Preliminary study on the assessment of visceral adipose tissue using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background: Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) was shown to be increased in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared to control subjects with comparable body mass index (BMI). Our aim was to determine the relation of VAT by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in patients with COPD by disease severity, BMI, other indices of body composition and static lung volumes. Methods: 294 COPD patients admitted for rehabilitation were studied. Lung function, static lung volumes and body composition (i.e. BMI, waist circumference, fat-free mass, fat mass and fat distribution between android and gynoid fat mass) were assessed before entering pulmonary rehabilitation. VAT was estimated within the android region by using DEXA. Patients were stratified for gender, BMI (cut-off of 25 kg/m2) and GOLD stage. To assess the impact of VAT on lung volumes, patients were also stratified for VAT less and above 50th percentile. Results: Both male and female patients with more severe airflow limitation had significantly lower VAT values, but these differences disappeared after stratification for BMI. VAT was significantly and strongly correlated with other body composition parameters (all p < 0.001). Patients with moderate to severe airflow limitation and lower VAT had increased static lung hyperinflation and lower diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide. Nevertheless, multivariate stepwise regression models including for BMI, age, gender and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) as confounders did not confirm an independent role for VAT on static lung hyperinflation and diffusion capacity. Conclusion: After stratification for BMI, VAT is comparable in moderate to very severe COPD patients. Furthermore, BMI and demographics, but not VAT, were independent predictors of static lung hyperinflation and diffusing capacity in COPD

Post-intensive care syndrome in primary care: The development of new diseases and primary care services utilisation – a prospective cohort study

AbstractBackground Patients experience long-lasting health problems defined as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) after Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. Little is known about PICS in primary care.Objectives To investigate whether ICU survivors encounter more new International Classification of Primary Care-2 (ICPC-2) diagnoses and general practitioner (GP) contact compared to patients with similar comorbidity without ICU admission.Methods Prospective multicentre cohort study in three Dutch general practices. Numbers of disease-episodes and GP contacts of ICU survivors ≥ 16 years admitted between 2008 and 2017 were extracted from GPs’ information systems. A non-ICU reference cohort was matched 1:1 for age, sex, follow-up period and comorbidity groups from patients’ medical history. Negative binominal regression analysis was used to compare both cohorts 0–3, 3–6, 6–12 months, 1–2 and 2–5 years after ICU admission and 1 year prior to admission.Results ICU survivors (n = 199) encountered more new disease-episodes 1 year before (mean 3.97 (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.50–4.52]]; reference 2.36 [1.28–3.17]) to 2–5 years after ICU admission (3.65 [3.15–4.26]; reference 2.86 [2.52–3.22]). ICU survivors also had more GP contacts 1 year before (mean 19.61 [17.31–22.17]; reference 10.02 [7.81–12.38]) to 2–5 years after ICU admission (18.53 [15.58–21.85]; reference 12.03 [10.33–13.91]). Patients with prior ICU admission did not encounter patterns in specific ICPC-2 chapters compared to non-ICU patients.Conclusion Patients admitted to the ICU encounter more new primary care disease-episodes and GP contacts. As patients present their symptoms to their GP first, it is therefore up to the GP to recognise these critical illness-related symptoms

Determining the Accuracy and Reliability of Indirect Calorimeters Utilizing the Methanol Combustion Technique

Background: Several indirect calorimetry (IC) instruments are commercially available, but comparative validity and reliability data are lacking. Existing data are limited by inconsistencies in protocols, subject characteristics, or single-instrument validation comparisons. The aim of this study was to compare accuracy and reliability of metabolic carts using methanol combustion as the cross-laboratory criterion. Methods: Eight 20-minute methanol burn trials were completed on 12 metabolic carts. Respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and percent O2 and CO2 recovery were calculated. Results: For accuracy, 1 Omnical, Cosmed Quark CPET (Cosmed), and both Parvos (Parvo Medics trueOne 2400) measured all 3 variables within 2% of the true value; both DeltaTracs and the Vmax Encore System (Vmax) showed similar accuracy in measuring 1 or 2, but not all, variables. For reliability, 8 instruments were shown to be reliable, with the 2 Omnicals ranking best (coefficient of variation [CV] < 1.26%). Both Cosmeds, Parvos, DeltaTracs, 1 Jaeger Oxycon Pro (Oxycon), Max-II Metabolic Systems (Max-II), and Vmax were reliable for at least 1 variable (CV ≤ 3%). For multiple regression, humidity and amount of combusted methanol were significant predictors of RER (R2 = 0.33, P <.001). Temperature and amount of burned methanol were significant predictors of O2 recovery (R2 = 0.18, P <.001); only humidity was a predictor for CO2 recovery (R2 = 0.15, P <.001). Conclusions: Omnical, Parvo, Cosmed, and DeltaTrac had greater accuracy and reliability. The small number of instruments tested and expected differences in gas calibration variability limits the generalizability of conclusions. Finally, humidity and temperature could be modified in the laboratory to optimize IC conditions

Social technology affordances for business process improvement

Organisations across diverse industries have started to embed Enterprise Social Technology (EST) to create collaborative, human-centric environments in their day-to-day operations. With this growing trend, the use of EST within process improvement initiatives is gaining popularity. While the potential that EST brings (in particular with better connecting and influencing people’s participation) to process improvements is widely acknowledged, research providing insights into how this actually takes place and specifically contributes towards process improvement efforts is very limited. This study adopts a ‘technology affordance’ perspective to identify and conceptualise affordances of EST within the context of process improvement activities. Based on forming theory on this topic, a process improvement effort that applied EST was investigated through a series of interviews. The interviews were rigorously designed, and carefully executed and analyzed via a tool-supported data coding and analysis approach. The study outcomes resulted with a refined and partially validated ‘EST affordances for process improvements’ model with 9 EST affordances and 3 ‘contingency variables'

Early versus On-Demand Nasoenteric Tube Feeding in Acute Pancreatitis

BACKGROUND Early enteral feeding through a nasoenteric feeding tube is often used in patients with severe acute pancreatitis to prevent gut-derived infections, but evidence to support this strategy is limited. We conducted a multicenter, randomized trial comparing early nasoenteric tube feeding with an oral diet at 72 hours after presentation to the emergency department in patients with acute pancreatitis. METHODS We enrolled patients with acute pancreatitis who were at high risk for complications on the basis of an Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score of 8 or higher (on a scale of 0 to 71, with higher scores indicating more severe disease), an Imrie or modified Glasgow score of 3 or higher (on a scale of 0 to 8, with higher scores indicating more severe disease), or a serum C-reactive protein level of more than 150 mg per liter. Patients were randomly assigned to nasoenteric tube feeding within 24 hours after randomization (early group) or to an oral diet initiated 72 hours after presentation (on-demand group), with tube feeding provided if the oral diet was not tolerated. The primary end point was a composite of major infection (infected pancreatic necrosis, bacteremia, or pneumonia) or death during 6 months of follow-up. RESULTS A total of 208 patients were enrolled at 19 Dutch hospitals. The primary end point occurred in 30 of 101 patients (30%) in the early group and in 28 of 104 (27%) in the on-demand group (risk ratio, 1.07; 95% confidence interval, 0.79 to 1.44; P = 0.76). There were no significant differences between the early group and the on-demand group in the rate of major infection (25% and 26%, respectively; P = 0.87) or death (11% and 7%, respectively; P = 0.33). In the on-demand group, 72 patients (69%) tolerated an oral diet and did not require tube feeding. CONCLUSIONS This trial did not show the superiority of early nasoenteric tube feeding, as compared with an oral diet after 72 hours, in reducing the rate of infection or death in patients with acute pancreatitis at high risk for complication