Wiener klinische Wochenschrift
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Aug 2006
Comparative StudySuicide by shooting is correlated to rate of gun licenses in Austrian counties.
Shooting as method of suicide has increased considerably in Austria over recent decades and represented 23.5% of all suicides among men during the period 1990-2000. It is thought that the availability of guns could lead to their use in acts of suicide, and therefore we investigated the numbers of gun licenses (which constitutes ownership of guns and permission to carry a gun) in the nine Austrian counties and their correlation with suicides by shooting and other methods. ⋯ As shooting as a method of suicide has increased in Austria in recent decades, and is a highly lethal method, the finding that the shooting suicide rate is related to the extent of gun ownership deserves attention, especially as there is evidence that restriction of gun ownership is an important factor in suicide prevention.
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Jul 2006
Multicenter StudyOutcome and functional capacity after prolonged intensive care unit stay.
An important proportion of critically ill patients who survives their acute illness remains in a critical state requiring intensive care management for weeks to months. Nevertheless, data on risk factors for in-hospital mortality and especially for long-term mortality and functional capacity are scarce. This study investigated outcome and prognostic factors in long-term critically ill patients. ⋯ Hospital mortality rates in critically ill patients with a stay <30 or > or =30 days were comparable. The necessity for renal replacement therapy was the sole independent predictor for in-hospital and 1-year mortality in long-term ICU patients. Critically ill patients with a stay > or =30 days have a high and ongoing risk of death after hospital discharge; however, a substantial number of these patients are long-term survivors with no or only moderate disability during daily activities.
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Jul 2006
Clinical TrialHereditary medullary thyroid cancer in Slovenia--genotype-phenotype correlations.
Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a rare endocrine tumor that may be sporadic or inherited in settings of MEN2A, MEN2B and FMTC. Germline point mutations in the RET proto-oncogene are responsible for tumor occurrence, inheritance and great clinical variability. The aim of this study was to correlate the genotype and phenotype of patients with hereditary MTC (age at diagnosis, sex, TNM classification and clinical features). ⋯ Correlation between tumor size, stage of MTC at diagnosis in view of patient's age, and specific genotype were indicated in our limited series and were more evident in female patients with codon 790 mutations. Later onset and a probably less aggressive course of MTC in these patients than in patients with other mutations should be considered in planning prophylactic thyroid surgery. MEN2A syndrome was related solely to codon 634 mutations.