Paulo de Tarso Roth Dalcin

III Diretrizes para Tuberculose da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia

New scientific articles about tuberculosis (TB) are published daily worldwide. However, it is difficult for health care workers, overloaded with work, to stay abreast of the latest research findings and to discern which information can and should be used in their daily practice on assisting TB patients. The purpose of the III Brazilian Thoracic Association (BTA) Guidelines on TB is to critically review the most recent national and international scientific information on TB, presenting an updated text with the most current and useful tools against TB to health care workers in our country. The III BTA Guidelines on TB have been developed by the BTA Committee on TB and the TB Work Group, based on the text of the II BTA Guidelines on TB (2004). We reviewed the following databases: LILACS (SciELO) and PubMed (Medline). The level of evidence of the cited articles was determined, and 24 recommendations on TB have been evaluated, discussed by all of the members of the BTA Committee on TB and of the TB Work Group, and highlighted. The first version of the present Guidelines was posted on the BTA website and was available for public consultation for three weeks. Comments and critiques were evaluated. The level of scientific evidence of each reference was evaluated before its acceptance for use in the final text.

Mortality among patients with tuberculosis requiring intensive care: a retrospective cohort study

BackgroundTo describe the characteristics of patients with tuberculosis (TB) requiring intensive care and to identify the factors that predicts in-hospital mortality in a city of a developing country with intermediate-to-high TB endemicity.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective, cohort study, between November 2005 and November 2007. The patients with TB requiring intensive care were included. Predictors of mortality were assessed. The primary outcome was the in-hospital mortality.ResultsDuring the study period, 67 patients with TB required intensive care. Of them, 62 (92.5%) had acute respiratory failure and required mechanical ventilation. Forty-four (65.7%) patients died. Coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus was present in 46 (68.7%) patients. Early intensive care unit admission and ventilator-associated pneumonia were independently associated with the in-hospital mortality.ConclusionsIn this study we found a high mortality rate in TB patients requiring intensive care, especially in those with an early ICU admission.

Impacto de uma intervenção educacional de curta duração sobre a adesão ao tratamento e controle da asma

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of a short-term individualized education program on adherence to asthma treatment, inhalation techniques, and asthma control. METHODS A prospective study involving patients aged 14 years or older, with a confirmed diagnosis of asthma and recruited from the asthma outpatient clinic of a university hospital in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The study was conducted in two phases (before and after the educational intervention). At a routine medical visit, the participants completed a general questionnaire in order to assess the level of asthma control and inhalation techniques. The participants also underwent pulmonary function testing. Subsequently, they participated in an asthma education program, which consisted of one individualized session. The participants were reevaluated after three months. RESULTS Of the 174 patients recruited, 115 completed the study. Between the first and second evaluations, there was a significant improvement in the effective use of inhaled corticosteroids (90.4% vs. 93.3%; p = 0.003), the effective use of long-acting β2 agonists (57.4% vs. 63.5%; p < 0.0001), the effective use of a combined regimen with these two medications (57.4% vs. 62.6%; p < 0.0001), and the self-reported adherence to corticosteroid therapy (p = 0.001). There was a significant decrease in the proportion of patients visiting ERs (30.4% vs. 23.5%; p = 0.012). However, the level of asthma control and the inhalation technique did not improve significantly (p = 0.095 and p = 0.512, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This short-term asthma education program resulted in an improvement in the use of medications for asthma control and a decrease in the number of ER visits, although it had no significant effect on the inhalation technique.

Characteristics of Acute Asthma Patients Attended Frequently Compared with Those Attended Only Occasionally in an Emergency Department

Asthma patients that depend on emergency department (ED) services are generally considered to have extremely poor disease control and prognosis. It is important to identify characteristics related to poor disease control and frequent visits to the ED to apply appropriate clinical management. This study comprised a cross-sectional survey of consecutive patients with asthma exacerbation (age ≥12 years) presenting at the adult ED of a large, tertiary care, university-affiliated hospital over a 2-month period. The frequent visitors (FV) were defined by ≥3 visits to the ED in the preceding year, and the occasional visitors (OV) by ≤2 visits. Eighty-six patients (61 females and 25 males) were included in the study (mean age 38 ± 18 years). Of these patients, 51.2% were FV and 48.8% were OV. Sixty-nine percent had annual income lower than A

Sleep abnormalities in untreated patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type VI.

3000 and 66.3% had ≤8 years of the formal education. Only 18.6% had used inhaled corticosteroids, 79.1% identified the asthma attack severity, 70.9% increased or initiated inhaled β-agonist, 20.9% increased or initiated steroid therapy, and 55.8% had an asthma action plan for attack. The number of hospital admissions in past year (OR 4.3, P = .02), use of home nebulizer (OR 3.6, P = .05) and the lack of a written asthma action plan (OR 3.3, P = .03) were independently associated with frequent visits to the ED. We conclude that a substantial proportion of the patients that visit the ED are FV. These patients are more likely to have hospital admission in the past year, to use a home nebulizer, and to lack a written asthma action plan. They should be considered the most important target for asthma education.

Effect of clinical pathways on the management of acute asthma in the emergency department: Five years of evaluation

Mucopolysaccharidosis type VI (MPS VI) is a lysosomal storage disease that affects an enzyme responsible for the degradation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Partially degraded GAGs accumulate in several tissues, such as the upper airways (UA), which leads to the development of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Our objective was to determine the prevalence of OSA in a group of untreated patients with MPS VI and the association of OSA with clinical and echocardiographic findings. Patients aged 4 years or older with a biochemical diagnosis of MPS VI were included. Data about clinical history, physical examination, Doppler echocardiogram, and overnight polysomnography (PSG) were collected. Our results showed that of the 28 participants, 14 were boys; mean age was 98.5 months, and mean age at MPS VI diagnosis was 48.4 months. Snoring, witnessed apnea, pectus carinatum, and macroglossia were the main clinical findings. PSG results showed that 23:27 patients (85.1%) had OSA which was mild in 4, moderate in 5, and severe in 14 patients. Echocardiograms showed evidence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in 14 patients. Lower (P = 0.037) and nadir SpO2 (P = 0.007) were positively associated with PH. Clinical signs suggestive of respiratory abnormalities during sleep were not significantly correlated with the results of PSG. We conclude that the prevalence of OSA in patients with MPS VI was high, and the level of desaturation was positively correlated with PH. Symptoms during sleep were not associated with PSG findings, which suggests that this population should undergo routine PSG as earlier as possible. This study provides baseline data to estimate the potential impact of specific treatments in the sleep abnormalities presented by patients with MPS VI.

Factors Associated with Mortality in Hospitalized Patients with Newly Diagnosed Tuberculosis

There is a wide variability in clinical practice for treating acute asthma (AA) in the emergency department (ED), interfering in the quality of care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a clinical pathway on the management of AA in the ED. We conducted a prospective before-after study of patients presenting with AA to the adult ED, during five separate periods (from January to March): in 2001 (pre-protocol group), 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 (6 months without educational reinforcement). We evaluated the effects of the recommendations on objective assessment of severity, diagnostic resource utilization, use of recommended and non-recommended therapy, and outcomes. The 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 groups comprised, respectively: 108, 96, 97, 98, and 101 patients. There was a significant increase in the use of pulse oximetry (8.3%, 77.1%, 88.7%, 95.9%, and 97.0%, respectively; p < 0.001). There was an increase in the use of peak expiratory flow rate from 2001 to 2004 (4.6%, 20.8%, 28.9%, and 48.0%) and a decrease after a period without educational efforts (29.7%, p < 0.001). Although the overall use of systemic corticosteroids was not changed, there was a significant increase in the use of oral steroids (p < 0.001). There was a decrease in aminophylline utilization (p = 0.005). Length of stay in the ED was significantly reduced (p = 0.04). There was no effect on hospital admission or emergency discharge (p = 0.193). The AA clinical pathway applied in the ED was associated with a positive effect on improving the quality of care.

Avaliação prognóstica precoce da asma aguda na sala de emergência

The purpose of this study was to identify clinical and epidemiological factors associated with death in patients with an in-hospital diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), in a city with a high prevalence of TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The study was a retrospective, cohort study conducted at a general, tertiary-care, university-affiliated hospital. Patients who began treatment for TB after hospitalization were included. Predictors of mortality were assessed. The primary outcomes were the in-hospital mortality and the mortality after discharge. We evaluated the medical records of 311 patients with TB. The overall mortality rate of all study participants was 99/311 (31.8%). The mortality rates during hospitalization and after discharge were 50/311 (16.1%) and 49/261 (18.8%), respectively. Mechanical ventilation, consolidation in chest X-ray, and negative sputum smear were predictors of in-hospital death in multivariate analysis. Independent predictors of mortality after discharge in multivariate analysis included total duration of hospitalization and being a current smoker. We found a high overall mortality rate for patients hospitalized with TB in a region with a high prevalence of TB and HIV. The risk of mortality once patients with TB are hospitalized is unlikely to be explained only by the HIV epidemic.

Fibrose cística no adulto: aspectos diagnósticos e terapêuticos

OBJETIVO: Estudar medidas clinicas e funcionais pulmonares utilizadas nos primeiros quinze minutos de manejo da asma aguda em um servico de emergencia, para predicao prognostica. METODOS: Estudo de coorte, prospectivo, que incluiu pacientes consecutivos com asma aguda, com idades entre doze e 55 anos e medida do pico de fluxo expiratorio menor ou igual a 50% do previsto. Realizaram-se avaliacoes na admissao, aos quinze minutos e em quatro horas apos o inicio do tratamento. O tratamento incluiu salbutamol e ipratropio, administrados por aerossol dosimetrado com espacador, e 100 mg de hidrocortisona intravenosa. O desfecho favoravel foi definido pelo pico de fluxo expiratorio maior ou igual a 50% do previsto apos a quarta hora de tratamento, e o desfecho desfavoravel pelo pico de fluxo expiratorio menor que 50% do previsto. RESULTADOS: Tiveram desfecho favoravel 27 pacientes e desfavoravel 24. A analise multivariada identificou o pico de fluxo expiratorio em porcentagem do previsto aos quinze minutos como variavel mais preditiva. O pico de fluxo expiratorio maior ou igual a 40% aos quinze minutos mostrou significativa contribuicao em predizer desfecho favoravel (sensibilidade = 0,74, especificidade = 1,00 e valor preditivo positivo = 1,00). O pico de fluxo expiratorio menor que 30% aos quinze minutos contribuiu para predizer desfecho desfavoravel (sensibilidade = 0,54, especificidade = 0,93 e valor preditivo positivo = 0,87). CONCLUSAO: O estudo sugeriu que a medida do pico de fluxo expiratorio aos quinze minutos do manejo da asma aguda em um servico de emergencia e um instrumento util para avaliacao prognostica.

Ultrassom pulmonar em pacientes críticos: uma nova ferramenta diagnóstica

Once considered a childhood disease, cystic fibrosis is now also a disease of adults. Increased longevity has resulted in the aging of the cystic fibrosis population. The consequent age-related medical problems among adults with cystic fibrosis have increased medical care needs. These needs are being met by a growing number of non-pediatric pulmonologists and other non-pediatric specialists. The objective of this review was to summarize the current knowledge about diagnosis and treatment in adult cystic fibrosis. In most cases, the diagnosis is suggested by manifestations of chronic sinopulmonary disease and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. The diagnosis is confirmed by a positive sweat test result. Adult patients may, however, present pancreatic sufficiency and atypical clinical features, sometimes in combination with normal or borderline sweat test results. In such cases, identifying cystic fibrosis mutations and measuring nasal potential difference can have diagnostic utility. The standard therapeutic approach to pulmonary disease includes the use of antibiotics, airway clearance, exercise, mucolytics, bronchodilators, oxygen therapy, anti-inflammatory agents and nutritional support. Appropriate application of these therapies results in most cystic fibrosis patients surviving into adulthood with an acceptable quality of life.