Pierre Durieux

Prognostic value of right ventricular dysfunction in patients with haemodynamically stable pulmonary embolism: a systematic review

AIMS To determine the prognostic value of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction assessed by echocardiography or spiral computed tomography (CT), or by increased levels of cardiac biomarkers [troponin, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and pro-BNP] in patients with haemodynamically stable pulmonary embolism (PE). METHODS AND RESULTS We included all studies published between January 1985 and October 2007 estimating the relationship between echocardiography, CT or cardiac biomarkers and the risk of death in patients with haemodynamically stable PE. Twelve of 722 potentially relevant studies met inclusion criteria. The unadjusted risk ratio of RV dysfunction as assessed by echocardiography (five studies) or by CT (two studies) for predicting death was 2.4 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-4.4]. The unadjusted risk ratio for predicting death was 9.5 (95% CI 3.2-28.6) for BNP (five studies), 5.7 (95% CI 2.2-15.1) for pro-BNP (two studies) and 8.3 (95% CI 3.6-19.3) for cardiac troponin (three studies). Threshold values differed substantially between studies for all markers. CONCLUSION RV dysfunction assessed by CT, echocardiography, or by cardiac biomarkers are all associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients with haemodynamically stable PE. These findings should be interpreted with caution because of the clinical and methodological diversity of studies.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of strategies for the diagnosis of suspected pulmonary embolism

Abstract Objectives To assess the likelihood ratios of diagnostic strategies for pulmonary embolism and to determine their clinical application according to pretest probability. Data sources Medline, Embase, and Pascal Biomed and manual search for articles published from January 1990 to September 2003. Study selection Studies that evaluated diagnostic tests for confirmation or exclusion of pulmonary embolism. Data extracted Positive likelihood ratios for strategies that confirmed a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism and negative likelihood ratios for diagnostic strategies that excluded a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Data synthesis 48 of 1012 articles were included. Positive likelihood ratios for diagnostic tests were: high probability ventilation perfusion lung scan 18.3 (95% confidence interval 10.3 to 32.5), spiral computed tomography 24.1 (12.4 to 46.7), and ultrasonography of leg veins 16.2 (5.6 to 46.7). In patients with a moderate or high pretest probability, these findings are associated with a greater than 85% post-test probability of pulmonary embolism. Negative likelihood ratios were: normal or near normal appearance on lung scan 0.05 (0.03 to 0.10), a negative result on spiral computed tomography along with a negative result on ultrasonography 0.04 (0.03 to 0.06), and a D-dimer concentration < 500 μg/l measured by quantitative enzyme linked immunosorbent assay 0.08 (0.04 to 0.18). In patients with a low or moderate pretest probability, these findings were associated with a post-test probability of pulmonary embolism below 5%. Spiral computed tomography alone, a low probability ventilation perfusion lung scan, magnetic resonance angiography, a quantitative latex D-dimer test, and haemagglutination D-dimers had higher negative likelihood ratios and can therefore only exclude pulmonary embolism in patients with a low pretest probability. Conclusions The accuracy of tests for suspected pulmonary embolism varies greatly, but it is possible to estimate the range of pretest probabilities over which each test or strategy can confirm or rule out pulmonary embolism.

Multiple pulmonary arterial aneurysms in Behcet's disease and Hughes-Stovin syndrome.

Four case studies of patients with angiographically documented pulmonary arterial aneurysms are presented. In two cases, Behcets disease was diagnosed; one case corresponded to the syndrome described by Hughes and Stovin, that is, venous thrombosis especially of the vena cava accompanied by singular or multiple pulmonary arterial aneurysms in young patients; and the last case could best be described as an association of the two. Our observations lead us to question the existing notions concerning the relationship between Behcets disease and Hughes-Stovin syndrome-the clinical, angiographic and histologic aspects of the vascular manifestations are comparable. Typically the two diseases run similar courses with death resulting frm the rupture of the aneurysms and massive hemoptysis. These case studies cast certain doubts as to the effectiveness of the corticosteroid treatment usually prescribed. Finally, we suggest that Hughes-Stovin syndrome might be, in fact, a manifestation of Behcets disease.

A Computerized Handheld Decision-Support System to Improve Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis: A Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND Testing for pulmonary embolism often differs from that recommended by evidence-based guidelines. OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of a handheld clinical decision-support system to improve the diagnostic work-up of suspected pulmonary embolism among patients in the emergency department. DESIGN Cluster randomized trial. Assignment was by random-number table, providers were not blinded, and outcome assessment was automated. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00188032). SETTING 20 emergency departments in France. PATIENTS 1103 and 1768 consecutive outpatients with suspected pulmonary embolism. INTERVENTION After a preintervention period involving 20 centers and 1103 patients, in which providers grew accustomed to inputting clinical data into handheld devices and investigators assessed baseline testing, emergency departments were randomly assigned to activation of a decision-support system on the devices (10 centers, 753 patients) or posters and pocket cards that showed validated diagnostic strategies (10 centers, 1015 patients). MEASUREMENTS Appropriateness of diagnostic work-up, defined as any sequence of tests that yielded a posttest probability less than 5% or greater than 85% (primary outcome) or as strict adherence to guideline recommendations (secondary outcome); number of tests per patient (secondary outcome). RESULTS The proportion of patients who received appropriate diagnostic work-ups was greater during the trial than in the preintervention period in both groups, but the increase was greater in the computer-based guidelines group (adjusted mean difference in increase, 19.3 percentage points favoring computer-based guidelines [95% CI, 2.9 to 35.6 percentage points]; P = 0.023). Among patients with appropriate work-ups, those in the computer-based guidelines group received slightly fewer tests than did patients in the paper guidelines group (mean tests per patient, 1.76 [SD, 0.98] vs. 2.25 [SD, 1.04]; P < 0.001). LIMITATION The study was not designed to show a difference in the clinical outcomes of patients during follow-up. CONCLUSION A handheld decision-support system improved diagnostic decision making for patients with suspected pulmonary embolism in the emergency department.

Validation of a French version of the 8-item Morisky medication adherence scale in hypertensive adults.

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2012; 14:429–434.

Evaluation of drug administration errors in a teaching hospital

BackgroundMedication errors can occur at any of the three steps of the medication use process: prescribing, dispensing and administration. We aimed to determine the incidence, type and clinical importance of drug administration errors and to identify risk factors.MethodsProspective study based on disguised observation technique in four wards in a teaching hospital in Paris, France (800 beds). A pharmacist accompanied nurses and witnessed the preparation and administration of drugs to all patients during the three drug rounds on each of six days per ward. Main outcomes were number, type and clinical importance of errors and associated risk factors. Drug administration error rate was calculated with and without wrong time errors. Relationship between the occurrence of errors and potential risk factors were investigated using logistic regression models with random effects.ResultsTwenty-eight nurses caring for 108 patients were observed. Among 1501 opportunities for error, 415 administrations (430 errors) with one or more errors were detected (27.6%). There were 312 wrong time errors, ten simultaneously with another type of error, resulting in an error rate without wrong time error of 7.5% (113/1501). The most frequently administered drugs were the cardiovascular drugs (425/1501, 28.3%). The highest risks of error in a drug administration were for dermatological drugs. No potentially life-threatening errors were witnessed and 6% of errors were classified as having a serious or significant impact on patients (mainly omission). In multivariate analysis, the occurrence of errors was associated with drug administration route, drug classification (ATC) and the number of patient under the nurses care.ConclusionMedication administration errors are frequent. The identification of its determinants helps to undertake designed interventions.

Effect of Alerts for Drug Dosage Adjustment in Inpatients with Renal Insufficiency

OBJECTIVES Medication errors constitute a major problem in all hospitals. Between 20% and 46% of prescriptions requiring dosage adjustments based on renal function are inappropriate. This study aimed to determine whether implementing alerts at the time of ordering medication integrated into the computerized physician order entry decreases the proportion of inappropriate prescriptions based on the renal function of inpatients. DESIGN Six alternating 2-month control and intervention periods were conducted between August 2006 and August 2007 in two medical departments of a teaching hospital in France. A total of 603 patients and 38 physicians were included. During the intervention periods, alerts were triggered if a patient with renal impairment was prescribed one of the 24 targeted drugs that required adjustment according to estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). MEASUREMENTS The main outcome measure was the proportion of inappropriate first prescriptions, according to recommendation. RESULTS A total of 1,122 alerts were triggered. The rate of inappropriate first prescriptions did not differ significantly between intervention and control periods (19.9% vs. 21.3%; p=0.63). The effect of intervention differed significantly between residents and senior physicians (p=0.03). Residents tended to make fewer errors in intervention versus control periods (Odds ratio 0.69; 95% confidence interval 0.41 to 1.15), whereas senior physicians tended to make more inappropriate prescriptions in intervention periods (odds ratio 1.88; 95% confidence interval 0.91 to 3.89). CONCLUSION Alert activation was not followed by a significant decrease in inappropriate prescriptions in our study. Thus, it is still necessary to evaluate the impact of these systems if newly implemented in other settings thanks to studies also designed to watch for possible unanticipated effects of decision supports and their underlying causes.

Applicability and generalisability of the results of systematic reviews to public health practice and policy: a systematic review

BackgroundThe purpose of the study was to evaluate systematic reviews of research into two public health priorities, tobacco consumption and HIV infection, in terms of the reporting of data related to the applicability of trial results (i.e., whether the results of a trial can be reasonably applied or generalized to a definable group of patients in a particular setting in routine practice, also called external validity or generalisability).MethodsAll systematic reviews of interventions aimed at reducing or stopping tobacco use and treating or preventing HIV infection published in the Cochrane database of systematic reviews and in journals indexed in MEDLINE between January 1997 and December 2007 were selected. We used a standardized data abstraction form to extract data related to applicability in terms of the context of the trial, (country, centres, settings), participants (recruitment, inclusion and exclusion criteria, baseline characteristics of participants such as age, sex, ethnicity, coexisting diseases or co-morbidities, and socioeconomic status), treatment (duration, intensity/dose of treatment, timing and delivery format), and the outcomes assessment from selected reviews.ResultsA total of 98 systematic reviews were selected (57 Cochrane reviews and 41 non-Cochrane reviews); 49 evaluated interventions aimed at reducing or stopping tobacco use and 49 treating or preventing HIV infection. The setting of the individual studies was reported in 45 (46%) of the systematic reviews, the number of centres in 21 (21%), and the country where the trial took place in 62 (63%). Inclusion and exclusion criteria of the included studies were reported in 16 (16%) and 13 (13%) of the reviews, respectively. Baseline characteristics of participants in the included studies were described in 59 (60%) of the reviews. These characteristics concerned age in about half of the reviews, sex in 46 (47%), and ethnicity in 9 (9%).Applicability of results was discussed in 13 (13%) of the systematic reviews. The reporting was better in systematic reviews by the Cochrane Collaboration than by non-Cochrane groups.ConclusionsOur study highlighted the lack of consideration of applicability of results in systematic reviews of research into 2 public health priorities: tobacco consumption and HIV infection.

Agreement between Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate and C-Reactive Protein in Hospital Practice

BACKGROUND Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are frequently prescribed jointly. The usefulness of this practice is uncertain. METHODS All patients with ESR and CRP measured at the same time in an academic tertiary hospital during a 1-year period were included. Concomitant measures of serum creatinine, hematocrit, and anti-Xa activity were recorded to study noninflammatory cause of increased ESR. Level of agreement between ESR and CRP was assessed with kappa coefficient, and their accuracy was determined in a medical chart review of 99 randomly selected patients with disagreement between both markers. RESULTS Among 5777 patients, 35% and 58% had an elevated CRP and ESR, respectively. ESR and CRP were in agreement in 67% of patients (both elevated in 30%, both normal in 37%). A disagreement was observed in 33% (elevated ESR/normal CRP in 28%, normal ESR/elevated CRP in 5%). The kappa coefficient showed poor agreement (k=0.38) between both markers. Review of medical chart showed that 25 patients with elevated CRP and normal ESR had an active inflammatory disease (false-negative ESR). Conversely, 74 patients had elevated ESR and normal CRP-32% had resolving inflammatory disorders, 28% disclosed a variable interfering with the ESR measure (false-positive ESR), 32% had unexplained discrepancies, and 8% had an active inflammatory disease (false-negative CRP). CONCLUSION In hospital practice, joint measurement of ESR and CRP is unwarranted. Because of slow variation and frequent confounding, ESR is frequently misleading in unselected patients. When an inflammatory disorder is suspected, priority should be given to CRP.

Drug Administration Errors in Hospital Inpatients: A Systematic Review

Context Drug administration in the hospital setting is the last barrier before a possible error reaches the patient. Objectives We aimed to analyze the prevalence and nature of administration error rate detected by the observation method. Data Sources Embase, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library from 1966 to December 2011 and reference lists of included studies. Study Selection Observational studies, cross-sectional studies, before-and-after studies, and randomized controlled trials that measured the rate of administration errors in inpatients were included. Data Extraction Two reviewers (senior pharmacists) independently identified studies for inclusion. One reviewer extracted the data; the second reviewer checked the data. The main outcome was the error rate calculated as being the number of errors without wrong time errors divided by the Total Opportunity for Errors (TOE, sum of the total number of doses ordered plus the unordered doses given), and multiplied by 100. For studies that reported it, clinical impact was reclassified into four categories from fatal to minor or no impact. Due to a large heterogeneity, results were expressed as median values (interquartile range, IQR), according to their study design. Results Among 2088 studies, a total of 52 reported TOE. Most of the studies were cross-sectional studies (N=46). The median error rate without wrong time errors for the cross-sectional studies using TOE was 10.5% [IQR: 7.3%-21.7%]. No fatal error was observed and most errors were classified as minor in the 18 studies in which clinical impact was analyzed. We did not find any evidence of publication bias. Conclusions Administration errors are frequent among inpatients. The median error rate without wrong time errors for the cross-sectional studies using TOE was about 10%. A standardization of administration error rate using the same denominator (TOE), numerator and types of errors is essential for further publications.