Life-span development: a review of theory and practice for families with chronically ill members

While the family's primacy in the patient's adaptation to chronic illness increasingly is being recognized by health professionals and social scientists, the reverse side of the coin, that is, the impact of chronicity on the family, has received little attention. A life-span development perspective is used to enrich the more traditional frameworks employed to study family development and also as a unifying framework from which to view the impact of illness on individual family members and the family as a unit. A review of selected literature reveals a profile of families most at risk for serious disruption in situations involving chronic illness. Propositions suggesting interventions directed at patients and families experiencing chronicity are derived.     

Beta-2 microglobulin and amyloid osteoarthropathy in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis

The incidence of beta-2 microglobulin amyloidosis was assessed in two populations of chronic hemodialysis patients. Out of 34 patients who underwent biopsy during orthopedic surgery (33 cases) or autopsy (1 case), 26 had amyloid deposits which fixed anti-beta microglobulin serum. Out of 55 unselected patients treated for over months at the dialysis centre, 14 (25%) had clinical symptoms suggesting amyloidosis and out of 43 patients who had a systematic radiological skeletal survey, 23 (53%) had bone deposits. The plasma beta microglobulin concentrations (about 20 times the normal value) we not significantly different whether or not the patients had histological proven amyloidosis, clinically or radiologically probable amyloidosis, no detectable amyloidosis. However, the duration of hemodialysis was longer in those with proven or highly probable amyloidosis. The finding illustrate the indirect role of elevation of beta-2 microglobulin in the genesis of this pathology and also the necessity of lowering its concentration in order to avoid the long term complications of osteoarticular deposits, the functional consequences of which may be very serious.     

Adverse hemodynamic and clinical effects of encainide in severe chronic heart failure

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hemodynamic effects of the antiarrhythmic drug, encainide, in patients with severe chronic heart failure. DESIGN: Unblinded, before-after study. SETTING: Referral center for patients with heart failure. PATIENTS: Thirty patients with severe chronic heart failure and a left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40%. INTERVENTIONS: Invasive hemodynamic measurements were done (using a balloon-tipped thermodilution catheter) before and for 3 hours after a single oral dose of 50 mg of encainide. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Ninety to one hundred and twenty minutes after its administration, encainide produced a significant deterioration in cardiac performance, as reflected by a fall in cardiac index from 2.3 to 1.8 L/min.m2 body surface (mean change 0.5 +/- 0.1; P less than 0.001), a fall in stroke work index from 26 to 18 g.m/m2 (mean change 8 +/- 2; P less than 0.001), and an increase in left ventricular filling pressure from 19 to 22 mm Hg (mean change 3 +/- 2; P less than 0.05). These deleterious hemodynamic effects were accompanied by worsening symptoms of heart failure in 8 of the 30 patients. Serum levels of encainide and its metabolites, O-desmethylencainide and 3-methoxy-O-desmethylencainide, were within the therapeutic range in most patients. CONCLUSIONS: Encainide can cause adverse hemodynamic and clinical effects in patients with severe chronic heart failure.     

Vancomycin allergy presenting as fever of unknown origin

A 37-year-old woman receiving long-term hemodialysis was admitted to the hospital with a fever of unknown origin (6 weeks of unexplained, persistent, low-grade fever). Although she had received vancomycin hydrochloride 5 days before the onset of fever, the drug was not suspected as the cause because of the duration of fever, the administration of vancomycin on prior occasions without incident, and the lack of allergic stigmata. After hospitalization, vancomycin and gentamicin sulfate were administered empirically. Immediately thereafter, her temperature rose to 40 degrees C, and over the ensuing 24 hours, eosinophilia and a maculopapular rash developed that resolved entirely when antibiotic therapy was stopped and low-dose steroid therapy was instituted. The prolonged hypersensitivity reaction after a single dose of vancomycin is consistent with the greatly extended half-life of this drug in the population with end-stage renal disease and should alert physicians to the possibility of such persistent idiosyncratic reactions in this group.     

Retrosternal epiphyseal disruption of medial clavicle: case and review in children

Retrosternal dislocations of the clavicle have been reported previously in adults throughout the orthopedic literature. However, in children few cases have been noted in either the pediatric, emergency, or orthopedic literature. The potential for great vessel injury as well as acute airway compromise makes the retrosternal disruption of the sternoclavicular joint a surgical emergency that must be diagnosed quickly. Diagnosis is enhanced by the cephalic tilt view and by computed tomography (CT scan), as planar x-ray and tomography do not always reveal this potentially life-threatening condition. Surgical consultation must be sought acutely; however, management may need to begin prior to definitive repair. Emergency management begins by suspecting the injury, and with immediate airway and circulatory support for the patient.     

Laboratory diagnosis of pulmonary embolism: value of increased levels of plasma D-dimer and thrombin--antithrombin III complexes

Plasma D-dimer (DD) and thrombin--antithrombin III complex (TAT) were measured with ELISAs in 99 patients investigated by 102 ventilation--perfusion lung scintigraphy because of suspected pulmonary embolism. High-probability lung scan was associated with increased DD (more than 500 ng/ml) and TAT (more than 4.1 ng/ml) levels (sensitivity of 100 and 70%, respectively). The corresponding figures of specificity were 81 and 42%. In the 56 patients with low-probability or indeterminate probability scans, 31 (55%) had DD concentrations of less than 500 ng/ml. These preliminary data suggest that a plasma DD concentration of less than 500 ng/ml might rule out the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in suspected patients with an inconclusive lung scanning.