Browsing by Author "Urzal, J"
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- Encefalopatia de hashimoto: uma causa de demência reversívelPublication . Oliveira, I; Urzal, J; Correia, I; Aldomiro, FA Encefalopatia de Hashimoto (EH) é caracterizada pelo desenvolvimento de sintomas neuropsiquiátricos, tipicamente com alteração cognitiva de instalação rápida sendo por isso diagnóstico diferencial de demências rapidamente progressivas (DRP). Reportamos o caso de uma mulher de 72 anos que recorre por confusão mental, desorientação temporo-espacial e tremor simétrico dos membros superiores, associado a hipertonia e hiperreflexia. Neste contexto postulou-se a hipótese de DRP. A tomografia computorizada e a ressonância magnética crânio-encefálica mostraram alterações inespecíficas. O eletroencefalograma mostrou lentificação difusa ligeira. A avaliação do líquido cefalorraquidiano (LCR) revelou hiperproteinorráquia. Foram excluídas causas infeciosas, metabólicas, medicamentosas, neoplásicas e paraneoplásicas. Identificou-se um hipotiroidismo com aumento sérico dos anticorpos anti-tiroglobulina 3000 UI/mL e anti-peroxidase 760 UI/mL. Foi assumida a hipótese de EH e foi iniciada corticoterapia sistémica, com regressão sintomática. Discutimos a importância do diagnóstico diferencial das demências de aparecimento recente, nomeadamente em idosos, por existirem múltiplas causas reversíveis quando identificadas e tratadas atempadamente.
- Eosinophilic fasciitis (Shulman's disease): review and comparative evaluation of seven patients.Publication . Urzal, J; Cimbron, M; Mendonça, T; Farinha, FOBJECTIVES: Eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) was described in 1974 by Shulman as a rare fibrosing connective tissue disease of unknown etiology. An undetermined trigger is thought to lead to the degranulation of eosinophils that interact with fibroblasts and express fibrogenic cytokines including the transforming factor of tumor growth a and b and interleukins 1 and 6. The purpose of this study was to summarize seven cases of EF in a central hospital. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a retrospective and descriptive study of a population with EF of a central hospital. All patients diagnosed with EF in a hospital unit were admitted to the study between January 1, 2005, and April 30, 2018. RESULTS: A total of seven patients diagnosed with EF were analyzed. The median age of the population at the time of diagnosis was 56 years, and 57% of the patients were women. All patients had elevated peripheral eosinophilia and sedimentation rate, and only one patient had hypergammaglobulinemia. All patients had edema and cutaneous thickening of the limbs, 57% had constitutional symptoms, and 57% had inflammatory arthritis with joint contracture. Prednisolone (PDN) therapy was initiated in all patients, and only in two was the association of PDN with methotrexate (MTX) initially performed. In one patient triple therapy of PDN, MTX, and cyclosporine was required. At the time of this publication, only one patient maintains active disease, and tocilizumab has been initiated. CONCLUSIONS: Recent studies show a more favorable response from the combination of PDN and MTX than from PDN alone. Considering the rarity of the disease, more long-term studies are needed regarding the etiopathogenetics, progression, recurrence of EF, and new effective therapies.
- Hipoglicemia em doentes diabéticos idosos: experiência de uma unidade de diabetesPublication . Romero, I; Sousa, R; Oliveira, I; Pedro, AB; Urzal, JIntrodução: Assiste-se atualmente a uma evolução paralela do envelhecimento da população e da prevalência crescente de Diabetes Mellitus. Os indivíduos idosos estão particularmente susceptíveis à ocorrência de episódios de hipoglicemia, responsáveis por uma morbimortalidade significativa nesta população. Os objetivos do estudo foram a avaliação da incidência de doentes diabéticos com episódios de hipoglicemia na população de idosos seguidos na Unidade Integrada de Diabetes (UID) do HFF e caracterizar, comparativamente, a população de idosos com e sem episódios de hipoglicemia. Materiais e métodos: Estudo observacional, longitudinal, retrospetivo, descritivo, consistindo na análise de variáveis demográficas, clínicas e laboratoriais constantes em processo clínico informático Soarian®, num período de um ano, procedendo-se a análise estatística dos mesmos. Resultados: Em 2013 mais de metade dos doentes seguidos na UID eram idosos, tendo-se verificado episódios de hipoglicemia em 22,6%. A maioria dos doentes com episódios de hipoglicemia (CH) tratava-se de doentes com mais de 75 anos e tinha um tempo de evolução de doença superior a 5 anos, com uma média de tempo de evolução de 17,5 anos. A presença de complicações microvasculares foi objetivada em mais de metade destes doentes (51,2%) sendo que 47,8% apresentavam complicações macrovasculares. A HbA1C média era de 7,8%, tendo apresentado, ao longo do ano, uma descida média de 0,6%. A maioria (71,7%) dos doentes CH estava medicado com insulina, mais de metade destes (54,3%) medicados com insulina com pico de ação, tratando-se de proporções significativamente superiores às objetivadas nos doentes sem episódios de hipoglicemia (SH). Relativamente ao uso de antidiabéticos orais, 26,1% estavam medicados com sulfonilureias. Conclusão: Este estudo vem reiterar a necessidade de individualização e adequação de objetivos de cuidados na população idosa e com mais comorbilidades, assumindo alvos glicémicos mais permissivos e esquemas terapêuticos com menor risco associado de hipoglicemia.
- Inappropriate Prescribing to Elderly Patients in an Internal Medicine Ward.Publication . Urzal, J; Pedro, AB; Oliveira, I; Romero, I; Achega, M; Correia, I; Aldomiro, F; Augusto, JINTRODUCTION: Polypharmacy is often observed in elderly patients and is associated with an increased risk of adverse drug reactions, side effects and interactions. Clinicians should be alert to inappropriate drug prescribing and reduce polypharmacy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Observational, longitudinal, retrospective and descriptive study in an internal medicine ward in a Portuguese hospital. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of five or more different medicines. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of polypharmacy and inappropriate prescribing at admission and discharge in an internal medicine ward, according to deprescribing.org guidelines/algorithms. A total of 838 consecutive patients were admitted between January and July 2017. All patients were aged under 65 years old, and those who died before discharge were excluded. Patients' medications were reviewed from a medical database at hospital admission and discharge. We examined whether patients were taking anticoagulants, proton pump inhibitors, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics and/or antihyperglycemic medication. RESULTS: A total of 483 patients were included, mean age was 79.2 ± 8.0 years, and 42% of patients were male. Median number of medications at admission and discharge was six. Polypharmacy was present in more than 70% of admitted patients. Proton pump inhibitors were the most common inappropriate prescription at discharge (17.2%). DISCUSSION: This study demonstrated a low use of inappropriate medicine (11.2% - 17.2%) in older people discharged from hospital, when compared to other studies. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that polypharmacy is present in more than 70% of elderly admitted patients. Nevertheless, the drug inappropriateness rate was not significantly affected by polypharmacy at both admission and discharge, being overall lower than published data.
- Mild troponin elevation in patients admitted to the emergency department with atrial fibrillation: 30-day post-discharge prognostic significance.Publication . Augusto, J; Santos, M; Roque, D; Faria, D; Urzal, J; Morais, J; Gil, V; Morais, CPatients with atrial fibrillation (AF) often undergo troponin (Tn) testing in the emergency department (ED), but the clinical significance of mildly elevated values remains unclear. We evaluated short-term 30-day post-discharge outcomes in AF patients according to troponin levels. Out of 2181 AF patients evaluated in the ED (June 2014 to June 2015), we included consecutive admitted patients. Patients were grouped into those with normal Tn values (≤ 0.05 ng/mL), mild elevations (> 0.05-0.5 ng/mL, 10× URL) and marked elevations (> 0.5 ng/mL). Outcomes included acute coronary syndrome (ACS), revascularization, all-cause mortality and combined end point; the secondary outcome was ischemic stroke. A total of 348 patients (90.9%) had Tn testing, which was associated with longer in-hospital stay (median 2.04 vs. 0.74 days in unmeasured Tn, p = 0.014); 37.1% did not have clinical suspicion of ACS. Mild Tn elevation occurred in 19.0% and 6.3% had markedly elevated values. Compared to normal values, mild elevations had higher absolute incidence, without statistical significance, of ACS (1.5 vs. 0.0%, p = 0.202), revascularization (1.5 vs. 0.0%, p = 0.202), all-cause mortality (12.1 vs. 6.9%, p = 0.200), combined end point (13.3 vs. 6.9%, p = 0.084) or ischemic stroke (4.5 vs. 2.3%, p = 0.394). Tn testing is routine in admitted AF patients, even without suspicion of ACS, and is associated with prolonged stay. Mild Tn elevation is associated with a nonsignificant trend toward higher adverse events. Larger-scale studies are needed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Tn testing for prognosis in admitted AF patients, as this prolongs stay and has unclear impact on patient management.