Consenso multidisciplinar para el manejo de la tromboembolia de pulmón

We have updated recommendations on 12 controversial topics that were published in the 2013 National Consensus on the diagnosis, risk stratification and treatment of patients with pulmonary embolism (PE). A comprehensive review of the literature was performed for each topic, and each recommendation was evaluated in two teleconferences. For diagnosis, we recommend against using the Pulmonary Embolism Rule Out Criteria (PERC) rule as the only test to rule out PE, and we recommend using a D-dimer cutoff adjusted to age to rule out PE. We suggest using computed tomography pulmonary angiogram as the imaging test of choice for the majority of patients with suspected PE. We recommend using direct oral anticoagulants (over vitamin K antagonists) for the vast majority of patients with acute PE, and we suggest using anticoagulation for patients with isolated subsegmental PE. We recommend against inserting an inferior cava filter for the majority of patients with PE, and we recommend using full-dose systemic thrombolytic therapy for PE patients requiring reperfusion. The decision to stop anticoagulants at 3 months or to treat indefinitely mainly depends on the presence (or absence) and type of risk factor for venous thromboembolism, and we recommend against thrombophilia testing to decide duration of anticoagulation. Finally, we suggest against extensive screening for occult cancer in patients with PE.     

Indeterminate pulmonary nodules are not associated with worse overall survival in Ewing Sarcoma

AimLung metastases are a negative prognostic factor in Ewing sarcoma, however, the incidence and significance of sub-centimetre pulmonary nodules at diagnosis is unclear. The aims of this study were to (1): determine the incidence of indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPNs) in patients diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma (2); establish the impact of IPNs on overall and metastasis-free survival and (3) identify patient, oncological and radiological factors that correlate with poorer prognosis in patients that present with IPNs on their staging chest CT.Materials & methodsBetween 2008 and 2016, 173 patients with a first presentation of Ewing sarcoma of bone were retrospectively identified from an institutional database. Staging and follow-up chest CTs for all patients with IPN were reviewed by a senior radiologist. Clinical and radiologic course were examined to determine overall- and metastasis-free survival for IPN patients and to identify demographic, oncological or nodule-specific features that predict which IPN represent true lung metastases.ResultsFollowing radiologic re-review, IPN were found in 8.7% of patients. Overall survival for IPN patients was comparable to those with a normal staging chest CT (2-year overall survival of 73.3% [95% CI 43.6–89] and 89.4% [95% CI 81.6–94], respectively; p = 0.34) and was significantly better than for patients with clear metastases (46.0% [95% CI 31.9–59]; p < 0.0001). Similarly, there was no difference in metastasis-free survival between ‘No Metastases’ and ‘IPN’ patients (p = 0.16). Lung metastases developed in 40% of IPN patients at a median 9.6 months. Reduction of nodule size on neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with worse overall survival in IPN patients (p = 0.0084).ConclusionIPN are not uncommon in patients diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. In this study, we were unable to detect a difference in overall- or metastasis-free survival between patients with IPN at diagnosis and patients with normal staging chest CTs.     

Diagnosing pulmonary thromboembolism: Concerns and controversies

Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is an important cause of mortality/morbidity even today despite advancement in clinical understanding as well as diagnostic facilities. Clinical diagnosis of PTE is often challenging because of nonspecific sign/symptoms. Adherence to clinical decision-making protocols and appropriate use of diagnostic modalities like computed tomography pulmonary angiography can resolve the diagnostic dilemma in most cases and help in the overall management of PTE. This article deals with various concerns as well as controversies surrounding accurate diagnosis of PTE as on date.     

Orientation and mobility outcome measures

Despite orientation and mobility (O&M) being a significant factor determining quality of life of people with low vision or blindness, there are no gold standard measures or agreement on how to measure O&M performance. In the first part of this systematic review, an inventory of O&M outcome measures used by recent studies to assess the performance of orientation and/or mobility of adults with vision impairment (low vision and blindness) is presented. A wide variety of O&M outcome measures have been implemented in different fields of study, such as epidemiologic research and interventional studies evaluating training, assistive technology, vision rehabilitation and vision restoration. The most frequent aspect of outcome measures is efficiency such as time, distance, speed and percentage of preferred walking speed, followed by obstacle contacts and avoidance, and dis/orientation and veering. Other less commonly used aspects are target identification, safety and social interaction and self-reported outcome measures. Some studies employ sophisticated equipment to capture and analyse O&M performance in a laboratory setting, while others carry out their assessment in real-world indoor or outdoor environments. In the second part of this review, the appropriateness of implementing the identified outcome measures to assess O&M performance in clinical and functional O&M practice is evaluated. Nearly a half of these outcome measures meet all four criteria of face validity (either clinical or functional), responsiveness, reliability and feasibility and have the potential to be implemented in clinical or functional O&M practice. The findings of this review confirm the complicated and dynamic nature of O&M. Multiple measures are required in any evaluation of O&M performance to facilitate holistic assessment of O&M abilities and limitations of each individual.     

不伴红细胞增多的慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者并发肺栓塞的影响因素研究

背景　慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）患者肺栓塞（PE）发生率显著高于常人，但目前不伴红细胞增多的COPD患者并发PE的机制尚不明确。目的　探讨不伴红细胞增多的COPD患者并发PE的影响因素。方法　本研究为回顾性病例对照研究。收集2017年1-12月在新疆医科大学第一附属医院呼吸与呼吸危重症中心住院治疗的血红蛋白（Hb）≤140 g/L的COPD患者。依据肺多层螺旋CT肺血管成像（CTPA）检查结果将患者分为并发PE组和单纯COPD组。记录患者的年龄、性别、合并症、服用抗血小板或抗凝药物史。采用倾向性评分匹配（PSM）方法，通过二元Logistic回归分析估计倾向性评分值，采用1∶1最邻近原则匹配，卡钳值为0.05，筛选出基线相同的两组病例。记录患者的D-二聚体、血常规检查结果，比较两组间差异；分析不伴红细胞增多的COPD患者并发PE的影响因素，红细胞分布宽度（RDW）与中性粒细胞/淋巴细胞比值（NLR）的相关性。结果　共纳入病例339例，其中单纯COPD组289例，并发PE组50例。采用PSM方法筛选两组患者，最终得到单纯COPD组、并发PE组各50例进行后续研究。并发PE组患者D-二聚体、中性粒细胞计数（N）、RDW、NLR高于单纯COPD组，淋巴细胞计数（L）低于单纯COPD组（P<0.05）。二元Logistic回归分析结果显示，RDW是不伴红细胞增多的COPD患者并发PE的影响因素〔OR=1.561，95%CI（1.096，2.225），P<0.05〕。Spearman秩相关分析结果显示，不伴红细胞增多的COPD患者RDW与NLR呈正相关（rs=0.225，P<0.05）。结论　RDW升高是Hb≤140 g/L的COPD患者并发PE的危险因素，且RDW与NLR呈正相关。