Quality of management of oral anticoagulation as assessed by time in therapeutic INR range in elderly and younger patients with low mean years of formal education: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: despite the overwhelming evidence of its effectiveness, oral anticoagulation continues to be underused in the elderly, presumably due to physicians' misconceptions when estimating bleeding risk and ability to comply with treatment. OBJECTIVE: to investigate the quality of anticoagulation control among deprived elderly and younger patients. DESIGN: prospective observational study. SETTING: a public anticoagulation clinic in a developing country. SUBJECTS: all adult patients on intended long-term (>90 days) oral anticoagulation. We studied 171 patients (79 elderly and 92 non-elderly) with a mean follow-up of 273 ± 84.9 days. METHODS: the main outcome measure was the quality of anticoagulation management as measured by the time in therapeutic (TTR) international normalised ratio (INR) range. Elderly patients (≥60 years) were compared with younger patients with respect to the educational level and co-morbidities. RESULTS: the mean number of years of formal education was 4.37 ± 3.2 years. The mean TTR was 62.50 ± 17.9% in non-elderly and 62.10 ± 16.6% in elderly (P = 0.862) subjects, despite the higher prevalence of co-morbidities in the latter group: heart failure (46.3 versus 28.6%, P = 0.042), diabetes mellitus (22.8 versus 8.7%, P = 0.011), renal failure (estimated glomerular filtration rate <50 ml/min: 38.0 versus 7.1%, P < 0.001) and polypharmacy (84.8 versus 58.7%, P < 0.001). Fifty elderly and 84 non-elderly subjects require little or no assistance in taking medications. Among them, the elderly had lower educational levels (3.42 ± 2.5 versus 5.55 ± 3.4 years of formal education, P < 0.001) and higher rates of cognitive impairment (34.0 versus 13.1%, P = 0.004), but a similar mean TTR (62.46 ± 16.1 versus 63.02 ± 17.8%, P = 0.856). The oldest (≥75 years) patients did as well as those aged ≤50 years (mean TTR: 62.54 ± 16.0 versus 62.23 ± 16.4%, respectively, P = 0.98). CONCLUSIONS: good-quality management of oral anticoagulation is achievable in deprived populations attending an anticoagulation clinic. Elderly patients may experience similar quality of anticoagulation despite having higher levels of co-morbidities and polypharmacy. These results add evidence to the safety of such therapeutic interventions in the elderly.

Identifying potential predictors of high-quality oral anticoagulation assessed by time in therapeutic international normalized ratio range: a prospective, long-term, single-center, observational study.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and risks of oral anticoagulation are largely associated with maintaining the quality of anticoagulation control. Nevertheless, few studies have addressed which factors, if any, are associated with this control. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify predictors of high-quality oral anticoagulation. METHODS: A prospective observational study enrolled all adult patients on intended long-term oral anticoagulation attending a public anticoagulation clinic. Patients with high-quality anticoagulation, defined as percentage of time in therapeutic international normalized ratio (INR) range (TTR) ≥66%, were compared with those with poor anticoagulation control (TTR <66%). Measures included cognitive, psychological, and relevant behavioral factors, in addition to traditionally implicated ones, such as age, comorbidity, and concurrent medications. RESULTS: Participation was requested from all 233 patients followed up at the anticoagulation clinic. Eighty-six did not meet the inclusion criteria (49 due to intended anticoagulation duration <90 days, 37 due to the need for a caregiver responsible for medications). A total of 147 patients were enrolled, of whom 13 (8.8%) were lost to follow-up. Therefore, data were analyzed from 134 patients (mean [SD] age, 55 [14.2] years [range, 19-87 years]), who were followed up for a mean (SD) duration of 272 (87) days. The total mean TTR was 64.7%, which is comparable to values achieved in clinical trials. The good-control group had 61 patients (45.5%) (mean TTR, 77.7% [8.5%]) and the poor-control group had 73 patients (54.5%) (mean TTR, 50.4 [11.7%]). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, high-quality anticoagulation was independently associated with regular vitamin K intake, expressed by its variability in daily dosage (odds ratio [OR] = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.64-0.98); male sex (OR = 2.41; 95% CI, 1.06-5.49); duration of anticoagulation treatment >2 months (OR = 3.23; 95% CI, 1.25-8.36); presence of family support (OR = 3.32; 95% CI, 1.16-9.48); functional and cognitive ability to take medications as prescribed, defined as good medication management capacity (MMC; as assed using the Drug Regimen Unassisted Grading Scale) (OR = 4.18; 95% CI, 1.63-10.68); and no regular use of alcohol (OR = 8.59; 95% CI, 1.45-51.09). CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that independent predictors of high-quality oral anticoagulation included regular vitamin K intake, male sex, duration of anticoagulation treatment >2 months, presence of family support, good MMC, and no regular alcohol use. These findings may help clinicians to decide whether to start anticoagulation in intermediate-risk patients, to identify patients who will require closer attention on their anticoagulation management, and to direct their efforts to improve the quality of oral anticoagulation.

Sarcoidose na infância com manifestacões raras: vasculite, acometimento do sistema nervoso central, ósseo e genital / Sarcoidosis in childhood with rare manifestations: vasculitis, central nervous system, bone and genital involvement

Sarcoidose é uma doenca granulomatosa sistêmica de ocorrência rara em criancas. Vasculite associada à sarcoidose é incomum e pode acometer vasos de pequeno a grande calibres. Envolvimento sintomático do sistema nervoso central e periférico ocorre em 5 por cento a 10 por cento dos pacientes e acometimento ósseo em 3 por cento a 13 por cento. Sarcoidose do trato geniturinário é extremamente rara. Descrevemos o caso de uma crianca de 12 anos com diagnóstico de sarcoidose associada à vasculite, acometimento do sistema nervoso central, ósseo e genital. O amplo espectro de manifestacões clínicas raras neste caso ilustra o caráter multissistêmico e multifacetário da sarcoidose.

Paquimeningite hipertrófica e parotidite: manifestações raras da granulomatose de Wegener / Hypertrophic pachymeningitis and parotiditis: unusual ocurrences of the Wegener's granulomatosis

A granulomatose de Wegener é uma vasculite sistêmica dos vasos de médio e pequeno calibre. Classicamente, há formação de granulomas com necrose no trato respiratório e glomerulonefrite necrosante. Embora seu acometimento mais comum envolva o trato respiratório superior, pulmões e rins, uma vasta gama de manifestações em vários órgãos e tecidos é descrita. Relatamos o caso de um paciente que, paralelamente às manifestações típicas da doença, desenvolveu algumas alterações raras como a parotidite e a paquimeningite hipertrófica. Diante de quadros graves, atípicos e/ou refratários ao tratamento convencional, torna-se necessário o aprofundamento no estudo e uso de novas armas terapêuticas.