Long-term anticoagulant therapy in subjects over 75 years of age. 100 cases]

100 patients (median age 79 years) were given anticoagulant therapy (ACT) for a period of time averaging 5 years 3 months (522 follow-up years).--Out of 3 522 Quick tests, converted into prothrombin times and all carried out in the same laboratory, the prothrombin time was at or less than 32% in 60.5%, and 34% in 69.6% of the tests.--The mean therapeutic doses were less than 27% of those for adults, and were decreased by 3 mg of phenindione per year over the age of 75, only the actively treated cases being retained.--The risks are the same as those for the middle-aged adult. They depend more on the quality of the investigations than upon age. In the group which has been studied, slight or frank haemorrhagic complications (0.05/year/patient) were the result of a demonstrable overdosage in only one case in four. They were not responsable for any deaths in this series.--because of the referral patterns, the patients studied consisted of 79 with ischaemic heart disease, 27 with peripheral vascular disease, 9 cerebrovascular accidents, and 6 with thrombo-emoblic problems, not counting the 23 complications during the course of the study. In those patients with ischaemic heart disease, well-regulated anticoagulant treatment was associated with a favourable clinical course, and the correlation was significant.--there is not argument against the administering of a full and prolonged course of ACT to a patient of more than 75 years of age.     

The influence of age and sex on nutritional parameters in subjects aged 60 years and over

The nutritional assessment of the elderly shows several interpretative difficulties due to the lack of standard parameters. Moreover chronic age-related diseases can interfere with the physiological nutritional status. Anthropometric (triceps skinfold, arm muscle area, total body muscle mass, fat mass and Body Mass Index (BMI)), biochemical (serum prealbumin, transferrin, ceruloplasmin, total protein and albumin) and immunological (serum lymphocytes) parameters were measured in 583 out-patients aged 60 years or over selected on the basis of clinical and biochemical criteria and with BMI /= 75) for each sex. The F-test analysis for all anthropometric parameters except BMI showed significant differences with respect to age (P < 0.05) and sex (P < 0.05). Among biochemical parameters, prealbumin showed a significant difference for age (P < 0.05) and sex (P < 0.05) (males, 30.3 +/- 8.2; females, 29.1 +/- 7.5) while ceruloplasmin showed a significant difference for sex only (P < 0.05) (males, 40.9 +/- 9.3; females, 43.8 +/- 8.2). When the biochemical mean values obtained in this study were compared with those utilized in the daily routine of the hospital central laboratory, ceruloplasmin and prealbumin resulted in significantly higher (P < 0.05) while total protein and albumin were significantly lower values (P < 0.05).     

249名老年人中甲状腺疾病的发生及转归临床分析

目的研究老年人甲状腺疾病的患病率和发生发展特点。方法249例来自我国辽宁省、河北省的老年人(男102名,女147名;年龄60~88岁)参加了1999年的横断面调查,5年后进行了随访。初访和随访时均测定血清促甲状腺激素(TSH)、甲状腺过氧化物酶抗体(TPOAb)和甲状腺球蛋白抗体(TgAb),TSH异常者加测游离甲状腺激素(FT3、FT4)。结果该研究人群TSH正常范围为0.28~4.75mU/L。甲状腺功能异常(含临床和亚临床型)的总患病率10.84%,TPOAb和TgAb的阳性率分别为12.85%和11.65%。初访时确定为正常甲状腺功能的老年人(n=222,随访率79.7%),5年后新发临床甲状腺功能亢进(甲亢)1例、亚临床甲亢2例(均为男性),亚临床甲减3例(均为女性)。初访时甲状腺自身抗体阴性者,随访时有6例出现抗体的阳转,但未伴有甲状腺功能的异常。结论老年人甲状腺疾病患病率较高,应当开展甲状腺疾病筛查;老年人的亚临床甲状腺疾病多数可自行缓解,可采取以观察为主的处理方式。     

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients over 70 years of age: review of 176 cases.

INTRODUCTION: We assessed the results of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 176 patients over the age of 70 years. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included all patients older than 70 years of age who underwent laparoscopic surgery cholelithiasis during the previous ten years. Variables studied included age, sex, type of operation (programmed/emergency), comorbidity, anesthetic risk, intraoperative cholangiography, conversion to open surgery, number of trocars, reoperation, residual choledocholithiasis, postoperative hospital stay, morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: The study included 176 patients (23.29% men and 76.71% women). The mean age was 74.86 years. The mean hospital stay was 1.27 days, with 16.98% morbidity and 0.56% mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a safe procedure in older patients. It results in faster recovery, a shorter postoperative stay and lower rates of morbidity and mortality than open bile duct surgery.     

60岁以上人群抗核抗体阳性的临床价值

抗核抗体(antinuclear antibodies,ANAs)是针对细胞内所有抗原成分的自身抗体的总称.对ANAs的理解不应局限于核成分,其靶抗原分布整个细胞,包括细胞核、细胞浆、细胞骨架、细胞分裂周期蛋白等.主要为IgG型,也可见IgA、IgM型.     

Body composition in growth hormone deficient adults over the age of 60 years

OBJECTIVE Elderly patients with hypothalamic-pituitary disease exhibit a reduction in GH secretion distinct from the decline in GH secretion related to age. GH deficiency in young adults causes a change in body composition, with increased fat mass (FM) and reduced fat free mass (FFM), similar to that seen as a result of the normal ageing process. The aim of this study was to determine whether organic GH deficiency in elderly patients may cause changes in body composition beyond those due to ageing. SUBJECTS Twenty-one patients (15 male) with documented pituitary disease and 24 controls (17 male) matched for age, height, weight and BMI, all over the age of 60, in whom GH status had been defined by a 24-hour GH profile and an arginine stimulation test. MEASUREMENTS Serum was taken for fasting IGF-I and IGFBP-1 estimations. Total and regional FM and FFM were determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS FM (median (range)) was increased in the patients, 27.76 (19.25–50.24) vs 21.23 (8.81–49.15) kg in the controls (P < 0.005). FM was significantly increased in the arms, legs and trunk in the patients compared with the controls. The proportion of fat deposited centrally did not differ significantly between the two groups (57.0% (47.6–65.1) in the patients vs 55.3% (44.1–63.8) in the controls, P = 0.25). There was an inverse relation between total FM and serum IGFBP-1 present in the patients, ρ = ?0.632, P < 0.005, and in the controls ρ = ?0.467, P < 0.05, but the relation between total FM and area under the GH profile was significant only in the controls (ρ = ?0.651, P < 0.001) and not in the patients. FFM (51.19 (26.96–69.18) kg in the patients vs 51.55 (32.35–60.53) kg in the controls, P = 0.99) and serum IGFBP-1 levels did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSION Organic growth hormone deficiency causes changes in body composition beyond the changes associated with the ageing process. These changes differ from those seen in younger GH deficient adults in that they are limited to an increase in FM with no change in FFM. These findings indicate that even in the elderly, in whom GH secretion is normally very low, the additional imposition of GH deficiency due to organic disease has significant biological impact.     

Hyperthyroidism in the aged

Clinical symptoms in elderly patients with hyperthyroidism are atypical and uncharacteristic. In 13 patients with overt hyperthyroidism a goiter was found in only half the patients, eye signs in just three of them. Tachycardias, sometimes even paroxysmal tachycardias, predominate. In old people the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism is frequently missed, in 11 of 13 patients the disease was diagnosed following transfer to the rehabilitation center. About 50% of patients were iodine contaminated and this may have contributed to the disease. Data are presented to demonstrate that hyperthyroidism in old age may be a life threatening disease.     

Trans-femoral ductus Botalli occlusion in patients over 60 years of age]

A persistent ductus arteriosus was occluded with an ivalon-plug introduced through the femoral artery in 14 patients over 60 years old (61 to 70 years). Two patients had previous surgery. The maximum left-to-right shunt was 53%, the maximum pulmonary artery pressure 54/24 mm Hg. In all patients ductus occlusion was successful and permanent. Bleeding at the puncture site in two patients could be stopped by manual compression. During a follow-up period of up to 5 years there were no instances of recanalization.     

Doppler diagnosis of valvular aortic stenosis in patients over 60 years of age

Twenty-five consecutive elderly patients with suspected aortic stenosis underwent continuous-wave Doppler echocardiography followed by cardiac catheterization. Doppler-derived calculations of peak and mean aortic valve gradients were compared with catheterization-derived values of peak-to-peak, peak and mean gradients. The best correlation was found between Doppler- and catheterization-derived mean gradients (r = 0.89). A Doppler-derived measure of the timing of peak aortic flow velocity (modified time-to-peak velocity/modified left ventricular ejection time) successfully separated those with gradients above or below 50 mm Hg and also helped to avoid over- or underestimation of aortic valve gradients by Doppler.