. During the study, no AF recurrences were reported in 11 of 42 (26%) patients, independently of RAA or IAS pacing. Patients from group A and RAA pacing had 0.79 +/- 0.81 episodes of AF/day during DDD, which increased to 1.52 +/- 1.41 episodes of AF/day during DDDR + Alg (P = 0.046). Those with IAS pacing had 0.5 +/- 0.24 episodes of AF/day during DDD, which decreased to 0.06 +/- 0.08 episodes of AF/day during DDDR + Alg (P = 0.06). In group B, no differences were reported between pacing sites and pacing modes. Severe right atrial conduction delay is present in one-third of patients with SND and AF: continuous pacing at the IAS is superior to RAA for AF recurrences. In patients without severe conduction delay, no differences between pacing site or mode were observed.

Diagnosis delay in tuberculosis and its consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habibullah, S.; Sheikh, M.A.; Sadiq, A.; Anwar, T.

2004-01-01

Objective: To find out the average duration from onset of symptoms to the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, reasons for diagnostic delay, its consequences, association of variables and formulation of recommendations. Results: In this study it was found that average time from onset of initial symptoms to diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis was 120 days. In 64% of the patients medical practitioners were responsible for delaying the diagnosis of tuberculosis. Loss of weight in 40% and haemoptysis is 21% were the consequences of diagnostic delay of tuberculosis. Delay in the diagnosis of tuberculosis was statistically significant in those patients who consulted private practitioners, and consequences of tuberculosis were severe in those patients who consulted late. (author)

[Re-bleeding predictors in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage and delayed neurosurgical treatment].

Science.gov (United States)

Rivero Rodríguez, Dannys; Scherle Matamoros, Claudio; Fernández Cúe, Leda; Miranda Hernández, José Luis; Pernas Sánchez, Yanelis; Pérez Nellar, Jesús

2016-01-01

To evaluate the re-bleeding predictors in patients with delayed treatment of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. A prospective cohort study enrolled 261 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, attending in Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital from October 2005, and June 2014. An increased re-bleeding risk in the multivariate analysis was associated with grade III (OR 2.01; 95% CI; 1.06-3.84) and grade IV (OR 3.84; 95% CI; 2.06-7.31) on World Federation Neurological Surgeon (WFNS) scale; grade III (OR 2.04; 95% CI; 1.01-4.13) and grade IV (OR 2.12, 95% CI; 1.05-4.28) on the Fischer scale, aneurism location in posterior circulation (OR 2.45, 95% CI; 1.33-4.44), and anterior communicant artery (OR 1.57, 95% CI;1.00-2.46). Hypertension history was present in 60.9% (159 patients) and was also associated with risk of re-bleeding (OR 2.70, 95% CI; 1.00-7.30). Blood pressure, haematocrit, glycemic, aneurysm size, multiple aneurysms, and location in the middle cerebral artery, do not show any relationship. Hypertension history, poor grade (III and IV) on WFNS and Fisher scale and aneurysm location were independent risks factors of re-bleeding in patients with delayed aneurysmal treatment. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Neurocirugía. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of therapeutically induced hypertension in patients with delayed cerebral vasospasm by xenon-enhanced computed tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Touho, Hajime; Karasawa, Jun; Ohnishi, Hideyuki; Shishido, Hisashi; Yamada, Keisuke; Shibamoto, Keiji [Osaka Neurological Inst., Toyonaka (Japan)

1992-08-01

Serial cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurement were made with stable xenon-enhanced computed tomography in 20 patients with angiographically confirmed reputerd intracranial aneurysms, before and during induced hypertension with continuous infusion of dopamine. All patients showed angiogaphic vasospasm during their course. Twelve patients without symptomatic vasospasm (Group 1) had the lowest hemispheric CBF on the craniotomy side of 31.6[+-]6.8 ml/100 gm/min on days 4-9 (control value, 40.1[+-]2.0 ml/100 gm/min), while the other eight patients with symptomatic vasopsasm (Group 2) had the lowest hemispheric CBF on the craniotomy side of 25.0[+-]7.6 ml/100 gm/min on days 10-14. The critical hemispheric CBF inducing neurological deficits was about 20 ml/ 100 gm/min in Group 2. Dysautoregulation was usually present in Groups 1 and 2, but therapeutically induced hypertension could reverse the delayed neurological deficits, it begun early at the stage of delayed vasospasm. (author).

Myocardial delayed-enhancement CT: initial experience in children and young adults

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goo, Hyun Woo [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-10-15

Clinical utility of myocardial delayed enhancement CT has not been reported in children and young adults. To describe initial experience of myocardial delayed enhancement CT regarding image quality, radiation dose and identification of myocardial lesions in children and young adults. Between August 2013 and November 2016, 29 consecutive children and young adults (median age 16 months) with suspected coronary artery or myocardial abnormality underwent arterial- and delayed-phase cardiac CT at our institution. We measured CT densities in normal myocardium, left ventricular cavity, and arterial and delayed hypo-enhancing and delayed hyperenhancing myocardial lesions. We then compared the extent of delayed hyperenhancing lesions with delayed-enhancement MRI or thallium single-photon emission CT. Normal myocardium and left ventricular cavity showed significantly higher CT numbers on arterial-phase CT than on delayed-phase CT (t-test, P<0.0001). Contrast-to-noise ratios of the arterial and delayed hypo-enhancing and delayed hyperenhancing lesions on CT were 26.7, 17.6 and 18.7, respectively. Delayed-phase CT findings were equivalent to those of delayed-enhancement MRI in all cases (7/7) and to those of thallium single-photon emission CT in 70% (7/10). Myocardial delayed-enhancement CT can be added to evaluate myocardial lesions in select children and young adults with suspected coronary artery or myocardial abnormality. (orig.)

Myocardial delayed-enhancement CT: initial experience in children and young adults

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goo, Hyun Woo

2017-01-01

Clinical utility of myocardial delayed enhancement CT has not been reported in children and young adults. To describe initial experience of myocardial delayed enhancement CT regarding image quality, radiation dose and identification of myocardial lesions in children and young adults. Between August 2013 and November 2016, 29 consecutive children and young adults (median age 16 months) with suspected coronary artery or myocardial abnormality underwent arterial- and delayed-phase cardiac CT at our institution. We measured CT densities in normal myocardium, left ventricular cavity, and arterial and delayed hypo-enhancing and delayed hyperenhancing myocardial lesions. We then compared the extent of delayed hyperenhancing lesions with delayed-enhancement MRI or thallium single-photon emission CT. Normal myocardium and left ventricular cavity showed significantly higher CT numbers on arterial-phase CT than on delayed-phase CT (t-test, P<0.0001). Contrast-to-noise ratios of the arterial and delayed hypo-enhancing and delayed hyperenhancing lesions on CT were 26.7, 17.6 and 18.7, respectively. Delayed-phase CT findings were equivalent to those of delayed-enhancement MRI in all cases (7/7) and to those of thallium single-photon emission CT in 70% (7/10). Myocardial delayed-enhancement CT can be added to evaluate myocardial lesions in select children and young adults with suspected coronary artery or myocardial abnormality. (orig.)

Testing the gravity p-median model empirically

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth Carling

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Regarding the location of a facility, the presumption in the widely used p-median model is that the customer opts for the shortest route to the nearest facility. However, this assumption is problematic on free markets since the customer is presumed to gravitate to a facility by the distance to and the attractiveness of it. The recently introduced gravity p-median model offers an extension to the p-median model that account for this. The model is therefore potentially interesting, although it has not yet been implemented and tested empirically. In this paper, we have implemented the model in an empirical problem of locating vehicle inspections, locksmiths, and retail stores of vehicle spare-parts for the purpose of investigating its superiority to the p-median model. We found, however, the gravity p-median model to be of limited use for the problem of locating facilities as it either gives solutions similar to the p-median model, or it gives unstable solutions due to a non-concave objective function.

Switching non-local vector median filter

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuoka, Jyohei; Koga, Takanori; Suetake, Noriaki; Uchino, Eiji

2016-04-01

This paper describes a novel image filtering method that removes random-valued impulse noise superimposed on a natural color image. In impulse noise removal, it is essential to employ a switching-type filtering method, as used in the well-known switching median filter, to preserve the detail of an original image with good quality. In color image filtering, it is generally preferable to deal with the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) components of each pixel of a color image as elements of a vectorized signal, as in the well-known vector median filter, rather than as component-wise signals to prevent a color shift after filtering. By taking these fundamentals into consideration, we propose a switching-type vector median filter with non-local processing that mainly consists of a noise detector and a noise removal filter. Concretely, we propose a noise detector that proactively detects noise-corrupted pixels by focusing attention on the isolation tendencies of pixels of interest not in an input image but in difference images between RGB components. Furthermore, as the noise removal filter, we propose an extended version of the non-local median filter, we proposed previously for grayscale image processing, named the non-local vector median filter, which is designed for color image processing. The proposed method realizes a superior balance between the preservation of detail and impulse noise removal by proactive noise detection and non-local switching vector median filtering, respectively. The effectiveness and validity of the proposed method are verified in a series of experiments using natural color images.

Wound infections after median sternotomy treated by VAC therapy, summary of results, and risk factor analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hulman, M; Bezak, B; Artemiou, P; Cikrai, R

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to summarize results and analyze risk factors for the development of wound infection in heart surgery patients after median sternotomy. In this retrospective analysis with assessment of multiple risk factors, we examined 143 patients with infection after median sternotomy treated with VAC therapy from total of 4,650 patients operated in our department from 2012 to 2015. Total of 143 patients developed significant SSI treated by VAC therapy following cardiac surgery. Of these, only 14 patients developed DSWI and one patient was diagnosed with suspected osteomyelitis. BMI, female gender, and use of BIMA proved to be statistically significant risk factors in our study (p infection (p infection proved to be a significant prognostic factor for patients' outcome (p infection (Tab. 3, Ref. 30).

Influence of median surgeon operative duration on adverse outcomes in bariatric surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Reames, Bradley N; Bacal, Daniel; Krell, Robert W; Birkmeyer, John D; Birkmeyer, Nancy J O; Finks, Jonathan F

2015-01-01

Evidence suggests that prolonged operative time adversely affects surgical outcomes. However, whether faster surgeons have better outcomes is unclear, as a surgeon׳s speed could reflect skill and efficiency, but may alternatively reflect haste. This study evaluates whether median surgeon operative time is associated with adverse surgical outcomes after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. We performed a retrospective cohort study using statewide clinical registry data from the years 2006 to 2012. Surgeons were ranked by their median operative time and grouped into terciles. Multivariable logistic regression with robust standard errors was used to evaluate the influence of median surgeon operative time on 30-day surgical outcomes, adjusting for patient and surgeon characteristics, trainee involvement, concurrent procedures, and the complex interaction between these variables. A total of 16,344 patients underwent surgery during the study period. Compared to surgeons in the fastest tercile, slow surgeons required 53 additional minutes to complete a gastric bypass procedure (median [interquartile range] 139 [133-150] versus 86 [69-91], Ppatient characteristic only, slow surgeons had significantly higher adjusted rates of any complication, prolonged length of stay, emergency department visits or readmissions, and venous thromboembolism (VTE). After further adjustment for surgeon characteristics, resident involvement, and the interaction between these variables, slow surgeons had higher rates of any complication (10.5% versus 7.1%, P=.039), prolonged length of stay (14.0% versus 4.4%, P=.002), and VTE (0.39% versus .22%, P<.001). Median surgeon operative duration is independently associated with adjusted rates of certain adverse outcomes after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Improving surgeon efficiency while operating may reduce operative time and improve the safety of bariatric surgery. Copyright © 2015 American Society for Bariatric Surgery. Published by

A study of factors delaying hospital arrival and predictors of mortality in patients presenting to emergency department with Stroke: A developing state scenario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vinayak Nagaraja

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke has recently become available in India but its success depends on initiating the treatment in the narrow therapeutic time window. There is commonly a delay of several hours before patients with acute stroke seek medical attention. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted to assess the factors influencing this delay in admission of acute stroke cases. 134cases (101 males, 33 females of acute stroke that arrived within 72 hours at our hospital casualty were recruited. A standardized structured questionnaire was given to patients or their attendants. Results: The median time to casualty arrival was 9 hours with 13.4% cases arriving within 3 hours and 36.5 % cases within 6 hours. Distances from hospital, referral, belief in myths and alternate medicine and low threat perception of symptoms of stroke were independent factors associated with delay in arrival. Living in city, day time onset, urgency shown by attendant, availability of transport and presence of family history were associated with early arrival. There was no correlation with patients' or attendants' sex, educational status, history of previous stroke or transient ischemic attack, subtype or severity of stroke, time of stroke and availability of transport. 134 patients (65.7% were from rural population, 55.22%-smokers, 46.76%-alcoholics with mean (SD age of 53.83+/-18.02years [significantly lower in females (mean difference=9.73years p=0.002], were admitted and diagnosed to have stroke. 87.3% had first episode of stroke and 12.7 had more than one episode of stroke. ICF rate was 26.1%. ICF rate has no relation with age (p=0.516, sex (p=0.460, number of episodes (0.795, underlying hypertension (p=0.905. Odds of diabetics dying were 12 times higher than non-diabetics. Inpatient mortality was also significantly higher in smokers compared with non-smokers (p=0.004, in patients with right-sided compared with left

Prevalence of delayed gastric emptying in diabetic patients and relationship to dyspeptic symptoms: a prospective study in unselected diabetic patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Samsom, M.; Vermeijden, J. R.; Smout, A. J. P. M.; van Doorn, E.; Roelofs, J.; van Dam, P. S.; Martens, E. P.; Eelkman-Rooda, S. J.; van Berge-Henegouwen, G. P.

2003-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Data on the prevalence of abnormal gastric emptying in diabetic patients are still lacking. The relation between gastric emptying and dyspeptic symptoms assessed during gastric emptying measurement has not yet been investigated. The aim was to investigate the prevalence of delayed gastric

Delayed cystic fibrosis presentation in children in the absence of newborn screening.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Jackson, A

2010-04-01

Newborn cystic fibrosis (CF) screening facilitates early diagnosis and nutritional intervention, which prevents malnourishment and improves growth in childhood. To provide baseline information on the natural history of CF in the Republic of Ireland, where newborn screening has not yet been introduced and CF incidence is high (1:1353 live births), we examined the effect of presentation mode, symptom type and gender on age at diagnosis. Median age at diagnosis was calculated by gender and for presentation mode\\/symptom type for 601 CF registry children diagnosed 1986-2007. Modes of presentation were each significantly associated with delayed presentation. An adjusted odds ratio of 4.5 (95% CI: 1.8, 11.1) was determined for presentation with family history, 43.1 for gastrointestinal symptoms presentation (95% CI: 18.3, 101.4), 96.9 for both respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms (95% CI: 38.6, 243,4), and 115.4 for respiratory symptoms (95% CI: 45.2, 294.7). Children with respiratory symptoms had the greatest likelihood of delayed diagnosis (median age: 20.4 months), followed by those with respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms (9.2 months). Gender was not significantly associated with a delayed presentation when presentation mode was taken into account.

System dynamics modeling in the evaluation of delays of care in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients within a tiered health system.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciano de Andrade

Full Text Available Mortality rates amongst ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI patients remain high, especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors related with delays in the treatment of STEMI patients to support a strategic plan toward structural and personnel modifications in a primary hospital aligning its process with international guidelines.The study was conducted in a primary hospital localized in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. We utilized a qualitative and quantitative integrated analysis including on-site observations, interviews, medical records analysis, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA and System Dynamics Modeling (SD. Main cause of delays were categorized into three themes: a professional, b equipment and c transportation logistics. QCA analysis confirmed four main stages of delay to STEMI patient's care in relation to the 'Door-in-Door-out' time at the primary hospital. These stages and their average delays in minutes were: a First Medical Contact (From Door-In to the first contact with the nurse and/or physician: 7 minutes; b Electrocardiogram acquisition and review by a physician: 28 minutes; c ECG transmission and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Center team feedback time: 76 minutes; and d Patient's Transfer Waiting Time: 78 minutes. SD baseline model confirmed the system's behavior with all occurring delays and the need of improvements. Moreover, after model validation and sensitivity analysis, results suggested that an overall improvement of 40% to 50% in each of these identified stages would reduce the delay.This evaluation suggests that investment in health personnel training, diminution of bureaucracy, and management of guidelines might lead to important improvements decreasing the delay of STEMI patients' care. In addition, this work provides evidence that SD modeling may highlight areas where health system managers can implement and evaluate the necessary changes in order to improve the

Cysteine 138 mutation in HIV-1 Nef from patients with delayed disease progression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tolstrup, Martin; Laursen, Alex Lund; Gerstoft, J.

2006-01-01

on the delayed disease status. However, the results demonstrate a high incidence of a single amino acid polymorphism (cysteine 138) in HIV-1 Nef. The allelic frequency of cysteine 138 between the delayed disease progression group and the progressor group was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.......0139). The phylogeny of isolates was investigated and the variants harbouring the cysteine 138 mutation clustered independently. CONCLUSION: The present study describes a viral genetic polymorphism related to AIDS disease progression. The polymorphism (cysteine 138) has previously been reported to confer decreased...... viral replication (Premkumar DR, et al. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1996; 12(4): 337-45). A sequence database search for comparative mutations revealed a high frequency of cysteine 138 in patients with reported SP AIDS...

Developmental delay and connective tissue disorder in four patients sharing a common microdeletion at 6q13-14.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Esch, Hilde; Rosser, Elisabeth M; Janssens, Sandra; Van Ingelghem, Ingrid; Loeys, Bart; Menten, Bjorn

2010-10-01

Interstitial deletions of the long arm of chromosome 6 are rare, and most reported cases represent large, cytogenetically detectable deletions. The implementation of array comparative genome hybridisation in the diagnostic work-up of patients presenting with congenital disorders, including developmental delay, has enabled identification of many patients with smaller chromosomal imbalances. In this report, the cases are presented of four patients with a de novo interstitial deletion of chromosome 6q13-14, resulting in a common microdeletion of 3.7 Mb. All presented with developmental delay, mild dysmorphism and signs of lax connective tissue. Interestingly, the common deleted region harbours 16 genes, of which COL12A1 is a good candidate for the connective tissue pathology.

Praeoperativt delay hos patienter med perforeret ulcus: en klinisk audit fra Det Nationale Indikatorprojekt

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Morten Hylander; Nørgård, Bente Mertz; Mehnert, Frank

2009-01-01

Mortality following perforated peptic ulcer in Denmark is nearly 30%. Delayed surgery is a prognostic factor, but only half of the patients are operated within six hours of perforation - a predefined quality of care criterion in The Danish National Indicator Project. A clinical audit was conducted...

Percutaneous necrosectomy in patients with acute, necrotizing pancreatitis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bruennler, T.; Langgartner, J.; Lang, S.; Salzberger, B.; Schoelmerich, J. [University Hospital of Regensburg, Department of Internal Medicine 1, Regensburg (Germany); Zorger, N.; Herold, T.; Feuerbach, S.; Hamer, O.W. [University Hospital of Regensburg, Department of Radiology, Regensburg (Germany)

2008-08-15

The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the outcome of patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis treated by active percutaneous necrosectomy. By searching the radiological, surgical and internal medicine databases, all patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis treated by active percutaneous necrosectomy between 1992 and 2004 were identified. Demographic, laboratory, and clinical data, and details about invasive procedures were collected by reviewing patient charts, radiological and surgical reports. The computed tomography severity index (CTSI) scores were determined by reviewing CT images. Eighteen patients were identified. Median Ranson score on admission was 2. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score was median 22. Median CTSI score was 7. Initially all patients were treated with CT-guided drainage placement. Because passive drainage proved not to be effective, subsequent minimally invasive, percutaneous necrosectomy was performed. Eight out of 18 patients recovered fully without the need for surgery. Ten of 18 patients required additional surgical necrosectomy. For one of ten patients, percutaneous necrosectomy allowed postponing surgery by 39 days. Four of ten surgically treated patients died: three from septic multiorgan failure, one from pulmonary embolism. Percutaneous minimally invasive necrosectomy can be regarded as a safe and effective complementary treatment modality in patients with necrotizing pancreatitis. It is suitable for a subset of patients to avoid or delay surgery. (orig.)

Percutaneous necrosectomy in patients with acute, necrotizing pancreatitis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruennler, T.; Langgartner, J.; Lang, S.; Salzberger, B.; Schoelmerich, J.; Zorger, N.; Herold, T.; Feuerbach, S.; Hamer, O.W.

2008-01-01

The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the outcome of patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis treated by active percutaneous necrosectomy. By searching the radiological, surgical and internal medicine databases, all patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis treated by active percutaneous necrosectomy between 1992 and 2004 were identified. Demographic, laboratory, and clinical data, and details about invasive procedures were collected by reviewing patient charts, radiological and surgical reports. The computed tomography severity index (CTSI) scores were determined by reviewing CT images. Eighteen patients were identified. Median Ranson score on admission was 2. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score was median 22. Median CTSI score was 7. Initially all patients were treated with CT-guided drainage placement. Because passive drainage proved not to be effective, subsequent minimally invasive, percutaneous necrosectomy was performed. Eight out of 18 patients recovered fully without the need for surgery. Ten of 18 patients required additional surgical necrosectomy. For one of ten patients, percutaneous necrosectomy allowed postponing surgery by 39 days. Four of ten surgically treated patients died: three from septic multiorgan failure, one from pulmonary embolism. Percutaneous minimally invasive necrosectomy can be regarded as a safe and effective complementary treatment modality in patients with necrotizing pancreatitis. It is suitable for a subset of patients to avoid or delay surgery. (orig.)

Improving the care of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF)

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Ahsan Aftab; Nash, Edward F; Whitehouse, Joanna; Rashid, Rifat

2017-01-01

Background The West Midlands Adult Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Centre based at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital provides care for adults with CF in the West Midlands. People with CF are prone to pulmonary exacerbations, which often require inpatient admission for intravenous antibiotics. We observed that the admission process was efficient during working hours (9:00–17:00, Monday–Friday) when the CF team are routinely available, but out-of-working hours, there were delays in these patients being clerked and receiving their first antibiotic dose. We were concerned that this was resulting in quality and potential safety issues by causing delays in starting treatment and prolonging hospital inpatient stays. We therefore undertook a quality improvement project (QIP) aimed at addressing these issues. An initial survey showed median time to clerk of 5 hours, with 60% of patients missing their first dose of antibiotics and mean length of stay of 16 days. Methods We applied the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle approach, with the first PDSA cycle involving raising awareness of the issue through education to doctors, nurses and patients. Results This led to a reduction of median time to clerk from 5 to 2 hours with 23% of patients missing their first antibiotic dose and mean length of stay reducing to 14 days. The second cycle involved introducing an admissions checklist and displaying education posters around the hospital, resulting in median time to clerk remaining at 2 hours but only 20% of patients missing their first antibiotic dose and the mean length of stay remaining at 14 days. Conclusion This QIP has improved the out-of-hours admissions process for adults with CF in our centre. We plan to review the longer term effects of the project including sustainability, effects on clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. PMID:28959778

Social support and delays seeking care after HIV diagnosis, North Carolina, 2000-2006.

Science.gov (United States)

McCoy, Sandra I; Strauss, Ronald P; MacDonald, Pia D M; Leone, Peter A; Eron, Joseph J; Miller, William C

2009-09-01

Many adults in the USA enter primary care late in the course of HIV infection, countering the clinical benefits of timely HIV services and missing opportunities for risk reduction. Our objective was to determine if perceived social support was associated with delay entering care after an HIV diagnosis. Two hundred and sixteen patients receiving primary care at a large, university-based HIV outpatient clinic in North Carolina were included in the study. Dimensions of functional social support (emotional/informational, tangible, affectionate, and positive social interaction) were quantified with a modified Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Scale and included in proportional hazards models to determine their effect on delays seeking care. The median delay between diagnosis and entry to primary care was 5.9 months. Levels of social support were high but only positive social interaction was moderately associated with delayed presentation in adjusted models. The effect of low perceived positive social interaction on the time to initiation of primary care differed by history of alcoholism (no history of alcoholism, hazard ratio (HR): 1.43, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88, 2.34; history of alcoholism, HR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.40, 1.28). Ensuring timely access to HIV care remains a challenge in the southeastern USA. Affectionate, tangible, and emotional/informational social support were not associated with the time from diagnosis to care. The presence of positive social interaction may be an important factor influencing care-seeking behavior after diagnosis.

Median Nerve Conduction in Healthy Nigerians: Normative Data

African Journals Online (AJOL)

of median nerve disease using multiple studies, and rendering ... Aim: To develop normative values for motor and sensory median nerve ..... Table 5: Comparison of median motor nerve conduction study parameters to studies elsewhere. Study.

Radiotherapy may improve overall survival of patients with T3/T4 transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis or ureter and delay bladder tumour relapse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Li-Li

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since transitional cell carcinoma (TCC of the upper urinary tract is a relatively uncommon malignancy, the role of adjuvant radiotherapy is unknown. Methods We treated 133 patients with TCC of the renal pelvis or ureter at our institution between 1998 and 2008. The 67 patients who received external beam radiotherapy (EBRT following surgery were assigned to the radiation group (RT. The clinical target volume included the renal fossa, the course of the ureter to the entire bladder, and the paracaval and para-aortic lymph nodes, which were at risk of harbouring metastatic disease in 53 patients. The tumour bed or residual tumour was targeted in 14 patients. The median radiation dose administered was 50 Gy. The 66 patients who received intravesical chemotherapy were assigned to the non-radiation group (non-RT. Results The overall survival rates for the RT and non-RT groups were not significantly different (p = 0.198. However, there was a significant difference between the survival rates for these groups based on patients with T3/T4 stage cancer. A significant difference was observed in the bladder tumour relapse rate between the irradiated and non-irradiated bladder groups (p = 0.004. Multivariate analysis indicated that improved overall survival was associated with age grade 3 hematologic symptoms also occurred. Conclusion EBRT may improve overall survival for patients with T3/T4 cancer of the renal pelvis or ureter and delay bladder tumour recurrence in all patients.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging of endometrial cancer. Optimizing the imaging delay for tumour-myometrium contrast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sung Bin; Moon, Min Hoan; Sung, Chang Kyu; Oh, Sohee; Lee, Young Ho

2014-01-01

To investigate the optimal imaging delay time of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in women with endometrial cancer. This prospective single-institution study was approved by the institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained from the participants. Thirty-five women (mean age, 54 years; age range, 29-66 years) underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging with a temporal resolution of 25-40 seconds. The signal intensity difference ratios between the myometrium and endometrial cancer were analyzed to investigate the optimal imaging delay time using single change-point analysis. The optimal imaging delay time for appropriate tumour-myometrium contrast ranged from 31.7 to 268.1 seconds. The median optimal imaging delay time was 91.3 seconds, with an interquartile range of 46.2 to 119.5 seconds. The median signal intensity difference ratios between the myometrium and endometrial cancer were 0.03, with an interquartile range of -0.01 to 0.06, on the pre-contrast MR imaging and 0.20, with an interquartile range of 0.15 to 0.25, on the post-contrast MR imaging. An imaging delay of approximately 90 seconds after initiating contrast material injection may be optimal for obtaining appropriate tumour-myometrium contrast in women with endometrial cancer. (orig.)

Myocardial delayed contrast enhancement in patients with arterial hypertension: Initial results of cardiac MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andersen, Kjel [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225 Duesseldorf (Germany)], E-mail: kjel_andersen@web.de; Hennersdorf, Marcus [Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225 Duesseldorf (Germany)], E-mail: hennersdorf@med.uni-duesseldorf.de; Cohnen, Mathias [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225 Duesseldorf (Germany)], E-mail: cohnen@med.uni-duesseldorf.de; Blondin, Dirk [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225 Duesseldorf (Germany)], E-mail: blondin@med.uni-duesseldorf.de; Moedder, Ulrich [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225 Duesseldorf (Germany)], E-mail: moedder@uni-duesseldorf.de; Poll, Ludger W. [Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225 Duesseldorf (Germany)], E-mail: poll@gmx.de

2009-07-15

Purpose: In arterial hypertension left ventricular hypertrophy comprises myocyte hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis and structural alterations of the coronary microcirculation. MRI enables the detection of myocardial fibrosis, infarction and scar tissue by delayed enhancement (DE) after contrast media application. Aim of this study was to investigate patients with arterial hypertension but without known coronary disease or previous myocardial infarction to detect areas of DE. Methods and material: Twenty patients with arterial hypertension with clinical symptoms of myocardial ischemia, but without history of myocardial infarction and normal coronary arteries during coronary angiography were investigated on a 1.0 T superconducting magnet (Gyroscan T10-NT, Intera Release 8.0, Philips). Fast gradient-echo cine sequences and T2-weighted STIR-sequences were acquired. Fifteen minutes after injection of Gadobenate dimeglumine inversion recovery gradient-echo sequences were performed for detection of myocardial DE. Presence or absence of DE on MRI was correlated with clinical data and the results of echocardiography and electrocardiography, respectively. Results: Nine of 20 patients showed DE in the interventricular septum and the anteroseptal left ventricular wall. In 6 patients, DE was localized intramurally and in 3 patients subendocardially. There was a significant correlation between myocardial DE and ST-segment depressions during exercise and between DE and left-ventricular enddiastolic pressure. Patients with intermittent atrial fibrillation showed a myocardial DE more often than patients without atrial fibrillation. Conclusion: In our series, 45% of patients with arterial hypertension showed DE on cardiac MRI. In this clinical setting, delayed enhancement may be due to coronary microangiopathy. The more intramurally localization of DE, however, rather indicates myocardial interstitial fibrosis.

Myocardial delayed contrast enhancement in patients with arterial hypertension: Initial results of cardiac MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersen, Kjel; Hennersdorf, Marcus; Cohnen, Mathias; Blondin, Dirk; Moedder, Ulrich; Poll, Ludger W.

2009-01-01

Purpose: In arterial hypertension left ventricular hypertrophy comprises myocyte hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis and structural alterations of the coronary microcirculation. MRI enables the detection of myocardial fibrosis, infarction and scar tissue by delayed enhancement (DE) after contrast media application. Aim of this study was to investigate patients with arterial hypertension but without known coronary disease or previous myocardial infarction to detect areas of DE. Methods and material: Twenty patients with arterial hypertension with clinical symptoms of myocardial ischemia, but without history of myocardial infarction and normal coronary arteries during coronary angiography were investigated on a 1.0 T superconducting magnet (Gyroscan T10-NT, Intera Release 8.0, Philips). Fast gradient-echo cine sequences and T2-weighted STIR-sequences were acquired. Fifteen minutes after injection of Gadobenate dimeglumine inversion recovery gradient-echo sequences were performed for detection of myocardial DE. Presence or absence of DE on MRI was correlated with clinical data and the results of echocardiography and electrocardiography, respectively. Results: Nine of 20 patients showed DE in the interventricular septum and the anteroseptal left ventricular wall. In 6 patients, DE was localized intramurally and in 3 patients subendocardially. There was a significant correlation between myocardial DE and ST-segment depressions during exercise and between DE and left-ventricular enddiastolic pressure. Patients with intermittent atrial fibrillation showed a myocardial DE more often than patients without atrial fibrillation. Conclusion: In our series, 45% of patients with arterial hypertension showed DE on cardiac MRI. In this clinical setting, delayed enhancement may be due to coronary microangiopathy. The more intramurally localization of DE, however, rather indicates myocardial interstitial fibrosis.

Patient-dependent count-rate adaptive normalization for PET detector efficiency with delayed-window coincidence events

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niu, Xiaofeng; Ye, Hongwei; Xia, Ting; Asma, Evren; Gagnon, Daniel; Wang, Wenli; Winkler, Mark

2015-01-01

Quantitative PET imaging is widely used in clinical diagnosis in oncology and neuroimaging. Accurate normalization correction for the efficiency of each line-of- response is essential for accurate quantitative PET image reconstruction. In this paper, we propose a normalization calibration method by using the delayed-window coincidence events from the scanning phantom or patient. The proposed method could dramatically reduce the ‘ring’ artifacts caused by mismatched system count-rates between the calibration and phantom/patient datasets. Moreover, a modified algorithm for mean detector efficiency estimation is proposed, which could generate crystal efficiency maps with more uniform variance. Both phantom and real patient datasets are used for evaluation. The results show that the proposed method could lead to better uniformity in reconstructed images by removing ring artifacts, and more uniform axial variance profiles, especially around the axial edge slices of the scanner. The proposed method also has the potential benefit to simplify the normalization calibration procedure, since the calibration can be performed using the on-the-fly acquired delayed-window dataset. (paper)

Factors affecting presentation and delay in patients with testicular cancer: results of a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gascoigne, P; Mason, M D; Roberts, E

1999-01-01

A qualitative study was undertaken with men treated for testicular tumours, to ascertain how they interpreted their symptoms and the factors which influenced a decision to consult a physician. The research was undertaken with six men who had been diagnosed as having testicular tumours. Interviews were also conducted with four wives and one mother. The findings showed that giving men information on testicular cancer may not guarantee early presentation. Symptoms were not generally attributed to cancer and the one patient who practised self-examination had delayed seeking help for 6 months. The extent to which symptoms affected the patient's lifestyle was also a factor in the decision-making process, as was the checking of symptoms with other family members. Wives were often pivotal in persuading men to seek help. The discovery of testicular symptoms produced emotional responses which included embarrassment and fear of both cancer and castration. There was evidence of strong feelings of masculine identity bound up with the appearance of 'normal' genitals. Provider-delay was identified in four cases and was associated with misattribution of symptoms by physicians and the failure to initiate specialist referral. Delay was under-recorded in the hospital notes in all cases where presentation was not immediate.

Reducing communication delays and improving quality of care with a tuberculosis laboratory information system in resource poor environments: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Blaya, Joaquín A; Shin, Sonya S; Yagui, Martin; Contreras, Carmen; Cegielski, Peter; Yale, Gloria; Suarez, Carmen; Asencios, Luis; Bayona, Jaime; Kim, Jihoon; Fraser, Hamish S F

2014-01-01

Lost, delayed or incorrect laboratory results are associated with delays in initiating treatment. Delays in treatment for Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) can worsen patient outcomes and increase transmission. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a laboratory information system in reducing delays and the time for MDR-TB patients to culture convert (stop transmitting). 78 primary Health Centers (HCs) in Lima, Peru. Participants lived within the catchment area of participating HCs and had at least one MDR-TB risk factor. The study design was a cluster randomized controlled trial with baseline data. The intervention was the e-Chasqui web-based laboratory information system. Main outcome measures were: times to communicate a result; to start or change a patient's treatment; and for that patient to culture convert. 1671 patients were enrolled. Intervention HCs took significantly less time to receive drug susceptibility test (DST) (median 11 vs. 17 days, Hazard Ratio 0.67 [0.62-0.72]) and culture (5 vs. 8 days, 0.68 [0.65-0.72]) results. The time to treatment was not significantly different, but patients in intervention HCs took 16 days (20%) less time to culture convert (p = 0.047). The eChasqui system reduced the time to communicate results between laboratories and HCs and time to culture conversion. It is now used in over 259 HCs covering 4.1 million people. This is the first randomized controlled trial of a laboratory information system in a developing country for any disease and the only study worldwide to show clinical impact of such a system. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01201941.

Delay in treatment of biliary disease during pregnancy increases morbidity and can be avoided with safe laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Muench, J; Albrink, M; Serafini, F; Rosemurgy, A; Carey, L; Murr, M M

2001-06-01

Recent reports indicate that laparoscopic cholecystectomy in pregnancy is safe. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether delays in definitive treatment of symptomatic cholelithiasis increase morbidity. We reviewed the records of 16 women who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy during pregnancy between 1992 and 1999. Mean age was 24 +/- 5 years (mean +/- standard error). Symptom onset was during the first trimester in nine patients, second trimester in six patients, and third trimester in one patient. Patients had abdominal pain (93%), nausea (93%), emesis (80%), and fever (66%) for a median of 45 days (range 1-195 days) before cholecystectomy. Nine of 11 women who underwent cholecystectomy more than 5 weeks after onset of symptoms experienced recurrent attacks necessitating 15 hospital admissions and four emergency room visits. Moreover four women who developed symptoms in the first and second trimesters but whose operations were delayed to the third trimester had 11 hospital admissions and four emergency room visits; three of those four (75%) women developed premature contractions necessitating tocolytics. Cholecystectomy was completed laparoscopically in 14 women. There was no hospital infant or maternal mortality or morbidity. We recommend prompt laparoscopic cholecystectomy in pregnant women with symptomatic biliary disease because it is safe and it reduces hospital admissions and frequency of premature labor.

Contemporary management of median arcuate ligament syndrome provides early symptom improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Columbo, Jesse A.; Trus, Thadeus; Nolan, Brian; Goodney, Philip; Rzucidlo, Eva; Powell, Richard; Walsh, Daniel; Stone, David

2017-01-01

Objective Optimal diagnosis and management of median arcuate ligament (MAL) syndrome (MALS) remains unclear in contemporary practice. The advent and evolution of laparoscopic and endovascular techniques has redirected management toward a less invasive therapeutic algorithm. This study examined our contemporary outcomes of patients treated for MALS. Methods All patients treated for MALS at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center from 2000 to 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographics and comorbidities were recorded. Freedom from symptoms and freedom from reintervention were the primary end points. Return to work or school was assessed. Follow-up by clinic visits and telephone allowed quantitative comparisons among the patients. Results During the study interval, 21 patients (24% male), with a median age of 42 years, were treated for MALS. All patients complained of abdominal pain in the presence of a celiac stenosis, 16 (76%) also reported weight loss at the time of presentation, and 57% had a concomitant psychiatric history. Diagnostic imaging most commonly used included duplex ultrasound (81%), computed tomography angiography (66%), angiography (57%), and magnetic resonance angiography (5%). Fourteen patients (67%) underwent multiple diagnostic studies. All patients underwent initial laparoscopic MAL release. Seven patients (33%) underwent subsequent celiac stent placement in the setting of recurrent or unresolved symptoms with persistent celiac stenosis at a mean interval of 49 days. Two patients required surgical bypass after an endovascular intervention failed. The 6-month freedom from symptoms was 75% and freedom from reintervention was 64%. Eighteen patients (81%) reported early symptom improvement and weight gain, and 66% were able to return to work. Conclusions A multidisciplinary treatment approach using initial laparoscopic release and subsequent stent placement and bypass surgery provides symptom improvement in most patients treated for MALS. The

Delayed action does not always require the ventral stream: a study on a patient with visual form agnosia.

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Hesse, Constanze; Schenk, Thomas

2014-05-01

It has been suggested that while movements directed at visible targets are processed within the dorsal stream, movements executed after delay rely on the visual representations of the ventral stream (Milner & Goodale, 2006). This interpretation is supported by the observation that a patient with ventral stream damage (D.F.) has trouble performing accurate movements after a delay, but performs normally when the target is visible during movement programming. We tested D.F.'s visuomotor performance in a letter-posting task whilst varying the amount of visual feedback available. Additionally, we also varied whether D.F. received tactile feedback at the end of each trial (posting through a letter box vs posting on a screen) and whether environmental cues were available during the delay period (removing the target only vs suppressing vision completely with shutter glasses). We found that in the absence of environmental cues patient D.F. was unaffected by the introduction of delay and performed as accurately as healthy controls. However, when environmental cues and vision of the moving hand were available during and after the delay period, D.F.'s visuomotor performance was impaired. Thus, while healthy controls benefit from the availability of environmental landmarks and/or visual feedback of the moving hand, such cues seem less beneficial to D.F. Taken together our findings suggest that ventral stream damage does not always impact the ability to make delayed movements but compromises the ability to use environmental landmarks and visual feedback efficiently. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationships between the Brook Street Terrane and Median Tectonic Zone (Median Batholith) : evidence from Jurassic conglomerates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tulloch, A.J.; Kimbrough, D.L.; Landis, C.A.; Mortimer, N.; Johnston, M.R.

1999-01-01

U-Pb zircon ages of 237-180 Ma and c. 280 Ma of seven granitoid clasts from the Rainy River Conglomerate which lies within the eastern Median Tectonic Zone (Median Batholith) in Nelson, and the Barretts Formation of the Brook Street Terrane in Southland, constrain the depositional ages of both units to be no older than c. 180-200 Ma (Early Jurassic). The minimum age of the Rainy River Conglomerate is constrained by the 147 +2 -1 Ma (Latest Jurassic) emplacement age of the One Mile Gabbronorite (new name: previously western Buller Diorite). The ages and chemistry of five of the granitoid clasts are broadly compatible with derivation from rocks that are now represented by Triassic plutons of the Median Tectonic Zone (Median Batholith), although ages as young as 180 Ma are slightly outside the range of the latter as currently exposed in New Zealand. The age (273-290 Ma, 237 +/- 3 Ma) and chemistry of the other two clasts (one each from Rainy River Conglomerate and Barretts Formation) suggest derivation from the Brook Street Terrane. Similarity in stratigraphic age, depositional characteristics, granitoid clast ages and composition between Rainy River Conglomerate and Barretts Formation suggests that they are broadly correlative and collectively overlapped a combined Brook Street Terrane - Median Batholith (MTZ) before the Late Jurassic (147 +2 -1 Ma). Sedimentary overlap may also have continued across to Middle Jurassic conglomeratic strata in the Murihiku Terrane to the east of the Brook Street Terrane. A U-Pb zircon age of 261 +/- 2 Ma is reported for Pourakino Trondhjemite of the Brook Street Terrane. (author). 56 refs., 10 figs., 4 tabs

Median and ulnar neuropathies in university guitarists.

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Kennedy, Rachel H; Hutcherson, Kimberly J; Kain, Jennifer B; Phillips, Alicia L; Halle, John S; Greathouse, David G

2006-02-01

Descriptive study. To determine the presence of median and ulnar neuropathies in both upper extremities of university guitarists. Peripheral nerve entrapment syndromes of the upper extremities are well documented in musicians. Guitarists and plucked-string musicians are at risk for entrapment neuropathies in the upper extremities and are prone to mild neurologic deficits. Twenty-four volunteer male and female guitarists (age range, 18-26 years) were recruited from the Belmont University School of Music and the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music. Individuals were excluded if they were pregnant or had a history of recent upper extremity or neck injury. Subjects completed a history form, were interviewed, and underwent a physical examination. Nerve conduction status of the median and ulnar nerves of both upper extremities was obtained by performing motor, sensory, and F-wave (central) nerve conduction studies. Descriptive statistics of the nerve conduction study variables were computed using Microsoft Excel. Six subjects had positive findings on provocative testing of the median and ulnar nerves. Otherwise, these guitarists had normal upper extremity neural and musculoskeletal function based on the history and physical examinations. When comparing the subjects' nerve conduction study values with a chart of normal nerve conduction studies values, 2 subjects had prolonged distal motor latencies (DMLs) of the left median nerve of 4.3 and 4.7 milliseconds (normal, DMLs are compatible with median neuropathy at or distal to the wrist. Otherwise, all electrophysiological variables were within normal limits for motor, sensory, and F-wave (central) values. However, comparison studies of median and ulnar motor latencies in the same hand demonstrated prolonged differences of greater than 1.0 milliseconds that affected the median nerve in 2 additional subjects, and identified contralateral limb involvement in a subject with a prolonged distal latency. The other 20

Early versus delayed rehabilitation treatment in hemiplegic patients with ischemic stroke: proprioceptive or cognitive approach?

Science.gov (United States)

Morreale, Manuela; Marchione, Pasquale; Pili, Antonio; Lauta, Antonella; Castiglia, Stefano F; Spallone, Aldo; Pierelli, Francesco; Giacomini, Patrizia

2016-02-01

Early/intensive mobilization may improve functional recovery after stroke but it is not clear which kind of "mobilization" is more effective. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) and cognitive therapeutic exercise (CTE) are widespread applied in post-stroke rehabilitation but their efficacy and safety have not been systematically investigated. To compare PNF and CTE methods in a two different time setting (early versus standard approach) in order to evaluate different role of time and techniques in functional recovery after acute ischemic stroke. We designed a prospectical multicenter blinded interventional study of early versus standard approach with two different methods by means of both PNF and CTE. A discrete stroke-dedicated area for out-of-thrombolysis patients, connected with two different comprehensive stroke centres in two different catchment areas. Three hundred and forty consecutive stroke patient with first ever sub-cortical ischemic stroke in the mean cerebral artery (MCA) territory and contralateral hemiplegia admitted within 6 and 24 hours from symptoms onset. All patients were randomly assigned by means of a computer generated randomization sequence in blocks of 4 to one to the 4 interventional groups: early versus delayed rehabilitation programs with Kabat's schemes or Perfetti's technique. Patients in both delayed group underwent to a standard protocol in the acute phase. disability at 3-12 months. Disability measures: modified Rankin Score and Barthel Index. Safety outcome: immobility-related adverse events. Six-Minute Walking Test, Motricity Index, Mini-Mental State Examination, Beck Depression Inventory. Disability was not different between groups at 3 months but Barthel Index significantly changed between early versus delayed groups at 12 months (P=0.01). Six-Minute Walking Test (P=0.01) and Motricity Index in both upper (P=0.01) and lower limbs (P=0.001) increased in early versus delayed groups regardless rehabilitation schedule. A

Pre- and post-diagnosis costs of tuberculosis to patients on Directly Observed Treatment Short course in districts of southwestern Ethiopia: a longitudinal study.

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Asres, Abyot; Jerene, Degu; Deressa, Wakgari

2018-05-21

Financial burden on tuberculosis (TB) patients results in delayed treatment and poor compliance. We assessed pre- and post-diagnosis costs to TB patients. A longitudinal study among 735 new TB cases was conducted from January 2015 through June 2016 in 10 woredas (districts) of southwestern Ethiopia. Direct out-of-pocket, payments, and lost income (indirect cost) were solicited from patients during the first 2 months and at the end of treatment. Thus, we ascertained direct medical, nonmedical, and indirect costs incurred by patients during pre- and post-diagnosis periods. We categorized costs incurred from onset of illness until TB diagnosis as pre-diagnosis and that incurred after diagnosis through treatment completion as post-diagnosis. Pre- and post-diagnosis costs constitute total cost incurred by the patients. We fitted linear regression model to identify predictors of cost. Between onset of illness and anti-TB treatment course, patients incurred a median (inter-quartile range (IQR)) of US$201.48 (136.7-318.94). Of the total cost, the indirect and direct costs respectively constituted 70.6 and 29.4%. TB patients incurred a median (IQR) of US$97.62 (6.43-184.22) and US$93.75 (56.91-141.54) during the pre- and post-diagnosis periods, respectively. Thus, patients incurred 53.6% of the total cost during the pre-diagnosis period. Direct out-of-pocket expenses during the pre- and post-diagnosis periods respectively amount to median (IQR) of US$21.64 (10.23-48.31) and US$35.02 (0-70.04). Patient delay days (p < 0.001), provider delay days (p < 0.001), number of healthcare facilities visited until TB diagnosis (p < 0.001), and TB diagnosis at private facilities (p = 0.02) independently predicted increased pre-diagnosis cost. Similarly, rural residence (p < 0.001), hospitalization during anti-TB treatment (p < 0.001), patient delay days (p < 0.001), and provider delay days (p < 0.001) predicted increased post-diagnosis costs. TB patients

Cysteine 138 mutation in HIV-1 Nef from patients with delayed disease progression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tolstrup, Martin; Laursen, Alex Lund; Gerstoft, J.

2006-01-01

.0139). The phylogeny of isolates was investigated and the variants harbouring the cysteine 138 mutation clustered independently. CONCLUSION: The present study describes a viral genetic polymorphism related to AIDS disease progression. The polymorphism (cysteine 138) has previously been reported to confer decreased......-1 isolates from patients in a long-term non-progressor (LTNP) cohort and a slow-progressor (SP) cohort (n = 11) was analysed and compared with isolates from a control patient group of progressors (n = 18). Most of the patients with delayed disease progression had extensive medical records, providing...... an insight into the LTNP disease profile and allowing for the stratification of patients based on their CD4 cell decline. RESULTS: In sequences from nine patients, most of the functional domains of HIV-1 Nef appeared intact, and no major deletions were observed to possibly account for an effect...

Comparison of Outcomes between Early Fascial Closure and Delayed Abdominal Closure in Patients with Open Abdomen: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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Yu Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Up to the present, the optimal time to close an open abdomen remains controversial. This study was designed to evaluate whether early fascial abdominal closure had advantages over delayed approach for open abdomen populations. Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched until April 2013. Search terms included “open abdomen,” “abdominal compartment syndrome,” “laparostomy,” “celiotomy,” “abdominal closure,” “primary,” “delayed,” “permanent,” “fascial closure,” and “definitive closure.” Open abdomen was defined as “fail to close abdominal fascia after a laparotomy.” Mortality, complications, and length of stay were compared between early and delayed fascial closure. In total, 3125 patients were included for final analysis, and 1942 (62% patients successfully achieved early fascial closure. Vacuum assisted fascial closure had no impact on pooled fascial closure rate. Compared with delayed abdominal closure, early fascial closure significantly reduced mortality (12.3% versus 24.8%, RR, 0.53, P<0.0001 and complication incidence (RR, 0.68, P<0.0001. The mean interval from open abdomen to definitive closure ranged from 2.2 to 14.6 days in early fascial closure groups, but from 32.5 to 300 days in delayed closure groups. This study confirmed clinical advantages of early fascial closure over delayed approach in treatment of patients with open abdomen.

Clinical Significance of Reverse Redistribution Phenomenon on Delayed Tc-99m Tetrofosmin Myocardial Perfusion Imaging in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Soon Ah; Kim, Dae Weung; Kim, Chang Guhn; Jeong, Jin Won; Kim, Nam Ho; Yun, Kyeong Ho

2009-01-01

This study was performed to investigate the clinical significance of reverse redistribution (RR) phenomenon detected on delayed Tc-99m tetrofosmin myocardial single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in patients with acute myocardial infarction after revascularization. A Tc-99m tetrofrosmin myocardial SPECT was performed in 67 consecutive patients after revascularization for acute myocardial infarction. Myocardial SPECT imaging was performed for early imaging at 40 min and for delayed imaging at 180 min after reinjection at myocardial stress. Regional myocardial uptakes were scored by 4-point scoring in the left ventricular wall divided into 17 segments. Reverse redistribution was defined as an increase of more than 2 point in the activity score on the delayed image. Follow-up myocardial SPECT and coronary angiography (CAG) were performed 9 months later. On myocardial SPECT performed following revascularization, RR was observed in 100 of all 319 segments (31%) and in 43 patients (64%). The abnormalities of perfusion and regional wall motion were more severe in the patients with RR compared to those without RR (p<0.05). On follow-up myocardial SPECT, the myocardial perfusion, regional wall motion, and myocardial thickness were significantly improved in the patients with RR (p<0.05) however, these changes were not significant in those without RR. There was no significant difference between the patients with RR and those without RR in the occurrence of restenosis on CAG. In patients with acute myocardial infarction, the regions showing the RR phenomenon on delayed Tc-99m tetrofosmin SPECT may reflect viable myocardium and indicate recovery of salvaged myocardium

Delayed somatic effects following extended radiotherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Slanina, J

1977-10-27

A group of 135 patients was investigated, who suffered from Hodgkin's disease with long-term remission following radiotherapy. By restricting the investigations to the patient group with long-term remission and correlative examinations, differentiation was made between exclusive or principal delayed radiation effects and delayed effects due to other factors. The study reports the most significant results obtained in the fields of catamnesis, laboratory diagnostics, hematology, pulmology, cardiology, thyroid function tests, neurology, andrology and dermatology. Due to the numerous detectable delayed effects the group of patients with long-term remission receives a special status. Although those effects are in no proportion to the deletary risks of an untreated Hodgkin's disease and though they are consequently tolerable in the present state of the therapeutic development, they must initiate the completion of the therapeutic concept including performance of radiotherapy and aftercare, because only then the risk for the patient provoked by these effects, which ranges beyond the malignity of this disease can be reduced or prevented.

The clinical value of 99Tcm-N-NOET exercise and delayed myocardial perfusion imaging in patients with hypertension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei Hua; Li Sijin; Liu Jianzhong; Wu Zhifang; Liu Haiyan; Hu Guang; Wang Jin; Li Qing

2010-01-01

Objective: To investigate clinical significance of the 99 Tc m -bis (N-ethoxy-N-ethyl-dithiocar-bamato) nitridotechnetium ( 99 Tc m -N-NOET) exercise and delayed myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in hypertensive patients. Methods: Sixty patients with hypertension and 19 normal subjects were carried out 99 Tc m -N-NOET exercise and delayed MPI, and analyzed the results of MPI, exercise electrocardiography (ECG), cardiac function parameters end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), triangle open LVEF (LVEF exercis-LVEF delay) and coronary angiography (CAG). Results: 1) Sixty patients with hypertension, 22 cases (36.7%) of exercise ECG were abnormal, 16 cases (26.7%) were the chest tightness in exercise, 13 cases (21.7%) were blood pressure excessive reaction in exercise; control group, 2 cases (10.5%) of exercise ECG were abnormal, 1 case (5.3%, 1/19) was chest tightness in exercise, no person was blood pressure response in excessive. 2) The positive rate of myocardial perfusion in hypertensive group was significantly higher than the control group (31.75%vs. 5.30%, P 0.05), triangle open LVEF 2 =4.501, P 2 =0.25, P>0.05). The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 99 Tc m -N-NOET MPI were 72.7%, 87.5% and 78.9%. Conclusions: 1) 99 Tc m -N-NOET exercise and delayde MPI can diagnose whether hypertension patients with myocardial ischemia or not. 2) triangle open LVEF of hypertensive patients reduced, triangle open LVEF is lower in hypertensive patients of MPI-positive. (authors)

Delayed traumatic intracranial hematoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomita, Hiroki

1984-01-01

CT was performed serially within 24 hours after head injury in 64 patients having Glasgow Coma Scale of 14 or less or cranial fracture shown on roentgenogram. Delayed traumatic extradural hematoma was observed within 7-12 hours after head injury in 6 cases (9.4%). This was prominent in the frontal and occipital regions (67%). Good recovery was seen in 83.3%. Delayed traumatic intracerebral hematoma was observed within 6-24 hours after head injury in 17 cases (26.6%). This higher incidence was related to contre coup injury. Conservative treatment was possible in 14 of the 17 patients (82.4%), showing good recovery in 70%. (Namekawa, K.)

Comparison of neuroendocrine tumor detection and characterization using DOTATOC-PET in correlation with contrast enhanced CT and delayed contrast enhanced MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giesel, F.L.; Kratochwil, C.; Mehndiratta, A.; Wulfert, S.; Moltz, J.H.; Zechmann, C.M.; Kauczor, H.U.; Haberkorn, U.; Ley, S.

2012-01-01

Purpose: We evaluated the rate of successful characterization of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) present with an increased somatostatin receptor, comparing CE-CT with CE-MRI, each in correlation with DOTATOC-PET. Methods and materials: 8 patients with GEP-NET were imaged using CE-MRI (Gd-EOB-DTPA), CE-CT (Imeron 400) and DOTATOC-PET. Contrast-enhancement of normal liver-tissue and metastasis was quantified with ROI-technique. Tumor delineation was assessed with visual-score in blind-read-analysis by two experienced radiologists. Results: Out of 40 liver metastases in patients with NETs, all were detected by CE-MRI and the lesion extent could be adequately assessed, whereas CT failed to detect 20% of all metastases. The blind-read-score of CT in arterial and portal phase was median −0.65 and −1.4, respectively, and 2.7 for delayed-MRI. The quantitative ROI-analysis presented an improved contrast-enhancement-ratio with a median of 1.2, 1.6 and 3.3 for CE-CT arterial, portal-phase and delayed-MRI respectively. Conclusion: Late CE-MRI was superior to CE-CT in providing additionally morphologic characterization and exact lesion extension of hepatic metastases from neuroendocrine tumor detected with DOTATOC-PET. Therefore, late enhanced Gd-EOB-DTPA-MRI seems to be the adequate imaging modality for combination with DOTATOC-PET to provide complementary (macroscopic and molecular) tumor characterization in hepatic metastasized NETs

Effect of magnesium treatment and glucose levels on delayed cerebral ischemia in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage: a substudy of the Magnesium in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage trial (MASH-II).

Science.gov (United States)

Leijenaar, Jolien F; Dorhout Mees, Sanne M; Algra, Ale; van den Bergh, Walter M; Rinkel, Gabriel J E

2015-10-01

Magnesium treatment did not improve outcome in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage in the Magnesium in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage II trial. We hypothesized that high glucose levels may have offset a potential beneficial effect to prevent delayed cerebral ischemia. We investigated if magnesium treatment led to less delayed cerebral ischemia and if glucose levels interacted with magnesium treatment in the Magnesium in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage II trial. To investigate the effect of magnesium treatment on occurrence of delayed cerebral ischemia and the interaction between glucose levels and magnesium treatment in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients. The Magnesium in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage was a phase III randomized placebo-controlled trial assessing the effect of magnesium sulphate on clinical outcome in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients. For the current study, we included only the patients admitted to the University Medical Centre-Utrecht. We calculated hazard ratios for occurrence of delayed cerebral ischemia in patients treated with magnesium vs. placebo for the entire study population, and separately in the subgroups of patients with high and low mean fasting and mean daily glucose levels until onset of delayed cerebral ischemia. We used the cross-product of magnesium and glucose in the regression analysis to evaluate whether an interaction between magnesium and glucose existed. We included 616 patients: 307 received magnesium and 309 placebo; 156 patients had delayed cerebral ischemia. Hazard ratio for magnesium on occurrence of delayed cerebral ischemia was 1·0 (95% confidence interval: 0·7-1·4). Results were similar in patients with low or high fasting or daily glucose levels. We found no interactions between magnesium treatment and high fasting (P = 0·54) and daily glucose (P = 0·60). Magnesium treatment did not reduce the risk of delayed cerebral ischemia in patients with aneurysmal

Delayed treatment of basilar thrombosis in a patient with a basilar aneurysm: a case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fakhouri T

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Acute occlusion of the basilar artery is a neurological emergency that has a high risk of severe disability and mortality. Delayed thrombolysis or endovascular therapy has been performed with some success in patients who present after 3 hours of symptom onset. Here we present the first case of delayed intra-arterial thrombolysis of a basilar artery thrombosis associated with a large saccular aneurysm. Case presentation A 73-year-old Caucasian man with a history of smoking and alcohol abuse presented to the Emergency Department complaining of diplopia and mild slurred speech and who progressed over 12 hours to coma and quadriparesis. He was found to have a large basilar tip aneurysm putting him at high risk for hemorrhage with lytic treatment. Conclusion The treatment options for basilar thrombosis are discussed. Aggressive treatment options should be considered despite long durations of clinical symptoms in basilar thrombosis, even in extremely high risk patients.

Changing clinical guidelines from delayed to early aperient administration for enterally fed intensive care patients was associated with increased diarrhoea: a before-and-after, intention-to-treat evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mok, Kammy; Smith, Roger J; Reid, David A; Santamaria, John D

2015-11-01

The 14-bed intensive care unit of a tertiary referral hospital adopted a guideline to start docusate sodium with sennosides when enteral nutrition was started. This replaced a guideline to start aperients after 24h of enteral nutrition if no bowel action had occurred. We sought to determine the effect of this change on the incidence of diarrhoea and constipation in intensive care. Retrospective audit of the medical records of consecutive adult patients admitted to intensive care and given enteral nutrition, excluding those with a primary gastrointestinal system diagnosis, between Jan-Aug 2011 (the delayed group, n=175) and Jan-Aug 2012 (the early group, n=175). The early aperient guideline was implemented during Sep-Dec 2011. The early and delayed groups were similar in age (median 62 years vs. 64 years; P=0.17), sex (males 65% vs. 63%; P=0.91), and postoperative cases (31% vs. 33%; P=0.82) and had similar proportions who received mechanical ventilation (95% vs. 95%; P=1.00), an inotrope or vasopressor (63% vs. 70%; P=0.17), renal replacement therapy (8% vs. 10%; P=0.71), opiates (77% vs. 80%; P=0.60), antibiotics (89% vs. 91%; P=0.72) and metoclopramide (46% vs. 55%; P=0.11). A significantly larger proportion of the early group received an aperient (54% vs. 29%, P<0.001) and experienced diarrhoea (38% vs. 27%, P=0.04), but the groups had similar proportions affected by constipation (42% vs. 43%, P=0.91). Changing guidelines from delayed to early aperient administration was associated with an increase in the incidence of diarrhoea but was not associated with the incidence of constipation. These findings do not support changing guidelines from delayed to early aperient administration. Copyright © 2015 Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Value of Median Nerve Sonography as a Predictor for Short- and Long-Term Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Prospective Long-Term Follow-Up Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Marschall

Full Text Available To investigate the prognostic value of B-mode and Power Doppler (PD ultrasound of the median nerve for the short- and long-term clinical outcomes of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS.Prospective study of 135 patients with suspected CTS seen 3 times: at baseline, then at short-term (3 months and long-term (15-36 months follow-up. At baseline, the cross-sectional area (CSA of the median nerve was measured with ultrasound at 4 levels on the forearm and wrist. PD signals were graded semi-quantitatively (0-3. Clinical outcomes were evaluated at each visit with the Boston Questionnaire (BQ and the DASH Questionnaire, as well as visual analogue scales for the patient's assessment of pain (painVAS and physician's global assessment (physVAS. The predictive values of baseline CSA and PD for clinical outcomes were determined with multivariate logistic regression models.Short-term and long-term follow-up data were available for 111 (82.2% and 105 (77.8% patients, respectively. There was a final diagnosis of CTS in 84 patients (125 wrists. Regression analysis revealed that the CSA, measured at the carpal tunnel inlet, predicted short-term clinical improvement according to BQ in CTS patients undergoing carpal tunnel surgery (OR 1.8, p = 0.05, but not in patients treated conservatively. Neither CSA nor PD assessments predicted short-term improvement of painVAS, physVAS or DASH, nor was any of the ultrasound parameters useful for the prediction of long-term clinical outcomes.Ultrasound assessment of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel inlet may predict short-term clinical improvement in CTS patients undergoing carpal tunnel release, but long-term outcomes are unrelated to ultrasound findings.

Onset of Coagulation Function Recovery Is Delayed in Severely Injured Trauma Patients with Venous Thromboembolism.

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McCully, Belinda H; Connelly, Christopher R; Fair, Kelly A; Holcomb, John B; Fox, Erin E; Wade, Charles E; Bulger, Eileen M; Schreiber, Martin A

2017-07-01

Altered coagulation function after trauma can contribute to development of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Severe trauma impairs coagulation function, but the trajectory for recovery is not known. We hypothesized that enhanced, early recovery of coagulation function increases VTE risk in severely injured trauma patients. Secondary analysis was performed on data from the Pragmatic Randomized Optimal Platelet and Plasma Ratio (PROPPR) trial, excluding patients who died within 24 hours or were on pre-injury anticoagulants. Patient characteristics, adverse outcomes, and parameters of platelet function and coagulation (thromboelastography) were compared from admission to 72 hours between VTE (n = 83) and non-VTE (n = 475) patients. A p value value (48 vs 24 hours), α-angle (no recovery), maximum amplitude (24 vs 12 hours), and clot lysis at 30 minutes (48 vs 12 hours). Platelet function recovery mediated by arachidonic acid (72 vs 4 hours), ADP (72 vs 12 hours), and collagen (48 vs 12 hours) was delayed in VTE patients. The VTE patients had lower mortality (4% vs 13%; p < 0.05), but fewer hospital-free days (0 days [interquartile range 0 to 8 days] vs 10 days [interquartile range 0 to 20 days]; p < 0.05) and higher complication rates (p < 0.05). Recovery from platelet dysfunction and coagulopathy after severe trauma were delayed in VTE patients. Suppressed clot lysis and compensatory mechanisms associated with altered coagulation that can potentiate VTE formation require additional investigation. Copyright © 2017 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Opportunities to improve hospital emergency care of patients with diabetic ketoacidosis].

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro-Díaz, Francisco José; Amillo, Mónica; Rosales, María; Panadero, Ana; Ena, Javier

2015-02-01

To identify opportunities to improve the care of adult patients with diabetic ketoacidosis in the emergency room. Retrospective observational study of records for 2010 to 2013. Searching for International Classification of Diseases discharge codes 250.1–250.3 we identified patients who met the following 3 criteria: ketonuria of 100 mg/dL or more, diagnosed diabetes or glucose concentration of 250 mg/dL or more, and venous blood pH below 7.30 (or venous bicarbonate concentration less than 18 mEq/L). We reviewed the cases to extract patient and clinical characteristics and time from triage until diagnosis and start of treatment. The findings were compared with recommendations in clinical practice guidelines. We identified 49 episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis (4 mild, 32 moderate, and 13 severe) in 43 patients. The median delay between triage until the first blood test results were available was 142 minutes (range, 59-597 minutes). In 50% of the cases fluid therapy was delayed beyond the time recommended in clinical practice guidelines. Intravenous insulin was also delayed (in 66%) and insuficient intravenous potassium was given in 65%. Sodium bicarbonate was overused (in 50%). Half the patients developed hypokalemia in the hospital. Diagnosis and initiation of treatment were often delayed for patients with diabetic ketoacidosis in our emergency department.

Risk-factors for surgical delay following hip fracture.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz-Reig, J; Salvador Marín, J; Ferrández Martínez, J; Orozco Beltrán, D; Martínez López, J F

To identify pre-operative risk factors for surgical delay of more than 2 days after admission in patients older than 65 years with a hip fracture. A prospective observational study was conducted on 180 hip fractures in patients older than 65 years of age admitted to our hospital from January 2015 to April 2016. The data recorded included, patient demographics, day of admission, pre-fracture comorbidities, mental state, level of mobility and physical function, type of fracture, antiaggregant and anticoagulant medication, pre-operative haemoglobin value, type of treatment, and surgical delay. The mean age of the patients was 83.7 years. The mean Charlson Index was 2.8. The pre-fracture baseline co-morbidities were equal or greater than 2 in 70% of cases. Mean timing of surgery was 3.1 days. At the time of admission, 122 (67.7%) patients were fit for surgery, of which 80 (44.4%) underwent surgery within 2 days. A Charlson index greater than 2, anticoagulant therapy, and admission on Thursday to Saturday, were independently associated with a surgical delay greater than 2 days. The rate of hip fracture patients undergoing surgery within 2 days is low. Risk factors associated to surgical delay are non-modifiable. However, their knowledge should allow the development of protocols that can reduce surgical delay in this group of patients. Copyright © 2017 SECOT. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Quality of life before reconstructive breast surgery: A preoperative comparison of patients with immediate, delayed, and major revision reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosson, Gedge D; Shridharani, Sachin M; Magarakis, Michael; Manahan, Michele A; Basdag, Basak; Gilson, Marta M; Pusic, Andrea L

2013-05-01

Women undergo breast reconstruction at different time-points in their cancer care; knowing patients' preoperative quality of life (QoL) is critical in the overall care of the patient with breast cancer. Our objective was to describe presurgical QoL among women undergoing immediate, delayed, or major revision breast reconstructive surgery at our institution. From March 2008 to February 2009, we administered preoperative BREAST-Q questionnaires to women who presented to our institution for breast reconstruction. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to compare patient cohorts across multiple QoL domains including body image, physical well-being, psychosocial well-being, and sexual well-being. Of the 231 patients who presented for preoperative consultation, 176 returned the questionnaire (response rate 76%; 117 from the immediate, 21 from the delayed, and 32 from the major revision reconstruction groups, plus 6 mixed or unknown). The three groups differed significantly (P < 0.05) across four of the six domains: body image (satisfaction with breasts), psychosocial well-being, sexual well-being, and physical well-being of the chest and upper body. The immediate reconstruction group had higher (better) scores than the delayed reconstruction group, which had higher (better) scores than the major revision group. These data suggest that women presenting for breast reconstruction at different stages of reconstruction have different baseline QoL. Such data may help us better understand patient selection, education, and expectations, and may lead to improved patient-surgeon communication. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Delays in the management of retroperitoneal sarcomas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seinen, Jojanneke; Almquist, Martin; Styring, Emelie

2010-01-01

Retroperitoneal sarcomas are rare and treatment should optimally be centralized. Despite successful centralization with 90% of the patients referred prior to surgery, delays occur, which led us to assess lead times in a population-based series. Method. Patients diagnosed with retroperitoneal...... sarcoma in the southern Sweden health care region 2003-2009 were eligible for the study. Data on referrals and diagnostic investigations were collected from clinical files from primary health care, local hospitals, and from the sarcoma centre. Lead times were divided into patient delays and health care...... at the general practitioner, 36 days at local hospitals, and 55 days at the sarcoma centre. Conclusion. Centralization per se is not sufficient for optimized and efficient management. Our findings suggest that delays can be minimized by direct referral of patients from primary health care to sarcoma centers...

A delayed presentation of ameloblastic fibrosarcoma in an African patient.

Science.gov (United States)

Chauke, Nkhensani Yvonne; Sofianos, Chrysis; Liakos, Dimitri; Ndobe, Elias

2017-08-01

A 24-year-old womanpresented with ameloblastic fibrosarcoma arising from ameloblastic fibroma. The delayed presentation accounted for the extensive destruction of the mandible and complete occlusion of her oral cavity. This resulted in an inability to eat and maintain oral hygiene. A multidisciplinary team management approach involved nutritional optimisation, segmental mandibulectomy, reconstruction with a reconstructive plate and a free anterolateral thigh flap to line the the floor of mouth. Functional and aesthetic outcome was acceptable, and the patient is planned for secondary free fibular flap bony reconstruction. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Delayed diagnosis of xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis in a quadriplegic patient with uncontrolled cutaneous fistula

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Yang, Jae-Hyuk; Shin, Jin Yong; Roh, Si-Gyun; Chang, Suk-Choo; Lee, Nae-Ho

2018-01-01

Abstract Rationale: Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGP) is a chronic destructive granulomatous inflammation that is characterized by urinary tract obstruction and invasion of the renal parenchyma. Although rare, XGP can lead to fatal complications, including perinephric inflammation, psoas abscess, and cutaneous fistula. Patient concerns: A quadriplegic patient initially presented to the hospital with a chronic open wound and cutaneous fistula. Diagnoses: Abdominal computed tomography revealed a renal obstructing stone and enlarged right kidney with a perinephric fluid collection that communicated with the cutaneous fistula. Interventions: The patient underwent a right nephrectomy at the department of urology. Outcomes: Two months after surgery, the patient was clinically well with no discharging fistula. Lessons: The XGP accompanied by complications requires an immediate evaluation and early diagnosis. In this case, the diagnosis was delayed because the state of quadriplegia rendered no symptoms of XGP. PMID:29480882

MEDIAN: Wireless broadband LAN for multimedia applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vliet, P.J. van

1998-01-01

MEDIAN is one of the projects in the mobile domain of the Advanced Communications Technologies and Services (ACTS) programme of the European Commission. The main obiective of the MEDIAN project is to evaluate and implement a high speed Wireless Customer Premises / Local Area Network (WCPN/WLAN)

Delayed radiation necrosis of the central nervous system in patients irradiated for pituitary tumours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grattan-Smith, P.J.; Morris, J.G.; Langlands, A.O.

1992-01-01

Four cases of delayed radiation necrosis involving the CNS were found in a group of 46 patients irradiated for pituitary tumours over a six year period. This occurred in three of 11 patients with Cushing's disease representing an incidence of 27% in this group. There were no cases among 11 patients with acromegaly or among seven with prolactinomas. One case (6%) was found in the 17 patients with chromophobe adenomas. Standard doses of radiation were delivered to these patients and the findings support suggestions that the metabolic disturbances of Cushing's disease may reduce tolerance to radiation. Our results and a literature review indicate that if radiotherapy is used to treat Cushing's disease, the total dose should be less than 50 Gy at 2 Gy per day fractionation. (Author)

Delayed radiation necrosis of the central nervous system in patients irradiated for pituitary tumours

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grattan-Smith, P.J.; Morris, J.G.; Langlands, A.O. (Westmead Hospital, Sydney (Australia))

1992-10-01

Four cases of delayed radiation necrosis involving the CNS were found in a group of 46 patients irradiated for pituitary tumours over a six year period. This occurred in three of 11 patients with Cushing's disease representing an incidence of 27% in this group. There were no cases among 11 patients with acromegaly or among seven with prolactinomas. One case (6%) was found in the 17 patients with chromophobe adenomas. Standard doses of radiation were delivered to these patients and the findings support suggestions that the metabolic disturbances of Cushing's disease may reduce tolerance to radiation. Our results and a literature review indicate that if radiotherapy is used to treat Cushing's disease, the total dose should be less than 50 Gy at 2 Gy per day fractionation. (Author).

On Preliminary Test Estimator for Median

OpenAIRE

Okazaki, Takeo; 岡崎, 威生

1990-01-01

The purpose of the present paper is to discuss about estimation of median with a preliminary test. Two procedures are presented, one uses Median test and the other uses Wilcoxon two-sample test for the preliminary test. Sections 3 and 4 give mathematical formulations of such properties, including mean square errors with one specified case. Section 5 discusses their optimal significance levels of the preliminary test and proposes their numerical values by Monte Carlo method. In addition to mea...

Effect of finger motion on transverse median nerve movement in the carpal tunnel.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hyo Jung; Yoon, Joon Shik

2016-10-01

We used ultrasonography (US) to investigate the effects of finger motion on movement of the median nerve in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and the correlation between these US parameters and CTS severity. Ultrasonographic measures were performed in 23 control wrists and 22 CTS wrists in women. During first through third finger flexion and grip motion, median nerve movements were obtained using US and a tracing program. Nerve movements during third finger flexion in the dorsopalmar axis and grip motion in both axes, and during second finger flexion in the radioulnar axis, differed significantly between the control and CTS groups. US parameters correlated negatively with cross-sectional area. This study shows that transverse median nerve movements decreased during grip using US and correlated negatively with CTS severity. Muscle Nerve, 2016 Muscle Nerve 54: -, 2016 Muscle Nerve 54: 738-742, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Toxicity profile and treatment delays in NOPHO ALL2008-comparing adults and children with Philadelphia chromosome-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Toft, Nina; Birgens, Henrik; Abrahamsson, Jonas; Griškevičius, Laimonas; Hallböök, Helene; Heyman, Mats; Klausen, Tobias Wirenfeldt; Jónsson, Ólafur Gísli; Palk, Katrin; Pruunsild, Kaie; Quist-Paulsen, Petter; Vaitkeviciene, Goda; Vettenranta, Kim; Asberg, Ann; Helt, Louise Rold; Frandsen, Thomas; Schmiegelow, Kjeld

2016-02-01

Cure rates improve when adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are treated according to pediatric protocols. Assumed risks of toxicities and associated delays in treatment have played a role in setting upper age limits. The aim of this study was to examine the toxicity profile and treatment delays in NOPHO ALL2008 comparing children and adults. We collected information on 19 treatment-related toxicities, systematically captured at 3-month intervals throughout therapy, and time intervals between 12 consecutive treatment phases for 1076 patients aged 1-45 yrs treated according to the Nordic/Baltic ALL2008 protocol. No adults died during induction. The duration of induction therapy and postinduction treatment phases did not differ between children and adults, except for patients 18-45 yrs being significantly delayed during two of nine high-risk blocks (median number of days for patients 1-9, 10-17, and 18-45 yrs; the glucocorticosteroid/antimetabolite-based block B1: 24, 26, and 29 d, respectively, P = 0.001, and Block 5 (in most cases also a B block): 29, 29, and 37 d, respectively, P = 0.02). A higher incidence of thrombosis with increasing age was found; highest odds ratio 5.4 (95% CI: (2.6;11.0)) for patients 15-17 yrs compared with children 1-9 yrs (P children, although thrombosis and avascular osteonecrosis was most common among adolescents. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Delayed Development of Pneumothorax After Pulmonary Radiofrequency Ablation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clasen, Stephan; Kettenbach, Joachim; Kosan, Bora; Aebert, Hermann; Schernthaner, Melanie; Kroeber, Stefan-Martin; Boemches, Andrea; Claussen, Claus D.; Pereira, Philippe L.

2009-01-01

Acute pneumothorax is a frequent complication after percutaneous pulmonary radiofrequency (RF) ablation. In this study we present three cases showing delayed development of pneumothorax after pulmonary RF ablation in 34 patients. Our purpose is to draw attention to this delayed complication and to propose a possible approach to avoid this major complication. These three cases occurred subsequent to 44 CT-guided pulmonary RF ablation procedures (6.8%) using either internally cooled or multitined expandable RF electrodes. In two patients, the pneumothorax, being initially absent at the end of the intervention, developed without symptoms. One of these patients required chest drain placement 32 h after RF ablation, and in the second patient therapy remained conservative. In the third patient, a slight pneumothorax at the end of the intervention gradually increased and led into tension pneumothorax 5 days after ablation procedure. Underlying bronchopleural fistula along the coagulated former electrode track was diagnosed in two patients. In conclusion, delayed development of pneumothorax after pulmonary RF ablation can occur and is probably due to underlying bronchopleural fistula, potentially leading to tension pneumothorax. Patients and interventionalists should be prepared for delayed onset of this complication, and extensive track ablation following pulmonary RF ablation should be avoided.

A quadriplegic patient's cholescintigraphic findings: delayed gallbladder visualization and common bile duct dilation.

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, W. J.; Magoun, S.; Lu, G.

1996-01-01

A Tc-99m DISIDA cholescintigraphic study of a 37-year-old patient with a 20-year history of quadriplegia demonstrated dilation of the common bile duct and delayed gallbladder visualization. A concurrent sonographic study showed an enlarged gallbladder with stones and dilation of the common bile duct. These findings were proved by autopsy. Quadriplegia secondary to a high level of spinal cord injury may result in gallbladder dysfunction. Images Figure PMID:8776068

Early weight bearing versus delayed weight bearing in medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy: a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Lansdaal, Joris Radboud; Mouton, Tanguy; Wascher, Daniel Charles; Demey, Guillaume; Lustig, Sebastien; Neyret, Philippe; Servien, Elvire

2017-12-01

The need for a period of non-weight bearing after medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy remains controversial. It is hypothesized that immediate weight bearing after medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy would have no difference in functional scores at one year compared to delayed weight bearing. Fifty patients, median age 54 years (range 40-65), with medial compartment osteoarthritis, underwent a medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy utilizing a locking plate without bone grafting. Patients were randomized into an Immediate or a Delayed (2 months) weight bearing group. All patients were assessed at one-year follow-up and the two groups compared. The primary outcome measure was the IKS score. Secondary outcome measures included the IKDC score, the VAS pain score and rate of complications. The functional scores significantly improved in both groups. The IKS score increased from 142 ± 31 to 171 ± 26 in the Immediate group (p bearing after medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy had no effect on functional scores at 1 year follow-up and did not significantly increase the complication rate. Immediate weight bearing after medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy appears to be safe and can allow some patients a quicker return to activities of daily living and a decreased convalescence period. II.

Treatment delay of bone tumours, compilation of a sociodemographic risk profile: A retrospective study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schnurr, Christoph; Pippan, Mathias; Stuetzer, Hartmut; Delank, Karl S; Michael, Joern WP; Eysel, Peer

2008-01-01

Bone tumours are comparatively rare tumours and delays in diagnosis and treatment are common. The purpose of this study was to analyse sociodemographic risk factors for bone tumour patients in order to identify those at risk of prolonged patients delay (time span from first symptoms to consultation), professional delay (from consultation to treatment) or symptom interval (from first symptoms to treatment). Understanding these relationships might enable us to shorten time to diagnosis and therapy. We carried out a retrospective analysis of 265 patients with bone tumours documenting sociodemographic factors, patient delay, professional delay and symptom interval. A multivariate explorative Cox model was performed for each delay. Female gender was associated with a prolonged patient delay. Age under 30 years and rural living predisposes to a prolonged professional delay and symptom interval. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are required for successful management of most bone tumour patients. We succeeded in identifying the histology independent risk factors of age under 30 years and rural habitation for treatment delay in bone tumour patients. Knowing about the existence of these risk groups age under 30 years and female gender could help the physician to diagnose bone tumours earlier. The causes for the treatment delays of patients living in a rural area have to be investigated further. If the delay initiates in the lower education of rural general physicians, further training about bone tumours might advance early detection. Hence the outcome of patients with bone tumours could be improved

[Analysis of characteristics and influence factors of diagnostic delay of endometriosis].

Science.gov (United States)