Insulinoterapia en situaciones especiales / Insulin therapy in special conditions

La hiperglucemia durante la internación es una condición frecuente que se asocia al aumento de complicaciones y resulta en un mal pronóstico para quienes la padecen. La estrategia para su tratamiento es la insulinoterapia. Un adecuado control glucémico se asocia a mejor evolución y pronóstico. Sin embargo, el nivel adecuado de glucemia se encuentra aún en debate, ya que aquellos ensayos en los cuales se fijaron metas estrictas demostraron incrementar las tasas de hipoglucemia y eventos clínicos adversos. La diabetes mellitus es la principal causa de enfermedad renal crónica en nuestro país. El tratamiento en ese contexto merece un análisis especial, ya que la vida media de la insulina puede resultar prolongada. Las opciones de insulinización en pacientes con enfermedad renal crónica e insuficiencia asociada provienen de recomendaciones de expertos en las cuales se jerarquizan esquemas que utilizan insulina de acción intermedia o prolongada asociadas a insulina regular o análogos de acción rápida. Durante el embarazo, las insulinas NPH y regular han demostrado seguridad y eficacia. Sin embargo, el desarrollo de nuevas moléculas de acción lenta y rápida permitió reducir la variabilidad glucémica, mejorar el control de la glucemia postprandial y reducir la tasa de hipoglucemias. El objetivo del presente trabajo es proporcionar una revisión sobre el adecuado uso de insulina en estas tres situaciones especiales.

Hyperglycemia during hospitalization is a common condition associated with poor prognosis. To date, insulin is the best strategy to treat hyperglycemia in these patients. An adequate glycemic control is associated with better clinical results. Nevertheless, glycemic goals are still controversial due to the increase of hypoglycemia and other adverse events. Diabetes mellitus is still the main cause of chronic renal failure in our country and its treatment deserves a special analysis considering that insulin pharmacokinetics is altered. Recommendations in this setting are based in expert panel opinions, focusing mainly in intermediate or long acting insulins combined with regular insulin and/or rapid acting analogues. During pregnancy, NPH and regular insulin are safe and effective. It is worth mentioning that the development of new long and rapid acting molecules yielded lower glycemic variability, better post-prandial control and less hypoglycemia. The aim of this study is to provide a review of the proper use of insulin in these special conditions.

Dynamic prediction of the risk of recurrence in patients over 60 years of age with differentiated thyroid carcinoma

ABSTRACT Objective The reclassification of the risk according to the response to the initial treatment makes the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) vary in each individual. As the influence of age on this diagnostic strategy is unknown, we have decided to assess it in adults who are over 60 years of age. Subjects and methods Ninety patients with DTC above 60 years old were enrolled, with total thyroidectomy plus radioiodine ablation, negative anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, follow-up ≥ 2 years and with clinical and pathological information to classify the risk of recurrence according to ATA (American Thyroid Association) and reclassify based on the response to initial therapy according to MSKCC (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center). The structural persistence at the end of the follow-up was the gold standard of our analysis. Results The structural persistence in ATA low, intermediate and high risk categories was 0, 38, and 100%, respectively. In the intermediate group, none of those with an excellent response to the initial treatment showed structural persistence, whereas 39% of those with an incomplete/indeterminate response showed structural persistence (p < 0.01). Conclusions The re-stratification according to the response to the initial treatment in patients over 60 years of age with an ATA intermediate risk of recurrence allowed for the distinction of disease-free patients at the end of the follow-up from those with structural persistence and a worse clinical progression.