Irish journal of medical science
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Limited data exists on the outcomes of COVID-19 patients presenting with altered mental status (AMS). Hence, we studied the characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients who presented with AMS at our hospital in rural southwest Georgia. ⋯ Patients with COVID-19 presenting with AMS are less likely to have typical COVID-19 symptoms, and AMS is an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality, need for ICU admission, and need for mechanical ventilation.
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Rezum technology uses heat from radiofrequency-generated water vapour to ablate prostate tissue. We evaluate the introduction of this thermal therapy to an Irish teaching hospital for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms related to benign prostatic hyperplasia. ⋯ Rezum, a minimally invasive thermal therapy, provides significantly improved symptom relief and quality of life with a significant cost saving to the institution.
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Some biomarkers have been reported to be related to the prognosis of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). There are sparse data regarding the prognostic value of serum calprotectin in COVID-19 patients. ⋯ These findings demonstrate that serum calprotectin level seems to be a useful biomarker that can predict the severity of COVID-19 disease. Serum calprotectin is a significant predictor of ICU requirement in patients with COVID-19.
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Antipsychotics (APs) increase weight, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Guidelines recommend cardio-metabolic monitoring at initial assessment, at 3 months and then annually in people prescribed APs. ⋯ Targeted improvement strategies resulted in a significant improvement in a limited number of parameters in early and chronic psychotic disorders. Overall, monitoring remained suboptimal.
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The first pillar of the End-TB Strategy is "early diagnosis and prompt treatment". Nevertheless, long delays in starting tuberculosis (TB) treatment are reported. We aimed to describe the demographics and clinical features of TB in the west of Ireland and better understand the delays in treatment. ⋯ TB patients experienced long symptom durations in the community prior to presentation. Many TB patients experienced delays in diagnosis and treatment following presentation. Both pre-hospital and in-hospital delays need to be addressed in order to 'End-TB'.