Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · May 2007
Audit of the care of the dying in a network of hospitals and institutions in Queensland.
Most Australians die in institutions and there is evidence to suggest that the care of these patients is not always optimal. Care pathways for the dying have been designed to transfer benchmarked hospice care to other settings (e.g. acute hospitals and residential age-care facilities) by defining goals of best care, providing guidelines to provide that care and documenting outcome. ⋯ The audit identified several aspects in the care of the terminally ill that could be improved. End-stage pathways may provide a model for improving the care of patients dying in hospitals and institutions in Australia.
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Internal medicine journal · May 2007
Thyrotoxic, hypokalaemic periodic paralysis: Polynesians, an ethnic group at risk.
Thyrotoxic, hypokalaemic periodic paralysis (TPP) is a reversible cause of severe muscle weakness that occurs in a small minority of thyrotoxic patients. Most cases to date have been reported in Asian men. ⋯ Polynesian, in addition to Asian people, are two ethnic groups at particular risk of TPP, and this condition must be considered in the differential diagnosis for patients presenting to the emergency department with severe hypokalaemia and weakness.