Getting Babies Safely Home: A Retrospective Chart Review of Car Safety Seat Tolerance Screening Outcomes

Cardiovascular disease is a common comorbidity associated with an aging population. However, there is a unique group of individuals whose age-defying qualities are still being investigated. This retrospective chart review analyzed various cardiac and metabolic health parameters to characterize the prevalence of heart failure and metabolic derangements in individuals aged 90 years old or older in central Arkansas. Only 236 of the 291 patients in our study cohort had blood pressures recorded. Of these, 50% had systolic blood pressures ≥140 mmHg. Additionally, 77% had pulse pressures ≥50 mmHg. Of the 96 patients with BNP data, 44% had values ≥300 pg/mL. There was a slight positive correlation between aging and HDL cholesterol, while there was a negative correlation between aging and both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. A majority of our patients had both elevated systolic blood pressures and elevated pulse pressures. A majority also had high BNP values, indicative of some degree of heart failure. Additionally, atrial fibrillation was a common arrhythmia identified on EKG. However, these oldest of the old patients had fewer documented metabolic derangements. These findings lay important groundwork for further investigation into lifestyle and genetic components that allow them to live exceptionally long with such comorbidities.

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Esophageal dysmotility and lung disease in patients with systemic sclerosis: is there a possible association or correlation? A retrospective chart review

Rheumatology International ◽

10.1007/s00296-021-04880-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Navya Kuchipudi ◽

Shweta Kishore ◽

Chia-Ling Kuo ◽

Santhanam Lakshminarayanan ◽

Ranadeep Mandhadi

Keyword(s):

Systemic Sclerosis ◽

Lung Disease ◽

Chart Review ◽

Retrospective Chart Review ◽

Esophageal Dysmotility

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Harnessing the Chaplain’s Capacity to Identify Unmet Palliative Needs of Vulnerable Older Adults in the Emergency Department

Journal of Palliative Care ◽

10.1177/08258597211003359 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 082585972110033

Author(s):

Elizabeth Hamill Howard ◽

Rachel Schwartz ◽

Bruce Feldstein ◽

Marita Grudzen ◽

Lori Klein ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emergency Department ◽

Palliative Care ◽

End Of Life Care ◽

Older Patients ◽

Chart Review ◽

Retrospective Chart Review ◽

Life Care ◽

Emergency Medicine Physician ◽

Medicine Physician ◽

One Year

Objective: To explore chaplains’ ability to identify unmet palliative care (PC) needs in older emergency department (ED) patients. Methods: A palliative chaplain-fellow conducted a retrospective chart review evaluating 580 ED patients, age ≥80 using the Palliative Care and Rapid Emergency Screening (P-CaRES) tool. An emergency medicine physician and chaplain-fellow screened 10% of these charts to provide a clinical assessment. One year post-study, charts were re-examined to identify which patients received PC consultation (PCC) or died, providing an objective metric for comparing predicted needs with services received. Results: Within one year of ED presentation, 31% of the patient sub-sample received PCC; 17% died. Forty percent of deceased patients did not receive PCC. Of this 40%, chaplain screening for P-CaRES eligibility correctly identified 75% of the deceased as needing PCC. Conclusion: Establishing chaplain-led PC screenings as standard practice in the ED setting may improve end-of-life care for older patients.

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