Extubación ultra fast-track vs. convencional tras cirugía cardiaca en un centro de referencia cardiovascular en Colombia. Estudio longitudinal

Introduction

The fast track / ultra-fast-track protocols are techniques used to optimise the patient care process and a quick recovery after cardiac surgery. They are one of the mainstays of efficient practice. With their use, the length of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stays are reduced, with a direct impact on costs and the quality of the health service.

Visfatin as a therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: The rising prevalence of musculoskeletal pathologies in developed countries has caused a dramatic impact on social welfare. Amidst these musculoskeletal pathologies is Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that mostly affects the synovium. RA metabolic-associated alterations, including distorted adipokine production, enhance RA inflammatory environment. Among the altered adipokines, visfatin is particularly involved in RA inflammation and catabolism and stands out as an essential enzyme linked to critical cell features.

Areas covered: We discuss the potential mechanism supporting the contribution of visfatin to RA and the association between RA and obesity. We discuss the repurposing of cancer-tested drugs to inhibit visfatin in the context of RA. Additionally, we address the possibility of combining these drugs with current RA therapy. Finally, we explore the future of visfatin as an RA biomarker or therapeutic target.

Expert opinion: Inhibition of visfatin has become an interesting therapeutic approach for RA pathology. Such a feat has already been attained in oncology using small molecule inhibitors, which suggest that a similar course of action would be worth pursuing in the RA context. Visfatin will become an important biomarker and therapeutic target for RA.     

Spread of an Enterococcus faecalis sequence type 6 (CC2) clone in patients undergoing selective decontamination of the digestive tract

Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is a common cause of nosocomial infection in immunocompromised patients. The presence and dissemination of high‐risk clonal complexes, such as CC2, is an ongoing problem in hospitals. The aim of this work was to characterize 24 E. faecalis isolates from ICU patients undergoing selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) by phenotypical (antimicrobial susceptibility) and genotypical (presence of virulence genes, RAPD‐PCR and MLST) methods. Our results showed high prevalence of the ST6 E. faecalis clone (91.6%), especially adapted to the hospital environment, with a multidrug resistance pattern and a multitude of putative virulence genes. In addition, ST179 (4.2%) and ST191 (4.2%) were detected. By RAPD–PCR analysis, the 22 isolates identified as ST6 showed six different DNA patterns, while the two remaining isolates, ST179 and ST191, showed two additional profiles. CC2 is a known clonal complex with high adaptability to hospital environment and worldwide distribution. The high prevalence of the ST6 clone in the studied population could be related to the presence of gentamicin in the SDD mixture since most strains were gentamicin resistant. Consequently, strict surveillance should be applied for rapid detection and control of this clone to prevent future spread outside the ICU.     

Efectividad de un nuevo modelo de derivación telefónica compartida entre atención primaria y atención hospitalaria

Aim

The purpose of this study is to find out whether telephone referral from Primary Health Care to Internal Medicine Consult manages to reduce waiting days as compared to traditional referral. This study also aims to know how acceptable is the telephone referral to general practitioners and their patients.

Endogenous motion of liver correlates to the severity of portal hypertension

BACKGROUND Degree of portal hypertension(PH) is the most important prognostic factor for the decompensation of liver cirrhosis and death, therefore adequate care for patients with liver cirrhosis requires timely detection and evaluation of the presence of clinically significant PH(CSPH) and severe PH(SPH). As the most accurate method for the assessment of PH is an invasive direct measurement of hepatic venous pressure gradient(HVPG), the search for non-invasive methods to diagnose these conditions is actively ongoing.AIM To evaluate the feasibility of parameters of endogenously induced displacements and strain of liver to assess degree of PH.METHODS Of 36 patients with liver cirrhosis and measured HVPG were included in the casecontrol study. Endogenous motion of the liver was characterized by derived parameters of region average tissue displacement signal(dantero, dretro, d RMS) and results of endogenous tissue strain imaging using specific radiofrequency signal processing algorithm. Average endogenous strain μ and standard deviation σ of strain were assessed in the regions of interest(ROI)(1 cm × 1 cm and 2 cm × 2 cm in size) and different frequency subbands of endogenous motion(0-10 Hz and 10-20 Hz).RESULTS Four parameters showed statistically significant(P 0.05) correlation with HVPG measurement. The strongest correlation was obtained for the standard deviation of strain(estimated at 0-10 Hz and 2 cm × 2 cm ROI size). Three parameters showed statistically significant differences between patient groups with CSPH, but only dretro showed significant results in SPH analysis. According to ROC analysis area under the curve(AUC) of the σROI[0…10 Hz, 2 cm × 2 cm] parameter reached 0.71(P = 0.036) for the diagnosis of CSPH; with a cut-off value of 1.28 μm/cm providing 73% sensitivity and 70% specificity. AUC for the diagnosis of CSPH for μROI[0…10 Hz, 1 cm × 1 cm] was 0.78(P = 0.0024); with a cut-off value of 3.92 μm/cm providing 73% sensitivity and 80% specificity. Dretro parameter had an AUC of 0.86(P = 0.0001) for the diagnosis of CSPH and 0.84(P = 0.0001) for the diagnosis of SPH. A cut-off value of-132.34 μm yielded 100% sensitivity for both conditions, whereas specificity was 80% and 72% for CSPH and SPH respectively.CONCLUSION The parameters of endogenously induced displacements and strain of the liver correlated with HVPG and might be used for non-invasive diagnosis of PH.     

Elevación del lactato en el postoperatorio como marcador de isquemia mesentérica aguda. Descripción de dos casos

Serum lactate is a non-specific marker of tissue hypoperfusion. Elevated serum lactate is used in the differential diagnosis of acute intestinal ischemia. Although this practice is controversial, in the absence of other validated markers lactate is still used because of its high sensitivity.We present the cases of two patients who developed acute mesenteric ischemia as a post-surgical complication. The patients reported moderate abdominal pain —a non-specific symptom in the postoperative context— and tests showed progressively increasing serum lactate levels, which facilitated suspicion and subsequent diagnostic confirmation through an imaging test.These cases highlight the physiopathological importance of lactate elevation in the perioperative context and of performing a differential diagnosis of its possible causes, including mesenteric ischemia. Although the outcome was negative in the first case, early suspicion allowed us to make an effective diagnosis and administer appropriate treatment in the second patient.