[Inappropriate medication use among Chilean older people]. / Uso inapropiado de medicamentos en adultos mayores: resultados de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud 2010.

BACKGROUND: Inappropriate medication use in older people is an important source of adverse events and complications. AIM: To determine the frequency of inappropriate medication use in the general population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: As part of the 2010 Chilean National Health Survey, 1,048 persons aged 65 years or more were interviewed about medication use. The information obtained was analyzed using standardized Beer’s criteria, adapted for the Chilean population, to define inappropriate medication use. A logistic regression model was performed to define risk factors for inappropriate medication use. RESULTS: Ten percent of subjects had a high risk of inappropriate medication use. The most common medications used were chlorphenamine, amitriptyline, diazepam, chlorpromazine, chlordiazepoxide and piroxicam. The risk factors detected were female gender, polypharmacy and a bad health self-perception. CONCLUSIONS: Inappropriate medication use is common among Chilean older people and should be discouraged.

Uso inapropiado de medicamentos en adultos mayores: resultados de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud 2010 / Inappropriate medication use among Chilean older people

Background: Inappropriate medication use in older people is an important source of adverse events and complications. Aim: To determine the frequency of inappropriate medication use in the general population. Material and Methods: As part of the 2010 Chilean National Health Survey, 1,048 persons aged 65 years or more were interviewed about medication use. The information obtained was analyzed using standardized Beer’s criteria, adapted for the Chilean population, to define inappropriate medication use. A logistic regression model was performed to define risk factors for inappropriate medication use. Results: Ten percent of subjects had a high risk of inappropriate medication use. The most common medications used were chlorphenamine, amitriptyline, diazepam, chlorpromazine, chlordiazepoxide and piroxicam. The risk factors detected were female gender, polypharmacy and a bad health self-perception. Conclusions: Inappropriate medication use is common among Chilean older people and should be discouraged.

["Cardiac power output" an old tool, possibly a modern tool for assessing cardiac pumping capability, as well as for a short-term prognosis in cardiogenic shock due to acute myocardial infarction]. / "ll poder cardíaco" un instrumento del pasado, posiblemente una herramienta moderna en la valoración: clínica, terapéutica y pronóstica del choque cardiogénico por síndrome isquémico coronario agudo.

Hemodynamic monitoring has been used extensively during the last decades for risk stratification and guiding treatment of patients with cardiovascular destabilization, especially in the scenario of acute heart failure and cardiac shock. Every cardiac pump has its own maximum performance, which denotes its pumping capability. The heart is a muscular mechanical pump with an ability to generate both flow (cardiac output) and pressure. The product of flow output and systemic arterial pressure is the rate of useful work done, "or the cardiac power" (CP). Cardiac pumping capability can be defined as the cardiac power output achieved by the heart during maximal stimulation, and cardiac reserve is the increase in power output as the cardiac performance is increased from the resting to the maximally stimulated state (CPR). Resting CP for a hemodynamically stable average sized adult is approximately 1 W. However, during stress or exercise, CPR can be recruited to increase the heart's pumping ability up to 6 W. In acute heart failure, the patient becomes hemodynamically unstable, and most of the cardiac pumping potential is recruited in order to sustain life. Hence, cardiac power measurements in patients with acute heart failure or with cardiogenic shock at rest represent most of the recruitable reserve available during the acute event, and their measurement reflects the severity of the patient's condition. It has been found that a cutoff value for CP of 0.53 W accurately predict in-hospital mortality for cardiogenic shock patients. Others investigators observed cutoff for increased mortality of CP < 1 W, data that were obtained at doses of maximal pharmacologic support yielding the individual maximal CP. In our experience, the cutoff value for CP that accurately predicts in-hospital mortality for cardiogenic shock patients is 0.7 W, but its impact on short-term prognosis is clearer if the patient achieves a CP equal or higher than 1 W after an optimal myocardial revascularization with interventional cardiac procedures. According to the data collected from the literature, CP deserves a place in the evaluation of the patient with cardiogenic shock due to an acute myocardial infarction, but a more profound analysis of this parameter an further evaluation are required in order to better understand its prognostic meaning in this acute cardiac syndrome.

El poder cardíaco un instrumento del pasado, posiblemente una herramienta moderna en la valoración: clínica, terapéutica y pronóstica del choque cardiogénico por síndrome isquémico coronario agudo / The cardiac power output an old tool, possibly a modern tool for assessing cardiac pumping capability, as well as for a short-term prognosis in cardiogenic shock due to acute myocardial infarction

Hemodynamic monitoring has been used extensively during the last decades for risk stratification and guiding treatment of patients with cardiovascular destabilization, especially in the scenario of acute heart failure and cardiac shock. Every cardiac pump has its own maximum performance, which denotes its pumping capability. The heart is a muscular mechanical pump with an ability to generate both flow (cardiac output) and pressure. The product of flow output and systemic arterial pressure is the rate of useful work done, [quot ]or the cardiac power[quot ] (CP). Cardiac pumping capability can be defined as the cardiac power output achieved by the heart during maximal stimulation, and cardiac reserve is the increase in power output as the cardiac performance is increased from the resting to the maximally stimulated state (CPR). Resting CP for a hemodynamically stable average sized adult is approximately 1 W. However, during stress or exercise, CPR can be recruited to increase the heart's pumping ability up to 6 W. In acute heart failure, the patient becomes hemodynamically unstable, and most of the cardiac pumping potential is recruited in order to sustain life. Hence, cardiac power measurements in patients with acute heart failure or with cardiogenic shock at rest represent most of the recruitable reserve available during the acute event, and their measurement reflects the severity of the patient's condition. It has been found that a cutoff value for CP of 0.53 W accurately predict in-hospital mortality for cardiogenic shock patients. Others investigators observed cutoff for increased mortality of CP < 1 W, data that were obtained at doses of maximal pharmacologic support yielding the individual maximal CP. In our experience, the cutoff value for CP that accurately predicts in-hospital mortality for cardiogenic shock patients is 0.7 W, but its impact on short-term prognosis is clearer if the patient achieves a CP equal or higher than 1 W after an optimal myocardial revascularization with interventional cardiac procedures. According to the data collected from the literature, CP deserves a place in the evaluation of the patient with cardiogenic shock due to an acute myocardial infarction, but a more profound analysis of this parameter an further evaluation are required in order to better understand its prognostic meaning in this acute cardiac syndrome.

[Falls in institutionalized elderly subjects. Features and geriatric assessment]. / Caídas en adultos mayores institucionalizados: descripción y evaluación geriátrica.

BACKGROUND: Falls are an important cause of disability and mortality among elderly subjects. AIM: To study the features and incidence of falls in institutionalized elderly subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective recording of all falls, occurring in a period of eight months, to 453 subjects older than 60 years, living a home for the elderly. Evaluation of functional status of subjects suffering falls, using the Spanish Red Cross score. One hundred and two subjects living in the same place, but not suffering falls, were considered as controls. RESULTS: One hundred and three subjects, aged 80 +/- 6 years (24% of the sample) suffered falls. Most falls were during the day and while walking. Seventy percent of subjects suffering falls did not have a history of previous falls. Nine percent of those falling, suffered a fracture. Compared to controls, falling subjects had a more deteriorated functional and mental status and consumed more benzodiazepines and neuroleptics. CONCLUSIONS: There is an association between functional status and psychotropic medication consumption and the incidence of falls in institutionalized elderly subjects.

[Evaluation of TIMI-4 flow at the coronary unit (INCICH)]. / Valoración del flujo TIMI-4 en la unidad coronaria (INCICH).

At present, the use of techniques that lead to assess coronary flow is determined by methods that include mostly coronary angiography, which is a fundamental tool in the evaluation of acute myocardial infarction carrier patients. The assessment of the myocardial flow permeability state, determined through TIMI-4 flow, allows to establish more precisely the impact of the used reperfusion treatment. The most common way of assessing it at the Coronary Unit is through contrast echocardiography using pharmacological agents with harmonic properties.