ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Palliative Medicine (PM) is a specialty whose objective is to prevent and alleviate suffering associated with advanced diseases. Hospital palliative medicine has benefits in symptom control, quality of life and cost containment. Hospital PM support teams that serve as referral specialists are in charge of a PM care model. AIM: To describe the clinical experience of a PM support team in a tertiary hospital in Chile. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Review of clinical records of patients referred to a hospital PM support team between March 2015 and July 2018. Administrative data of referrals, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients, their investigated problems and the interventions proposed by the PM team were described. RESULTS: During the study period, 790 referrals were registered, most of them from the internal medicine department (31%) or critical care (24%). During the study period, the number of annual referrals increased from 177 to 237 and the time lapse after hospital admission decreased from five to three days. The mean age of patients was 65.8 years and their main diagnosis was an oncological disease in 81%. The most frequently identified symptoms were fatigue in 71% of patients, depression in 68% and pain in 60%. The main interventions proposed by the PM team were communication support in 64% of patients, analgesia in 62% and education for family caregivers in 49%. Conclusions: The hospital PM team proposes a care model that allows the evaluation and a therapeutic approach for patients suffering from advanced diseases, using a multidimensional perspective including their families.
Subject(s)
Humans , Aged , Palliative Medicine , Pain , Palliative Care/methods , Quality of Life , Pain Management , Hospitals, UniversityABSTRACT
La fibrosis quística se debe a la ausencia o defecto del canal transmembrana regulador de la fibrosis quística (CFTR), un canal de cloruro codificado en el gen cftr que juega un papel clave en la homeostasis del agua e iones. El CFTR es activado por el AMPc y se localiza en las membranas apicales y basolaterales de las vías aéreas, intestino y glándulas exocrinas. Una de sus funciones primarias en los pulmones es mantener la capa de líquido superficial a través de su función de canal y regular el canal epitelial de sodio sensible al amiloride (ENaC). Se han identificado más de 1900 mutaciones en el gen cftr. La enfermedad se caracteriza por secreciones viscosas en las glándulas exocrinas y por niveles elevados de cloruro de sodio en el sudor. En la fibrosis quística el CFTR no funciona y el ENaC está desregulado; el resultado es un aumento en la reabsorción de sodio y agua con la formación de un líquido viscoso. En las glándulas sudoríparas tanto el Na+ como el Cl- se retienen en el lumen causando una pérdida de electrolitos durante la sudoración y el NaCl se elimina al sudor. Así, los niveles elevados de NaCl son la base del test del sudor inducido por pilocarpina, un método de diagnóstico para la enfermedad. En esta revisión se discuten los movimientos de Cl- y Na+ en las glándulas sudoríparas y pulmón así como el papel del ENaC en la patogénesis de la enfermedad.
Cystic fibrosis is caused by dysfunction or lack of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a chloride channel that has a key role in maintaining ion and water homoeostasis in different tissues. CFTR is a cyclic AMP-activated Cl- channel found in the apical and basal plasma membrane of airway, intestinal, and exocrine epithelial cells. One of CFTR’s primary roles in the lungs is to maintain homoeostasis of the airway surface liquid layer through its function as a chloride channel and its regulation of the epithelial sodium channel ENaC. More than 1900 CFTR mutations have been identified in the cftr gene. The disease is characterized by viscous secretions of the exocrine glands in multiple organs and elevated levels of sweat sodium chloride. In cystic fibrosis, salt and fluid absorption is prevented by the loss of CFTR and ENaC is not appropriately regulated, resulting in increased fluid and sodium resorption from the airways and formation of a contracted viscous surface liquid layer. In the sweat glands both Na+ and Cl- ions are retained in the lumen, causing significant loss of electrolytes during sweating. Thus, elevated sweat NaCl concentration is the basis of the classic pilocarpine-induced sweat test as a diagnostic feature of the disease. Here we discuss the ion movement of Cl- and Na+ ions in two tissues, sweat glands and in the air surface as well as the role of ENaC in the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis.
Subject(s)
Humans , Biological Transport/physiology , Cell Membrane Permeability/physiology , Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator/physiology , Cystic Fibrosis/physiopathology , Epithelial Sodium Channels/physiologyABSTRACT
Information disclosure and decision making process are important steps in advanced cancer patients management; however, there is no research done in this area in Chile. Aims: To know the preferences of patients with advanced cancer related to information disclosure and style of decision making process. Methods: Prospective observational study with patients in the Palliative Care Unit of Sótero del Río Hospital, in Santiago, Chile. The preferences were evaluated with a Disclosure Information and a Decision Making Preferences Questionnaire. Results: 100 patients were recruited, 52% males, average age 63 years; 90% wanted to receive complete information about diagnosis and 89% complete information about prognosis. The preferences related to decision making process style were: 60% shared, 27% passive and 13% active. The expressed satisfaction with the information received was 89% and 87% with the way decisions were actually made. Conclusions: A majority of patients preferred to receive complete information about diagnosis and prognosis and to make shared decisions. The satisfaction with information disclosure and decision making process was very high. The data of this study supports the need of an adequate information disclosure and of exploring the individual preferences of our patients, with the goal of promoting an informed decision making process that respects the preferences of our patients.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Decision Making , Palliative Care/psychology , Patient Participation/statistics & numerical data , Patient Satisfaction/statistics & numerical data , Physician-Patient Relations , Chile , Disclosure , Palliative Care/statistics & numerical data , Patient Participation/psychology , Prospective Studies , Surveys and Questionnaires , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
Terminally ill patients frequently have difficulties with fluid and food intake. The indication of artificial hydration in these patients has been subject of intense debate in the past years and the clinical practice widely varies, mostly based on anecdotal data and not on clinical evidence about risks and benefits associated to artificial hydration in terminal patients. There are not only technical questions concerning benefits and risks associated to artificial hydration, but also questions related to the ethical principles and values involved. Several topics, such as the effect of artificial hydration alleviating symptoms or reversing neurological alterations as delirium, its life prolonging effect or if it promotes unnecessary suffering, are discussed. In this review we will analyze clinical benefits and risks associated to artificial hydration in terminal patients, making reference to some ethical principles involved.
Subject(s)
Humans , Fluid Therapy/standards , Terminal Care/standards , Fluid Therapy/adverse effects , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Risk Factors , Terminal Care , Terminally IllABSTRACT
Physicians tend to over or underestimate symptoms reported by patients. Therefore standardized symptom scoring systems have been proposed to overcome this drawback. Aim: To estimate the prevalence and the diagnostic accuracy of physical and psychological symptoms and delirium in patients admitted to an internal medicine service at a university hospital. Material and Methods: We studied 58 patients, 45 with metastasic cancer and 13 with other advanced chronic diseases. The following scales were used: the Confusion Assessment Method for the diagnosis of delirium; the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) for pain and other physical symptoms; the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to assess anxiety and depression. The ESAS was simultaneously applied to patients without delirium and their doctors to assess the level of diagnostic concordance. Results: Twenty two percent of patients had delirium. Among the 45 patients without delirium, 11 (25 percent) had at least eight symptoms and 39 (88.6 percent) had four symptoms. The prevalence of symptoms was very high, ranging from 22 to 78 percent. Pain, restlesness, anorexia and sleep disorders were the most common. The concordance between symptoms reported by patients and those recorded by doctor was very low, with a Kappa index between 0.001 and 0.334. Conclusions: In our sample of chronic patients, there is a very high frequency of psychological and physical symptoms that are insufficiently recorded by the medical team.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Delirium/diagnosis , Hospitalization , Pain/diagnosis , Palliative Care , Terminally Ill/psychology , Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis , Chronic Disease , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Hospitals, University , Neoplasms/psychology , Pain/therapy , Palliative Care/statistics & numerical data , Prospective Studies , Severity of Illness Index , Sickness Impact ProfileABSTRACT
La raíz mesiovestibular del primer molar superior posee un complejo sistema de conductos, puede encontrarse un solo conducto de tipo laminar, pero del 50 al 60 por ciento de los casos posee dos conductos, y en 2 al 4 por ciento pueden encontrarse hasta tres, y se acepta que los conductos mesiovestibulares presentan las mayores dificultades para su localización e instrumentación. El conocimiento de la frecuencia de este dato permitirá al endodoncista incrementar el éxito en la conductoterapia de los primeros molares superiores. El objetivo de este estudio fue establecer la frecuencia de un segundo conducto en la raíz mesiovestibular del primer molar superior en pacientes de la ciudad de Mérida, Yuc., en un periodo comprendido de septiembre de 1994 a julio de 1995. Se estudiaron 145 primeros molares superiores de un total de 144 pacinetes, utilizando análisis radiográficos con una película ortorradial y dos distorradiales. Se observaron dos conductos en la raíz mesiovestibular en 15 (10.3 por ciento) de los molares estudiados, con la mayor frecuencia entre los pacientes jóvenes. Se hacen consideraciones al respecto
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adolescent , Adult , Middle Aged , Dental Pulp Cavity/anatomy & histology , Molar/anatomy & histology , Tooth Root/anatomy & histology , Age Distribution , Molar , Root Canal Preparation/instrumentation , Sex DistributionABSTRACT
El infarto agudo de miocardio que se desarrolla en la evolución de la angina inestable no ha sido adecuadamente caracterizado. Se evaluaron 1022 pacientes ingresados al Estudio ENAI. Se consideró como infarto agudo de miocardio la aparición de dos de tres críterios: nuevo dolor, elevación de CPK y nuevas ondas Q. Se definió como tipo de infarto de miocardio: 1) Q; 2) no Q (diferenciados en T, ST e indeterminado). La prevalencia global del infarto agudo de miocardio fue del 5 por ciento. Se descartó un 2 por ciento por considerarse infarto agudo de miocardio de ingreso. El 90 por ciento de estos infartos se produjo en los tres primeros días con una incidencia de 21 por ciento, 31 por ciento y 38 por ciento respectivamente para cada día. En el análisis multivariado las variables independientes de ingreso y evolución asociadas al infarto fueron: angina de reciente comienzo, cambios electrocardiográficos y angina refractaria. La ausencia de alteraciones del ST-T tuvo un valor predictivo negativo del 99,2 por ciento para el desarrollo del infarto agudo de miocardio. Excluyendo los pacientes revascularizados, la mortalidad fue del 10 por ciento en los pacientes con infarto y 1,3 por ciento en aquéllos sin infarto
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Adult , Middle Aged , Angina, Unstable/complications , Angina, Unstable/drug therapy , Enalapril/therapeutic use , Myocardial Infarction/complications , Argentina/epidemiology , Coronary Care Units , Multicenter Studies as Topic , PrevalenceABSTRACT
Fue analizada la función ventricular izquierda en 63 pacientes con infarto agudo de miocardio (IAM), quienes fueron consecutivamente ingresados a un protocolo de tratamiento convencional (no invasivo-no intervencionista), o fibrinolíticos, seguido de angioplastía coronaria (intervencionista) de acuerdo al tiempo de evolución de los síntomas. La terapeútica con drogas fibrinolíticas, estreptoquinasa endovenosa (STK-IV) se comenzó a un intervalo promedio de tiempo de cinco horas después de iniciados los síntomas, siendo exitosa en once pacientes (17,4 por ciento). El predominio de la localización del infarto fue anterior en 31 pacientes (49,2 por ciento) (Tabla I). Solamente un paciente ingresó complicado con fibrilación ventricular a la Sala de Hemodinamia. La mortalidad global intrahospitalaria fue del 5,9 por ciento. Secundario a angioplastía coronaria (AC) 3 por ciento. En el análisis de la función ventricular izquierda basal de ingreso, posterior a la terapeútica combinada (fibrinolíticos más angioplastía coronaria) y la basal de egreso se encontró superior con respecto a los infartos que fueron sometidos a tratamiento convencional (no intervencionista), con 43 por ciento vs 38 por ciento y 47 por ciento vs 42 por ciento (Figura I). Se concluye que dicha terapeútica tiende a proteger al miocardio en riesgo, con disminución del tamaño del infarto y subsiguiente mejoría de la función ventricular izquierda