Acta Medica Port
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Among others complications due central venous catheters (CVCs), the blood infection (BI) deserves particular attention. The purposes of this study were to analyze the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of adult patients using CVC; to know the yeast colonization index; and to link it to risk factors for BI. Yeasts were investigated in 156 CVCs removed from 91 patients of the Regional University Hospital of Maringá from February to August, 2008. ⋯ Among the colonized catheters those of double-lumen for infusion predominated and the site of insertion was the right subclavian vein. In conclusion the colonization by yeasts rate of CVC was 10.89% and 20% of them resulted in infection. These results add to higher mortality in patients who CVC was colonized by yeasts deserve attention considering the increasing of the hospital fungal infections.
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The nutcracker syndrome is associated with left renal vein compression in its passage between the abdominal aorta and superior mesenteric artery. This phenomenon can cause left renal vein hypertension manifested by abdominal pain, hematuria, and pelvic congestion syndrome. ⋯ We describe two clinical cases of children with hematuria whose investigation led to the diagnosis of Nutcracker Syndrome. In the presence of hematuria of unknown origin it's necessary to consider this entity, highlighting the essential role of a noninvasive test such as renal ultrasound with Doppler in its diagnosis.
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Case Reports
[Histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis: (Kukuchi-Fujimoto disease): a diagnostic challenge].
Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease, also called Histiocytic necrotizing lymphadentis, is a rare, benign and self-limited disease, with unknown etiology, that affects mainly young women, and is characterized by adenopathy (usually localized in the cervical region) and fever. Diagnosis is based on histopathological findings in ganglionar tissue obtained in excisional biopsy, which allows, in most cases, the differential diagnosis with other similar clinical conditions, but which have a completely different clinical evolution and therapeutic needs. We report a case of a twenty four year old woman with persistent cervical lymphadenopathy, in which histopathological examination followed by immunohistochemical analysis of ganglionar tissue revealed to be Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease.
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Empathy is a key feature of the doctor-patient relationship. Several studies have shown a link between empathic relationships and clinical outcomes. However, reports of a decline in empathy over the course of undergraduate medical education and medical practice have raised concern among medical educators. Our study focuses on the exploration of the temporal stability of attitudes towards empathy in first-year medical students. We also aimed to characterise this sample regarding attitudes towards empathy and its associations with socio-demographic determinants, motives for entering Medicine and professional expectations. Finally, we wanted to contribute to the preliminary validation in Portugal of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, students' version (JSPE-S), following Hojat's definition of empathy as a predominantly cognitive concept. ⋯ In general, our findings support the idea that empathy can be learnt in medical schools. This study also provides evidence for the validation of the JSPE-S and for the acceptability of an instrument assessing motivation for medical school, in Portugal. Albeit weak, the correlations between motivational factors and empathy components deserve further exploration in research.
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Demoralization refers to a persistent failure of coping with stress as defined by Jerome Frank thirty years ago. Feelings of despair, isolation, hopelessness, loss of meaning and existential distress are the core features of the definition of demoralization. It is frequently associated with a chronic medical illness, fear of loss of dignity and perception of being a burden on others and it evolves to a desire to die. The authors reviewed the literature related to this concept and present the evidence related to the diagnosis, classification, treatment and relation of demoralization with the palliative care setting.