Articles: ninos.
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J Coll Physicians Surg Pak · Aug 2007
Knowledge, attitude and practices (kap) regarding blood donation prevalent in medical and paramedical personnel.
To assess Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) regarding voluntary blood donation prevalent in medical and paramedical personnel having basic level of awareness on the subject. ⋯ It is concluded from our study that there is an urgent need to create and strengthen programs for motivation, recruitment and retention of Voluntary Non-remunerated blood Donors (VNDs) in our country on the basis of following observations of the study:- More blood donations from medical doctors are observed in our study as compared to the paramedics. This phenomenon seems to be related to the basic and advanced medical education of doctors that obviously tends to increase their level of awareness manifolds as compared to the paramedics. Maximum number of non-donors (both medical and paramedical) in the study stated the reason of their non-donation being "no one has ever asked them to donate blood". This implies that even the increased level of awareness on the subject does not result in actual act of donating blood. It would, therefore, not be justified to expect from general public 'humane gesture of preserving life' without creating in them awareness of the importance of voluntary blood donation.
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Rhabdomyolysis is defined as a pathological condition of skeletal muscle cell damage leading to the release of toxic intracellular material into the blood circulation. Its major causes include trauma, ischemia, drugs, toxins, metabolic disorders, and infections. ⋯ Clinically, the syndrome presents with severe muscular pain, weakness and myoglobinuria. Increased myoglobin and creatine phosphokinase as a consequence of muscular cell death are the major laboratory findings, which, in combination with the clinical presentation, lead the clinician to the final diagnosis of the syndrome.
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Intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome are a common occurrence in ICU patients. The deleterious effects of IAH on organ function are well known and increasingly appreciated in recent years, especially where renal and respiratory function are concerned. ⋯ A close relationship between IAP and ICP has been observed in several animal and human studies. The clinical impact of this association is dependent on the baseline ICP and the compensatory reserve of the patient. Some studies have reported good results in treating refractory ICH by abdominal decompression in patients with concomitant IAH. Monitoring of IAP and ICP in risk patients is essential.
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5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is an integral part of treatment of GI malignancies. While normal DPD enzyme activity is rate limiting in 5-FU catabolism, its deficiency could increase concentrations of bioavailable 5-FU anabolic products leading to 5-FU related toxicity syndrome. METHODOLOGY: Twenty-three patients were tested for DPD deficiency after excessive toxicities from 5-FU and/or capecitabine. DPD activity was evaluated by Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell (PBMC) radioassay, genotyping of DPYD gene by Denaturing High Performance Liquid Chromatography (DHPLC), or 2-(13)C uracil breath test (UraBT). ⋯ DPD deficiency was observed in several ethnicities. Akin to 5-FU, capecitabine can also lead to severe toxicities in DPD-deficient patients. Screening patients for DPD deficiency prior to administration of 5-FU or capecitabine using UraBT could potentially lower risk of toxicity. Future studies should validate this technique.