Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Prospective study on respiratory parameters

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Objective: To verify how efficient respiratory parameters are in the follow-up of subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and to observe possible correlations between respiratory and nutritional functions. Method: Sixteen patients with probable or defined ALS were selected and evaluated over eight months using the following respiratory parameters: spirometry, maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), maximum expiratory pressure (MEP), arterial gasometry and pulse oximetry; and nutritional parameters such as body mass index (BMI) and percentage weight loss. Results: P(a)CO(2) was a significant parameter to follow up disease evolution (p=0.051). There was significant correlation between MIP and MEP (r: 0.83); BMI and MIP (r: 0.70); BMI and MEP (r: 0.72); pulse oximetry and forced vital capacity (r: 0.57). Conclusion: P(a)CO(2) was shown to be an efficient and significant parameter in the measurement of respiratory impairment; the correlations among MIP, MEP and BMI indicated that these are significant parameters for periodic clinical evaluation.682258262Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Nursing Diagnosis Risk for falls: prevalence and clinical profile of hospitalized patients

Objectives: to identify the prevalence of the Nursing Diagnosis (ND) Risk for falls in the hospitalizations of adult patients in clinical and surgical units, to characterize the clinical profile and to identify the risk factors of the patients with this ND. Method: a cross-sectional study with 174 patients. The data was collected from the computerized nursing care prescriptions system and on-line hospital records, and analyzed statistically. Results: the prevalence of the ND Risk for falls was 4%. The patients’ profile indicated older adults, males (57%), those hospitalized in the clinical units (63.2%), with a median length of hospitalization of 20 (10-24) days, with neurological illnesses (26%), cardio-vascular illnesses (74.1%) and various co-morbidities (3±1.8). The prevalent risk factors were neurological alterations (43.1%), impaired mobility (35.6%) and extremes of age (10.3%). Conclusion: the findings contributed to evidencing the profile of the patients with a risk of falling hospitalized in clinical and surgical wards, which favors the planning of interventions for preventing this adverse event

Toward biosensors for the detection of circulating microRNA as a cancer biomarker: An overview of the challenges and successes

Considerable attention has been dedicated to developing feasible point-of-care tests for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. An ideal biomarker for clinical use should be easily assayed with minimally invasive medical procedures but possess high sensitivity and specificity. The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the regulation of different cellular processes, the unique altered patterns in cancer patients and presence in body fluids in the stable form, points to their clinical utility as blood-based biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer. Although a variety of selective and sensitive laboratory-based methods are already exist for the detection of circulating miRNA, having a simple, low-cost and rapid assay, which could be routinely used in clinical practice, is still required. Among different approaches that have developed for circulating miRNA detection, biosensors, due to the high sensitivity, ease of use, short assay time, non-toxic experimental steps, and adaptability to point-of-care testing, exhibit very attractive properties for developing portable devices. With this view, we present an overview of some of the challenges that still need to be met to be able to use circulating miRNAs in clinical practice, including their clinical significance, sample preparation, and detection. In particular, we highlight the recent advances in the rapidly developing area of biosensors for circulating miRNA detection, along with future prospects and challenges

Equiscala: versão brasileira e estudo de confiabilidade e validade da Equiscale

Este estudo consistiu na tradução para o português e na verificação da confiabilidade e validade do teste original de equilíbrio Equiscale. A versão brasileira foi testada em 11 indivíduos com esclerose múltipla selecionados aleatoriamente, que foram inicialmente avaliados pela Escala de Equilíbrio de Berg (EEB), Medida de Independência Funcional e pela Escala do Estado de Deficiência Expandida (EDSS). Foram feitas duas avaliações usando a Equiscala (teste-reteste) por três fisioterapeutas, para verificar a confiabilidade interexaminador. A confiabilidade teste-reteste e interexaminador foi verificada pelo coeficiente de correlação intra-classe (CCI); e a relação entre a Equiscala e as demais escalas, pelo coeficiente de correlação de Spearman. Foi demonstrada adequada confiabilidade teste-reteste (CCI=0,882; 0,906) e interexaminador(CCI=0,947; 0,933; 0,962). Também foi encontrada boa correlação da Equiscala com a Escala de Equilíbrio de Berg (rs=0,8940; p=0,0002) e a EDSS (rs=-0,7139; p=0,0136). Os resultados indicam que a Equiscala apresenta adequada confiabilidade e validade, podendo ser aplicada na avaliação do equilíbrio em pacientes com esclerose múltipla.This articles presents the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Equiscale, and assesses its reliability and validity. The translation was tested on 11 randomly-selected patients with multiple sclerosis, who were also assessed by the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). The Equiscale was applied twice (test-retest) by three physical therapists. Test-retest reliability was verified by the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), and comparison between Equiscale and the other scales was made using Spearman correlation coefficient. Test-retest reliability was shown to be adequate (ICC=0.882; 0.906), as well as inter-examiner's (ICC=0.947; 0.933; 0.962). Good correlations were also found between Equiscale and BBS (rs=0.8940; p=0.0002), and EDSS (rs=-0.7139; p=0.0136). Results thus show that the Equiscale Brazilian version presents adequate reliability and validity, proving a useful instrument to assess balance in multiple sclerosis patients