[Diagnostic agreement between emergency teams and hospital services]. / Acuerdo diagnóstico entre equipos de emergencias y servicios hospitalarios.

OBJECTIVES: Over the last 10 years the Public Health Emergency Service of Andalusia (Spain) has been conducting a study into the diagnostic agreement among its teams (061 teams) and those of primary care and hospitals. Diagnostic agreement between these teams and hospital teams was evaluated. When discrepancies were found, an assessment was made of whether these corresponded to the emergency team, transfer resources or hospital. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A descriptive study was performed. Five hundred ten patients whose particulars were already known were randomly selected. The patients, who required transfer to a public hospital, received assistance from 061 teams in Malaga in 2001. Data were gathered on personal details, the assistance received, transfer, hospital and diagnosis or diagnoses. The maximum number of diagnoses permitted was three, coded in accordance with the CIE-9 CM classification. The Kappa index was used for comparisons. RESULTS: Ten cases were lost due to missing data. The mean number of diagnoses per patient was 1.48 for 061 teams and was 1.50 in hospital reports. The most common of diagnoses related to injuries and cardiovascular diseases (non-specific diagnoses accounted for approximately 20%). Fifty-nine percent of the patients had at least one diagnosis that coincided. We obtained kappa = 0.478 for a confidence level of 95% (the agreement rate was 73.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Overall agreement was moderate, with better results in the Advanced Coordination Team and conventional ambulance transfer due to the simplicity of the diagnoses. Results classified as "good" were achieved only in the Hospital Costa del Sol, which uses working guidelines similar to those of the Public Health Emergency Service. The percentage of inexact diagnoses was high. Proposals for improvement should range from revising the working methods used to applying new technologies.

Acuerdo diagnóstico entre equipos de emergencias y servicios hospitalarios / Diagnostic agreement between emergency teams and hospital services

Objetivos: Desde hace 10 años, la Empresa Pública de Emergencias Sanitarias de Andalucía estudia la concordancia de sus equipos con la atención primaria y los hospitales. Se investiga el acuerdo diagnóstico entre estos equipos y los hospitalarios, y en caso de encontrar diferencias, se valora si éstas podrían estar en función del equipo de emergencias, el recurso de traslado o el centro hospitalario. Pacientes y método: Estudio descriptivo. Se incluyó a 510pacientes (seleccionados al azar) cuyos datos se conocía, atendidos por equipos 061 de Málaga en 2001 y que precisaron traslado a algún hospital público. Se recabaron datos sobre la filiación, la asistencia recibida, el traslado, el centro hospitalario y el diagnóstico. El máximo de diagnósticos permitidos fue 3, codificados según la clasificación CIE-9 MC. Para la comparación se utilizó el índice kappa. Resultados: Se perdieron 10 casos. La media de diagnósticos del 061 por paciente fue de 1,48, mientras que en los informes hospitalarios fue de 1,59. Los más frecuentes hacían referencia a traumatismos y enfermedades cardiovasculares(los inespecíficos se aproximaron al 20%). El 59% de los pacientes tenía al menos un diagnóstico coincidente. Para un nivel de confianza del 95% obtuvimos un índice kappa de 0,478 (proporción de conformidad del 73,9%).Conclusiones: Obtuvimos una concordancia global moderada, con mejores resultados para el Equipo de Coordinación Avanzada y traslados en ambulancia convencional por la simplicidad de los diagnósticos. Sólo llegó a niveles considerados como «buenos» el Hospital Costa del Sol, con el que se comparten las guías de trabajo. El porcentaje de diagnósticos poco precisos fue alto. Las propuestas de mejora deberán ir desde la revisión de los modos de trabajo hasta la aplicación de nuevas tecnologías (AU)

Objectives: Over the last 10 years the Public Health Emergency Service of Andalusia (Spain) has been conducting a study into the diagnostic agreement among its teams (061teams) and those of primary care and hospitals. Diagnostic agreement between these teams and hospital teams was evaluated. When discrepancies were found, an assessment was made of whether these corresponded to the emergency team, transfer resources or hospital. Patients and method: A descriptive study was performed. Five hundred ten patients whose particulars were already known were randomly selected. The patients, who required transfer to a public hospital, received assistance from 061 teams in Malaga in 2001. Data were gathered on personal details, the assistance received, transfer, hospital and diagnosis or diagnoses. The maximum number of diagnoses permitted was three, coded in accordance with the CIE-9 CM classification. The Kappa index was used for comparisons. Results: Ten cases were lost due to missing data. The mean number of diagnoses per patient was 1.48 for 061 teams and was 1.50 in hospital reports. The most common of diagnoses related to injuries and cardiovascular diseases (non-specific diagnoses accounted for approximately 20%). Fifty-nine percent of the patients had at least one diagnosis that coincided. We obtained ê = 0.478 for a confidence level of 95% (the agreement rate was 73.9%).Conclusions: Overall agreement was moderate, with better results in the Advanced Coordination Team and conventional ambulance transfer due to the simplicity of the diagnoses. Results classified as «good» were achieved only in the Hospital Costa del Sol, which uses working guidelines similar to those of the Public Health Emergency Service. The percentage of inexact diagnoses was high. Proposals for improvement should range from revising the working methods used to applying new technologies (AU)

Influence of glucose concentration on the effects of aspirin, ticlopidine and clopidogrel on platelet function and platelet-subendothelium interaction.

Clinical studies have shown that the ability of aspirin to prevent cerebrovascular accidents is weaker in patients with diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine whether high concentrations of glucose modified the effect of aspirin, ticlopidine and clopigodrel on platelet function and platelet-subendothelium interactions. This in vitro study tested three different concentrations of glucose. The effects were analyzed by comparing platelet aggregometry in whole blood, nitric oxide and prostacyclin production in cultures of human endothelial cells, and by quantitative analysis of morphological features of the platelet-subendothelium interaction under flow conditions. High concentrations of glucose increased platelet aggregation (13.9 Omega with 5 mM glucose vs. 21.6 Omega with 16.6 mM) and platelet-subendothelium interactions (28.9% with 5 mM glucose vs.35.2% with 16.6 mM), and decreased nitric oxide and prostacyclin production. In the presence of high concentrations of glucose, the antiaggregant effect of aspirin and its influence on nitric oxide production were diminished (IC50 54 microM with 5 mM glucose vs.556 microM with 16.6 mM glucose), and its effect on the platelet-subendothelium interaction was reduced (10.5% platelet occupancy with 5 mM glucose vs.23% with 16.6 mM glucose). The effects of ticlopidine and clopidogrel were not significantly modified.

In vitro effects of clopidogrel on the platelet-subendothelium interaction, platelet thromboxane and endothelial prostacyclin production, and nitric oxide synthesis.

Clopidogrel is an antiplatelet drug that belongs to the group of thienopyridines. Because of its main mechanism of action most studies of clopidogrel have centered on the platelet ADP pathway. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of clopidogrel, ticlopidine, and aspirin, on platelet activation by collagen (the main inducer of platelet activation in vivo), prostanoid, and NO production, and the effects on blood perfusion experiments. Clopidogrel inhibited platelet aggregation induced in whole blood by collagen and TxB2 production to a greater extent than did ticlopidine. Prostacyclin synthesis did not change after incubation with thienopyridines, whereas aspirin inhibited synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. Thienopyridines increased NO production to a greater extent than did aspirin. All three drugs impaired the platelet-subendothelium interaction under flow conditions. With thienopyridines, the presence of endothelium did not modify the percentage of the surface coated by platelets.

Drug use for non-hepatic associated conditions in patients with liver cirrhosis.

AIMS: To study the prescribing patterns of practising physicians for the most frequent non-hepatic associated conditions in patients with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: A multi-centre prospective observational study carried out in 25 Spanish hospitals. Inpatients admitted to gastrointestinal and liver units with a diagnosis of liver cirrhosis were included in five centrally assigned index days, between February and June 1999. Information was collected about pharmacological treatments used on admission and recommended at discharge. RESULTS: Five hundred and sixty-eight in-patients with a diagnosis of liver cirrhosis (44% alcoholic cirrhosis) and an average number of 2.5 co-morbid conditions were studied: diabetes mellitus (30%), infectious disorders (24%), cardiovascular disease (20%) and active alcoholism (15%)--the most common associated conditions. Chlormethiazole, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, paracetamol, gliblenclamide, lorazepam, captopril and tiapride were the drugs used most prevalently. The average prescribed daily dose was <1 defined daily dose per day for most medication classes hepatically handled except for calcium channel blockers. CONCLUSIONS: The present study expands current knowledge of prescribing patterns for associated conditions in patients with underlying liver cirrhosis. Drug dosing was affected in general by the influence of age and hepatic disease on the disposition of drugs, but knowledge on drug selection needs further attention.

S-adenosyl-L-methionine prevents 5-HT(1A) receptors up-regulation induced by acute imipramine in the frontal cortex of the rat.

S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) has shown efficacy in speeding the onset of the antidepressant effect of imipramine in depressed patients. This effect may be related to their interactions at the serotonin(1A) (5-HT(1A)) receptors. Acute imipramine up-regulated the frontal cortex 5-HT(1A) receptors (B(max), 51.5 +/- 8.4 fmol/mg protein) vs. saline (B(max), 27.5 +/- 5.9 fmol/mg protein), and did not show antidepressant effect. Acute SAM and imipramine+SAM did not modify frontal cortex 5-HT(1A) receptors, and showed antidepressant effects (decrease of the immobility response of 26%, P<0.01; and 47%, P<0.001) vs. saline. All the chronic treatments showed antidepressant effects and up-regulated the hippocampus 5-HT(1A) receptors. SAM prevents the 5-HT(1A) receptor up-regulation induced by acute imipramine in the frontal cortex. This mechanism may contribute to imipramine's antidepressant effect.