The Libyan journal of medicine
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Introduction: Paediatric cardiomyopathies are rare but serious and often life-threatening conditions. In the absence of cardiac transplant and ventricular assist device as treatment options in our region, it is very important to identify patients at higher risk. The aim of this study was to determine the outcome of patients diagnosed with cardiomyopathies and their prognostic indicators. ⋯ Assisted mechanical ventilation was used on 15 patients (16.3%). Twenty-three patients (25.0%) died during the 7-year study period. Conclusions Conclusions The occurrence of hypotension, abnormally high liver enzymes, the need for mechanical ventilation and the need for multiple inotropic drugs were found to be statistically significant predictors of mortality, while age, sex, fractional shortening, ejection fraction, presence of mitral regurgitation, mural thrombus, electrolyte disturbance and arrhythmias did not predict or affect patients' outcomes.
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There is an extensive body of research about chronic pain and treatment in developed countries. In contrast there is a lack of research on this topic in developing countries including China. This study was aimed to estimate the prevalence of chronic pain in different regions of China. ⋯ The location of pain was focused on back and upper limb. There has been a lack of proper treatment. Patients with pain had obvious economic burden, and their quality of life and psychology were significantly affected.
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Body composition analysis may provide valuable information about the assessment of balance between fluid, fat, and fat-free mass. The present study assessed whether the regular increase in water consumption has any significant effects on measurements of body composition using BIA. A total of 140 subjects participated in this study. ⋯ There was overestimation in body fat mass compared to the baseline and increased significantly after water intakes in males (2.08% in 500 mL, 3.80% in 1000 mL, 5.88% in 1500 mL, and 7.92% in 2000 mL, p < 0.05) and in females (3.4% in 500 mL, 5.7% in 1000 mL, 7.8% in 1500 mL, and 9.4% in 2000 mL, p < 0.05). In contrast, there was markedly underestimation of total body water and fat-free mass in males (35% and 50%) and females (17% and 22%), respectively, at the end of the study. Thus, overestimation of body fat mass and lower estimation of total body water and fat-free mass with closely to the amount of water retention using BIA application should be considered in health-related clinical practice.
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The administration of therapeutic agents is difficult in many patients, such as patients with post-operative delirium or dementia or patients with schizophrenia, who are upset in an emergency room. Therefore, the development of a new method for administering therapeutic agents to the central nervous system is desired. In this study, we investigated if inhalation was an effective route of administration for haloperidol, a commonly used, strong antipsychotic. ⋯ However, pretreatment with inhaled betahistine or the intraperitoneal administration of betahistine did not suppress the MK-801-induced or memantine-induced increase in locomotor activity. Thus, haloperidol when inhaled acts on the central nervous system of mice and suppresses the MK-801-induced increase in mouse locomotor activity. Our findings suggest that inhalation may be a novel method for administering haloperidol.
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In spite of the relatively high morbidity and mortality, there is no approved medication yet for COVID-19. There are more than 200 ongoing trials on different drugs or vaccines, but new medications may take until 2021 to develop. Defining the optimal number of patients to be included in a study is a considerable challenge in these interventional researches. ⋯ Sequential analysis has not been frequently used in many clinical trials where it should have been used. None of the authors in published literature, as far as we know, used sequential analysis techniques to test potential drugs for COVID-19. In addition to its usefulness when the results of new forms of treatment are quickly needed, other important benefit of sequential analysis includes the ability to reach a similar conclusion about the utility of a new drug without unduly exposing more patients to the side effect of the old drug, in particularly, for the treatment of a rare disease.