Irish journal of medical science
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Type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. Use of aspirin has been shown to be of benefit for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes; benefits in primary prevention have not been clearly proven. ⋯ A significant number of people with type 2 diabetes who should have been prescribed aspirin for secondary prevention were not receiving it at the time of study assessment. In contrast, a substantial proportion who did not meet criteria for aspirin use was prescribed it for primary prevention.
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It is necessary to identify critical patients requiring hospitalization early due to the rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. ⋯ MEWS and TREWS calculated at emergency services are effective in predicting 28-day mortality in patients requiring hospitalization due to COVID-19.
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Social restrictions set due to COVID-19 decreased pediatric emergency department (ED). The aim is to report epidemiology of intoxicated patients in pediatric ED during the first and second waves of COVID-19. ⋯ Based on these results, the lockdown and social restrictions did not decrease heavy alcohol or drug consumption among adolescents in Finland.
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Serological SARS-CoV-2 assays have an important role in guiding the pandemic response. This research aimed to compare the performance of 2 antinucleocapsid assays. ⋯ In this small study, the Roche Diagnostics Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 total antibody assay appears superior in performance to the Abbott diagnostics SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay in accurately detecting participants with a history of confirmed COVID-19 disease at 6 months follow-up. This finding should be born in mind in the planning of future seroprevalence studies, especially when considering the use of anti-nucleocapsid assays.
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To evaluate the nephro-ureteric stent (NUS) insertion and exchange practice in a tertiary referral cancer centre, and determine the safety and compliance with current guidelines. We also reviewed if increasing exchange time interval from 6 to 12 weeks was safe, and if this could be adopted into our local guidelines. ⋯ In this retrospective review, we have demonstrated that the recommended 6-week period between stent exchanges is unnecessary in the vast majority of cases, and that a longer interval between NUS exchanges, e.g. 8-12 weeks, is safe for the patient, and reduces screening time. This reduction in procedures also provides a significant potential saving to the radiology department in both monetary expense and limited angiography suite time.