Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Sep 2022
Patients characteristics and health outcomes in patients hospitalized with hypomagnesemia: a retrospective study from a single center in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Magnesium is an essential cation in the human body involved in many processes in the human body. Hypomagnesium has been linked to many poor health outcomes. ⋯ Hypomagnesaemia was a common and undertreated condition in hospitalised patients and was associated with poor health outcomes. Therefore, hospitals should develop guidelines for replacing and monitoring magnesium levels during hospitalisation, achieving better outcomes.
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Laboratory biomarkers to estimate the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are crucial during the pandemic since resource allocation must be carefully planned. ⋯ Our single-centre pilot study determined that total IgE levels may be a negative prognostic factor for clinical progression in patients hospitalised due to COVID-19 infection. Future studies are required to determine the impact of individuals' underlying immune predispositions on outcomes of COVID-19 infections.
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Internal medicine journal · Sep 2022
Observational StudyThe prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors of frequently readmitted patients to an internal medicine service.
Unplanned hospital readmissions (HRA), which have been used as key performance index of healthcare quality, are becoming more prevalent. They are associated with substantial financial burden to hospital systems and considerable impacts on patients' physical and mental health. Patients with frequent readmissions are not well studied. ⋯ The risk factors associated with FRA were older age, indigenous status, being socially disadvantaged, having higher comorbidities and discharging against medical advice. Conditions that lead to FRA were mental disorders, alcohol/drug use and alcohol/drug-induced organic mental disorders and neoplastic disorders.
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Internal medicine journal · Sep 2022
Solid pancreas transplant outcomes with increased donor and recipient ages compared to reference ages: A systematic review.
Increased recipient and donor age are associated with worse solid organ pancreas transplant outcomes. However, donor and recipient age criteria vary between jurisdictions. We systematically reviewed studies reporting the association between transplanting older recipients and donors beyond current Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) limits with solid pancreas transplant outcomes. ⋯ Increased donor or recipient age alone should not absolutely contraindicate solid pancreas transplantation, especially if other risk predictors are minimised.
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Asthma is a common but complex heterogenous inflammatory airway disorder. Despite significant developments in our understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of asthma, it remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity. ⋯ This has revolutionised asthma management, allowing risk stratification of patients, targeted use of biologic agents to modify cytokine responses that drive asthma and improved patient outcomes. Patient education and engagement are critical to the management of this disease in an era of personalised medicine and a rapidly changing global environment.