Nutritional state during COPD exacerbation: clinical and prognostic implications.

AIMS: To estimate the prevalence of malnutrition in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients hospitalized for exacerbation and to evaluate its clinical and prognostic influence on the exacerbation. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The subjects were 78 consecutive patients with moderate-to-severe COPD who were admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of exacerbation. Nutritional status was assessed by means of body mass index (BMI), bioelectric impedance analysis and levels of plasmatic albumin. Previous spirometry, 6-min walk test, severity of the exacerbation, days of hospitalization and readmission in the following 3 months were also evaluated. RESULTS: Malnutrition [BMI <20 or fat-free mass (FFM) index

[National registry of Home Enteral Nutrition in 2003]. / Registro nacional de la Nutrición Enteral Domiciliaria del año 2003.

GOAL: To communicate the information available by the NADYA-SENPE Working Group from patients on Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) in our country during the year 2003. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were collected through a closed questionnaire included in the web site of the Working Group (www.nadya-senpe.com) available only by the authorized users. Variable included were: epidemiological information, the indication to prescribe this treatment, the access path, the specific nutritional formula used, the treatment duration, the complications and hospital readmission related to the nutritional treatment, the follow-up and the quality of life. RESULTS: We register 3,858 patients that belong to twenty-one hospitals. Mean age from those adults 66.2 +/- 18.9 years, and from those younger than 14, 6.0 +/- 4.3 years. Neurological and neoplasic diseases were the diagnostics more frequents (38.9% and 37.4%, respectively). Oral nutrition was the preferential rout used for the enteral nutrition (54.7%) followed by naso-enteral tube (26.6%), and only in 17.6% we used ostomy tubes. Polymeric was the enteral formula mainly utilized (80.1%). The mean time on HEN was 6.6 +/- 4.3 months; the 28.8% of patients stayed in the treatment for less than 3 months, 21.2 % between 3 and 6 months, and 50.0% more than 6 months. Patients were followed mainly by Nutritional Support Unit from the reference hospital (73.1%). While the reference hospital supplies the material (62.4%), reference hospital pharmacy (46.8%) and public pharmacies (32.0%) provides the enteral formula. Complications related to enteral nutrition included change of enteral tube (44.5%), gastrointestinal complications (30.5%), mechanical complications (21.7%), and the metabolic one (3.3%). These complications were followed by 0.02 hospitalizations/patient. At the end of the year, 54.7% of patients were in the HEN programme, and in 35.2 % HEN was finish due to accept oral conventional alimentation (49.2%) or by deceased of patients (40.9%). While 26.6% of the patients were confined to bed or armchair, 19.7 % no or light discapacity degree was observed. CONCLUSIONS: We found a persistence of these treatment in our country. Neurological and neoplasic diseases were the more frequent diagnosis in patients analysed. The high prevalence of cancer patients could be the main cause of oral access for enteral nutrition. Change of enteral tube was the more frequent complication observed during this treatment.

CONUT: a tool for controlling nutritional status. First validation in a hospital population.

BACKGROUND: The serious problem of hospital undernutrition is still being underestimated, despite its impact on clinical evolution and costs. The screening methods developed so far are not useful for daily clinical practice due to their low effectiveness/cost ratio. OBJECTIVE: We present an screening tool for CONtrolling NUTritional status (CONUT) that allows an automatic daily assessment of nutritional status of all inpatients that undergo routine analysis. DESIGN: The system is based on a computer application that compiles daily all useful patient information available in hospital databases, through the internal network. It automatically assesses the nutritional status taking into account laboratory information including serum albumin, total cholesterol level and total lymphocyte count. We have studied the association between the results of the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and Full Nutritional Assessment (FNA) with those from CONUT, in a sample of 53 individuals. RESULTS: The agreement degree between CONUT and FNA as measured by kappa index is 0.669 (p = 0.003), and between CONUT and SGA is 0.488 (p = 0.034). Considering FNA as "gold standard" we obtain a sensitivity of 92.3 and a specificity of 85.0. CONCLUSIONS: CONUT seems to be an efficient tool for early detection and continuous control of hospital undernutrition, with the suitable characteristics for these screening functions.

[The year 2002 national registry on home-based enteral nutrition]. / Registro nacional de la nutrición enteral domiciliaria del año 2002.

GOAL: To communicate the information available by the NADYA-SENPE Working Group from patients on Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) in our country during the year 2002. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were collected through a closed questionnaire included in the web site of the Working Group (www.nadya-senpe.com) available only by the authorized users. Variable included were: epidemiological information, the indication to prescribe this treatment, the access path, the specific nutritional formula used, the treatment duration, the complications and hospital readmission related to the nutritional treatment, the follow-up and the quality of life. RESULTS: We register 3967 patients that belong to twenty-one hospitals. Mean age from those adults 69.2 +/- 19.2 years, and from those younger than 14, 5.6 +/- 4.1 years. Neurological and neoplasic diseases were the diagnostics more frequents (39.2% and 34.6%, respectively). Oral nutrition was the preferential rout used for the enteral nutrition (53.6%) followed by naso-enteral tube (30.6%), and only in 15.8% we used ostomy tubes. Polymeric was the enteral formula mainly utilized (81.5%). The mean time on HEN was 5.8 +/- 4.4 months; the 35.7% of patients stayed in the treatment for less than 3 months, 22.4% between 3 and 6 months, and 41.6% more than 6 months. Patients were followed mainly by Nutritional Support Unit from the reference hospital (75.3%). While the reference hospital supplies the material (65.7%), reference hospital pharmacy (43%) and public pharmacies (37.3%) provides the enteral formula. Complications related to enteral nutrition included change of enteral tube (29.7%), mechanical complications (22.9%), gastrointestinal complications (22.9%), and the metabolic one (9.2%). These complications were followed by 0.02 hospitalizations/patient. At the end of the year, 49.3% of patients were in the HEN programme, and in 41.5% HEN was finish due to accept oral conventional alimentation (47.3%) or by deceased of patients. While 31.8% of the patients were confined to bed o armchair, 17.8% no o light discapacity degree was observed. CONCLUSIONS: We found a persistence of these treatment in our country (96.5 patients/million inhabitants. Neurological and neoplasic diseases were the more frequent diagnosis in patients analysed. The high prevalence of cancer patients could be the main cause of oral access for enteral nutrition. Change of enteral tube was the more frequent complication observed during this treatment.

[Hypercalciuric and hyperparathyroid renal lithiasis]. / Litiasi renale ipercalciurica e iperparatiroidea

Idiopathic hypercalciuria was noted in 10% of a series of 1635 subjects with renal lithiasis. Eight-day administration of thiazide diuretics as a test for the discovery of latent hyperparathyroidism in idiopathic hypercalciuria is described. In 6 cases diagnosed in this way, surgery disclosed the presence of a parathyroid adenoma. Resection was followed by persistent hypercalciuria and, in some instances, renal lithiasis activity. The pathogenesis of associations of these frequently observed diseases is examined.

[Dietetics principles. The food pyramid. Disease-nutrition relationship]. / Principios de dietética. Pirámide de los alimentos. Relación enfermedad-nutrición.

Dietetics is a largely unknown discipline among medical professionals as it is not common for them to receive any training in the matter. Nonetheless, this group very often needs to give dietary counselling and even to draw up diets for patients, more often indeed than nutrition specialists. This paper attempts to review some of the basic concepts of dietetics and study in a general way the relationship between illness and nutritional status without going into too much detail as many of the points mentioned here are referred to more fully in other articles in the same monograph.

[Enteral nutrition at home: National register for the year 2000]. / Nutrición enteral domiciliaria (NED): Registro Nacional del año 2000.

GOAL: Once again, the NADYA-SENPE Working Group analysed the registered data of Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) in our country, during the year 2000. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were collected through a closed questionnaire included on our web site (www.nadya-senpe.com). Apart from epidemiological information, the form includes the indication to prescribe this treatment, the specific nutritional treatment used and its duration, access path, complications and readmission rate in hospital, follow-up of the treatment, patient's quality of life and progress. All data were processed and analysed by the co-ordinating team. RESULTS: Twenty two hospital participated and 2,986 patients, aged 65.1 +/- 19.7 years, were enrolled. Of these patients, 41.2% were diagnosed with neurological diseases and 33.3% with cancer. The mean time on HEN was 6.3 +/- 4.4 months. Oral nutrition was the preferential route (50.8%), followed by nasoenteral tube (30.5%), and in 17.4% ostomy tubes were placed. Polymeric was the formula composition mainly used (83.2%). Patients were followed (70.1%) by the hospital reference Nutritional Support Unit. The complications related to nutrition included the gastrointestinal (0.25 complications/patient), the mechanical one (0.19 complications/patient), and the metabolic (0.007 complications/patient). Feeding tube need to be replaced 0.3 times/patient/year. The readmission rate, for nutritional problems, was observed in 0.03 patients. At the end of the year, 54.9% of the patients were in the HEN program, and in 30.3% HEN was finish due to different reasons. In 21.9% of the patients no, o light, discapacity degree was found. CONCLUSIONS: Related to previous years, there is an increment in the number of enrolled patients. Neurological diseases and cancer were the more frequent diagnoses in HEN patients. Oral access was the higher feeding route due, probably, to the high prevalence of cancer patients. In spite of the elevated prevalence of neurological diseases, a few number of patients were feed with ostomy tube. Finally, due to the few readmission rate and complications, HEN is a safe treatment in our country.

[Home enteral nutrition. Annual report 1999. NADYA-SENPE Group]. / Nutrición enteral domiciliaria. Informe anual 1999. Grupo NADYA-SENPE.

GOAL: During 1999, as in previous years, the NADYA-SENPE Group has maintained an annual register of patients with Artificial Nutrition at Home in order to keep up to date our available knowledge of this therapy. The present paper analyzes the results of the sixth National Register of patients under treatment with Enteral Nutrition at Home corresponding to 1999, produced with the co-operation of twenty-three centres in the Spanish national health network. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were collected through a closed questionnaire included on our web site (www.nadya-senpe.com). Apart from epidemiological information, the form includes the indication that led to the prescription of nutrition, nutritional treatment, access path, complications and admissions to hospital, follow-up of the treatment, patients' quality of life and progress. All of the data are processed by the co-ordinating team. The Nutrition Unit at La Paz Teaching Hospital in Madrid has acted as the group co-ordinator. RESULTS: During 1999, a total of 2,262 patients at the twenty-three collaborating centres followed treatment with Home Enteral Nutrition (NED in its Spanish acronym). The mean age was 63.6 (19.67 years (males: 57.6%; females: 42.3%). The mean time with nutritional treatment is 5.89 (4.25 months. The neurological alterations (37.5%) and neoplasias (36.8%) were the most frequent indications for NED. Most patients used oral administration (50.7%), the use of artificial routes is less frequent, with 5NG being used on 27.9% and PEG on 12.7%. The polymeric formulas are the ones most commonly used (87.7%). The number of complications recorded amounted to 1,403 episodes, representing 0.62 complications per patient per year, of which 40.8% were gastro-intestinal (0.26 complications per patient per year) and 18.7% were mechanical complications, with only 9 recorded cases of bronchoaspiration. It was necessary to admit patients to hospital on 836 occasions (0.38 admissions per patient), albeit generally for causes not associated with nutrition (86.1%). At year-end, 51.4% of patients continued to receive nutritional support. CONCLUSIONS: Enteral nutrition at home is a safe technique whose use is growing in Spain. It requires the existence of appropriately equipped nutrition teams as well as the collaboration of the Primary Health Care services and the suitable training of patients and relatives. It is essential to progress more deeply into the development and application of clinical routes that provide a clear and concise methodology covering all nutrition-related aspects. In itself, nutrition is a therapeutic alternative regardless of whether access is obtained through a natural or an artificial route. It is necessary for the persons responsible for health-care administration to realize that the appropriate nutrition of patients leads to an improvement in their general health, a shorter course for their illness and, therefore, a reduction in costs.

[Home Enteral Nutrition: National Registry 2001]. / Nutrición Enteral Domiciliaria (NED): registro nacional 2001.

GOAL: The NADYA-SENPE Working Group analyzed the registered data of patients on Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) in our country, during year 2001. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were collected through a closed questionnaire included on our web site (www.nadya-senpe.com). Apart from epidemiological information, the form includes the indication to prescribe this treatment, the specific nutritional treatment used and its duration, access path, complications and readmission rate in hospital, follow-up of the treatment, patient's quality of life and progress. All data were processed and analyzed by the coordinating team. RESULTS: Twenty two hospitals participated and 3,458 patients, aged 5.6 +/- 4.0 y for those younger than 14 y, and 67.1 +/- 19.5 y for those older than 14 y, were enrolled. Of these patients, 43.4% were diagnosed with neurological diseases and 33.5% with cancer. The mean time on HEN was 6.5 +/- 4.5 months. Oral nutrition was the preferential route (54.5%), followed by nasoenteral tube (32.3%), and in 13.3% ostomy tubes were placed. Polymeric was the formula composition mainly used (85.9%). Patients were followed (71.1%) by the hospital reference Nutritional Support Unit. The complications related to nutrition included mainly the gastrointestinal (0.16 complications/patient), and the mechanical one (0.15 complications/patient). At the end for the year, 48.3% of the patients were in the HEN program, and in 33.3% HEN was finish due to different reasons. In 22.9% of the patients no, o light, discapacity degree was found. CONCLUSIONS: Neurological diseases and cancer were the more frequent diagnoses in HEN patients. Oral access was the higher feeding route due, probably, to the high prevalence of cancer patients. In spite of the elevated prevalence of neurological diseases, a few number of patients, as previous years, were feed with ostomy tube. Due to the few complications observed, HEN is a safe treatment in our country.

Confirming the validity of the CONUT system for early detection and monitoring of clinical undernutrition: comparison with two logistic regression models developed using SGA as the gold standard.

AIM: To ratify previous validations of the CONUT nutritional screening tool by the development of two probabilistic models using the parameters included in the CONUT, to see if the CONUT´s effectiveness could be improved. METHODS: It is a two step prospective study. In Step 1, 101 patients were randomly selected, and SGA and CONUT was made. With data obtained an unconditional logistic regression model was developed, and two variants of CONUT were constructed: Model 1 was made by a method of logistic regression. Model 2 was made by dividing the probabilities of undernutrition obtained in model 1 in seven regular intervals. In step 2, 60 patients were selected and underwent the SGA, the original CONUT and the new models developed. The diagnostic efficacy of the original CONUT and the new models was tested by means of ROC curves. Both samples 1 and 2 were put together to measure the agreement degree between the original CONUT and SGA, and diagnostic efficacy parameters were calculated. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were found between sample 1 and 2, regarding age, sex and medical/surgical distribution and undernutrition rates were similar (over 40%). The AUC for the ROC curves were 0.862 for the original CONUT, and 0.839 and 0.874, for model 1 and 2 respectively. The kappa index for the CONUT and SGA was 0.680. CONCLUSIONS: The CONUT, with the original scores assigned by the authors is equally good than mathematical models and thus is a valuable tool, highly useful and efficient for the purpose of Clinical Undernutrition screening.

Is abdominal aortic calcification score a cost-effective screening tool to predict atherosclerotic carotid plaque and cardiac valvular calcification in patients with end-stage renal disease?

Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC), cardiac valvular calcification (CVC), and atherosclerotic carotid plaque (CP) are known cardiovascular risk factors. The accuracy of the AAC score in predicting CP and CVC in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is assessed in this study. Twenty-two consecutive prevalent dialysis patients (group 1) and 26 consecutive nondialysis stage V chronic kidney disease patients (group 2) were assessed for their demographic and laboratory variables. Lateral radiograph of the lumbosacral spine was used to assess the AAC score. CP and CVC were assessed using carotid sonography and echocardiogram, respectively. Prevalence of AAC, CP, and CVC in groups 1 and 2 was, respectively, 72.7%, 81.8%, and 72.7% and 76.9%, 80.8%, and 57.7%. AAC was strongly associated with CP and CVC in both groups (P < 0.001). Tests of accuracy for the AAC score as a predictor of CP and CVC showed sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, likelihood ratio of a positive test, and likelihood ratio of a negative test, respectively, in group 1: 83%, 75%, 93%, 50%, 3.32, and 0.23 and 85%, 77%, 87%, 70%, 4.5, and 0.29, and in group 2: 90%, 95%, 83%, 69%, 3.9, 0.41, and 82%, 91%, 77%, 71%, 4.1, and 0.21. Reproducibility of the AAC score among observers was acceptable. The AAC score can predict CP and CVC with moderate accuracy in ESRD patients. However, as our study was underpowered, the findings need validation in larger, adequately powered studies.

The use of biochemical and immunological parameters in nutritional screening and assessment.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between serum albumin, total cholesterol and total lymphocyte count with two nutritional assessment methods, to verify if their use is justified in nutritional screening tools. METHODS: 101 patients admitted to medical/surgical wards underwent the SGA and the Full Nutritional Assessment (FNA). Blood test which included serum albumin, total cholesterol and total lymphocyte count (TLC), were made. Percentage of weight loss and BMI were calculated. An Anova test was done to measure the differences in the mean levels of the three parameters for the nutritional status evaluated by SGA and FNA. The probability of a patient being malnourished in the four ranges established for each parameter was calculated, as well as the relationship between the ranges and the percentage of weight loss and BMI. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated and the corresponding ROC curves, using SGA as gold standard. RESULTS: Prevalence of undernutrition is 43.6% and 44.6% for SGA and FNA respectively. Mean levels of the three parameters decrease as the undernutrition degree increases (p < 0.005 for all cases). The probability of a patient being malnourished gets higher as parameter lowers (p = 0.000 for all cases). Total cholesterol shows a relationship with BMI < 18.5 and presence/absence of weight loss (p = 0.074 and p = 0.002 respectively). The area under ROC curves are albumin (0.823), cholesterol (0.790) and TLC (0.758) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The analytical parameters analyzed show a statistically significant relationship with the nutritional status. Therefore, they are suitable for use in nutritional screening.

Confirming the validity of the CONUT system for early detection and monitoring of clinical undernutrition; comparison with two logistic regression models developed using SGA as the gold standard / Confirmando la validez del sistema CONUT para la detección precoz de la desnutrición clínica. Comparación con dos modelos de regresión logística desarrollados usando el SGA como gold standard

Aim: To ratify previous validations of the CONUT nutritional screening tool by the development of two probabilistic models using the parameters included in the CONUT, to see if the CONUT's effectiveness could be improved. Methods: It is a two step prospective study. In Step 1, 101 patients were randomly selected, and SGA and CONUT was made. With data obtained an unconditional logistic regression model was developed, and two variants of CONUT were constructed: Model 1 was made by a method of logistic regression. Model 2 was made by dividing the probabilities of undernutrition obtained in model 1 in seven regular intervals. In step 2, 60 patients were selected and underwent the SGA, the original CONUT and the new models developed. The diagnostic efficacy of the original CONUT and the new models was tested by means of ROC curves. Both samples 1 and 2 were put together to measure the agreement degree between the original CONUT and SGA, and diagnostic efficacy parameters were calculated. Results: No statistically significant differences were found between sample 1 and 2, regarding age, sex and medical/surgical distribution and undernutrition rates were similar (over 40%). The AUC for the ROC curves were 0.862 for the original CONUT, and 0.839 and 0.874, for model 1 and 2 respectively. The kappa index for the CONUT and SGA was 0.680. Conclusions: The CONUT, with the original scores assigned by the authors is equally good than mathematical models and thus is a valuable tool, highly useful and efficient for the purpose of Clinical Undernutrition screening (AU)

Objetivo: Ratificar validaciones previas del sistema de cribado nutricional CONUT, mediante el desarrollo de dos modelos probabilísticos usando los parámetros incluidos en el CONUT, para ver si la efectividad del CONUT puede ser mejorada. Métodos: Estudio prospectivo en dos fases. En la fase I se seleccionaron 101 pacientes al azar, y se les hicieron SGA y CONUT. Con estos datos se fabricó un modelo de regresión logística incondicional, y se construyeron dos variantes del CONUT. El modelo 1 se hizo mediante regresión logística. El modelo 2 se hizo dividiendo las probabilidades de desnutrición obtenidas en el modelo 1 en siete intervalos regulares. En la fase 2, se seleccionaron 60 pacientes, y se les hizo el SGA, CONUT y los nuevos modelos desarrollados. La eficacia diagnóstica del CONUT original y de los nuevos modelos se estudió mediante curvas ROC. Se juntaron las muestras 1 y 2 para medir el grado de acuerdo entre el CONUT original y el SGA, y se calcularon los índices de eficacia. Resultados: No se encontraron diferencias significativas entre las muestras 1 y 2, en cuanto a la distribución de sexos y servicios, las tasas de desnutrición fueron similares (alrededor del 40%). El AUC para las curvas ROC fueron 0,862 para el CONUT original, y 0,839 y 0,874 para modelos 1 y 2 respectivamente. El índice kappa entre el CONUT y el SGA fue 0,680. Conclusión: El CONUT, con las puntuaciones asignadas originalmente por los autores, es tan bueno como los modelos matemáticos y por tanto, válido, muy útil y eficiente para el cribado de la desnutrición Clínica (AU)

The use of biochemical and immunological parameters in nutritional screening and assessment / Utilidad de los parámetros bioquímicos e inmunológicos en la evaluación y cribado nutricional

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between serum albumin, total cholesterol and total lymphocyte count with two nutritional assessment methods, to verify if their use is justified in nutritional screening tools. Methods: 101 patients admitted to medical/surgical wards underwent the SGA and the Full Nutritional Assessment(FNA). Blood test which included serum albumin, total cholesterol and total lymphocyte count (TLC), were made. Percentage of weight loss and BMI were calculated. An Anova test was done to measure the differences in the mean levels of the three parameters for the nutritional status evaluated by SGA and FNA. The probability of a patient being malnourished in the four ranges established for each parameter was calculated, as well as the relationship between the ranges and the percentage of weight loss and BMI. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated and the corresponding ROC curves, using SGA as gold standard. Results: Prevalence of under nutrition is 43.6% and 44.6% for SGA and FNA respectively. Mean levels of the three parameters decrease as the under nutrition degree increases (p < 0.005 for all cases). The probability of a patient being malnourished gets higher as parameter lowers(p = 0.000 for all cases). Total cholesterol shows a relationship with BMI ¡Ü 18.5 and presence/absence of weight l oss (p = 0.074 and p = 0.002 respectively). The area unde ROC curves are albumin (0.823), cholesterol (0.790) and TLC (0.758) respectively. Conclusions: The analytical parameters analyzed show a statistically significant relationship with the nutritional status. Therefore, they are suitable for use in nutritional screening (AU)

Objetivo: evaluar la relación entre albúmina sérica, colesterol total y linfocitos totales y dos métodos de evaluación nutricional, para verificar si su uso en las herramientas de cribado nutricional está justificado. Métodos: a 101 pacientes de servicios médicos y quirúrgicos se les realizó el SGA y la Valoración del Estado nutricional Completa (VEN). Se les realizaron análisis de albúmina sérica, colesterol total y linfocitos totales. Se calculó el porcentaje de pérdida de peso y el IMC. Las diferencias entre los niveles medios de los tres parámetros en los distintos niveles nutricionales evaluados por SGA y VEN se hizo mediante el test de ANOVA. Se calculó la probabilidad de estar desnutrido en los cuatros rangos establecidos para cada parámetro, así como la relaciones entre esos rangos y el porcentaje de pérdida de peso y el IMC. Se calculó la sensibilidad y especificidad y sus curvas ROC correspondientes, tomando el SGA como gold standard. Resultados: La prevalencia de desnutrición es 43,6% (SGA) y 44,6% (VEN). Los valores medios de los tres parámetros disminuyen según aumenta el grado de desnutrición (p < 0,005). La probabilidad de que un paciente esté desnutrido aumenta a medida que disminuyen los niveles de los parámetros (p = 0,000 para los tres). El colesterol total se relaciona con el IMC < 18,5 y con la presencia/ausencia de pérdida de peso (p = 0,790 y p = 0,002 respectivamente). Conclusiones: Los parámetros analíticos analizados muestran una relación significativa con el estado nutricional y por tanto son válidos para su uso en el cribado de desnutrición (AU)

[Nephrolithiasis in hypercalciuria and hyperparathyroidism]. / Nephrolithiasis bei Hyperkalzurie und Hyperparathyroidismus

In the group of 1635 patients with nephorolithiasis the authors found 16% with idiopathic hypercalciuria. They administered thiazide diuretics for 8 days as a test for the detection of masked hyperparathyroidism in idiopathic hypercalciuria. In 6 cases which were diagnosed in this manner, the existence of a parathyroidadenoma could be demonstrated by surgical operation. The hypercalciuria persisted after exstirpation of the tumor, in some cases the nephrolithiasis also remained active. the various pathogenetic mechanisms connected with these common diseases are discussed in relation to these results.

Registro Nacional de la Nutrición Enteral Domiciliaria del año 2003 / National registry of home enteral nutrition in 2003

OBJETIVO: Comunicar los resultados, correspondientes al año 2003, obtenidos del registro que sobre Nutrición Enteral Domiciliaria (NED) realiza el grupo de Trabajo NADYA de la Sociedad Española de Nutrición Parenteral y Enteral (SENPE). MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Todos los datos del registro, introducidos por los miembros del grupo NADYA de las Unidades de Nutrición responsables de la atención de los pacientes con NED, se han recopilado y analizado. El registro "on-line" estaba disponible en la página web del grupo (www.nadya-senpe.com) para todos los usuarios autorizados. En él se han recogido los siguientes datos: epidemiológicos, de diagnóstico, vía de acceso, complicaciones, ingresos hospitalarios, grado de incapacidad y evolución al final del año en estudio. RESULTADOS: Se han registrado datos de 3.858 pacientes (53,1% varones y 46.9% hembras) pertenecientes a 21 centros hospitalarios. La edad media de los pacientes adultos fue de 66,2 ± 18,9 años; mientras que la de los pacientes menores de 14 años fue de 6,0 ± 4,3 años. Los diagnósticos que motivaron la indicación de NED fueron las enfermedades neurológicas (38,9%) y las enfermedades neoplásicas (37,4%), seguidas de un amplio abanico de otras enfermedades (enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal, malnutrición, SIDA, etc). La vía oral fue la más utilizada (54,7%) seguida de la sonda nasoenteral (26,6%) y, en sólo el 17,6% de los casos se utilizó ostomía como vía de alimentación. La fórmula polimérica fue la más utilizada (80,1%). La duración media del tratamiento fue de 6,6 ± 4,3 meses; el 28,8% de los pacientes habían permanecido con NED por un periodo inferior a 3 meses; el 21,2% por un periodo entre 3 y 6 meses; el 50,0% más de 6 meses. El seguimiento del paciente fue mayoritariamente realizado desde el hospital de referencia (73,1%). El suministro de material fue proporcionado por el hospital de referencia en el 62,4% de los casos, mientras el suministro de la fórmula se repartió entre la farmacia del hospital de referencia (46,8%) y la farmacia no hospitalaria (32,0%). Se presentaron complicaciones relacionadas con el tratamiento nutritivo en 2.437 ocasiones. De ellas, el cambio de sonda, en el 44,5% fue la más frecuente, seguida de las complicaciones gastrointestinales (30,5%), las mecánicas (21,7%) y las metabólicas (3,3%). Estas complicaciones significaron 0,02 hospitalizaciones por paciente. Al finalizar el año, observamos que seguían en activo en el programa el 54,7% de los pacientes; mientras que en el 35,2% se había suspendido la NED y se dejaron de seguir por diversos motivos el 10,.1% de los pacientes. Las principales causas de retirada fueron por paso a dieta oral convencional (49,2%) y por éxitus en relación a la enfermedad de base (40,9%). En cuanto al grado de incapacidad, el 26,6% estaban confinados en silla o cama y el 19,7% no presentaba ningún grado de incapacidad o sólo una leve incapacidad social CONCLUSIONES: Observamos un mantenimiento en la tasa de registro de NED en España. Las causas principales de empleo de este tratamiento fueron la enfermedad neurológica y la enfermedad neoplásica muy distanciadas del resto de patologías. Persiste el elevado uso de la vía oral y el escaso empleo de las ostomías. De las complicaciones asociadas al tratamiento nutricional el cambio de sonda sigue siendo la complicación más frecuentemente observada (AU)

GOAL. To communicate the information available by the NADYA-SENPE Working Group from patients on Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) in our country during the year 2003. 
MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were collected through a closed questionnaire included in the web site of the Working Group (www.nadya-senpe.com) available only by the authorized users. Variable included were: epidemiological information, the indication to prescribe this treatment, the access path, the specific nutritional formula used, the treatment duration, the complications and hospital readmission related to the nutritional treatment, the follow-up and the quality of life. RESULTS: We register 3,858 patients that belong to twenty-one hospitals. Mean age from those adults 66.2 ± 18.9 years, and from those younger than 14, 6.0 ± 4.3 years. Neurological and neoplasic diseases were the diagnostics more frequents (38.9% and 37.4%, respectively). Oral nutrition was the preferential rout used for the enteral nutrition (54.7%) followed by naso-enteral tube (26.6%), and only in 17.6% we used ostomy tubes. Polymeric was the enteral formula mainly utilized (80.1%). The mean time on HEN was 6.6 ± 4.3 months; the 28.8% of patients stayed in the treatment for less than 3 months, 21.2 % between 3 and 6 months, and 50.0% more than 6 months. Patients were followed mainly by Nutritional Support Unit from the reference hospital (73.1%). While the reference hospital supplies the material (62.4%), reference hospital pharmacy (46.8%) and public pharmacies (32.0%) provides the enteral formula. Complications related to enteral nutrition included change of enteral tube (44.5%), gastrointestinal complications (30.5%), mechanical complications (21.7%), and the metabolic one (3.3%).These complications were followed by 0.02 hospitalizations/patient. At the end of the year, 54.7% of patients were in the HEN programme, and in 35.2% HEN was finish due to accept oral conventional alimentation (49.2%) or by deceased of patients (40.9%). While 26.6% of the patients were confined to bed o armchair, 19.7% no o light discapacity degree was observed. CONCLUSIONS: We found a persistence of these treatment in our country. Neurological and neoplasic diseases were the more frequent diagnosis in patients analysed. The high prevalence of cancer patients could be the main cause of oral access for enteral nutrition. Change of enteral tube was the more frequent complication observed during this treatment (AU)

CONUT: a tool for Controlling Nutritional Status. First validation in a hospital population

Antecedentes: El grave problema de la desnutrición hospitalaria sigue siendo infravalorado, pese a sus repercusiones sobre la evolución clínica y los costes de la hospitalización.Los procedimientos de filtro desarrollados hasta ahora no son útiles para la práctica diaria por su baja relación efectividad/costo.Objetivo: Presentamos un sistema de cribado para el CONtrol NUTricional que permite valorar a diario, de manera automática, la situación nutricional de la totalidad de los pacientes ingresados a los que se practica análisis de rutina.Diseño: El sistema se basa en una aplicación informática que recopila a diario, a través de la red interna, aquellos datos de los pacientes ingresados que se consideran útiles para evaluar su estado nutricional y que están disponibles en bases de datos del hospital. Automáticamente determina la situación nutricional de los pacientes considerando los datos de laboratorio: albúmina, colesterol y linfocitos totales. Hemos estudiado la asociación entre los resultados del Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) y delFull Nutritional Assessment (FNA) con aquellos del CONUT,en una muestra de 53 individuos.Resultados: El grado de concordancia entre el CONUTy el FNA, medido por el índice kappa es de 0,699 (p= 0,003), y entre el CONUT y el SGA es de 0,488(p = 0,034). Si consideramos que el FNA es la “prueba de referencia”, obtenemos una sensibilidad del 92,3 y una especificidad del 85,0.Conclusiones: Parece que CONUT es una herramienta eficaz para la detección precoz y el control continuo de la desnutrición hospitalaria, con las características adecuadas a las funciones de cribado (AU)

Background: The serious problem of hospital undernutrition is still being underestimated, despite its impact on clinical evolution and costs. The screening methods developed so far are not useful for daily clinical practice due to their low effectiveness/cost ratio.Objective: We present an screening tool for CONtrolling NUTritional status (CONUT) that allows an automatic daily assessment of nutritional status of all inpatients that undergo routine analysis. Design: The system is based on a computer application that compiles daily all useful patient information available in hospital databases, through the internal network.It automatically assesses the nutritional status taking into account laboratory information including serum albumin, total cholesterol level and total lymphocyte count. We have studied the association between the results of the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA)and Full Nutritional Assessment (FNA) with those from CONUT, in a sample of 53 individuals. Results: The agreement degree between CONUT andFNA as measured by kappa index is 0.669 (p = 0.003),and between CONUT and SGA is 0.488 (p = 0.034). ConsideringFNA as “gold standard” we obtain a sensitivity of 92.3 and a specificity of 85.0. Conclusions: CONUT seems to be an efficient tool for early detection and continuous control of hospital undernutrition,with the suitable characteristics for these screening functions (AU)