Ventricular Tachycardia as a Presentation of Isolated Cardiac Sarcoidosis: How to Manage It When We Do Not See Granulomas.

A 47-year-old male was referred for rapid palpitations and an electrocardiogram compatible with sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) that required synchronized electrical cardioversion due to hemodynamic instability. After the initial clinical certainty, an etiological search is carried out. The transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) revealed moderate dilatation and left ventricular systolic dysfunction due to global hypokinesia. Coronary angiography did not show significant coronary stenosis. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) guarantees a nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy with moderate systolic dysfunction and a pattern of subepicardial and intramyocardial late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in medial-lateral and median inferolateral segments. Lastly, a positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan showed diffuse fixation of the radiotracer in the left ventricular (LV) walls, with greater uptake on the lateral and inferolateral surfaces of inflammatory origin. After ruling out other alternative pathologies and according to current diagnostic criteria, the clinical judgment of probable isolated cardiac sarcoidosis (ICS) is established. An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator was implanted as secondary prevention of the acute arrhythmic event. Specific treatment for systolic dysfunction was prescribed, as well as immunosuppressive therapy with corticosteroids and methotrexate, after which the patient remained in clinical remission, with disappearance of active inflammation on cardiac imaging tests and progressive ventricular systolic function. The initial diagnosis of isolated cardiac sarcoidosis can be complex and challenging, especially in those patients in whom the diagnosis of extracardiac sarcoidosis has not been previously established. The limitations of endomyocardial biopsy in this entity make it necessary to have a high index of clinical suspicion with the early use of new cardiac imaging techniques and to include this picture in the differential diagnosis of patients with sustained ventricular arrhythmias or left ventricular systolic dysfunction of nonspecific etiology clarified. Early initiation of aggressive immunosuppressive therapy has been shown to prevent disease progression and limit its potential cardiac complications.

Neutrophilic dermatosis of the dorsal hands related to cocaine abuse.

Neutrophilic dermatoses encompass a wide spectrum of diseases characterized by a dense infiltration mainly composed of neutrophils. Neutrophilic dermatosis of the dorsal hands is currently considered a localized variant of Sweet syndrome. Cocaine abuse has been related to a wide range of mucocutaneous manifestations, including neutrophilic dermatoses such as pyoderma gangrenosum. The authors of this study present a patient with neutrophilic dermatosis of the dorsal hands, in which cocaine abuse was identified as a probable trigger.

Comparison between PROFUND and PALIAR indexes in polypathological patients with advanced non-oncologic chronic diseases. / Comparación de los índices PROFUND y PALIAR en pacientes pluripatológicos con enfermedad crónica no oncológica en fase avanzada.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To compare the discrimination power of PROFUND and PALIAR indexes for predicting mortality in polypathological patients with advanced non-oncologic chronic disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective multicentre cohort study. We included polypathological patients with advanced non-oncologic chronic disease, who were admitted to internal medicine departments between July 1st and December 31th, 2014. Data was collected from each patient on age, sex, categories of polypathology, advanced disease, comorbidity, functional and cognitive assessment, terminal illness symptoms, need for caregiver, hospitalisation in the past three and 12 months and number of drugs. We calculated the PROFUND and PALIAR indexes and conducted a 12-month follow-up. We assessed mortality with the Kaplan-Meier survival curves and the discrimination of indexes with the ROC curves. RESULTS: We included 213 patients with a mean (standard deviation) age of 83.0 (7.0) years, 106 (49.8%) of whom were female. Mortality at six months was 40.4% and at 12 months 50.2%. Deceased patients scored higher scores on the PROFUND [11.2(4.2) vs 8.5(3.9); P<.001] and PALIAR [6.7 (4.6) vs 3.6(3.1); p<0,001] indexes. The discrimination of PALIAR index at six months (under the curve area 0.734 95%CI 0.665-0.803) was higher than of PROFUND, and there was no difference at 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: In polypathological patients with advanced non-oncologic chronic disease, the PALIAR index had better discrimination power than PROFUND index at 66 months and there were no differences at 12 months.

External validation of the PALIAR index for patients with advanced, nononcologic chronic diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To externally validate the PALIAR index for patients with advanced, nononcologic chronic diseases. METHODS: We performed a prospective, multicenter cohort study that included patients with advanced, nononcologic chronic diseases hospitalized in internal medicine departments and treated consecutively by the researchers between July 1st and December 31st, 2014. Data were collected from each patient on age, sex, advanced disease, Charlson index, comorbidities, Barthel index, terminal illness symptoms, need for caregiver, hospitalization in the past 3 and 12 months and number of drugs. We calculated the PALIAR index and conducted a 6-month follow-up. To analyze the association between the variables and mortality, we constructed several multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: The study included 295 patients with a mean age of 82.7 (8.6) years, 148 (50.2%) of whom were women. Mortality at 6 months was associated with the albumin level (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.30-0.85, p = 0.011), and the terminal illness (OR 2.75, 95% CI 1.55-4.89, p = 0.001). The PALIAR index showed good discrimination for predicting mortality (statistical C, 0.728, 95% CI 0.670-0.787). A reduced version of the PALIAR index showed similar mortality discriminatory power. CONCLUSIONS: The PALIAR index is a reliable tool for predicting mortality in patients with advanced, nononcologic chronic diseases.

Hydration and obesity among outpatient-based population: H2Ob study.

Recent evidence suggests that obese people are hypohydrated and that water consumption may be a useful indicator for the prevention and treatment of obesity. Nevertheless, there is no agreement regarding the best hydration status indicators and there are few data about the relationship between hydration and body weight. In the present study, we aim to analyze the correlation among hydration status with obesity measured by three different methods (plasma osmolarity, urinary specific gravity (USG) and urinary osmolarity) in a hospital-based outpatient population. We have carried out a cross-sectional study to evaluate the association between obesity and hydration status in 260 patients, average 56.5±15.7 years. Hydration status was estimated by means of plasma osmolarity, urine osmolarity and USG. We did show significant trend of higher urine osmolarity (P=0.03), USG (P=0.000) and plasma osmolarity (P=0.000) with an increase of weight status categories, more accurate in the case of plasma osmolarity. In a multivariate analysis, after controlled by confounders, we found that obesity was associated with plasma osmolarity (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.17, P=0.009), urine osmolarity (OR 1.00; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.01, P=0.05) and USG (OR 1.02; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.04, P=0.05). Our results have shown a more accurate relationship between plasma osmolarity with all body mass index categories. This finding may have clinical implications that must be confirmed in further studies.

[Reliability of the PROFUND index to predict 4-year mortality in polypathological patients]. / Utilidad del índice PROFUND para predecir la mortalidad a los 4 años en pacientes pluripatológicos.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the usefullness of the PROFUND index to assess the risk of global death after 4 years in polypathological patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Multicenter prospective cohort (Internal Medicine and Geriatrics) study. Polypathological patients admitted between March 1st and June 30th 2011 were included. For each patient, data concerning age, sex, living at home or in a nursing residence, polypathology categories, Charlson, Barthel and Lawton-Brody indexes, Pfeiffer questionnaire, socio-familial Gijon scale, delirium, number of drugs, hemoglobin and creatinine values were gathered, and the PROFUND index was calculated. The follow-up lasted 4 years. RESULTS: We included 441 patients, 324 from Internal Medicine and 117 from Geriatrics, with a mean age of 80.9 (8.7) years. Of them, 245 (55.6%) were women. Heart (62.7%), neurological (41.4%) and respiratory (37.3%) diseases were the most frequent. Geriatrics inpatients were older and more dependants and presented greater cognitive deterioration. After 4 years, 335 (76%) patients died. Mortality was associated with age, dyspnoea, Barthel index<60, delirium, advanced neoplasia and≥4 admissions in the last year. The area under the curve of the PROFUND index was 0.748, 95% CI 0.689-0.806, P<.001 in Internal Medicine and 0.517, 95% CI 0.369-0.666, P=.818 in Geriatrics patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The PROFUND index is a reliable tool for predicting long-term global mortality in polypathological patients from Internal Medicine but not from Geriatrics departments.

Differential characteristics in polypathological inpatients in internal medicine departments and acute geriatric units: the PLUPAR study.

AIM: To determine whether there are any differences between polypathological patients attended in Internal Medicine departments and acute Geriatric units. METHODS: A cross-sectional multicenter study was performed. Polypathological patients admitted to an internal medicine or geriatrics department and attended by investigators consecutively between March 1 and June 30, 2011 were included. Data of age, sex, living in a nursing residence or at home, diagnostic category, use of chronic medication, Charlson, Barthel and Lawton-Brody indexes, Pfeiffer questionnaire, delirium during last admission, need of a caregiver, and having a caregiver were gathered. The need of a caregiver was defined when the Barthel index was<60 or Pfeiffer questionnaire ≥ 3 errors. RESULTS: 471 polypathological patients, 337 from internal medicine and 144 from geriatrics units were included. Geriatrics inpatients were older and more frequently female. Cardiac (62.1% vs 49.6%; p=.01), digestive (8.3% vs 3.0%; p=.04) and oncohematological diseases (30.2% vs 18.8%; p=.01) were more frequent in patients of internal medicine units and neurological (66.2% vs 40.2%; p<.001) and locomotive ones (39.1% vs 20.4%; p<.001) in geriatrics inpatients. Charlson index was higher for internal medicine inpatients [4.0(2.1) vs 3.5(2.1); p=.04). Patients attended in geriatrics scored higher in Pfeiffer questionnaire [5.5(3.7) vs 3.8(3.3); p<.001], and lower in Barthel [38.8(32.5) vs 61.2(34.3); p=.001] and Lawton-Brody indexes [0.9(1.6) vs 3.0(2.9); p<.001], and more frequently needed a caregiver (87.8% vs 53.6%; p<.001) and had it. CONCLUSIONS: There are differences in disease profile and functional and cognitive situation between polypathological patients of internal medicine and geriatrics departments.

Empiemas pleurales por Gemella spp: una etiología no tan infrecuente / Pleural empyema due to Gemella spp: Report of 12 cases

Background: Gemella genus bacteria can produce localized or generalized severe infections, but very rarely they have been described as causingpulmonary infections or pleural empyemas. Aim: To characterize patients with empyema caused by Gemella genus bacteria. Material and Methods: The database of a Microbiology laboratory of a Spanish hospital was reviewed, searchingfor Gemella positive cultures ofpleural effusions in a period offive years. Results: We identified 12 patients (11 males) with Gemella spp pleural empyema. Eight were infected with G. haemolysans and four with G. morbillorum. All patients had predisposingfactors such as poor oral hygiene, smoking, chronic cardiovascular or respiratory disease, alcoholism or malignancies. In ten cases, a thoracic drainage tube was placed with fibrinolysis in seven. One patient needed surgery because of a relapse of the empyema. Two patients died because of an advanced neoplasm, and the empyema was resolved in the rest. Conclusions: Gemella pleural empyema can occur and its isolation must not be seen as a contamination.

[Pleural empyema due to Gemella spp: report of 12 cases]. / Empiemas pleurales por Gemella spp: una etiología no tan infrecuente.

BACKGROUND: Gemella genus bacteria can produce localized or generalized severe infections, but very rarely they have been described as causing pulmonary infections or pleural empyemas. AIM: To characterize patients with empyema caused by Gemella genus bacteria. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The database of a Microbiology laboratory of a Spanish hospital was reviewed, searching for Gemella positive cultures of pleural effusions in a period of five years. RESULTS: We identified 12 patients (11 males) with Gemella spp pleural empyema. Eight were infected with G. haemolysans and four with G. morbillorum. All patients had predisposing factors such as poor oral hygiene, smoking, chronic cardiovascular or respiratory disease, alcoholism or malignancies. In ten cases, a thoracic drainage tube was placed with fibrinolysis in seven. One patient needed surgery because of a relapse of the empyema. Two patients died because of an advanced neoplasm, and the empyema was resolved in the rest. CONCLUSIONS: Gemella pleural empyema can occur and its isolation must not be seen as a contamination.