Lung Ultrasound for Heart Failure Diagnosis in Primary Care.

BACKGROUND: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is useful for diagnosing pulmonary congestion, but its value in primary care remains unclear. We investigated whether LUS improved diagnostic accuracy in outpatients with heart failure (HF) suspicion. METHODS AND RESULTS: LUS was performed on 2 anterior (A), 2 lateral (L), and 2 posterior (P) areas per hemithorax. An area was positive when ≥3 B-lines were observed. Two diagnostic criteria were used: for LUS-C1, 2 positive areas of 4 (A-L) on each hemithorax; and for LUS-C2, 2 positive areas of 6 (A-L-P) on each hemithorax. A cardiologist blinded to LUS validated HF diagnosis. 162 patients were included (age 75.6 ± 9.4 years, 70.4% women). Both LUS criteria, alone and combined with other HF diagnostic criteria, were accurate for identifying HF. LUS-C2 outperformed LUS-C1, showing remarkable specificity (0.99) and positive predictive value (0.92). LUS-C2, together with Framingham criteria, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, and electrocardiogram, added diagnostic value (area under the receiver operating characteristic curves 0.90 with LUS-C2 vs 0.84 without; P = .006). In the absence of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, LUS-C2 significantly reclassified one-third of patients above Framingham criteria and electrocardiogram (net reclassification improvement 0.65, 95% confidence interval 0.04-1.1). CONCLUSIONS: LUS was accurate enough to rule-in HF in a primary care setting. The accuracy of diagnostic workup for HF in primary care is enhanced by incorporating LUS, irrespective NT-proBNP availability.

Relationship between social network and social support with early childhood caries / Relação entre rede e apoio social e cárie da primeira infância

ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of our study was to investigate the relationship between social network and social support with early childhood caries in preschool children. Methods: A transversal study with 100 children aging at most 5 years and 11 months was performed. The children underwent a clinical dental evaluation and their parents answered a structured questionnaire. Results: Dental caries was associated with time of bottle feeding (p=0.031) (RP=5.203) and number of dental appointment (p=0,010) (RP=6,293). Moreover, dental caries was also directly associated with the number of siblings living together in the same house (p=0.002) (r=0.372), while inverse correlation was found between dental caries and social support (p=0.028) (r= - 0.219). Conclusion: Preschool children whose supervisors had a better social support presented superior oral health, suggesting that social support from caregivers is associated with improved pediatric oral health.

RESUMO Objetivo: O objetivo do estudo foi investigar a relação entre rede e apoio social e a ocorrência cárie da primeira infância em pré-escolares. Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo transversal com 100 crianças de 4 a 5 anos e 11 meses de idade. Foi realizado exame bucal nas crianças por meio do International Caries Detection and Assessment System ( ICDAS e os responsáveis foram entrevistados por meio de um roteiro estruturado de perguntas. Resultados: A análise estatística foi realizada considerando um intervalo de confiança de 95%, sendo realizado o teste qui-quadrado e a regressão logística linear e multinomial A cárie dentária foi associada com a duração do uso da mamadeira (p=0,031) (RP=5,203) e a ida ao dentista (p=0,010) (RP=6,293). Observou-se, ainda, correlação direta entre número de dentes cariados e número de irmãos morando na mesma casa (p = 0,002) (r=0,372) e correlação inversa com o apoio social (p = 0,028) (r = - 0,219). Conclusão: Os pré-escolares cujos cuidadores tinham melhor apoio social apresentaram uma melhor condição de saúde bucal, sugerindo que o apoio social dos cuidadores está associado a uma maior atenção em saúde bucal infantil.

Hand-held cardiac ultrasound screening performed by family doctors with remote expert support interpretation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness of hand-held cardiac ultrasound (HCU) performed by family doctors (FDs) in primary care, with web-based remote expert support interpretation, in a cohort of patient with symptoms or physical examination signs suggestive of cardiovascular disease. METHODS: This prospective observational study included 1312 consecutive patients, in three remote primary care areas, with symptoms or physical examination signs suggestive of cardiovascular disease. In 859 patients (group A), FDs had indicated conventional echocardiography (CE), and in 453 (Group B) the study was performed to complement the physical examination. HCU was carried out by 14 FDs after a short training period. The scans and preliminary FD reports were uploaded on a web-based program for remote expert support interpretation in <24 h. RESULTS: Experts considered HCU to be inconclusive in 116 (8.8%) patients. FD and expert agreement on diagnosis was moderate (K=0.40-0.70) except in mitral stenosis (K=0.29) and in left atrial dilation (K=0.38). Diagnostic agreement between expert interpretation and CE was good (K=0.66-0.85) except in mitral stenosis (K=0.43). After remote expert interpretation, conventional echocardiograms were finally requested by FDs in only 276 (32.1%) patients, and discharges increased by 10.2%. Furthermore, significant heart diseases were diagnosed in 32 (7%) patients of group B. CONCLUSIONS: HCU performed at the point of care by FDs with remote expert support interpretation using a web-based system is feasible, rapid and useful for detecting significant echocardiographic abnormalities and reducing the number of unnecessary echocardiographic studies.

[Diagnostic usefulness of pocket echography performed in hypertensive patients by a general practitioner]. / Utilidad diagnóstica de la ecografía de bolsillo practicada por un médico de familia en una población hipertensa.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Conventional echocardiography is the technique of choice for assessing cardiac involvement in arterial hypertension. Nevertheless, its availability in primary care is very limited. This study aimed to define the diagnostic usefulness of pocket echocardiography performed by a general practitioner (GP) in patients with arterial hypertension. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Cross-sectional study of a random sample of 393 patients with arterial hypertension. A GP appropriately trained in the technique performed an examination with a pocket echocardiograph and semiquantitatively assessed the different findings. The studies were blindly re-assessed by an expert cardiologist and analyzed quantitatively by computer software. Dimensions of the left ventricle, left atrium and ascending aorta were assessed, together with interventricular septum thickness and presence of valve lesions. RESULTS: The study took less than 5min and the quality was good-acceptable in 98%. Analysis showed very good concordance (weighted kappa>0,83) in dimensions of the left ventricle, left atrium and ascending aorta, interventricular septum thickness, aortic regurgitation and aortic valve sclerosis, and good concordance (weighted kappa>0,71) in mitral regurgitation and mitral valve calcification. Only 6 (2.6%) of the significant lesions were diagnosed by the GP. CONCLUSIONS: Pocket echocardiography in primary care performed by a GP, as an extension of the clinical assessment of patients with arterial hypertension, provides an early diagnosis of significant cardiac lesions which may improve therapeutic management.