Clin Med
-
Demand for intensive care is growing. There are no contemporaneous consensus guidelines on which patients should be referred to intensive care. Prognostic scoring systems predict survival, but are of limited use for individual patients. ⋯ We identified specific markers indicating a poor prognosis in each group, and also identified common risk factors predicting a high mortality across all groups. Multiple organ failure at the time of referral to intensive care predicts a very poor outcome. Physical factors indicating a limited functional capacity also predict high mortality, suggesting that frailty has a significant impact on intensive care outcome.
-
Radiotherapy is an effective treatment modality and an essential tool in the management of cancer. As the incidence of malignant disease rises it is inevitable that physicians will increasingly encounter patients who have presented acutely and require radiotherapy or with a complication from irradiation. This paper explores the basic principles of radiotherapy tailored to the perspective of the acute medical physician and how to manage acute complications. We also discuss the role of radiotherapy in the acutely ill patient and define the need for radiotherapy pathways to ensure that patients receive treatment in a timely manner.
-
Multicenter Study
Deciding when physicians are unfit to practise: an analysis of responsibilities, policy and practice in 11 European Union member states.
In 1974, the European Economic Community established mutual recognition of medical qualifications obtained in any of its member states. Subsequently, a series of directives has elaborated on the initial provisions, with the most recent enacted in 2013. However, greater movement of physicians across borders and some high-profile scandals have raised questions about how to prevent a physician sanctioned in one country from simply moving to another, without undermining the principle of free movement. ⋯ However, some key features, such as the involvement of professional peers in disciplinary panels and the involvement of courts in criminal cases, are similar in most member states studied. Given the variation in the regulatory context, individuals and processes involved that is illustrated by our findings, a common understanding of definitions of what constitutes competence to practise, its impairment and its potential impact on patient safety becomes particularly important. Public disclosure of disciplinary outcomes is already applied by some member states, but additional measures should be considered to protect medical professionals from undue consequences.
-
Three-quarters of maternal deaths are in women with coexisting medical complications. It can be challenging to differentiate symptoms of normal pregnancy from pathological symptomatology, and physicians need to be mindful of special considerations in assessing and managing acute medical problems in pregnancy. This article focuses on women presenting with shortness of breath, chest pain and palpitations.
-
There have been a number of developments in the management of venous thromboembolism over the past few years. Old questions, such as thrombolysis, have been revisited in recent trials. New initiatives, such as ambulatory care pathways, are being established across the country. This conference brought together doctors from the UK, USA, Spain and Australia to review the up-to-date management of venous thromboembolism.