Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde
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Frostbite injuries rarely occur in healthy Dutch persons. However, as the number of people engaging in winter and outdoor activities and travelling to high altitudes increases, the risk of frostbite also increases. ⋯ Iloprost infusion and possibly (r)tPA are indicated if a patient presents within 24 hours after the tissue has thawed and the injury is such that severe morbidity can be expected. If the patient presents after this time period, hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be considered; however, the evidence available on this type of treatment is limited.
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A good performance indicator reflects the quality of care and uses clinical outcomes. When outcomes are difficult to obtain, process and structure variables can provide a good picture of quality of care. ⋯ There are limitations to the use of performance indicators to compare hospitals; these include correction for case mix, the statistical reliability of the measurements and the validation of performance indicators. Well-considered performance indicators can be used to monitor trends and identify providers that perform below a certain benchmark, but not to rank them.
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Vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV) has been included in the national Vaccination Programme of the Netherlands for 12-year-old girls since 2010. Vaccination coverage for the birth cohort of 1997 was 56.; there is a gradual increase in uptake. Continuous safety monitoring brought no new unknown serious side effects to light; many girls suffered from transient symptoms such as painful arm, fatigue and headache. ⋯ HPV vaccination of 12-year-old girls is cost-effective, even for relatively low vaccination coverage. The potential protection of HPV vaccination extends beyond prevention of cervical cancer by preventing other oncological manifestations of HPV infection in women as well as men and genital warts. The preventive HPV vaccines do not appear to be effective in treating existing abnormalities.
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'Acute kidney injury' is modern terminology for a sudden decline in kidney function, and is defined by the RIFLE classification (RIFLE is an acronym for Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss and End-stage kidney disease). Acute kidney injury occurs as a result of the combination of reduced perfusion in the kidney, systemic inflammation, and the administration of nephrotoxic drugs. Patients with chronic renal damage, advanced age, diabetes mellitus or heart failure are at an increased risk of acute kidney injury. ⋯ Treatment of patients with acute kidney injury is currently supportive in nature. The optimisation of a patient's haemodynamics results in a reduction of the occurrence of acute kidney injury during extensive surgical procedures. A promising treatment aimed at preventing acute kidney injury is called 'remote ischaemic pre-conditioning'.
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Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd · Jan 2012
Case Reports[Unexplained anaemia in men: be aware of hypogonadism].
Unexplained anaemia is not uncommon. We present two male patients suffering from longstanding mild anaemia, for which no cause could be found. We performed an extensive analysis, but there were no signs of malignant disease, chronic inflammation, renal failure, hypothyroidism, myelodysplastic syndrome, haemolysis or nutritional deficiencies. ⋯ After exclusion of prostate carcinoma, testosterone substitution therapy was started in both patients, which improved their haematocrits and sexual and general well-being substantially. Testosterone exerts anabolic effects in multiple organ systems; in bone marrow it potentiates the stimulatory effect of erythropoietin on erythropoiesis. Primary hypogonadism frequently occurs in elderly patients, while secondary hypogonadism is frequently seen in middle-aged men with type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity.