Can course format influence the performance of students in an advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) program?

Advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) is a problem-based course that employs simulation techniques to teach the standard management techniques of cardiovascular emergencies. Its structure is periodically revised according to new versions of the American Heart Association guidelines. Since it was introduced in Brazil in 1996, the ACLS has been through two conceptual and structural changes. Detailed documented reports on the effect of these changes on student performance are limited. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of conceptual and structural changes of the course on student ACLS performance at a Brazilian training center. This was a retrospective study of 3266 students divided into two groups according to the teaching model: Model 1 (N = 1181; 1999-2003) and Model 2 (N = 2085; 2003-2007). Model 2 increased practical skill activities to 75% of the total versus 60% in Model 1. Furthermore, the teaching material provided to the students before the course was more objective than that used for Model 1. Scores greater than 85% in the theoretical evaluation and approval in the evaluation of practice by the instructor were considered to be a positive outcome. Multiple logistic regression was used to adjust for potential confounders (specialty, residency, study time, opportunity to enhance practical skills during the course and location where the course was given). Compared to Model 1, Model 2 presented odds ratios (OR) indicating better performance in the theoretical (OR = 1.34; 95%CI = 1.10-1.64), practical (OR = 1.19; 95%CI = 0.90-1.57), and combined (OR = 1.38; 95%CI = 1.13-1.68) outcomes. Increasing the time devoted to practical skills did not improve the performance of ACLS students

How frequently should a patient taking amiodarone be screened for thyroid dysfunction?

Amiodarone-induced thyroid dysfunction (AITD) is a common complication of amiodarone therapy and its prevalence varies according to iodine intake, subclinical thyroid disorders and the definition of AITD. There is no consensus about the frequency of screening for this condition. We evaluated 121 patients on chronic regular intake of amiodarone (mean intake = 248.5 ± 89 mg; duration of treatment = 5.3 ± 3.9 years, range = 0.57-17 years) and with stable baseline cardiac condition. Those with no AITD were followed up for a median period of 3.2 years (range: 0.6-6.7) and the incidence rate of AITD, defined by clinical and laboratorial findings as proposed by international guidelines, was obtained (62.8 per 1000 patients/year). We applied the Cox proportional hazard model to adjust for potential confounding factors and used sensitivity analysis to identify the best screening time for follow-up. We detected thyroid dysfunction in 59 (48.7%) of the 121 patients, amiodarone-induced hypothyroidism in 50 (41.3%) and hyperthyroidism in 9 (7.5%). Compared with patients without AITD, there was no difference regarding dosage or duration of therapy, heart rhythm disorder or baseline cardiac condition. During the follow-up of the 62 patients without AITD at baseline evaluation, 11 developed AITD (interquartile range, IR: 62.8 (95%CI: 31.3-112.3) cases per 1000 patients/year), 9 of them with hypothyroidism - IR: 11.4 (95%CI: 1.38-41.2), and 2 hyperthyroidism - IR: 51.3 (95%CI: 23.4-97.5). Age, gender, dose, and duration of treatment were not significant after adjustment. During the first 6 months of follow-up the incidence rate for AITD was 39.3 (9.2-61.9) cases per 1000 patients/year. These data show that AITD is quite common, and support the need for screening at 6-month intervals, unless clinical follow-up dictates otherwise or further information regarding the prognosis of untreated subclinical AITD is available.CNP

Circulatory shock syndrome

Circulatory shock is marked by critical reductions on tecidual perfusion, causing severe systemic alterations, impairing cellular and organic function, with a high mortality rate as result. The prompt diagnosis and therapeutics should be based on individual response, emphasizing ventilatory and hemodynamic support. The knowledge of physiopathology directs therapeutic decisions, since the objectives to be reached are based on physiopathology. Several recent therapies are being investigated on patients with circulatoty shock, such as fluid resuscitation, red cells bood substitutes, and therapies directed to mediators (cytokines, endotoxins, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and platelet-activating factor).O choque circulatório é marcado por reduções críticas na perfusão tecidual, provocando alterações sistêmicas graves, com comprometimento da função celular e orgânica, com alto índice de mortalidade. O diagnóstico e a instituição de medidas terapêuticas devem ser precoces e baseados na resposta individual de cada paciente, dando-se ênfase ao suporte ventilatório e hemodinâmico. O conhecimento profundo da sua fisiopatologia norteia as decisões terapêuticas, uma vez que através dela se estabelecem objetivos a serem atingidos. Diversas condutas recentes estão sendo pesquisadas em pacientes com choque circulatório. Estas medidas incluem reposições volêmicas, simples, soluções substitutas de hemácias e terapias dirigidas aos mediadores (citoquinas, endotoxinas, prostaglandinas, leucotrienos e fator de ativação plaquetária)

Trastuzumab-Induced Myocardiotoxicity Mimicking Acute Coronary Syndrome

Trastuzumab is an important biological agent in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer, with effects on response rates, progression-free survival, overall survival and quality of life. Although this drug is well tolerated in terms of adverse effects, trastuzumab-associated myocardiotoxicity has been described to have an incidence of 0.6–4.5% and in rare cases, the drug can trigger severe congestive heart failure with progression to death or even mimic acute coronary syndrome with complete left bundle branch blockade. In this paper is reported a case of trastuzumab-associated myocardiotoxicity manifesting as acute coronary syndrome in a 69-year-old female. The patient is currently undergoing a conservative clinical treatment that restricts overexertion

Neonatal screening for cystic fibrosis in São Paulo State, Brazil : a pilot study

Cystic fibrosis is one of the most common autosomal recessive hereditary diseases in the Caucasian population, with an incidence of 1:2000 to 1:3500 liveborns. More than 1000 mutations have been described with the most common being F508del. It has a prevalence of 23-55% within the Brazilian population. The lack of population-based studies evaluating the incidence of cystic fibrosis in São Paulo State, Brazil, and an analysis concerning the costs of implantation of a screening program motivated the present study. A total of 60,000 dried blood samples from Guthrie cards obtained from April 2005 to January 2006 for neonatal screening at 4 reference centers in São Paulo State were analyzed. The immunoreactive trypsinogen (IRT)/IRT protocol was used with the cut-off value being 70 ng/mL. A total of 532 children (0.9%) showed IRT >70 ng/mL and a 2nd sample was collected from 418 (80.3%) of these patients. Four affected children were detected at two centers, corresponding to an incidence of 1:8403. The average age at diagnosis was 69 days, and 3 of the children already showed severe symptoms of the disease. The rate of false-positive results was 95.2% and the positive predictive value for the test was 8%. The cost of detecting an affected subject was approximately US$8,000.00 when this cystic fibrosis program was added to an existing neonatal screening program. The present study clearly shows the difficulties involved in cystic fibrosis screening using the IRT/IRT protocol, particularly in a population with no long-term tradition of neonatal screening421

HbA1c as a risk factor for heart failure in persons with diabetes: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study

Heart failure (HF) incidence in diabetes in both the presence and absence of CHD is rising. Prospective population-based studies can help describe the relationship between HbA1c, a measure of glycaemia control, and HF risk

Myocardial ultrasonic tissue characterization in patients with thyroid dysfunction

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Structural myocardial abnormalities have been extensively documented in hypothyroidism. Experimental studies in animal models have also shown involvement of thyroid hormones in gene expression of myocardial collagen. This study was planned to investigate the ability of ultrasonic tissue characterization, as evaluated by integrated backscatter (IBS), to early identify myocardial involvement in thyroid dysfunction.</p> <p>Patients and Methods</p> <p>We studied 15 patients with hyperthyroidism (HYPER), 8 patients with hypothyroidism (HYPO), 14 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and 19 normal (N) subjects, who had normal LV systolic function. After treatment, 10 HYPER, 6 HYPO, and 8 SCH patients were reevaluated. IBS images were obtained and analyzed in parasternal short axis (papillary muscle level) view, at left ventricular (LV) posterior wall. The following IBS variables were analyzed: 1) the corrected coefficient (CC) of IBS, obtained by dividing IBS intensity by IBS intensity measured in a rubber phantom, using the same equipment adjustments, at the same depth; 2) cardiac cyclic variation (CV) of IBS - peak-to-peak difference between maximal and minimal values of IBS during cardiac cycle; 3) cardiac cyclic variation index (CVI) of IBS - percentual relationship between the cyclic variation (CV) and the mean value of IBS intensity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CC of IBS was significantly larger (p < 0.05) in HYPER (1.57 ± 0.6) and HYPO (1.53 ± 0.3) as compared to SCH (1.32 ± 0.3) or N (1.15 ± 0.27). The CV (dB) (HYPO: 7.5 ± 2.4; SCH: 8.2 ± 3.1; HYPER: 8.2 ± 2.0) and the CVI (HYPO: 35.6 ± 19.7%; SCH: 34.7 ± 17.5%; HYPER: 37.8 ± 11.6%) were not significantly different in patients with thyroid dysfunction as compared to N (7.0 ± 2.0 and 44.5 ± 15.1%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>CC of IBS was able to differentiate cardiac involvement in patients with overt HYPO and HYPER who had normal LV systolic function. These early myocardial structural abnormalities were partially reversed by drug therapy in HYPER group. On the other hand, although mean IBS intensity tended to be slightly larger in patients with SCH as compared to N, this difference was not statistical significant.</p