Diagnostic Performance of AST Scale in Mexican Male Population for Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome.

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) represents an adverse consequence of chronic alcohol use that may lead to serious complications. Therefore, AWS requires timely attention based on its early recognition, where easy-to-apply diagnostic tools are desirable. Our aim was to characterize the performance of a short-scale AST (Anxiety, Sweats, Tremors) in patients from public general hospitals. We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients attended at the Emergency Department diagnosed with AWS. Three scales were applied: CIWA-Ar (Clinical Institute Retirement Assessment Scale-Revised), GMAWS (Glasgow Modified Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome) and AST. Cronbach's alpha and Cohen's kappa tests were used for reliability and concordance. Factorial analysis and diagnostic performance including ROC curve were carried out. Sixty-eight males with a mean age of 41.2 years old, with high school education and robust alcohol consumption, were included. Mean scores for CIWA-Ar, GMWAS and AST were 17.4 ± 11.2, 3.9 ± 2.3 and 3.8 ± 2.6, respectively, without significant differences. The AST scale showed an acceptable reliability and concordance (0.852 and 0.439; p < 0.0001) compared with CIWA-Ar and GMAWS. AST component analysis evidenced tremor (77.5% variance), sweat (12.1% variance) and anxiety (10.4% variance). Diagnostic performance of the AST scale was similar to the GMAWS scale, evidencing a sensitivity of 84%, specificity of 83.3% and Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.837 to discriminate severe AWS, according to CIWA-Ar. The performance of the AST scale to evaluate AWS is comparable with the commonly used CIWA-Ar and GMAWS scales. AST further represents an easy-to-apply instrument.

Urine transferrin as an early endothelial dysfunction marker in type 2 diabetic patients without nephropathy: a case control study.

BACKGROUND: Albumin, along with other proteins, is abnormally eliminated via the urine during early stages of diabetic nephropathy. Moreover, endothelial dysfunction (ED) accompanying early diabetic nephropathy may develop even before microalbuminuria is detectable. Transferrin has a molecular weight comparable to albumin, whereas transferrinuria and microalbuminuria in a 24-h urine sample may comparably reflect early diabetic nephropathy. Whereas transferrin metabolism is related with ED during very early diabetic nephropathy has not been elucidated yet. This case-control study aimed to evaluate the relation between ED and urine transferrin, even before early diabetic nephropathy is present. METHODS: Patients were enrolled from two study sites in Mexico City: Ticomán General Hospital (healthy controls); and a Specialized Clinic for the Management of the Diabetic Patient (cases). All patients provided written informed consent. The primary endpoint was the correlation between urinary transferrin concentration and ED measured in type 2 diabetic patients without albuminuria. ED was evaluated by ultrasonographic validated measurements, which included carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and flow mediated dilation (FMD). Plasma biomarkers included glycated hemoglobin, creatinine, cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as urine albumin, transferrin and evidence of urinary tract infection. RESULTS: Sixty patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (t2DM; n = 30) or without t2DM (n = 30), both negative for microalbuminuria, were recruited. The group with t2DM were older, with higher values of HbA1c and higher ED. This group also showed significant differences in urine transferrin and urine/plasma transferrin ratio, as compared with healthy controls (14.4 vs. 18.7 mg/mL, p = 0.04, and 74.2 vs. 49.5; p = 0.01; respectively). Moreover, urine transferrin correlated with higher CIMT values (r = 0.37, p = 0.04), being particularly significant for t2DM population. CIMT also correlated with time from t2DM diagnosis (r = 0.48, p < 0.001) and HbA1c (r = 0.48; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Urine transferrin correlated with subclinical atherogenesis in patients with t2DM without renal failure, suggesting its potential to identify cardiovascular risk in patients at very early nephropathy stage without microalbuminuria.

Infección nosocomial por Acinetobacter y su efecto en un hospital de segundo nivel / Nosocomial infection due to Acinetobacter and its effect on a second level hospital

Resumen OBJETIVOS: Determinar la frecuencia de infecciones nosocomiales por Acinetobacter baumannii e identificar las características que inciden en la probabilidad de ocurrencia de estas infecciones. MATERIAL Y MÉTODO: Estudio transversal analítico que incluyó todos los pacientes con reporte de cultivo positivo para Acinetobacter en el Hospital General Ticomán de enero de 2016 a diciembre de 2017. Se utilizó el programa SPSS y Graphpad Prism 0.7 para análisis estadístico con homogeneidad de x 2, análisis de supervivencia con estimado de Kaplan-Meier, OR y prueba de U de Mann-Whitney. RESULTADOS: Se analizaron 80 pacientes, se formaron dos grupos: muertos (n = 40) y vivos (n = 40) con infección por Acinetobacter. La media de edad fue de 52 ± 16 años; 61.3% era de sexo masculino; la media de estancia hospitalaria fue de 28 ± 19 días; el foco infeccioso más frecuente fue el pulmonar (72%); 76% requirió apoyo mecánico ventilatorio, se realizó punto de corte con base en los días de ventilación < 7 días y > 7 días con lo que se obtuvo valor p = 0.0013. El análisis de supervivencia con Kaplan-Meier concluyó que la estancia en Medicina Interna aumenta la mortalidad (p = 0.012). CONCLUSIÓN: La supervivencia disminuye en pacientes con apoyo ventilatorio durante más de siete días y foco infeccioso pulmonar.

Abstract OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency of nosocomial infections due to Acinetobacter baumannii and to identify the characteristics influencing the probability of these infections. MATERIAL AND METHOD: An analytical cross-sectional design was carried out, including all patients with a positive culture report for Acinetobacter in the General Hospital of Ticoman, Mexico City, from January 2016 to December 2017. SPSS and Graphpad Prism 0.7 software were used for statistical analysis with x 2 homogeneity, survival analysis with Kaplan-Meier estimate, OR and Mann Whitney U test. RESULTS: An analysis of 80 patients was performed, 2 groups were formed: dead (n = 40) and alive (n = 40) with Acinetobacter infection. Mean age was 52 ± 16 years, 61.3% were male; mean hospital stay was of 28 ± 19 days, the most frequent infectious focus was pulmonary (72%); 76% required mechanical ventilatory support, a cut-off was performed based on ventilation days < 7 days and > 7 days, obtaining p value = 0.0013. The survival analysis with Kaplan-Meier concluded that the stay in Internal Medicine increased mortality (p = 0.012). CONCLUSION: Survival decreases in patients with ventilatory support for > 7 days and pulmonary infectious focus.