Needs of breast cancer survivors: a systematic review of quantitative data.

This systematic review aimed to update the perceived needs of individuals with breast cancer (BC). Databases were searched for studies reporting quantitative data collected through validated assessment tools. Needs of adults with BC were reported by survivorship phase. The post-diagnosis and the post-surgery phases revealed the most needs; health system and information needs represented the greatest concern, with average Supportive Care Needs Survey-Short Form (SCNS-SF34) scores ranging from 62.0 to 75.8 post-diagnosis and from 45.0 to 67.8 post-surgery. Needs then seemed to decrease or remain stable up to within one year from diagnosis, when needs in all domains increased again; health system and information needs remained a priority. Younger age, side effects, type of treatment, and advanced stage were associated with the occurrence of unmet needs. The needs of BC survivors vary over the course of their cancer experience. This knowledge can assist the planning of appropriate assessments.

Prevalence and development of chronic critical illness in acute patients admitted to a respiratory intensive care setting.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic Critical Illness (chronic CI) is a condition associated to patients surviving an episode of acute respiratory failure (ARF). The prevalence and the factors associated with the development of chronic CI in the population admitted to a Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU) have not yet been clarified. METHODS: An observational prospective cohort study was undertaken at the RICU of the University Hospital of Modena (Italy). Patients mechanically ventilated with ARF in RICU were enrolled. Demographics, severity scores (APACHEII, SOFA, SAPSII), and clinical condition (septic shock, pneumonia, ARDS) were recorded on admission. Respiratory mechanics and inflammatory-metabolic blood parameters were measured both on admission and over the first week of stay. All variables were tested as predictors of chronic CI through univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Chronic CI occurred in 33 out of 100 patients observed. Higher APACHEII, the presence of septic shock, diaphragmatic dysfunction (DD) at sonography, multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infection, the occurrence of a second infection during stay, and a C-reactive protein (CRP) serum level inceasing 7 days over admission were associated with chronic CI. Septic shock was the strongest predictor of chronic CI (AUC = 0.92 p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Chronic CI is frequent in patients admitted to RICU and mechanically ventilated due to ARF. Infection-related factors seem to play a major role as predictors of this syndrome.

Correction to: Abstracts : 31st European Congress of Pathology.

In E-Poster Sessions of the published abstract, the authors' affiliations as well as the abstract text were incorrectly presented. The correct abstract and the author's affiliations are shown in full in this article.

Role of comorbidities in a cohort of patients with COPD undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often associated with other chronic diseases. These patients are often admitted to hospital based rehabilitation programmes. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of chronic comorbidities in patients with COPD undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation and to assess their influence on outcome. DESIGN: Observational retrospective cohort study. SETTING: A single rehabilitation centre. PATIENTS: 2962 inpatients and outpatients with COPD (73% male, aged 71 (SD 8) years, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) 49.3 (SD 14.8)% of predicted), graded 0, 1 or >/=2 according to the comorbidity categories and included in a pulmonary rehabilitation programme. MEASUREMENTS: The authors analysed the number of self-reported comorbidities and recorded the Charlson Index. They then calculated the percentage of patients with a predefined positive response to pulmonary rehabilitation (minimum clinically important difference (MCID)), as measured by improvement in exercise tolerance (6 min walking distance test (6MWD)), dyspnoea (Medical Research Council scale) and/or health related quality of life (St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)). RESULTS: 51% of the patients reported at least one chronic comorbidity added to COPD. Metabolic (systemic hypertension, diabetes and/or dyslipidaemia) and heart diseases (chronic heart failure and/or coronary heart disease) were the most frequently reported comorbid combinations (61% and 24%, respectively) among the overall diseases associated with COPD. The prevalence of patients with MCID was different across the comorbidity categories and outcomes. In a multiple categorical logistic regression model, the Charlson Index (OR 0.72 (96% CI 0.54 to 0.98) and 0.51 (96% CI 0.38 to 0.68) vs 6MWD and SGRQ, respectively), metabolic diseases (OR 0.57 (96% CI 0.49 to 0.67) vs 6MWD) and heart diseases (OR 0.67 (96% CI 0.55 to 0.83) vs SGRQ) reduced the probability to improve outcomes of rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with COPD undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation have one or more comorbidities. Despite the fact that the presence of comorbidities does not preclude access to rehabilitation, the improvement in exercise tolerance and quality of life after rehabilitation may be reduced depending on the comorbidity.

Altered peripheral immune profiles in treatment-resistant depression: response to ketamine and prediction of treatment outcome.

A subset of patients with depression have elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines, and some studies demonstrate interaction between inflammatory factors and treatment outcome. However, most studies focus on only a narrow subset of factors in a patient sample. In the current study, we analyzed broad immune profiles in blood from patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) at baseline and following treatment with the glutamate modulator ketamine. Serum was analyzed from 26 healthy control and 33 actively depressed TRD patients free of antidepressant medication, and matched for age, sex and body mass index. All subjects provided baseline blood samples, and TRD subjects had additional blood draw at 4 and 24 h following intravenous infusion of ketamine (0.5 mg kg-1). Samples underwent multiplex analysis of 41 cytokines, chemokines and growth factors using quantitative immunoassay technology. Our a priori hypothesis was that TRD patients would show elevations in canonical pro-inflammatory cytokines; analyses demonstrated significant elevation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6. Further exploratory analyses revealed significant regulation of four additional soluble factors in patients with TRD. Several cytokines showed transient changes in level after ketamine, but none correlated with treatment response. Low pretreatment levels of fibroblast growth factor 2 were associated with ketamine treatment response. In sum, we found that patients with TRD demonstrate a unique pattern of increased inflammatory mediators, chemokines and colony-stimulating factors, providing support for the immune hypothesis of TRD. These patterns suggest novel treatment targets for the subset of patients with TRD who evidence dysregulated immune functioning.

Perspectives that influence action plans for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND: Prompt treatment of acute exacerbations (AEs) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) improves quality of life and reduces the use of health care resources. Although patient self-management through an individualized action plan (AP) can help with early initiation of therapy, its use is critically dependent on the patient recognizing the features of an exacerbation. OBJECTIVE: To describe COPD patients' experiences with AEs, as well as health care professionals' (HCPs') attitudes toward the provision of an AP as part of self-management education. METHODS: Thirty-two patients with moderate to severe COPD who recently experienced at least one AE, and 22 HCPs with experience in the management of COPD, were interviewed. RESULTS: The most common symptoms and signs associated with an AE were difficulty breathing (84%), fatigue (81%), cold symptoms (59%), changes in sputum colour (53%) or amount (47%), and cough (44%). The main precipitants identified were environmental triggers (47%), infective agents (31%), excessive activities (25%), emotional factors (16%) and changes in medications (9%). Strategies for dyspnea relief included increasing medications (72%), resting (56%), avoiding exposure to environmental triggers (41%) and performing breathing exercises (31%). Patients supported the use of an AP and recommended that it be individualized for symptoms and triggers, and that it should also include strategies for addressing anxiety and depression. HCPs also supported the use of an individualized AP and recommended that it be regularly revisited, depending on the patient's disease severity. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' experiences with AEs do not always conform to a standard medical definition. Therefore, an understanding of their experience is of value in the design of an individualized AP. HCPs support the use of an AP that emphasizes self-management of exacerbations as well as general COPD management.

Rehabilitation of COPD patients: which training modality.

Non pharmacological therapy has been gaining more interest and has been evolving rapidly over the last decade as an essential part of therapy for COPD patients. Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR), the most important non pharmacological treatment in patients with COPD, has a primary goal: to achieve the highest possible level of individual exercise tolerance, thus reducing the primary and/or secondary health care utilisation. The aim of the present review is to focus the role of exercise training in these patients as well as to address the question on which training methods are the most beneficial. We have therefore undertaken a MEDLINE-based search including the terms: pulmonary rehabilitation, exercise, lung disease/obstructive. Several strategies based on endurance or strength training are nowadays implemented during PR programmes in order to maximise the benefits for each patient. The impaired function of ambulation muscles causing breathlessness as one of the more frequent symptoms in many COPD, suggests that training the lower extremities is the most important goal to achieve during pulmonary rehabilitation of these patients. On the other hand, as muscle strength appears to be an independent contributor to survival and utilisation of health care resources, it seems largely justified also to include this further modality in the PR program of these patients. In conclusion, both modalities are effective and useful for COPD patients. However, whether resistance training should be administered to all COPD and which is the optimal length of strength training still needs to be elucidated.

Equinus foot classification in cerebral palsy: an agreement study between clinical and gait analysis assessment.

BACKGROUND: Excessive ankle plantar flexion (equinus foot) is a common problem in cerebral palsy (CP) and several treatment options can be considered depending on the equinus type. Few attempts have been made to classify different forms of equinus foot for specific treatment. AIM: This study is aimed at defining equinus foot types in CP patients according to the Ferrari classification, integrating clinical and instrumental assessments. The hypothesis is that clinical differentiation of equinus foot can be evidenced by recurrent anomalies identifiable through gait analysis (GA), which can make the assessment, usually based only on clinician semeiotics, more objective. DESIGN: Clinical and instrumental assessments were performed separately by a senior CP physiatrist and a senior GA physiatrist, the latter was blind to the clinical diagnosis of equinus type. SETTING: Outpatients POPULATION: Twenty patients, 16 diplegics and 4 hemiplegics (mean age 11 years, SD 4 years 11 months). METHODS: Clinical assessment by means of Modified Ashworth Scale, Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM), Observational Gait Analysis (OGA), and measurement of lower limb muscle strength by dynamometer were used to classify the equinus type. Gait analysis assessed the kinematics and EMG of affected lower limbs. RESULTS: Ten different equinus types were identified. Since various forms of equinus can be present in the same patient, we were able to classify a total of 61 types of equinus in 36 feet. Substantial agreement was found between Clinical and Gait Analysis equinus assignment matched in 50 out of 61 types (Index of agreement with Fleiss' Kappa 79.3 % ). In some case only Gait Analysis was able to identify the equinus type, while in others it did not confirm clinical assignment. CONCLUSION: Gait analysis is able to distinguish different equinus types according to Ferrari classification, making the clinical decision less arbitrary. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: Correct objective diagnosis of equinus foot in CP patients is of paramount importance when choosing suitable rehabilitative interventions.