Clinical medicine (London, England)
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BackgroundWe sought to establish to what extent decision certainty has been measured in real time and whether high or low levels of certainty correlate with clinical outcomes. MethodsOur pre-specified study protocol is published on PROSPERO, CRD42019128112. We identified prospective studies from Medline, Embase and PsycINFO up to February 2019 that measured real time self-rating of the certainty of a medical decision by a clinician. ⋯ One other study demonstrated the danger of extreme diagnostic confidence - 7% of cases (24/341) labelled as having either 0% or 100% diagnostic likelihood of heart failure were made in error. ConclusionsThe literature on real time self-rated certainty of clinician decisions is sparse and only relates to diagnostic decisions. Further prospective research with a view to generating hypotheses for testable interventions that can better calibrate clinician certainty with accuracy of decision making could be valuable in reducing diagnostic error and improving outcomes.
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Post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is common following solid organ transplantation, and is a risk factor for graft failure and patient mortality. In addition to standard diabetes risk factors such as obesity and ethnicity, patients undergoing transplantation also have the additional risk factors of immunosuppressive agents and infections such as hepatitis C. ⋯ If non-diabetic, but deemed at high risk, they should be offered careful lifestyle advice to reduce risk of post-transplant weight gain and therefore reduce risk of PTDM. Hyperglycaemia in the early post-operative period should be managed ideally with insulin therapy. Once clinically stable, there may be an opportunity to reduce or stop insulin, and consider oral hypoglycaemic agents. Despite lack of evidence from randomised trials, PTDM should be actively screened for in all transplant recipients, and actively managed with structured education, screening for complications, cardiovascular risk reduction and anti-hyperglycaemic therapy.
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Use of angiography for the assessment of coronary lesions is limited by its inability to provide information regarding the functional significance of stenoses. A number of studies have demonstrated the presence of ischaemia to be the most important determinant of the benefit associated with coronary revascularisation in stable coronary artery disease. Assessment of intra-coronary physiology can guide percutaneous coronary intervention, and is often used for angiographically borderline stenoses. ⋯ Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is the most established measure of intra-coronary physiology, but is currently under-utilised. The main drawback of FFR is the dependence on a pharmacological infusion to maintain hyperaemia. An alternative technique which measures flow at a specific point in the cardiac cycle (instantaneous wave-free ratio) has been developed which obviates the need for hyperaemia and may replace FFR as the default measure.
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Although often underappreciated, a number of bacterial zoonoses are endemic in Africa. Of these, brucellosis, leptospirosis, Q fever, and rickettsioses are responsible for a substantial proportion of febrile illness among patients seeking hospital care. ⋯ These may lead to better outcomes than strategies based exclusively on treatment of human infections. Such strategies are referred to as the 'One Health' approach; the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment.
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The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection epidemic has emerged as a significant public health concern in the last 10-15 years, especially in Asian and south American countries. However, with ever-expanding tourism and migration, cases have now been reported in north America and Europe. CHIKV infection predominantly causes musculoskeletal symptoms with a chronic polyarthritis which may resemble autoimmune inflammatory arthritis. ⋯ There has also been a significant increase in our understanding of the immunopathogenesis of chikungunya infection. This knowledge is being used in the development of new treatment strategies and preventive measures. In this narrative review, we discuss some of the recent advances in the epidemiology, immunopathogenesis, and management of CHIKV arthritis.