Wiener klinische Wochenschrift
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Jan 1994
[Emergency management of ruptured/dissecting aortic aneurysm--diagnosis and therapeutic strategies].
Between December 1991 and January 1994 fifteen patients with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm and seven patients with a dissecting aortic aneurysm were treated in our emergency department. Dissection/rupture of an aortic aneurysm is still a dramatic event with poor outcome, whereby survival depends largely on early diagnosis. In most cases the diagnosis can be made with reasonable assurance by history taking and physical examination. ⋯ The largest delay in commencing therapy is caused by patients' hesitation to call the Emergency Medical Service. Chest X-ray, echocardiography and abdominal sonography are of high diagnostic value, computed tomography confirms the diagnosis in most cases. Our Emergency Department provides the facilities for rapid diagnosis and interdisciplinary preoperative management of dissecting/ruptured aortic aneurysms.
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Jan 1994
Apolipoprotein (a) levels in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus are unrelated to metabolic control or vascular disease.
Increased serum levels of lipoprotein (a) have been found to be an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease. The major protein constituents of lipoprotein (a) are apolipoprotein B 100 und apolipoprotein (a) (apo(a)). We determined the serum levels of apo(a) and several lipid (cholesterol, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoproteins A, A1 and B) and glycaemic (HbA1c, fasting blood glucose) parameters in 40 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and in 103 age- and sex-matched control subjects. ⋯ Patients with diabetic macroangiopathy had significant higher levels of cholesterol (P = 0.0001), triglycerides (P = 0.026), LDL (P = 0.0003), and apoB (P = 0.002) than patients without. Apo(a) levels were unrelated to diabetic macroangiopathy. The significantly elevated levels of apo(a) even in patients without DN or macroangiopathy are noteworthy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Jan 1994
Case Reports[Life-threatening caffeine poisoning by using coffee as a psychoactive drug].
A 27 year-old deeply unconscious male patient with shallow spontaneous respiration was admitted to hospital following an epileptoid convulsion with a tentative diagnosis of cerebral trauma. On admission he was noted to have hyperpyrexia, tachycardia and hypertension. The clinical and laboratory findings pointed to intoxication. ⋯ The clinical picture was consistent with the expected signs of caffeine intoxication whereby the central effects of the substance remain to be clarified. This appears to be the first report of caffeine misused in this manner. In cases of intoxication with convulsions of uncertain aetiology, caffeine poisoning should be considered in the differential diagnosis.
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Jan 1994
[Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus:"EURODIAB IDDM Complications Study"--results from the Vienna center].
The EURODIAB IDDM complications study is a multicenter clinical study for evaluation of the prevalence of microvascular, macrovascular and acute metabolic complications in randomly selected samples of insulin-dependent diabetic patients attending 31 European diabetes centers. A total of 3250 patients were studied (mean age: 32.7 +/- 10 years, mean duration of diabetes: 14.7 +/- 9.3 years) by standardized, validated methods. The third medical department of the Vienna-Lainz hospital participated from Austria. 122 patients, age: 34.9 +/- 9.9 years, duration of diabetes: 16 +/- 10 years were recruited from this center. ⋯ Important associations of raised blood pressure (frequency in all centers: 8-41%, Vienna: 29%) with renal disease and retinopathy have implications for the initiation of preventive measures. The data on diabetic complications obtained from the EURODIAB study permit a comparison between the different European centers and emphasize the need for implementation of the St. Vincent recommendations.