Likelihood Of Fatal Outcome Research Articles

Causality between defects in medical care and fatalities

The study objective was to identify the causality between defects in medical care (MC) and the occurrence of fatal outcomes (FO). The object of the study was 209 reports of commission forensic medical examinations of the National Bureau of Expertises of the Republic of Armenia for the period from 2013 to 2020. Defects in MC were classified as follows: diagnostic defects, treatment defects, defects in the organization of medical care, defects in the maintenance of medical records. According to the data of 160 reports of forensic medical examinations, 313 defects in HC were recorded. Diagnostic defects and treatment defects were the most common, while the least common were defects in the organization of HC. Causality between the incidence of defects in HC and the likelihood of fatal outcome was revealed.

Features of the course of coronavirus infection in patients with diabetes mellitus

Diabetesmellitus, overweight and the age of a patient over 65 years old are identified by clinicians as themain factors that can complicate the course of the coronavirus infection and increase the likelihood of fatal outcome. Although in the general human population mortality from coronavirus fluctuateswithin 3–5 %, sometimes very significantly differing in individual countries, this level can reach 15–25 % among patientswith diabetes, especially for those receiving insulin therapy. Diabetes mellitus as a concomitant disease in COVID-19 is considered one of the most significant risk factors for the development of adverse outcomes due to a more severe course of infection in conditions of hyperglycemia and other aggravating factors.

Traumatic vertebral artery injury: proposal for classification of the severity of trauma and likelihood of fatal outcome.

Vertebral artery injury (VAI) occurs after (blunt) trauma as well as spontaneously. The risk of incurring VAI from a blunt trauma probably parallels the severity of trauma, often referred to as major- and minor-trauma. However, the literature does not provide concrete definitions of these terms. This study aims to define minor- and major-trauma and to analyze the likelihood of fatal outcome in VAI. For this purpose, classification criteria of major- and minor-trauma were developed and a PubMed database search was performed for articles on VAI published prior to 2013. The definitions of minor- and major-trauma, derived mainly from radiological screening criteria in cervical spine injury and based on the mechanism leading to the injury, were used in the analysis of the literature. The search produced 241 VAI cases with sufficiently detailed data for the comparison of major-trauma (52 cases, 50 lethal), minor-trauma (8 cases, none lethal), and no-trauma (182 cases, 69 lethal). The numbers of lethal cases in the total study population and subgroups differed significantly between the groups (Fisher's exact test) and the likelihood ratios (LRs) of lethal outcome were substantially higher in the major-trauma group compared to the other groups. The highly significant p values show that the proposed criteria differentiate between trauma types with regard to fatal outcome. The presented results can assist in the evaluation of forensic cases of VAI.

Circulating von Willebrand Factor Antigen as a Predictor of Short-term Prognosis in Pulmonary Hypertension

To determine the potential value of plasma von Willebrand factor antigenic activity (vWF:Ag) and other commonly measured clinical variables for predicting which patients with precapillary pulmonary hypertension would be unlikely to survive 1 year. Prospective clinical study. The data obtained at the beginning of the study were analyzed at the end of the first year of follow-up. Forty patients aged 1.2 to 45 years (median, 24 years) entered the study. Eleven patients had primary pulmonary hypertension, and in the remaining ones, pulmonary vascular disease was associated with antiphospholipid syndrome (n = 1), collagen vascular disease (n = 1), schistosomiasis (n = 3), or congenital heart defects (Eisenmenger's syndrome) (n = 24). Plasma vWF:Ag was determined by electroimmunodiffusion, and the results were expressed as the percentage of activity. Seven of 11 patients with primary pulmonary hypertension but only 4 of 29 patients with secondary pulmonary hypertension died during the follow-up period (p < 0.005). Initial vWF:Ag values were significantly higher in the nonsurvivor group in comparison with the survivors (256.6+/-85.3% and 132.0+/-59.3% activity, respectively; p < 0.0001). The likelihood of fatal outcome as a function of plasma vWF:Ag levels was estimated for primary and secondary pulmonary hypertensive patients using logistic regression analysis. Decreased life expectancy was significantly related to high vWF:Ag levels and an established diagnosis of primary pulmonary hypertension. A plasma vWF:Ag of >240% (p = 0.003) was 54% sensitive and 93% specific for identifying patients who were unlikely to survive 1 year, with an overall predictive value of 75%. No other variables correlated significantly with survival. Plasma vWF:Ag seems to be a useful biochemical index for predicting short-term prognosis in patients with pulmonary hypertension. In contrast to hemodynamic and histopathological predictors of survival, vWF:Ag does not require invasive techniques to be determined. In light of the possibility of false-negative results, serial measurements should be performed over time in patients with vWF:Ag of <240%. This observation proved helpful in two patients in this study.