Anaemia in chronic respiratory failure.

BACKGROUND: In patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), anaemia is common and associated with impaired long-term survival and quality of life. Whether anaemia is also prevalent in patients with other severe, non-inflammatory respiratory diseases has not yet been systematically tested. METHODS: In 595 patients with obstructive (OD, 54.8%) or restrictive disease (RD, 45.2%) and chronic respiratory failure (CRF), anthropometric data, laboratory parameters, lung function, blood gases and comorbidities were assessed prior to initiation of home mechanical ventilation. Patients were classified as anaemic based on haemoglobin (Hb) levels (Hb<12/13 g/dl, female patients/male patients). Patients with known causes for anaemia were excluded. RESULTS: In patients with CRF the prevalence of anaemia was 13.3% and not different between RD (11.5%) and OD (14.7%) (p=0.276). A sex-related difference occurred only in OD [7.9% (f) vs. 17.3% (m); p=0.035]. Patients with OD and anaemia presented with higher age (p=0.003), pH (p=0.014) and arterial oxygen pressure (PaO(2) ) (p=0.012), lower body mass index (BMI) (p=0.011) and total protein (p=0.012) and higher rates of coronary heart disease (p=0.01), cardiac arrhythmia (p=0.014) and diabetes mellitus (p=0.003) in comparison to non-anaemic patients. In patients with RD anaemia was associated with higher age, (p=0.008), pH (p=0.011) and lower leucocytes numbers (p=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Anaemia is frequent not only in COPD but also in other severe respiratory diseases combined with CRF. It was associated with advanced age, several comorbidities, impaired nutritional state and elevations of pH and PaO(2) , probably because of hyperventilation. Its prognostic impact has to be elucidated in future studies.

[An 82 year old patient with severe abdominal pain and air in the portal vein]. / 82-jähriger Patient mit heftigen Bauchschmerzen und Luft im Portalvenensystem.

An 82 year old male patient presented with acute abdominal pain. Computer tomography revealed portomesenteric vein gas and a paralytic ileus due to an acute mesenteric ischemia. Because of the presence of peritoneal signs immediate surgical exploration was performed. The diagnosis of a non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia with bowel infarction was confirmed during surgery and pathologically. The patient survived without any severe consequences.

The influence of lunar phenomena on the incidence of emergency cases.

It is widely believed that the incidence of specific emergency cases shows clustering during long observation periods. Though there is no scientific proof, many physicians and other emergency staff believe in influences of the moon or the signs of the zodiac. The aim of our retrospective study over 6 years was to evaluate (a) if there are any statistically documented peaks of frequency of emergency cases at all, and (b) if they can be linked to lunar phenomena. We evaluated all three aspects of the moon: The 'synodic' moon (=lunar phases), the 'sideric' moon (=distance between moon and the earth) and the moon in her relation to the signs of the zodiac (=influence of the zodiac). A total of 11134 patients entered the study. We found highly significant clusters of emergency calls, mainly for lung disorders. However, neither aspect of the moon showed the slightest correlation with the frequency of emergency calls (sideric month (P=0.99), synodic month (P=0.85) and zodiac (P=0.85)). Trigonometric regression with the period of the anomalistic month (P=0.173) and with the synodic month (P=0.28) did not show any influence of the moon on emergency in either cases. Though our retrospective data analysis documented clustering of emergency cases, any influence of the moon and the signs of the zodiac can be definitely ruled out.