Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift
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Recommendations for vaccination of patients with rheumatic Diseases. Patients with rheumatic diseases are particularly at risk from infections. ⋯ Important new developments, such as sequential vaccination against pneumococcus or the approval of a vaccine against Herpes Zoster, improve the possibilities of an effective infection protection. Special attention must be paid to the current recommendations for the use of live vaccines like MMR vaccination in patients under immunosuppressive therapy.
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Oct 2020
Case Reports[Infection of the orbita due to Delftia acidovorans after a cat scratch].
A 60 years old woman experienced a cat scratch 34 months ago on the left eyelid. Chronic, progredient skin lesions and headache developed. Treatments with cortisone, pimecrolimus, pregabalin and metamizole were not successful. After 24 months the patient complained of severe bulbus pain in the left eye, increased eye movement pain, and high photosensitivity. There were granulomatous papules in the area of the eye. ⋯ D. acidovorans has not yet appeared as a zoonotic pathogen but should be included in the case of injury by animals in the differential diagnostic considerations.
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Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) of the upper extremity is much less frequent and aetiologically more heterogeneous than lower extremity PAD. The clinical approach to patients with upper extremity PAD must consider a range of distinctive features regarding symptoms, physical findings and diagnostic strategies. ⋯ Arteriosclerotic subclavian artery obstruction, large vessel vasculitis, thoracic outlet syndrome and secondary Raynaud's phenomenon are four pivotal causes and manifestations of upper extremity PAD. These four entities are exemplarily discussed.
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Risks of thrombosis, bleeding and renal impairment are increasing with age. The efficacy and safety of the direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in fragile patients (age > 75 years and/or creatinine clearance levels < 50 ml/min and/or body weight below 50 kg) with indication for anticoagulation is one of the most challenging topic in cardiovascular medicine. New registry data from subgroup analyses of landmark studies and registries point towards to superiority of DOACs. This article summarizes new insights and describes pathways for anticoagulation in fragile patients.
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Decisions about the initiation, continuation and termination of life-supporting treatments are a permanent challenge in intensive care units (ICUs). Decisions should be based on patient preferences and the medical indication. The medical indication is mainly the result of an assessment of the patient's prognosis and the applicable therapeutic options. ⋯ Because in many patients all these informations are not available at the time of admission, in these cases a time-limited trial is often justified to gather all this information before a decision is made. These principles of decision making can also applied to situations in which ICU-capacities are limited (e. g. COVID-19 pandemic).