Determinants of patient-reported medication errors: a comparison among seven countries.
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Mortality and morbidity of heart failure treated with digoxin. A propensity-matched study…

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Systolic heart failure in South Asians.
Int J Clin Pract. 2011 Dec;65(12):1274-82…

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Coronary computed tomography angiography for the evaluation of patients with acute chest …

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New insulins and insulin therapy.
Int J Clin Pract. 2011 Feb;65 Suppl 170:26-30
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Myocardial perfusion imaging by computed tomography: today and tomorrow.
Int J Cl…

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Coronary computed tomography – present status and future directions.
Int J Clin P…

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Documentation of cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure and other important aspects of lumbar puncture in acute headache.
Int J Clin Pract. 2010 Jun;64(7):930-5
Authors: Hewett R, Counsell C
Measuring cerebrospinal fluid…

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A prevalence study of errors in opioid prescribing in a large teaching hospital.
Int J Clin Pract. 2011 Jul 13;
Authors: Davies ED, Schneider F, Childs S, Hucker T, Krikos D, Peh J, McGowan C, Stone P, Cashman J
Aim:??…

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Aliskiren-based stepped-care treatment algorithm provides effective blood pressure control.
Int J Clin Pract. 2011 May;65(5):613-623
Authors: Richter D, Mickel C, Acharya S, Brunel P, Militaru C
Aims:? Recent guideli…

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Efficacy of statin pretreatment for the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
Int J Clin Pract. 2011 May;65(5):624-630
Authors: Zhang L, Zhang L, Lu Y, Wu B, Zhang S, Jian…

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Kidney function estimating equations in patients with chronic kidney disease.
Int J Clin Pract. 2011 Apr;65(4):458-64
Authors: Hojs R, Bevc S, Ekart R, Gorenjak M, Puklavec L
Background:? The current guidelines empha…

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Fasting hyperglycaemia and in-hospital mortality in elderly population.

Int J Clin Pract. 2011 Mar;65(3):308-13

Authors: Iglesias P, Polini A, Muñoz A, Dardano A, Prado F, Castiglioni M, Guerrero MT, Tognini S, Macías MC, Díez JJ, Monzani F

Background:? Admission hyperglycaemia has shown to be a marker of poor clinical outcome. The prevalence of admission hyperglycaemia and its relationship with in-hospital mortality in elderly population has not been clearly defined. We assessed the prevalence and prognostic significance of admission fasting hyperglycaemia in aged patients. Methods:? A total of 808 elderly patients were studied. Patients were classified into group I (serum glucose <?126?mg/dl), II (126-180?mg/dl) and III (>?180?mg/dl). Groups II and III were considered newly recognised fasting hyperglycaemia (NRFH) in non-diabetic patients. Results:? NRFH was present in 18.6%. After excluding diabetic patients (n?=?206, 25.5%), the distribution of patients (n?=?602, 74.5%) was as follows: group I (n?=?452, 55.9%), group II (n?=?122, 15.1%) and group III (n?=?28, 3.5%). In the whole cohort, median fasting glucose was lower in patients who survived [105?mg/dl (88-135)] than in those who died [127?mg/dl (93-159), p?<?0.001]. This significant difference was maintained only when non-diabetic patients were considered [100?mg/dl (87-122) vs. 118?mg/dl (92-149), p?<?0.001]. In-hospital mortality rate in groups I, II and III was 8.5%, 14.1% and 22.9%, respectively (p?<?0.001). Mortality rate was 8.4%, 18.0% and 32.1% (p?<?0.001) in groups I, II and III, respectively in non-diabetic population. Both low albumin and high glucose serum concentrations were the only independent risk factors for in-hospital all-cause mortality in non-diabetic patients. Conclusions:? In non-diabetic elderly patients admitted for acute disease, serum glucose concentration is an important, simple and independent predictor of hospital mortality.

PMID: 21314868 [PubMed - in process]

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Clinical approach to renal tubular acidosis in adult patients.

Int J Clin Pract. 2011 Mar;65(3):350-60

Authors: Reddy P

Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is a group of disorders observed in patients with normal anion gap metabolic acidosis. There are three major forms of RTA: A proximal (type II) RTA and two types of distal RTAs (type I and type IV). Proximal (type II) RTA originates from the inability to reabsorb bicarbonate normally in the proximal tubule. Type I RTA is associated with inability to excrete the daily acid load and may present with hyperkalaemia or hypokalaemia. The most prominent abnormality in type IV RTA is hyperkalaemia caused by hypoaldosteronism. This article extensively reviews the mechanism of hydrogen ion generation from metabolism of normal diet and various forms of RTA leading to disruptions of normal acid-base handling by the kidneys.

PMID: 21314872 [PubMed - in process]

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Nonagenarian surgical admissions for the acute abdomen: who benefits?

Int J Clin Pract. 2010 Oct;64(11):1570-1572

Authors: Toumi Z, Kesterton A, Bhowmick A, Beveridge AJ, Scott NA

Introduction:  Patients 90 years and older form an increasing proportion of the general population. Outcomes of their acute surgical admissions are not well documented. Methods and materials:  Surgical management of 49 consecutive nonagenarian admissions (median age: 92 years) with an acute abdomen was compared with the management and outcome of 50 younger patients (median age: 53.5) admitted with a suspected acute abdomen over the same period. Results:  Nonagenarian group consisted of mainly women (71% vs. 50%; p = 0.003). The use of laboratory investigations and imaging was similar for the patients aged over 90 and the younger patients, although proportionately fewer nonagenarians were investigated by abdominal CT scan (8% vs. 24%). Of the 49 nonagenarian patients admitted, only 4% (n = 2) were operated on. In contrast, 38% (n = 19) of patients aged 50-59 (p = 0.0001) underwent a surgical intervention. A much greater proportion of nonagenarians died in hospital than patients in the 50-59 comparator group (16% nonagenarians vs. 4% comparator patients; p = 0.04). The very large majority of survivors in both age groups were discharged back to their preadmission domicile [39 (95%) nonagenarians vs. 46 (96%) comparator 50-59 year group]. Conclusions:  In this study, when compared with younger patients, very few nonagenarian patients (2%) with a suspected acute abdomen benefited from surgical admission. Instead, the large majority of nonagenarians either died or were discharged back to their home address without surgery.

PMID: 20846205 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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