Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift
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A 59-year-old woman presented for an endocrinological evaluation of recurrent spontaneous hypoglycemia. The complaints always regressed after carbohydrate intake. Due to classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia, the patient received substitution therapy with hydrocortisone for decades. ⋯ In addition to endogenous hyperinsulinism, a disturbance of the contrainsulinergic hormones can also be responsible for spontaneous hypoglycemia.The MMTT and the 72-hour fast test should be used for diagnosis. It is important to ensure that hormone analysis is carried out immediately in hypoglycemia. The ratio of insulin, C-peptide and proinsulin to blood glucose and the constellation of counter-regulatory hormones such as cortisol, ACTH, growth hormone, Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and catecholamines can provide information about the etiology of hypoglycemia.
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Oct 2021
[Living wills of residents in nursing homes - which treatment situations and treatment measures are decreed?]
The possibility of using a living will to influence later treatment in the event of incapacity to consent is nowadays an important element in safeguarding patients' autonomy at the end of life. Refusing or consenting treatment measures in advance of treatment is of particular importance for nursing home residents, not only against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The study provides information about the content of living wills of nursing home residents. It thus provides information on medical treatment preferences in the case of incapacity to consent and shows that treatment measures (including resuscitation) are mostly related to specific treatment situations.
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The article presents an organizational structure for the psycho-oncological treatment of cancer patients that is unique in Germany, in which professional therapeutic support is provided by practioners from a wide range of professions "under one roof". In addition, from the perspective of a psychooncologist, the intra-psychic processes that cancer patients can go through during their illness are described, as well as their psychooncological-psychotherapeutic treatment. ⋯ In conclusion, it is stated that psychooncology in its best sense can help patients to recognize the value of their lives and, regardless of the time span left to live, to make life worth living. This claim requires for the psychooncological approach a holistic therapy offer, which also includes existential and trauma-oriented dimensions in the treatment.
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A large German registry on superficial vein thrombosis (SVT) documents that risk profiles, clinical presentation and treatment patterns are highly variable in patients with SVT, including a large variation in anticoagulation treatment modalities, intensities and durations. Inspite of a high percentage of initial anticoagulation there is a substantial risk of subsequent venous thromboembolism (VTE), recurrences or extension after three months. Inspite of current guideline recommendations, one third of the patients receives heparins, oral anticoagulants or no anticoagulation at all. At initial presentation about one quarter of the patients with SVT have a concomitant, frequently asymptomatic VTE. Risk factors for this complication include prior hospitalization, immobilization, prior VTE, autoimmune disorders, higher age, cancer and SVT occurring in a non-varicose veins or SVT-extension into the perforator veins. These risk factors are also associated with thromboembolic complications during follow-up. ⋯ Based on a large placebo-controlled trial with clinical endpoints (The CALISTO-Study), guidelines recommend Fondaparinux 2.5 mg once daily administered over 4 to 6 weeks. Alternatively, an intermediate dose of low molecular weight heparin can be considered. In high-risk patients, rivaroxaban 10 mg once daily was noninferior compared to Fondaparinux. A rebound of VTE recurrences was observed in both study arms after treatment had been discontinued after 45 days. Further studies are required to determine whether treatment needs to be extended beyond 45 days in high-risk patients.