When are indwelling urinary catheters appropriate in elderly patients?

Indwelling catheters are commonly used in elderly patients with urinary retention, incontinence, pressure ulcers, and cancer, ostensibly for the patient's comfort but sometimes to ease the burden of health care workers. Indwelling catheterization is overused; catheters should be inserted only for specific, well-documented indications. The best way to avoid catheter-associated infections and other complications is to avoid long-term catheter use whenever possible. Given the risks involved, catheterization is indicated only as a last resort, after other options have failed

Evaluation of Helicobacter pylori with a stool antigen assay in frail, elderly patients

Helicobacter pylori infection has not been studied thoroughly in elderly patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of stool antigen assay (HpSA) in the assessment of H. pylori infection in hospitalized, frail, elderly patients. The study population consisted of 85 consecutively recruited elderly patients (> or =65 years old) hospitalized between May 1999 and December 2001 with diagnostic indications for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Twenty-nine subjects had been receiving treatment with proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), such as omeprazole (10-20 mg/day) for 2-15 days, and 56 were not receiving treatment. HpSA was evaluated versus UBT (urea breath test), serology and histology: patients with at least two positive results out of the latter three tests were considered positive for H. pylori infection, while patients with at least two negative tests out of three were considered negative. The sensitivity and specificity of HpSA in the 56 untreated patients were, respectively, 76% (true positives TP = 22; false negatives FN = 7) and 93% (true negatives TN = 25; false positives FP = 2). The sensitivity and specificity of HpSA in the 29 patients on PPI treatment were, respectively, 82% (TP = 9; FN = 2) and 83% (TN = 15; FP = 3). HpSA is an accurate, non-invasive and easy method for diagnosing H. pylori infection in elderly patients

AN UNCOMMON CASE OF FAILED SUICIDE IN A 94-YEAR-OLD WOMAN:"MASKED" DEPRESSION OR RATIONAL DECISION?

We report an unusual case of "failed suicide" in an oldest old woman who was apparently "aging successfully". This case was analysed in the light of a careful literature review. This was an unusual case of failed suicide, attempted by a 94-year-old woman who had planned the suicide several days earlier. The unusual features of this case relate to: 1) the person's female gender and very advanced age; 2) her apparently "successful aging" condition; 3) the violent method and unusual means she used; 4) the suicide note written several days beforehand

Attivi\ue0\ua0 lipolitica e lipoproteinlipasica nel tessuto adiposo sottocutaneo e viscerale nella sindrome di Cushing.

Cushing's syndrome has been recently compared to visceral-type obesity, since it is characterised by the accumulation of adipose tissue at a deep abdominal site, to the detriment of the subcutaneous adipose panniculus, and is associated with insulin-resistance and hyperlipemia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of glucocorticoid hormones on lipolytic activity (index of FFA mobilisation) and on lipoproteinlipase (LPL) activity (an index of the accumulation of triglycerides) in subcutaneous and perirenal adipose tissue in order to clarify the mechanisms involved in this type of accumulation in Cushing's syndrome. Five patients (4 F and 1 M) were included in the study, mean age 27.8 +/- 3.7 years and BMI 21.3 +/- 1.2 kg/m2; patients were hospitalised in the 2nd Surgical Clinic at the University of Padua and underwent surgery for secondary corticosurrenal hyperplasia with ACTH secreting hypophysial adenoma. Lipolytic activity in subcutaneous adipose tissue in these patients was significantly lower (p less than 0.05) than in control subjects, in particular after noradrenalin stimulation (p less than 0.01). No significant difference was observed when lipolytic activity in subcutaneous adipose tissue was compared to that one in perirenal tissue. LPL activity in subcutaneous adipose tissue did not reveal statistically significant differences compared to control subjects, although values were lower. A further decrease in LPL activity, which was not however significant, was observed in perirenal tissue in comparison to subcutaneous tissues in the same patients. The mean weight of adipocytes (ug) was slightly lower in subcutaneous adipose tissue compared to control subjects and even lower in perineal tissue in comparison to the subcutis in the same patients