Lower Risk Of Poor Outcome Research Articles

Pleural effusion in pneumonia

Parapneumonic effusions are frequent (40%) but normally no clinical problem. If a parapneumonic effusion is seen on chest X-ray or by ultrasonic investigation, a thoracocentesis should be done whenever possible without risk. Investigations of the pleural fluid should include: aspect, pH-value, protein, glucose, microbiology (gram stain and culture, and cytology. Based on the extent of the effusion, the finding of free floating or loculated effusion and the results of pleura fluid investigation patients could be categorized in four risk groups. Very low and low risk for poor outcome is normally characterized by a small or moderately free floating effusion, clear pleural fluid and a pH > 7.2. In these risk groups no further intervention seems to be necessary. For patients with moderate or high risk (pus, large effusion (> 1/2 hemithorax), loculated effusion, pH < 7.2 a drainage therapy is recommended. For larger parapneumonic effusions and for complicated parapneumonic free floating effusion tube drainage therapy seems to be sufficient. However, for empyema or large lobulated effusions video-assisted thoracoscopy surgery followed by local fibrinolytic treatment might produce the best results.

Adverse cardiac outcomes after noncardiac surgery in patients with prior percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

In this retrospective cohort study, we compared adverse cardiac outcomes after noncardiac surgery among patients with prior percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), patients with nonrevascularized coronary artery disease (CAD), and normal controls. Inpatient hospital discharge abstracts from all nonfederal acute care hospitals in Washington State linked to death certificates were evaluated. Patients > or =45 yr old with prior PTCA who underwent noncardiac surgery from 1987 to 1993 were matched by age, sex, surgery type, and discharge year to 686 patients with CAD and to 2155 normal controls (no CAD). We compared risk for adverse cardiac outcomes (death, myocardial infarction, angina, congestive heart failure, malignant dysrhythmia, cardiogenic shock, coronary artery bypass graft, or PTCA) within 30 days. Patients with PTCA had twice the risk of adverse cardiac outcome as normal controls (odds ratio [OR] 1.98; P < 0.001), with a higher risk of angina (OR 7.84), congestive heart failure (OR 2.06), and myocardial infarction (OR 3.86) but a lower risk of death (OR 0.46; P < 0.001). Patients with PTCA had half the risk of adverse cardiac outcome as patients with CAD (OR 0.50; P < 0.001), including less risk of angina (OR 0.51) and congestive heart failure (OR 0.40; P < 0.001), but no difference in myocardial infarction (P = 0.304) or death (P = 0.436). No difference was found between 142 patients with recent PTCA (< or =90 days before noncardiac surgery) matched to patients with CAD (OR 0.90; P = 0.396). Patients revascularized by PTCA >90 days before noncardiac surgery seem to have a lower risk of poor outcome than nonrevascularized patients, although not as low as normal controls. For recent PTCA patients, the lack of difference compared with CAD patient outcomes requires a larger sample size for verification. Present findings do not lend support to a role for prophylactic PTCA to improve noncardiac surgery outcomes. This investigation did not control for CAD severity, medical management, or comorbidities. Study of these factors is needed before the clinical implications of PTCA for noncardiac surgical risk can be completely assessed. Hospital records showed patients with prior percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty were twice as likely as healthy patients to have an adverse cardiac outcome after noncardiac surgery, although their risk was reduced by half compared with patients with untreated coronary artery disease. Further study of the role of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in modulating noncardiac surgery risk is needed.

Adverse Cardiac Outcomes After Noncardiac Surgery in Patients with Prior Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty

In this retrospective cohort study, we compared adverse cardiac outcomes after noncardiac surgery among patients with prior percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), patients with nonrevascularized coronary artery disease (CAD), and normal controls. Inpatient hospital discharge abstracts from all nonfederal acute care hospitals in Washington State linked to death certificates were evaluated. Patients ≥45 yr old with prior PTCA who underwent noncardiac surgery from 1987 to 1993 were matched by age, sex, surgery type, and discharge year to 686 patients with CAD and to 2155 normal controls (no CAD). We compared risk for adverse cardiac outcomes (death, myocardial infarction, angina, congestive heart failure, malignant dysrhythmia, cardiogenic shock, coronary artery bypass graft, or PTCA) within 30 days. Patients with PTCA had twice the risk of adverse cardiac outcome as normal controls (odds ratio [OR] 1.98; P < 0.001), with a higher risk of angina (OR 7.84), congestive heart failure (OR 2.06), and myocardial infarction (OR 3.86) but a lower risk of death (OR 0.46; P < 0.001). Patients with PTCA had half the risk of adverse cardiac outcome as patients with CAD (OR 0.50; P < 0.001), including less risk of angina (OR 0.51) and congestive heart failure (OR 0.40; P < 0.001), but no difference in myocardial infarction (P = 0.304) or death (P = 0.436). No difference was found between 142 patients with recent PTCA (≤90 days before noncardiac surgery) matched to patients with CAD (OR 0.90; P = 0.396). Patients revascularized by PTCA >90 days before noncardiac surgery seem to have a lower risk of poor outcome than nonrevascularized patients, although not as low as normal controls. For recent PTCA patients, the lack of difference compared with CAD patient outcomes requires a larger sample size for verification. Present findings do not lend support to a role for prophylactic PTCA to improve noncardiac surgery outcomes. This investigation did not control for CAD severity, medical management, or comorbidities. Study of these factors is needed before the clinical implications of PTCA for noncardiac surgical risk can be completely assessed. Implications Hospital records showed patients with prior percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty were twice as likely as healthy patients to have an adverse cardiac outcome after noncardiac surgery, although their risk was reduced by half compared with patients with untreated coronary artery disease. Further study of the role of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in modulating noncardiac surgery risk is needed.

Evaluation of a score system for the severity and outcome of cytomegalovirus interstitial pneumonia in allogeneic bone marrow recipients

We verified whether a clinical score system developed for renal transplant patients predicts the severity and outcome of cytomegalovirus interstitial pneumonia (CMV IP) in allogeneic bone marrow (BMT) recipients. The score system was retrospectively applied to 20 patients at the estimated date of onset of IP and 10-14 days later. Seven patients received ganciclovir (GCV), seven received GCV plus intravenous immunoglobulin (i.v. Ig), and six received only supportive care. Nine out of 14 patients who received GCV with or without i.v. Ig survived the episode of IP (the median score of these patients at diagnosis of CMV IP was 5 (range 3-8)), while the remaining five patients died of respiratory failure during IP and at the diagnosis had a median score of 10 (range 9-11) (P=0.01). The six patients who received only supportive care survived for a median time of 21 days (range 10-24 days) from the estimated onset of CMV IP, and the median score at the diagnosis of IP was 10 (range 8-12). The overall survival correlates strongly with low initial severity of IP as measured by this score system: 11 out of 20 patients who died of respiratory failure during IP had at the estimated onset of IP a score >8, while of the nine patients who survived IP, eight had at the onset a score <7 and the remaining one a score of 8 (P=0.0007). The sensibility, specificity, predictive positive value and predictive negative value of the score system (with a threshold value of 8) to identify patients who survived IP was: 100%, 88%, 91% and 100%, respectively. The use of ganciclovir alone or in combination was the most important determinant of outcome. These data support the relevance of this score system with a threshold value of 8; if prospective and controlled studies confirm our observations, it would help physicians to identify BMT recipients during CMV IP with high vs. low risk of poor outcome.

Admission Decisions in Emergency Department Chest Pain Patients at Low Risk for Myocardial Infarction: Patient Versus Physician Preferences

Study objective: Patient involvement in medical decisionmaking is accepted as an ethical and a legal imperative. Medical decisions are based in part on individuals' knowledge and acceptance of risk of adverse consequences. It is unclear whether actions taken to protect against low risk of poor outcome reflect patient or physician preferences. We sought to test the hypothesis that emergency department chest pain patients presented with a hypothetical situation involving a low risk of myocardial infarction are more willing than ED physicians to accept the risk associated with discharge from the hospital. Methods: We prospectively surveyed 89 ED patients with chest pain and a cohort of physicians in the ED who had been presented a hypothetical case in which the risk of AMI was quoted as 5% and the risk of death or disability if the patient was discharged was 1% and .2% if the patient was admitted. All the patients had presented to the ED with a chief complaint of chest pain; the 31 physicians, all residents, were approached at a teaching conference separate from their clinical duties. Results: Twenty-eight patients (31%), compared with 2 physicians (6%), chose discharge for the hypothetical patient with chest pain (25% difference; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6% to 41%). Forty-four patients (49%), compared with 30 physicians (97%), correctly identified the risks associated with admission and discharge (46% difference; 95% CI, 29% to 63%). Of the subjects who correctly identified the risks, 19 patients (43%) preferred discharge, compared with 1 physician (3%) (40% difference; 95% CI, 18% to 60%). Conclusion: ED patients with chest pain appear to be more likely than physicians to accept a small risk of poor outcome in a hypothetical circumstance. Many patients cannot identify the risks associated with their decision. [Davis MA, Keerbs A, Hoffman JR, Baraff LJ: Admission decisions in emergency department chest pain patients at low risk for myocardial infarction: Patient versus physician preferences. Ann Emerg Med December 1996;28:606-611.] See related editorial, Shared Decisionmaking: Easier Said Than Done

Early Clinical Signs Identify Low-Risk Patients With Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage

Early identification of patients at low risk for poor outcome after acute upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage would allow reduction of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. We identified six early predictors of good outcome: age less than 75 years, no unstable comorbid illness, no ascites found on physical examination, normal prothrombin time, and, within an hour after presentation, systolic blood pressure of 100 mm Hg or greater and nasogastric aspirate free of fresh blood. Presence of all six predictors defined the low-risk population. Among 162 patients in the development and retrospective validation phases of our study, all 74 low-risk patients had good outcomes. A prospective validation study of 111 patients further established the accuracy of our predictive method; only two of 52 low-risk patients had poor outcomes. Application of our method should allow more selective management of patients with acute upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage.