[Patients with COPD hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Spain: a comparison between the first and second wave]. / Pacientes con EPOC hospitalizados por COVID-19 en España: comparación entre la primera y la segunda ola.

Objective: This work aimed to compare the characteristics, progress, and prognosis of patients with COPD hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Spain in the first wave with those of the second wave. Material and methods: This is an observational study of patients hospitalized in Spain with a diagnosis of COPD included in the SEMI-COVID-19 registry. The medical history, symptoms, analytical and radiological results, treatment, and progress of patients with COPD hospitalized in the first wave (from March to June 2020) versus those hospitalized in the second wave (from July to December 2020) were compared. Factors associated with poor prognosis, defined as all-cause mortality and a composite endpoint that included mortality, high-flow oxygen therapy, mechanical ventilation, and ICU admission, were analyzed. Results: Of the 21,642 patients in the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, 6.9% were diagnosed with COPD: 1,128 (6.8%) in WAVE1 and 374 (7.7%) in WAVE2 (p = 0.04). WAVE2 patients presented less dry cough, fever and dyspnea, hypoxemia (43% vs 36%, p < 0.05), and radiological condensation (46% vs 31%, p < 0.05) than WAVE1 patients. Mortality was lower in WAVE2 (35% vs 28.6%, p = 0.01). In the total sample, mortality and the composite outcome of poor prognosis were lower among patients who received inhalation therapy. Conclusions: Patients with COPD admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19 in the second wave had less respiratory failure and less radiological involvement as well as a better prognosis. These patients should receive bronchodilator treatment if there is no contraindication for it.

Patients with COPD hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Spain: a comparison between the first and second wave.

OBJECTIVE: This work aimed to compare the characteristics, progress, and prognosis of patients with COPD hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Spain in the first wave with those of the second wave. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is an observational study of patients hospitalized in Spain with a diagnosis of COPD included in the SEMI-COVID-19 registry. The medical history, symptoms, analytical and radiological results, treatment, and progress of patients with COPD hospitalized in the first wave (from March to June 2020) versus those hospitalized in the second wave (from July to December 2020) were compared. Factors associated with poor prognosis, defined as all-cause mortality and a composite endpoint that included mortality, high-flow oxygen therapy, mechanical ventilation, and ICU admission, were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 21,642 patients in the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, 6.9% were diagnosed with COPD: 1128 (6.8%) in WAVE1 and 374 (7.7%) in WAVE2 (p = 0.04). WAVE2 patients presented less dry cough, fever and dyspnea, hypoxemia (43% vs 36%, p < 0.05), and radiological condensation (46% vs 31%, p < 0.05) than WAVE1 patients. Mortality was lower in WAVE2 (35% vs 28.6%, p = 0.01). In the total sample, mortality and the composite outcome of poor prognosis were lower among patients who received inhalation therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with COPD admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19 in the second wave had less respiratory failure and less radiological involvement as well as a better prognosis. These patients should receive bronchodilator treatment if there is no contraindication for it.

Clinical characteristics of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Spain: Results from the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry. / Características clínicas de los pacientes hospitalizados con COVID-19 en España: resultados del Registro SEMI-COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Spain has been one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To create a registry of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain, in order to improve our knowledge of the clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic aspects of this disease. METHODS: A multicentre retrospective cohort study, including consecutive patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 throughout Spain. Epidemiological and clinical data, additional tests at admission and at seven days, treatments administered, and progress at 30 days of hospitalization were collected from electronic medical records. RESULTS: Up to June 30th 2020, 15,111 patients from 150 hospitals were included. Their median age was 69.4 years (range: 18-102 years) and 57.2% were male. Prevalences of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus were 50.9%, 39.7%, and 19.4%, respectively. The most frequent symptoms were fever (84.2%) and cough (73.5%). High values of ferritin (73.5%), lactate dehydrogenase (73.9%), and D-dimer (63.8%), as well as lymphopenia (52.8%), were frequent. The most used antiviral drugs were hydroxychloroquine (85.6%) and lopinavir/ritonavir (61.4%); 33.1% developed respiratory distress. Overall mortality rate was 21.0%, with a marked increase with age (50-59 years: 4.7%, 60-69 years: 10.5%, 70-79 years: 26.9%, ≥80 years: 46.0%). CONCLUSIONS: The SEMI-COVID-19 Network provides data on the clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain. Patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain are mostly severe cases, as one in three patients developed respiratory distress and one in five patients died. These findings confirm a close relationship between advanced age and mortality.

[Clinical characteristics of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Spain: Results from the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry]. / Características clínicas de los pacientes hospitalizados con COVID-19 en España: resultados del Registro SEMI-COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Spain has been one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To create a registry of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain, in order to improve our knowledge of the clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic aspects of this disease. METHODS: A multicentre retrospective cohort study, including consecutive patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 throughout Spain. Epidemiological and clinical data, additional tests at admission and at seven days, treatments administered, and progress at 30 days of hospitalization were collected from electronic medical records. RESULTS: Up to June 30th 2020, 15,111 patients from 150 hospitals were included. Their median age was 69.4 years (range: 18-102 years) and 57.2% were male. Prevalences of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus were 50.9%, 39.7%, and 19.4%, respectively. The most frequent symptoms were fever (84.2%) and cough (73.5%). High values of ferritin (73.5%), lactate dehydrogenase (73.9%), and D-dimer (63.8%), as well as lymphopenia (52.8%), were frequent. The most used antiviral drugs were hydroxychloroquine (85.6%) and lopinavir/ritonavir (61.4%); 33.1% developed respiratory distress. Overall mortality rate was 21.0%, with a marked increase with age (50-59 years: 4.7%, 60-69 years: 10.5%, 70-79 years: 26.9%, ≥ 80 years: 46.0%). CONCLUSIONS: The SEMI-COVID-19 Network provides data on the clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain. Patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Spain are mostly severe cases, as one in three patients developed respiratory distress and one in five patients died. These findings confirm a close relationship between advanced age and mortality.

[Management of hypertension and diabetes in Primary Care clinical practice: ATENCION study]. / Práctica clínica en el manejo de la hipertensión y la diabetes en Atención Primaria: estudio ATENCION.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in the Spanish population. The detection and control of cardiovascular risk factors are fundamental in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. The main objectives of this study are to analyse the attitudes and therapeutic decisions of Primary Care (PC) physicians when treating hypertension (HT) and diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2), with the aim of establishing the situation and eventually proposing improvement strategies. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A national ecological, multicentre, cross-sectional, and descriptive study was conducted in 2013. A questionnaire was used and 1,028 PC physicians took part in the study. RESULTS: A total of 92.9% of the investigators consulted have indicated that they follow the guidelines for evaluation, treatment, and diagnosis of HT, and 91.4% in the case of diabetes. The latter is diagnosed as a casual finding, while HT is diagnosed through active investigation in patients with other risk factors. Combined therapy takes more than 6 months to take effect in patients with HT, and between 8 and 9 months in diabetic patients. The percentage of non-compliance is similar (10-40%) in both pathologies. Around half the physicians questioned considered interaction with the specialist to be good or excellent (46% HT and 57.3% DM2). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical practices in PC for HT and DM2 have some basic criteria in common. The interaction with the specialist is good, but there is a considerable margin for improvement.

Relation of obesity and cardiovascular risk in Spain.

Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of mortality in Spain. This feature is related with the high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, particularly high blood pressure, dyslipidaemia, smoking, obesity and diabetes. Otherwise, the association of several risk factors, all related with cardio-metabolic risk, is the basis for the increase of individual global cardiovascular risk. We have studied prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in several epidemiological studies in Spanish adult population, in nine autonomic communities and almost 15000 individuals. The principal objective was to evaluate the impact of obesity and overweight in the others cardiovascular risk factors in order to establish the relative weight of obesity in individual cardiovascular risk. With our results, this study presents a qualitative-quantitative model to calculate global cardiovascular risk in Spanish population according with the prevalence of different cardiovascular risk factors and the relative risk associated of every one in the same population.

[Autoimmune hemolytic anemia: a rare complication of ulcerative colitis]. / Anemia hemolítica autoinmune: una rara complicación de la colitis ulcerosa.

Anaemia is a common problem in patients with ulcerative colitis, and its etiology is usually multifactorial. It can be produced by chronic blood loss, nutritional deficiencies, drugs such as salazopyrine, or it can be related to those chronic disease. However, ulcerative colitis is known to be associated with several immune disorders, as autoimmune haemolytic anaemia. Nevertheless, this rare complication can be found in 0.2 to 0.7% of patients affected by ulcerative colitis, and although 1.82% of patients with ulcerative colitis have a positive direct Coombs test without evidence of hemolysis. We report one new case of ulcerative colitis associated with autoimmune anaemia haemolytic, and a review the literature.

[Evidence of the efficacy of hypocholesterolemic treatment in primary and secondary prevention of ischemic heart disease]. / Evidencias de la eficacia del tratamiento hipocolesterolemiante en la prevención primaria y secundaria de la cardiopatía isquémica.

Good clinical medicine is, nowadays, not based on personal experiences, but in the results of broad prospective controlled studies considering the experience of many professionals, which in the case of new therapeutic options are named clinical trials. Several evidences of the determinant role of cholesterol in the development of atherosclerosis are reviewed. Pathologic studies illustrate the presence of cholesterol in atheroma plaques, with a good correlation between the severity of lesions and the amount of cholesterol in the plaques. Animal experiences demonstrate that hypercholesterolemia, rarely spontaneous, usually induced with dietary modifications, induces atherosclerosis in animals. Observation of patients with genetic-based hypercholesterolemia shows a high frequency of coronary atherosclerosis among them, and the broad cohort studies corroborate a good correlation between cholesterolemia and coronary heart disease. Finally, hypolipidemic intervention trials, mainly with drugs, and specially with statins, have clearly defined the benefits in coronary risk reduction.

[Variability of polyphenol content in different types of wine and its potential application in the understanding of its biologic effects]. / Variabilidad del contenido de polifenoles de distintos tipos de vino y su potencial aplicación al conocimiento de sus efectos biológicos.

BACKGROUND: Wine polyphenols have antioxidant properties. Different polyphenols have various biological activities on atherogenesis and carcinogenesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The composition on 5 polyphenols of 16 wines of Castilla (Spain) is determined by HPLC. RESULTS: Polyphenols concentrations varied largely among the different wines. Most red wines had higher amounts of polyphenols than white wines. CONCLUSIONS: The diverse composition on polyphenols of each wine allows to suggest different biological effects.

Arthritis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical picture of arthritis in patients with chronic infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV). METHODS: Two patient populations were studied. Patients with arthritis and evidence of serum elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) at the consultation were checked for HCV infection. A second group of 303 consecutive patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were also checked for the presence of HCV antibodies. All patients attended the outpatient rheumatology unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Chronic HCV infection was determined by the presence of viral RNA in serum. A group of 315 first-time blood donors served as controls. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients with arthritis and chronic HCV infection were identified. Seven fulfilled criteria for RA, psoriatic arthritis was found in one patient, systemic lupus erythematosus in one, gout in 2, chondrocalcinosis in 2, osteoarthritis in 7, and tenosynovitis in one. In 7 patients with a clinical picture of intermittent arthritis, a definitive diagnosis could not be made. In these patients, mixed cryoglobulinemia was present in 6/7 (86%), whereas mixed cryoglobulinemia was found in 6/21 (28%) of the other patients. Among patients with RA, 23 (7.6%) had HCV antibodies, and active infection by HCV was found in 7 (2.3%) patients. The prevalence of HCV antibodies in a blood donor population was 0.95%, significantly different (p<0.001; 95% CI 0.03, 0.10) compared to patients with RA. The distribution of antibodies determined by recombinant immunoblot analysis was similar (p = NS) between RA patients and blood donors with HCV antibodies. CONCLUSION: There is not a single clinical picture of arthritis in patients with chronic HCV infection. There is a well defined picture of arthritis associated with the presence of mixed cryoglobulinemia that consists of an intermittent, mono or oligoarticular, nondestructive arthritis affecting large and medium size joints. Although a high prevalence of HCV antibodies is suspected in patients with RA, its occurrence may be coincidental and its interpretation is difficult to determine from the data in this study.

[Assessment of quality of care in heart failure]. / Evaluación de la calidad asistencial en la insuficiencia cardiaca.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the presence of predetermined quality aspects in the management of hearth failure inside an Internal Medicine Department. METHODS: Prospective study under protocol of 200 patients admitted to our Internal Medicine Department under diagnosis of hearth failure from july 97 to july 98. RESULTS: Every patient of our study had an anamnesis, physical examination, chest radiology and electrocardiography. Only 42.4% had an electrocardiography. Hearth failure etiology was determined in only 62.6% (30% isquemic, 22% hypertensive, 6% mixed, 30% valvulopathy, 9% specific myocardiopathy, 3% others). 47.5% of the patients were functionally classified after NYHA (I 2.7%, II 58%, III 35.4%, IV 3.6%). Treatment and drug dosing were adequate in 85.5% (diuretics 91%, ACEI 42%, digitalis 36%, nitrates 56%, inotropic drugs 2%, betablockers and calcium antagonists 1%). 13% of the patients were admitted to the hospital more than three times a year. Mortality rate was 18% and 19% of them were older than 70 years old. CONCLUSIONS: Quality management indicators were acceptably present in our study. We must insist on etiologic diagnosis and NYHA classification as a way of improving care.

[Malignant neuroleptic syndrome]. / Síndrome neuroléptico maligno.

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) is a rare disease characterized by hyperthermia, altered level of consciousness, autonomic dysfunction and muscular rigidity in relation to treatment with different drugs. We describe ten patients with Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome in our Hospital. The mean age was 48 +/- 18 and females were majority (70%). Haloperidol, alone or with another farms, was relation with NMS in the 90% of the cases. Mortality became the 20% and it was relation with respiratory failure and delayed on admission in Intensive Care Unit (UCI). We remarked the importance to have a high suspicious index for attending of this disease by a precocious and intensive treatment.