Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Feb 2021
Outcomes for the first wave of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in the South Australian context: a retrospective audit.
The first case of corona virus disease (COVID-19) was detected in South Australia on 1 February 2020. The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) is the state's designated quarantine hospital. ⋯ Although our sample size was small, we found that certain comorbidities and laboratory values were associated with poor outcomes. This occurred in a setting where care was not influenced by limited hospital and intensive care beds.
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Internal medicine journal · Feb 2021
Observational StudyComparison of the quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment and adult sepsis pathway in predicting adverse outcomes among adult patients in general wards: a retrospective observational cohort study.
Quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) is recommended for use by the most recent international sepsis definition taskforce to identify suspected sepsis in patients outside the intensive care unit (ICU) at risk of adverse outcomes. Evidence of its comparative effectiveness with existing sepsis recognition tools is important to guide decisions about its widespread implementation. ⋯ The ASP demonstrated both greater prognostic accuracy and earlier warning for in-hospital mortality for adults on hospital wards compared to qSOFA. Hospitals already using ASP may not benefit from switching to the qSOFA tool.
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Internal medicine journal · Feb 2021
Heterogeneity in patterns of progression of chronic kidney disease.
Progression of kidney disease is a deceptively simple word for a complex bio-clinical process, evidenced by the number of definitions in the literature. This has led to confusion and differences in interpretation of studies. ⋯ This is one of the first demonstrations of the great variations among and within individuals in the progression of CKD over even a period as short as 2 years. Findings suggest considerable potential for renal function recovery and stability while demonstrating the importance of using identical definitions for comparisons across datasets from different sources.
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Internal medicine journal · Feb 2021
The Australia and New Zealand Cardio-Oncology Registry: evaluation of chemotherapy-related cardiotoxicity in a national cohort of paediatric cancer patients.
Cancer therapy related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) is an area of increasing focus, particularly during the survivorship period, for paediatric, adolescent and adult cancer survivors. With the advent of immunotherapy and targeted therapy, there is a new set of mechanisms from which paediatric and young adult patients with cancer may suffer cardiovascular injury. Furthermore, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the survivorship period. ⋯ Using the Australian Cardio-Oncology Registry critical clinical information will be collected regarding predisposing factors for the development of CTRCD, the rate of subclinical left ventricular dysfunction and transition to overt heart failure, further research into protectant molecules against cardiac dysfunction and aid in the discovery of which genetic variants predispose to CTRCD. A health economic arm of the study will assess the cost/benefit of both the registry and cardio-oncology clinical implementation. Finally, an imaging arm will establish if exercise cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and VO2 max testing is a more sensitive predictor of cardiac reserve in paediatric and adolescent and young adult oncology patients exposed to cardiac toxic therapies.
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Internal medicine journal · Feb 2021
Scleroderma renal crisis: observations from the South Australian Scleroderma Register.
Scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) is a rare but feared complication with high morbidity and mortality. Its aetiopathogenesis is unclear. ⋯ SRC is a rare occurrence with an incidence of 0.58/million/year in South Australia. This frequency has not changed over time. It continues to have a severe adverse outcome with frequent requirement for renal replacement therapy and poor survival. Nailfold capillaroscopy revealed evidence of extensive capillary damage. No improvement in survival was observed over the 34-year study period.