The use of Barthel index for the assessment of the functional recovery after osteoporotic hip fracture: One year follow-up

The Barthel index evolution was analyzed in a sample of older people with osteoporotic hip fracture in order to verify the influence of comorbidities and cognitive impairment on the physical recovery of those patients, during the first year following the fracture. A prospective observational study was carried out between October 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013. A sample of 247 individuals was initially selected. After a primary revision, 39 participants were excluded (clearly not meeting inclusion criteria, lack of data, or not agree to participate in the study), and finally a total of 208 participants were included in the analysis, 166 women, with an average age of 84.59 years, and 42 men, with an average age of 82.05. 54.80% of all cases were older than 85 years. The mean Barthel index value prior to fracture was 76.63, decreasing to 64.91 at one-year follow-up. Only 22.12% of patients achieved a full recovery for activities of daily living. A statistical analysis was performed by comparing Barthel index recovery depending on the values of Charlson and Pfeiffer indexes, respectively. The mean differences in Barthel index drop between the one-year follow-up and the hospital admission values were found statistical significant (p<0.01). These findings indicate that Charlson and Pfeiffer indexes clearly influence the Barthel index recovery. Low values of Charlson and Pfeiffer indexes resulted in better Barthel index recovery. In conclusion, the Barthel index is a good tool to evaluate the physical recovery after osteoporotic hip fracture

Risk factors for major adverse cardiovascular events after osteoporotic hip fracture repair surgery

Osteoporotic hip fracture (OHF) is an increasingly frequent age-related pathology, which results in high rates of functional loss and mortality within the first year after surgery. This study assessed whether preoperative levels of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and troponin I were related to early occurrence (30d) of major adverse cardio-vascular events (MACE) after OHF repair surgery. During a 6-month period, perioperative clinical and analytical data from consecutive patients, without known history of cardiovascular disease and undergoing surgery for OHF repair at a single centre, were prospectively collected. MACE was defined as acute myocardial ischaemia or infarction, acute heart failure or cardiovascular death. amongst the 140 patients included, 23 (16.4%) developed postoperative MACE (MACE group) and 117 did not (Control group). Compared to those from control group, patients from MACE group were older, had poorer physical status (ASA III–IV), received preoperative red blood cell transfusion (RBCT) more frequently, presented with lower haemoglobin concentrations and higher NT-proBNP, creatinine and troponin I concentrations. Overall, RBCT requirements and 30d mortality rate were also higher in MACE group. However, in multivariate analysis, only preoperative RBCT, creatinine >1 mg/dL and NT-proBNP >450 pg/mL remained as independent preoperative risks factors for postoperative MACE, while 95% confidence intervals of odds ratios were wide. Though our findings require confirmation in a larger multicentre cohort, identifying risk factors for early postoperative MACE after OHF repair surgery, might facilitate assessing patients’ risk prior to and following surgery, and targeting them the appropriate preventive and/or therapeutic interventions

Evolution of the use of corticosteroids for the treatment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Spain between March and November 2020: SEMI-COVID national registry

Objectives: Since the results of the RECOVERY trial, WHO recommendations about the use of corticosteroids (CTs) in COVID-19 have changed. The aim of the study is to analyse the evolutive use of CTs in Spain during the pandemic to assess the potential influence of new recommendations. Material and methods: A retrospective, descriptive, and observational study was conducted on adults hospitalised due to COVID-19 in Spain who were included in the SEMI-COVID- 19 Registry from March to November 2020. Results: CTs were used in 6053 (36.21%) of the included patients. The patients were older (mean (SD)) (69.6 (14.6) vs. 66.0 (16.8) years; p < 0.001), with hypertension (57.0% vs. 47.7%; p < 0.001), obesity (26.4% vs. 19.3%; p < 0.0001), and multimorbidity prevalence (20.6% vs. 16.1%; p < 0.001). These patients had higher values (mean (95% CI)) of C-reactive protein (CRP) (86 (32.7-160) vs. 49.3 (16-109) mg/dL; p < 0.001), ferritin (791 (393-1534) vs. 470 (236- 996) µg/dL; p < 0.001), D dimer (750 (430-1400) vs. 617 (345-1180) µg/dL; p < 0.001), and lower Sp02/Fi02 (266 (91.1) vs. 301 (101); p < 0.001). Since June 2020, there was an increment in the use of CTs (March vs. September; p < 0.001). Overall, 20% did not receive steroids, and 40% received less than 200 mg accumulated prednisone equivalent dose (APED). Severe patients are treated with higher doses. The mortality benefit was observed in patients with oxygen saturation </=90%. Conclusions: Patients with greater comorbidity, severity, and inflammatory markers were those treated with CTs. In severe patients, there is a trend towards the use of higher doses. The mortality benefit was observed in patients with oxygen saturation </=90%

Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET

The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)

Relationship of edge localized mode burst times with divertor flux loop signal phase in JET

A phase relationship is identified between sequential edge localized modes (ELMs) occurrence times in a set of H-mode tokamak plasmas to the voltage measured in full flux azimuthal loops in the divertor region. We focus on plasmas in the Joint European Torus where a steady H-mode is sustained over several seconds, during which ELMs are observed in the Be II emission at the divertor. The ELMs analysed arise from intrinsic ELMing, in that there is no deliberate intent to control the ELMing process by external means. We use ELM timings derived from the Be II signal to perform direct time domain analysis of the full flux loop VLD2 and VLD3 signals, which provide a high cadence global measurement proportional to the voltage induced by changes in poloidal magnetic flux. Specifically, we examine how the time interval between pairs of successive ELMs is linked to the time-evolving phase of the full flux loop signals. Each ELM produces a clear early pulse in the full flux loop signals, whose peak time is used to condition our analysis. The arrival time of the following ELM, relative to this pulse, is found to fall into one of two categories: (i) prompt ELMs, which are directly paced by the initial response seen in the flux loop signals; and (ii) all other ELMs, which occur after the initial response of the full flux loop signals has decayed in amplitude. The times at which ELMs in category (ii) occur, relative to the first ELM of the pair, are clustered at times when the instantaneous phase of the full flux loop signal is close to its value at the time of the first ELM

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Eficacia analgésica del bloqueo pectoral modificado más bloqueo del plano del serrato en mamoplastia subpectoral: ensayo clínico, controlado, aleatorizado, triple ciego.

Introducción La cirugía protésica de mama es un procedimiento de cirugía plástica muy común, cuyo manejo analgésico postoperatorio es un reto para el equipo quirúrgico. El propósito del presente estudio fue validar la eficacia analgésica del bloqueo de los nervios pectorales y plano del serrato en mamoplastia de aumento retropectoral. Pacientes y métodos Se diseñó un ensayo clínico, controlado, aleatorizado, triple ciego, que incluyó a 30 pacientes intervenidas mediante mamoplastia de aumento retropectoral. En ambos grupos se realizaron bloqueo pectoral modificado y bloqueo del plano serrato con un volumen total de 40 ml por mama. En 15 de ellas se inyectó bupivacaína 0,25% con epinefrina (GPEC), y en las otras 15 se administró suero fisiológico (GC). Se hizo manejo estandarizado de la anestesia y la analgesia postoperatoria. Se midieron parámetros hemodinámicos intraoperatorios, necesidad de analgesia postoperatoria y la escala numérica verbal a su llegada a reanimación, a las 3, 6 y 24 h, así como la calidad percibida por los pacientes y cirujanos. Resultados En el postoperatorio inmediato, se pudo percibir una disminución del dolor en las pacientes del GPEC (5,3 ± 2,3 vs. 2,9 ± 2,7; p = 0,018). No se observaron diferencias significativas a las 3, 6 y 24 h. Los cirujanos valoraron la calidad anestésico-analgésica como muy buena en el 80% de los casos en el GPEC frente al 33% en el GC (p = 0,01). Conclusiones El uso de estos bloqueos es una buena estrategia analgésica perioperatoria en el manejo multimodal en la mamoplastia de aumento retropectoral