Clinics
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To describe nutritional status, body composition and lipid profile in children and adolescents receiving protease inhibitors. ⋯ The use of protease inhibitors, per se, does not seem to significantly interfere with anthropometric measures, body composition and food intake of HIV-infected children and adolescents. However, this antiretroviral therapy was associated with a significant increase in triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol in our subjects.
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To investigate the prevalence of potential drug interactions at the intensive care unit of a university hospital in Brazil and to analyze their clinical significance. ⋯ The study showed that potential drug interactions were prevalent in the intensive care unit due to the complexity of the pharmacotherapies administered. The interactions were associated with the number of drugs, the length of stay and the characteristics of the administered medications.
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Ventilator injury has been implicated in the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Avoiding invasive ventilation could reduce lung injury, and early respiratory management may affect pulmonary outcomes. ⋯ In our population, the need for more than 2 hours of mechanical ventilation predicted the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants with a gestational age >26 weeks (sensitivity =89.5% and specificity = 67%). The need for prolonged mechanical ventilation could be an early marker for the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. This finding could help identify a target population with a high risk of chronic lung disease. Future research is needed to determine other strategies to prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia in this high-risk group of patients.
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Rib fractures are the most common type of injury associated with trauma to the thorax. In this study, we investigated whether morbidity and mortality rates increased in correlation with the number of fractured ribs. ⋯ Patients with any number of rib fractures should be carefully screened for co-existing injuries in other body systems and hospitalized to receive proper treatment.
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Several studies have confirmed the high potential of the forced oscillation technique for the assessment of respiratory modifications related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, most of these studies did not employ within-breath analyses of the respiratory system. The aim of this study is to analyze respiratory impedance alterations in different phases of the respiratory cycle of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients and to evaluate their clinical use. ⋯ The respiratory alterations in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may be identified by the increase in respiratory system impedance, which is more evident in the expiratory phase. These results confirm the potential of within-breath analysis of respiratory impedance for the assessment of respiratory modifications related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.