Irish journal of medical science
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Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a common pulmonary manifestation of Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) and associated with an increased risk of death. Early detection and treatment of ILDs and knowing the risk factors are very important for prognosis in rheumatic diseases. ⋯ The distribution of male patients compared to female patients was higher in patients with lung involvement than in patients without lung involvement. This may be related to older age, higher smoking rate, and longer nicotine consumption in men. Age, smoking, and severity of lung involvement are more important than inflammation status and autoantibodies for prognosis.
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Hepatitis C virus infection is often asymptomatic, and many patients may be unaware they are infected. Community-based, birth cohort screening has been advocated to identify these patients. It has been estimated that 0.7-1% of individuals born between 1965 and 1985 in Ireland are infected. The cost-effectiveness of screening is critically dependent on the population prevalence. ⋯ Hepatitis C virus seroprevalence was much lower than previously estimated. The proportion of antibody positive patients with hepatitis C antigen was also lower than expected suggesting the effects of treatment and/or high spontaneous viral clearance. Universal birth cohort screening is unlikely to be cost-effective. Targeted birth cohort screening in high prevalence areas could be considered.
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Clinical handover is an essential step in the surgical patient's hospital journey, but one that is not without risk. Within cardiothoracic surgery, endeavours to protocolise post-operative handover from cardiac theatre to cardiac intensive care units have resulted in enhanced patient safety, but little to no effort has focused on the pre-operative setting and the dissemination of information throughout the surgical team. ⋯ Clinical handover tools have the potential to enhance the quality of pre-operative handover and protect against poor handover practices such as interruptions, safe-guarding patient welfare. We provide the first cardiothoracic specific pre-operative handover tool based on the RCSE guidelines.
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Observational Study
A model to predict delivery time following induction of labor at term with a dinoprostone vaginal insert: a retrospective study.
Dinoprostone vaginal insert is the most common pharmacological method for induction of labor (IOL); however, studies on assessing the time to vaginal delivery (DT) following dinoprostone administration are limited. ⋯ Our findings may help obstetricians estimate the DT before placing a dinoprostone insert, which may improve patient management in busy maternity wards and minimize potential risks.
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This study aimed to elucidate the effectiveness of bedside thoracic ultrasound according to BLUE protocol and to investigate its superiority over other imaging methods in the emergency service. ⋯ USG imaging could be preferred in the diagnosis of pneumonia, pulmonary edema, pleural effusion, pneumothorax, pulmonary embolism, and differential diagnosis at the emergency service.