Job van der Palen

The Long-Term Cognitive and Functional Outcomes of Postoperative Delirium After Cardiac Surgery

BACKGROUNDnDelirium or acute confusion is a temporary mental disorder, which occurs frequently among hospitalized elderly patients. Patients who undergo cardiac surgery have an increased risk of developing delirium. This is associated with many negative consequences such as prolonged hospital stay, nursing home placement, and reduced cognitive and functional recovery.nnnMETHODSnIn this prospective follow-up study, a questionnaire was used 1 to 1.5 years after cardiac surgery in our earlier cohort of 112 patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery, of which 24 patients (21%) developed postoperative delirium as diagnosed by a single psychiatrist.nnnRESULTSnPostoperative delirium after cardiac surgery may be associated with increased mortality (12.5% in patients with delirium versus 4.5% in patients without delirium; p = 0.16), more readmissions to the hospital (47.6% vs 32.6%; p = 0.19), dysfunction in memory (31.6% vs 22.6%; p = 0.39), and concentration problems (36.8% vs 20.2%; p = 0.13); and is associated with sleep disturbance (47.4% vs 23.8%; p = 0.03).nnnCONCLUSIONSnPostoperative delirium after cardiac surgery may be associated with increased mortality and readmissions to the hospital, as well as poorer cognitive and functional outcomes. Therefore, prevention and (or) early recognition of delirium must be improved. In addition, patients and caregivers (family and general practitioner) must be better informed about the long-term consequences of delirium and what they can do about it.

The value of a positive margin for invasive carcinoma in breast-conservative treatment in relation to local recurrence is limited to young women only

PURPOSEnTo identify the importance of positive margins for invasive carcinoma on local control in patients treated with breast-conservative treatment (BCT).nnnMETHODS AND MATERIALSnA total of 1752 BCT with known margins were analyzed. Fifty-five patients had a second BCT, leaving 1697 patients for analysis. The margins were positive in 193/1752 BCT (11%). The median follow-up was 78 months.nnnRESULTSnThe 5- and 10-year local recurrence rates (LRR) were 3.1% and 6.9%, respectively, for negative margins vs. 5.6% and 12.2% for positive margins. A statistical interaction between age category and margin status was noted in relation to disease-free survival (DFS) and local relapse-free survival. The 5-year LRR for women < or =40 years was 8.4% for negative margins and 36.9% for positive margins (p = 0.005). In a multivariate analysis, a positive margin was significant. The 5-year LRR for women >40 years was 2.6% for negative and 2.2% for positive margins. The 5-year DFS for women </=40 years was 27.4% for positive and 74.5% for negative margins (p = 0.001). The 5-year DFS for women >40 years was 84.3% for positive and 87.2% for negative margins.nnnCONCLUSIONnWomen < or =40 years are a special category of patients in breast cancer. Women < or =40 years must have negative margins for invasive carcinoma when treated with BCT. Minimum surgery for an optimal cosmetic result followed by irradiation, even with microscopic positive margins for invasive carcinoma, yields excellent results with regard to local control in patients older than 40 years.

Evaluation of the long-term effectiveness of three instruction modes for inhaling medicines

Inhaled medication is important in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this paper a comparison of the long-term efficacy of three instruction-models is presented. A total of 152 COPD-patients were randomized into one of four groups: Personal-, video-, group-instruction and a control group. Inhalation technique was assessed by means of checklists, on which essential inhalation manoeuvres were identified. Up to 9 months later, 148 patients returned for follow-up assessment. Prior to instruction 61% of patients in the control group had a perfect score on essential actions, compared to 62, 65 and 53% for those receiving group-, personal- and video-instruction respectively. At follow-up these percentages were 49, 97, 75 and 76%. For group-(35%) and video-instruction (24%) the increase from baseline was significant. Examining the different inhalers under investigation, it is striking, that only 24% of all patients with a Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) performed all essential checklist items correctly, versus 96% for those using a Diskhaler. The fact that for the MDI this percentage improved to 90% post-instruction, shows that time spent on instruction, is time well spent. We conclude that group instruction seems superior to personal counselling, and equally effective or even better than video instruction. Personal instruction should not be dismissed and a combination with video instruction might prove to be effective as well.

Delirium After Cardiac Surgery and Predictive Validity of a Risk Checklist

BACKGROUNDnDelirium or acute confusion is a temporary mental disorder that occurs frequently among hospitalized elderly patients. Patients who undergo cardiac surgery have an increased risk of delirium, which is associated with many negative consequences. Therefore, prevention or early recognition of delirium is essential.nnnMETHODSnIn this observational study, a risk checklist for delirium was used during the preoperative outpatient screening in 112 patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery. The Delirium Observation Screening (DOS) scale was used before and after surgery to assess whether delirium had developed in patients. The psychiatrist was consulted to confirm or refute the diagnosis delirium.nnnRESULTSnThe incidence of delirium after cardiac surgery was 21%, and the mean duration of delirium was 2.5 days. The time to discharge was 11 days longer for patients with delirium. The delirium risk checklist could accurately predict postoperative delirium in patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery based on a disturbance in the electrolytes sodium and potassium and on EuroSCORE (European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation). When using a probability of delirium of 50%, the sensitivity of the risk checklist was 25.0% and specificity was 95.5%. The predictive value of a positive test was 60.0%, and the predictive value of a negative test was 82.4%. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was 0.75.nnnCONCLUSIONSnWith the risk checklist for delirium, patients at an increased risk of delirium after elective cardiac surgery can be identified.

Temporal distribution of clinical seizures over the 24‐h day: A retrospective observational study in a tertiary epilepsy clinic

Purpose:u2002 Very few studies have evaluated seizure occurrence in humans over the 24‐h day; data from children are particularly scarce. Circadian patterns in seizure occurrence may be of importance in epilepsy research and may have important implications in diagnosis and therapy.

Clinical predictors of bacterial involvement in exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUNDnThe wide use of antibiotics for treatment of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) lacks evidence. The efficacy is debatable, and bacterial involvement in exacerbation is difficult to verify. The aim of this prospective study was to identify factors that can help to estimate the probability that a microorganism is involved in exacerbation of COPD and, therefore, predict the success of antibiotic treatment.nnnMETHODSnClinical data and sputum samples were obtained from 116 patients during exacerbation of COPD. Bacterial infection was defined by the abundant presence of >or=1 potential pathological microorganism in relation to the normal flora in sputum.nnnRESULTSnOf 116 exacerbations, 22 (19%) had bacterial involvement. The combination of a negative result of a sputum Gram stain, a relevant nonclinical decrease in lung function (compared with baseline measurements), and occurrence of <2 exacerbations in the previous year were 100% predictive of a nonbacterial origin of the exacerbation. The presence of all 3 of these clinical characteristics yielded a positive predictive value of 67% for a bacterial exacerbation.nnnCONCLUSIONSnPatients presenting with an exacerbation who have a negative result of sputum Gram stain, do not have a clinically relevant decrease in lung function, and have experienced <2 exacerbations of COPD in the previous year do not require antibiotic treatment [corrected]. A treatment protocol taking into account these variables might lead to a 5%-24% reduction in unnecessary treatment with antibiotics, depending on actual prescription rates.

Behavioural effect of self-treatment guidelines in a self-management program for adults with asthma.

To assess the efficacy of self-management programs it is important to know what behavioural changes take place. This paper assesses whether including self-treatment guidelines (action plans) in a self-management program for adult asthmatics, leads to greater behavioural changes than a program without these guidelines. Patients were randomised into a self-treatment group (n=123) or an active control group (n=122). All subjects received self-management training. Discussed topics included the pathophysiology of asthma, medication and side-effects, triggers, symptoms, smoking, physical exercise, and compliance. The only difference was that the self-treatment group received instructions about self-treatment of exacerbations and the control group did not. At 1 year of follow-up asthma-specific self-efficacy expectancies, outcome expectancies, and asthma-specific knowledge improved significantly in all patients. Only self-treatment group patients demonstrated favourable changes in generalised self-efficacy, social support, and self-treatment and self-management behaviour, in case of a hypothetical scenario of a slow-onset exacerbation. We conclude that our self-management program is effective in changing the behavioural variables, and including self-treatment guidelines (action plans) has added benefit.

Four-year outcome of OPCAB no-touch with total arterial Y-graft: making the best treatment a daily practice

BACKGROUNDnA retrospective, single-center 4-year clinical study of the off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting no-touch technique with arterial conduits (Y-graft) was compared with the Syntax trial.nnnMETHODSnFour hundred consecutive patients (all-comers) who underwent coronary surgery between 2004 and 2008 at the Thorax Center Twente (TCT) formed the study group. The primary end point was in-hospital and 12-month major cardiovascular or cerebrovascular event (MACCE). Event rates of MACCE were based on life tables, and overall MACCE was determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis.nnnRESULTSnIn-hospital mortality was 0.2%. Cumulative 1-year survival was 98.2%, and freedom from MACCE was 94.7% +/- 1.1%. Cumulative 4-year survival and freedom from MACCE were 91.2% +/- 2.4% and 82.1% +/- 3.0%, respectively. There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between the patients of the TCT group and the surgical arm of the Syntax trial. Repeat revascularization, MACCE, and symptomatic graft occlusion in the TCT group were significantly lower than in the Syntax trial. The event rate of myocardial infarction and all-cause death in the TCT group were significantly lower than those of the percutaneous coronary intervention arm of the Syntax trial. There was a clear trend toward a reduction of the event rate of stroke in the TCT group (0.8%) compared with the surgical arm of the Syntax trial (2.2%). There was no significant difference of stroke rate between the TCT group and the percutaneous coronary intervention arm of the Syntax trial.nnnCONCLUSIONSnA state-of-the-art surgical technique such as off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting no-touch can further improve the advantage of surgical treatment with respect to percutaneous coronary intervention. Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting no-touch surgery can be the treatment of choice for patients with three-vessel disease and left main stenosis.

Differences in outcome for positive margins in a large cohort of breast cancer patients treated with breast-conserving therapy

A study of the possible difference in outcome for positive margins for invasive carcinoma (IC) versus ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and with regard to different age categories in a large prospective cohort of patients with invasive breast cancer. A total of 2 291 BCT were analyzed. Margins were positive for IC in 8.7% and for DCIS in 4.6%. The median follow-up was 83 months. The 10-year local recurrence-free survival for negative margins vs. positive margins for IC vs. positive for DCIS for women ≤40 years were 84.4% vs. 34.6% (HR 4.5) vs. 67.5%, and for women >40 years 94.7% vs. 92.6% vs. 82.6% (HR4.2). The 10-year distant disease-free survival for negative margins vs. positive margins for IC vs. positive for DCIS women ≤40 years were 72.0% vs. 39.7% (HR 3.4) vs. 77.8%. The disease-specific survival showed a significant relation to positive margins for IC in young women. The effect of positive margin for IC seems to be limited to young women only, and is not only restricted to local control, but also to distant metastasis and survival. On the other hand a positive margin for DCIS is a risk factor for local control in women >40 years.

The Delirium Observation Screening Scale Recognizes Delirium Early after Cardiac Surgery

Background: Ddelirium or acute confusion is a temporary mental disorder which occurs frequently among hospitalized elderly patients. Patients who undergo cardiac surgery have an increased risk of developing delirium. Prevention or early recognition of delirium is essential. The Delirium Observation Screening (DOS) scale was developed to facilitate early recognition of delirium by nurses observations during routine clinical care. Aim: The aim of this study was to validate the DOS scale in accordance with the diagnosis of the psychiatrist, using the DSM-IV criteria as the gold standard. Methods: In this observational study, the DOS scale was used to assess whether 112 patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery had developed a postoperative delirium. The psychiatrist was consulted to confirm or refute the diagnosis delirium. Wilcoxons Rank Sum Test was utilized to compare patients with and without delirium on duration of hospital stay. A Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve of the DOS scale was constructed with accompanying Area Under the Curve (AUC). Results: Based on the diagnosis of the psychiatrist, the incidence of delirium following cardiac surgery was 21.4% and the mean duration of delirium was two and a half days. The time to discharge was 11 days longer in patients with delirium. In 27 of the 112 patients a DOS score of > = 3 was found, that indicates delirium. The sensitivity and specificity of the DOS scale was 100% and 96.6% respectively. The AUC was 0.98. Conclusion: The DOS scale is a very good instrument to facilitate early recognition of delirium by nurses observation of patients who undergo cardiac surgery. Early recognition will expedite good postoperative management such as implementation of appropriate interventions, and may decrease negative consequences caused by postoperative delirium.