Use of exercise capacity to improve SCORE risk prediction model in asymptomatic adults.

AIMS: The SCORE risk estimation system is used for cardiovascular risk stratification in apparently healthy adults and is based on known cardiovascular risk factors. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate whether exercise capacity can improve the accuracy of the SCORE overall survival risk estimation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated 22 878 asymptomatic men and women who were annually screened in a tertiary medical centre. All subjects were free of known ischaemic heart disease, and had completed maximal exercise stress test according to the Bruce protocol. The SCORE risk estimation system was used to evaluate individual cardiovascular risk for all subjects. The primary endpoint was mortality, after exclusion of patients with metastatic cancer during follow-up. The incremental contribution of exercise capacity in predicting the risk of death was evaluated by net reclassification improvement (NRI) and area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC). Mean age of the study population was 47.4 ± 10.3, and 71.6% were men. There were 505 (2.21%) deaths during a mean follow-up of 9.2 ± 4.1 years. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that both SCORE and low exercise capacity were associated with reduced survival. When added to the SCORE risk prediction, exercise capacity allowed more accurate risk stratification: NRI analysis showed an overall improvement of 56.8% in the accuracy of classification and the AUROC increased (0.782 vs. 0.766). CONCLUSION: Both SCORE and exercise capacity are strong independent predictors of all-cause mortality. The addition of exercise capacity to the SCORE risk model can improve the accuracy of the model.

[Low ALT activity amongst patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards is a widespread phenomenon associated with low vitamin B6 levels in their blood].

BACKGROUND: Monitoring the activity of ALT (SGPT) in the blood is part of the routine, clinical-laboratory follow-up in hospitalized patients. In most cases, activity levels which are above the normal range are considered pathology, mostly related to lysis of hepatocytes, as in cases of hepatitis. Little has been investigated and published in regard to cases in which the ALT activity level is lower than normal. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Since normal ALT activity is regarded essential for normal metabolism and homeostasis, we decided to evaluate the extent to which low ALT levels are found in healthy and hospitalized patient populations and to characterize its circumstances and etiology. Furthermore, we measured the blood concentration of vitamin B6 (being the source for the ALT co-factor, Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate) in a random sample of patients with lower than normal ALT activity level. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study showed a high prevalence, exceeding a third of hospitalized patients in internal medicine departments have low levels of ALT in the serum, and that a linear correlation (p = 0.0004, r = 0.47) exists between lower than normal ALT activity and low concentrations of vitamin B6 in the serum. The authors attribute these findings to a high prevalence of frailty amongst hospitalized patients. We aim to conduct further investigations intended to better characterize quantifiable parameters of frailty amongst our patient population.

Vomiting and Hyponatremia Are Risk Factors for Worse Clinical Outcomes Among Patients Hospitalized Due to Nonsurgical Abdominal Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

After initial evaluation in the Emergency Department (ED), many patients complaining of abdominal pain are classified as suffering from nonsurgical abdominal pain (NSAP). Clinical characteristics and risk factors for worse prognosis were not published elsewhere.Characterizing the clinical profile of patients hospitalized due to NSAP and identifying predictor variables for worse clinical outcomes.We made a retrospective cohort analysis of patients hospitalized due to NSAP compared to matched control patients (for age, gender, and Charlson comorbidity index) hospitalized due to other, nonsurgical reasons in a ratio of 1 to 10. We further performed in-group analysis of patients admitted due to NSAP in order to appreciate variables (clinical and laboratory parameters) potentially associated with worse clinical outcomes.Overall 23,584 patients were included, of which 2144 were admitted due to NSAP and 21,440 were matched controls. Patients admitted due to NSAP had overall better clinical outcomes: they had lower rates of in-hospital and 30-days mortality (2.8% vs 5.5% and 7.9% vs 10.4% respectively, P < 0.001 for both comparisons). They also had a significantly shorter length of hospital stay (3.9 vs 6.2 days, P < 0.001). Rates of re-hospitalization within 30-days were not significantly different between study groups. Among patients hospitalized due to NSAP, we found that vomiting or hyponatremia at presentation or during hospital stay were associated with worse clinical outcomes.Compared to patients hospitalized due to other, nonsurgical reasons, the overall prognosis of patients admitted due to NSAP is favorable. The combination of NSAP with vomiting and hyponatremia is associated with worse clinical outcomes.

Management by constraints: considering patient volume when adding medical staff to the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: The emergency department is one of the hospital's busiest facilities and is frequently described as a bottleneck. Management by constraint is a managerial methodology that helps to focus on the most critical issues by identifying such bottlenecks. Based on this theory, the benefit of adding medical staff may depend on whether or not physician availability is the bottleneck in the system. OBJECTIVE: To formulate a dynamic statistical model to forecast the need for allocating additional medical staff to improve the efficacy of work in the emergency department, taking into account patient volume. METHODS: The daily number of non-trauma admissions to the general ED was assessed for the period 1 January 1992 to 1 December 1995 using the hospital computerized database. The marginal benefit to shortening patient length of stay in the ED by adding a physician during the evening shift was examined for different patient volumes. Data were analyzed with the SAS software package using a Gross Linear Model. RESULTS: The addition of a physician to the ED staff from noon to midnight significantly shortened patient LOS: an average decrease of 6.61 minutes for 80-119 admissions (P < 0.001). However, for less than 80 or more than 120 admissions, adding a physician did not have a significant effect on LOS in the ED. CONCLUSIONS: The dynamic model formulated in this study shows that patient volume determines the effectiveness of investing manpower in the ED. Identifying bottleneck critical factors, as suggested by the theory of constraints, may be useful for planning and coordinating emergency services that operate under stressful and unpredictable conditions. Consideration of patient volume may also provide ED managers with a logical basis for staffing and resource allocation.