Delirium by earlystage tuberculous meningitis in a healthy elderly woman: case report

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis is a disease of great global impact, due to its high morbidity and mortality. Among the extrapulmonary manifestations, tuberculous meningitis stands out as the most severe form. His initial presentation is very varied atypical, especially in the elderly, when the delirium may be the only manifestation. In this phase it is common to misdiagnosis and treatment delay, including iatrogenic potential. This paper reports an early MTB event in an old previously healthy, with discussion of the characteristics of the initial onset of this condition. CASE REPORT: A female patient, 72 years old, autonomous and independent, sought urgent care complaining of nonspecific abdominal pain started a few hours before, and who developed delirium two days later. After extensive investigation there was no definitive diagnosis, when we opted for the Cerebrospinal fluid study showed a pattern compatible with MTB likely. After 48 hours of specific treatment there was resolution of fever, with significant improvement of the confusional picture on the seventh day of treatment, was discharged.</p

Refeeding syndrome in elderly individuals: evaluation of a series of five cases

INTRODUCTION: Undernourishment is a common health problem among elderly individuals, and its prevalence grows among frail patients, which makes nutritional support a priority, especially in acute diseases. However, providing nutritional support to undernourished patients or to those under acute caloric deprivation may lead to electrolyte disturbances associated with neurological, respiratory, and cardiac symptoms, including cardiac arrest. These disturbances occur a few days after receiving nutritional support, and characterize the refeeding syndrome. METHODOLOGY: Five elderly patients hospitalized for clinical reasons and who developed refeeding syndrome during the duration of the stay, were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: All patients analyzed were malnourished and frail, of whom four were women. The age group ranged between 82 and 85 years, and food deprivation time ranged between 7 to 15 days. Three patients had severe dementia and were admitted with hypoactive delirium. Hypophosphatemia occurred in 100% of the sample, followed by hypokalemia (60%) and hypomagnesemia (40%). Four patients developed peripheral edema, two developed metabolic ileus and three elderly persons (who had lower phosphorus values) died during the hospital stay. CONCLUSION: All refeeding syndrome patients developed hypophosphatemia, with fatal outcome among those whose phosphorus values were lower. The development of peripheral edema and metabolic ileus was frequent. Owing to the lack of data in literature, new researches on refeeding syndrome are extremely important. Electrolyte evaluation before and after nutritional support in patients at risk, is indispensable to facilitate recognition and treatment of this severe condition.</p

Polypharmacy and the use of potentially inappropriate medications among aged inpatients

OBJECTIVE: In Brazil, 70% of older adults have at least one chronic disease and, of these, 60% use more than four medications regularly, characterizing polypharmacy. Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) are used by 40% of this population. Both polypharmacy and PIM use are associated with negative outcomes, such as increased frequency of drug interactions, falls, frailty, malnutrition, and in some cases, death. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study with retrospective data collection of all older patients admitted for clinical reasons to a tertiary care hospital in Brazil from March 2015 to February 2016. We evaluated patients for the presence of polypharmacy and PIM use, correlating these findings with other variables of interest. RESULTS: The medical records of 456 patients were analyzed. Mean patient age was 83 years, and 71.3% were women. The mean Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was 2.38, and dementia was the most prevalent comorbidity (36.6%). Polypharmacy was present in 56.5% of patients, and 46.4% of them used at least one PIM. Antipsychotics were the most frequently used PIM (46.2%), followed by benzodiazepines (33.0%). Drug interactions were detected in 53.5% of patients. The presence of polypharmacy was associated with the use of PIMs (p &lt; 0.001). Additionally, both polypharmacy and PIM use were associated with drug interactions (p &lt; 0.01), poorer functional status (p &lt; 0.01), and higher CCI (p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: In this study population, the prevalence of polypharmacy was 56.5%, and 46.5% of cases included the use of PIMs. Both conditions were associated with drug interactions, poorer functional status, and higher CCl.</p

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths. Our data set includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the southern United States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to the austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n = 5,941), and Cyclopes sp. have the fewest (n = 240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n = 11,588), and the fewest data are recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n = 33). With regard to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n = 962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n = 12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other data sets of Neotropical Series that will become available very soon (i.e., Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans data set. Please cite this data paper when using its data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using these data

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data