Arch Intern Med
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
The comprehensive care team: a controlled trial of outpatient palliative medicine consultation.
Little is known about the use of palliative care for outpatients who continue to pursue treatment of their underlying disease or whether outpatient palliative medicine consultation teams improve clinical outcomes. ⋯ Consultation by a palliative medicine team led to improved patient outcomes in dyspnea, anxiety, and spiritual well-being, but failed to improve pain or depression. Palliative care for seriously ill outpatients can be effective, but barriers to implementation must be explored.
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Thrombosis is a frequent cause of morbidity and death in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Whether antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is the cause of increased irreversible organ damage and mortality in lupus patients is not well established. ⋯ Antiphospholipid syndrome with thrombotic manifestations is a major predictor of irreversible organ damage and death in patients with SLE.
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Human observations have shown different mortality rates between men and women with various pathological conditions, but this issue has not been widely studied in a heterogeneous population of critically ill patients. ⋯ In a mixed medical-surgical ICU, older women have a higher mortality rate than men. This difference is not apparent for patients staying longer in the ICU.