Clinical medicine (London, England)
-
Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer death globally. Delayed diagnosis is a major contributing factor to poor outcomes and remains a key challenge to overcome. ⋯ Lung cancer treatment continues to develop with new surgical techniques, radiotherapy options and more drugs being licensed as part of standard treatment. We provide an overview of the core lung cancer diagnostic steps, recognition and management of acute presentations as well as the latest treatment options.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
The unspoken benefit of participation in a clinical trial.
Publicly funded trials do not usually offer financial incentives to volunteers. An intensive level of medical care could act as an additional motivator for participation. Our aim was to establish whether patients may draw any clinical benefit from volunteering in a clinical trial. ⋯ Compared with routine care, patients screened for a clinical trial may come under an increased level of scrutiny that may affect their clinical management. This may act as additional motivator to attract patients to future studies.
-
Multicenter Study
Increased frequency of pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum in COVID-19 patients admitted in the ICU: A multicentre study from Mumbai, India.
There are limited data regarding the incidence of pneumothorax in COVID-19 patients as well as the impact of the same on patient outcomes. ⋯ Our study demonstrates that air leaks occur with a higher frequency in patients with COVID-19 than in other ICU patients. When present, such air leaks contributed to poor outcomes with almost 74% mortality rates in these patients.
-
Observational Study
Failing the frail: The need to broaden the COVID-19 case definition for geriatric patients.
The older population has a high mortality with COVID-19 and this cohort often presents atypically with infection. This study compares presenting complaints and observations of older patients with COVID-19 against the established case definition to determine whether the case definition should be broadened to better identify SARS-CoV-2 infection in this age group. This retrospective observational study analysed the presenting complaints and observations of people aged 70 years and over who were admitted to a district general hospital with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection from March to May 2020. ⋯ Only 32.4% recorded a temperature ≥37.6°C on admission while 20.4% were hypothermic with a temperature <36.4°C (p=0.0003). A significant proportion of older patients with COVID-19 presented with non-specific symptoms and observations. The high proportion of falls and delirium emphasises the need for early geriatrician input, awareness of COVID-19 as a differential for confusion in older patients and to include falls in the case definition for COVID-19 in the older population.
-
Over 50 systemic conditions may affect the pleura and, thus, unilateral pleural effusions may present for a variety of reasons. Investigating the cause is essential to providing appropriate management. ⋯ It is, therefore, vital to consider the intervention with the highest diagnostic yield appropriate to the particular clinical situation. The diagnostic pathway in unilateral pleural effusion is increasingly outpatient based, avoiding hospitalisation, which is particularly relevant with the recent COVID-19 pandemic.