São Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina
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Comparative Study
Feasibility of transitioning from APACHE II to SAPS III as prognostic model in a Brazilian general intensive care unit. A retrospective study.
Prognostic models reflect the population characteristics of the countries from which they originate. Predictive models should be customized to fit the general population where they will be used. The aim here was to perform external validation on two predictive models and compare their performance in a mixed population of critically ill patients in Brazil. ⋯ In this group of critically ill patients, SAPS III was a better prognostic score, with higher discrimination and calibration power.
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This is an update of a Cochrane review that was first published in 2011 of the effects of reducing dietary salt intake, through advice to reduce salt intake or low-sodium salt substitution, on mortality and cardiovascular events. ⋯ Despite collating more event data than previous systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials, there is insufficient power to confirm clinically important effects of dietary advice and salt substitution on cardiovascular mortality in normotensive or hypertensive populations. Our estimates of the clinical benefits from advice to reduce dietary salt are imprecise, but are larger than would be predicted from the small blood pressure reductions achieved. Further well-powered studies would be needed to obtain more precise estimates. Our findings do not support individual dietary advice as a means of restricting salt intake. It is possible that alternative strategies that do not require individual behaviour change may be effective and merit further trials.
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Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes and a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness. Research has established the importance of blood glucose control to prevent development and progression of the ocular complications of diabetes. Simultaneous blood pressure control has been advocated for the same purpose, but findings reported from individual studies have supported varying conclusions regarding the ocular benefit of interventions on blood pressure. ⋯ Hypertension is a well-known risk factor for several chronic conditions in which lowering blood pressure has proven to be beneficial. The available evidence supports a beneficial effect of intervention to reduce blood pressure with respect to preventing diabetic retinopathy for up to 4 to 5 years. However, the lack of evidence to support such intervention to slow progression of diabetic retinopathy or to prevent other outcomes considered in this review, along with the relatively modest support for the beneficial effect on incidence, weakens the conclusion regarding an overall benefit of intervening on blood pressure solely to prevent diabetic retinopathy.
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Sunitinib is an antiangiogenic drug that has been approved for treating metastatic renal cancer. Its action as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs) and other angiogenesis receptors may lead to adverse effects such as hypertension and heart failure. However, reports in the literature on an association between sunitinib therapy and acute aortic dissection are rare. ⋯ Hypertension is a common event when antiangiogenic drugs are used in oncology. However, knowledge of other severe cardiovascular events that may occur in these patients, such as acute aortic dissection, is important. Adequate control over arterial pressure and frequent monitoring of patients during the first days of antiangiogenic therapy is essential for early diagnosis of possible adverse events.