Wiener klinische Wochenschrift
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Jan 2023
Impact of noninvasive ventilation at a municipal emergency department on ICU admissions.
In 2015, the emergency department of a municipal hospital in Vienna began to perform noninvasive ventilation (NIV) on patients admitted for acute respiratory failure, given no intubation criteria were met. The intention of this study was to show to which type of hospital unit patients were transferred after undergoing NIV in the emergency department. Additionally, the impact of the underlying disease, a patient's sex and age and the year of intervention were analyzed. ⋯ These findings emphasize the importance of noninvasive ventilation at the emergency department in reducing load on intensive care units and ensuring an efficient hospital workflow. Nonintensive care admission rate appears to be the highest in patients with pulmonary edema, especially in the higher age range and is also associated with the level of staff training. Prospective trials are needed to accurately confirm these correlations.
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Gestational diabetes (GDM) is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset during pregnancy and is associated with increased feto-maternal morbidity as well as long-term complications in mothers and the offspring. Women detected to have diabetes early in pregnancy receive the diagnosis of overt, non-gestational, diabetes (glucose: fasting ≥ 126 mg/dl, spontaneous ≥ 200 mg/dl or HbA1c ≥ 6.5% before 20 weeks of gestation). GDM is diagnosed by an oral glucose tolerance test (oGTT) or increased fasting glucose (≥ 92 mg/dl). ⋯ Assessment of glucose parameters (fasting glucose, random glucose, HbA1c or optimally oGTT) are recommended every 2-3 years in case of normal glucose tolerance. All women have to be instructed about their increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease at follow-up. Possible preventive meassures, in particular lifestyle changes as weight management and maintenance/increase of physical activity should be discussed (evidence level A).
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Jan 2023
Risk stratification and risk-adapted management of acute pulmonary embolism.
Pulmonary embolism is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular death in Europe. Rapid diagnosis and treatment initiation are essential, especially in hemodynamically unstable patients. For normotensive patients, the diagnostic workflow is based on the clinical probability of pulmonary embolism. ⋯ Based on vital signs, clinical scores, biomarkers and imaging results, four risk categories can be defined and treatment is accordingly. To optimize the individual management of critical patients, multidisciplinary pulmonary embolism response teams are increasingly designated in specialized centers. This article provides an overview of the current risk-adapted management of patients with acute pulmonary embolism.
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Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. · Jan 2023
General practice in the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990) : A discipline between threat and professionalization.
In the 1950s the socialist health policy in East Germany did not follow a clear-cut course with regard to outpatient medical care. Whilst state-run policlinics gradually took the place of doctors in private practice, the required qualifications of physicians working in outpatient care remained unclear. After preparatory lobbying by committed physicians from the outpatient sector, the 1960 Weimar Health Conference finally paved the way for the preservation and professionalization of general practice in East Germany. ⋯ Within the nationalized GDR health system a committed group of physicians, under difficult political circumstances, pushed for professionalization of general practice and its recognition as a field of specialty. When general medicine was recognized as a specialty in 1967, this happened earlier than in other countries and constituted an important milestone.