scholarly journals Sensitivity of mononuclear leucocytes to glucocorticoids in elderly hip-fracture patients resistant to suppression of plasma cortisol by dexamethasone

1998 ◽  
pp. 659-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
EA van Rijen ◽  
RA Harvey ◽  
RN Barton ◽  
JG Rose ◽  
MA Horan

OBJECTIVE: Elderly women with proximal femur fracture show a prolonged increase in plasma cortisol, which could have undesirable catabolic effects. Suppression of cortisol by dexamethasone is impaired, suggesting resistance to glucocorticoid effects at feedback inhibitory sites. We therefore wished to find out whether peripheral glucocorticoid sensitivity is normal. DESIGN: Peripheral blood mononuclear leucocytes were used as a model tissue. Blood samples were taken from elderly women about 2 weeks after hip fracture and from elderly control women. Each patient was then given 1 mg dexamethasone at 2300 h followed by further sampling at 0800 and 1600 h the next day. METHODS: Glucocorticoid-receptor binding parameters were measured by incubating whole cells with [3H]dexamethasone for 2 h at 37 degrees C. Inhibition of cell proliferation by dexamethasone was assessed by addition of [3H]thymidine to cells cultured for 65 h with concanavalin A. Cortisol and dexamethasone concentrations were measured in the dexamethasone suppression test. RESULTS: As expected, the hip-fracture patients had raised morning cortisol concentrations and impaired suppression by dexamethasone. The cells of the patients had similar numbers of glucocorticoid receptors to those of the control subjects but higher values for Kd (i.e. a lower binding affinity). The cells of the patients incorporated less [3H]thymidine than the control cells in the absence of dexamethasone. The percentage inhibition by a saturating concentration of dexamethasone was unchanged but the concentration giving half-maximal inhibition was decreased (sensitivity was increased) at the higher of the two concanavalin A concentrations used. CONCLUSIONS: These experiments in mononuclear leucocytes give no evidence of peripheral resistance to glucocorticoids in hip-fracture patients with impaired suppression of cortisol by dexamethasone.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dante Dallari ◽  
Luigi Zagra ◽  
Pietro Cimatti ◽  
Nicola Guindani ◽  
Rocco D’Apolito ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Treatment of hip fractures during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed unique challenges for the management of COVID-19-infected patients and the maintenance of standards of care. The primary endpoint of this study is to compare the mortality rate at 1 month after surgery in symptomatic COVID-positive patients with that of asymptomatic patients. A secondary endpoint of the study is to evaluate, in the two groups of patients, mortality at 1 month on the basis of type of fracture and type of surgical treatment. Materials and methods For this retrospective multicentre study, we reviewed the medical records of patients hospitalised for proximal femur fracture at 14 hospitals in Northern Italy. Two groups were formed: COVID-19-positive patients (C+ group) presented symptoms, had a positive swab for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and received treatment for COVID-19; COVID-19-negative patients (C− group) were asymptomatic and tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. The two groups were compared for differences in time to surgery, survival rate and complications rate. The follow-up period was 1 month. Results Of the 1390 patients admitted for acute care for any reason, 477 had a proximal femur fracture; 53 were C+ but only 12/53 were diagnosed as such at admission. The mean age was > 80 years, and the mean American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score was 3 in both groups. There was no substantial difference in time to surgery (on average, 2.3 days for the C+ group and 2.8 for the C− group). As expected, a higher mortality rate was recorded for the C+ group but not associated with the type of hip fracture or treatment. No correlation was found between early treatment (< 48 h to surgery) and better outcome in the C+ group. Conclusions Hip fracture in COVID-19-positive patients accounted for 11% of the total. On average, the time to surgery was > 48 h, which reflects the difficulty of maintaining normal workflow during a medical emergency such as the present pandemic and notwithstanding the suspension of non-urgent procedures. Hip fracture was associated with a higher 30-day mortality rate in COVID-19-positive patients than in COVID-19-negative patients. This fact should be considered when communicating with patients and/or their family. Our data suggest no substantial difference in hip fracture management between patients with or without COVID-19 infection. In this sample, the COVID-19-positive patients were generally asymptomatic at admission; therefore, routine screening is recommended. Level of evidence Therapeutic study, level 4.


Author(s):  
Johannes Gleich ◽  
Daniel Pfeufer ◽  
Alexander M. Keppler ◽  
Stefan Mehaffey ◽  
Julian Fürmetz ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Treatment of older adult hip fracture patients can be challenging and requires early postoperative mobilisation to prevent complications. Simple clinical tools to predict mobilisation/weight-bearing difficulties after hip fracture surgery are scarcely available and analysis of handgrip strength could be a feasible approach. In the present study, we hypothesised that patients with reduced handgrip strength show incapability to follow postoperative weight-bearing instructions. Materials and methods Eighty-four patients aged ≥ 65 years with a proximal femur fracture (trochanteric, n = 45 or femoral neck, n = 39), who were admitted to a certified orthogeriatric center, were consecutively enrolled in a prospective study design. Five days after surgery (intramedullary nailing or arthroplasty), a standardised assessment of handgrip strength and a gait analysis (via insole forcesensors) was performed. Results Handgrip strength showed positive correlation with average peak force during gait on the affected limb (0.259), postoperative Parker Mobility Score (0.287) and Barthel Index (0.306). Only slight positive correlation was observed with gait speed (0.157). These results were congruent with multivariate regression analysis. Conclusion Assessment of handgrip strength is a simple and reliable tool for early prediction of postoperative mobilisation complications like the inability to follow weight-bearing instructions in older hip fracture patients. Follow-up studies should evaluate if these findings also match with other fracture types and result in personalised adjustment of current aftercare patterns. In addition, efforts should be made to combine objectively collected data as handgrip strength or gait speed in a prediction model for long-term outcome of orthogeriatric patients.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0241616
Author(s):  
Linsey U. Gani ◽  
Kundan R. Saripalli ◽  
Karen Fernandes ◽  
Suet F. Leong ◽  
Koh T. Tsai ◽  
...  

Introduction Studies show trabecular bone score (TBS) may provide information regarding bone quality independent of bone mineral density (BMD) in type 2 diabetes (DM2) patients. We analyzed our Southeast Asian severe osteoporotic hip fracture patients to study these differences. Methods We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of subjects admitted to Changi General Hospital, Singapore with severe osteoporotic hip fractures from 2014–2017 who had BMD performed. Electronic records were reviewed and subjects were classified as having diabetes according to the WHO 2019 criteria. DM2 patients were classified according to their HbA1c into well controlled (HbA1c < 7%) and poorly controlled (HbA1c ≥ 7%) DM2. Results Elderly patients with hip fractures present with average femur neck T scores at the osteoporotic range, however those with DM2 had higher BMD and TBS values compared to non DM2 patients. These differences were statistically significant in elderly women—poorly controlled elderly DM2 women with hip fracture had the highest total hip T-score (-2.57 ± 0.86) vs (-2.76 ± 0.96) in well controlled DM2 and (-3.09 ± 1.01) in non DM2 women with hip fracture, p < 0.001. In contrast, TBS scores were lower in poorly controlled DM2 women with hip fracture compared to well controlled DM2 women with hip fracture (1.22 ± 0.11) vs (1.24 ± 0.09), but these were still significantly higher compared to non DM2 women with hip fracture (1.19 ± 0.10), p < 0.001. In elderly men with hip fractures, univariate analysis showed no statistically significant differences in TBS or hip or LS BMD between those with poorly controlled DM2, well controlled DM2 and non DM2. The differences in TBS and BMD remained significant in all DM2 women with hip fractures even after adjustments for potential confounders. Differences in TBS and BMD in poorly controlled DM2 men with hip fractures only became significant after accounting for potential confounders. However, upon inclusion of LS BMD into the multivariate model these differences were attenuated and remained significant only between elderly women with well controlled DM2 and non DM2 women with hip fractures. Conclusions Elderly patients with DM2 and severe osteoporosis present with hip fractures at a higher BMD and TBS values compared to non DM2 patients. These differences were significant after adjustment for confounders in all DM2 women and poorly controlled DM2 men with hip fractures, TBS differences were attenuated with the inclusion LS BMD. Further studies are needed to ascertain differences in BMD and TBS in older Southeast Asian DM2 patients with variable glycemic control and severe osteoporosis.


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