scholarly journals Two Case Reports of Elderly Patients with Anorexia: the Importance of Confirming Medication and a Potential Infectious Disease

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-498
Author(s):  
Seonghee Joo ◽  
Soyeon An ◽  
Soyoung Hur ◽  
Eungyeong Jang ◽  
Youngchul Kim ◽  
...  
2019 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 189-192
Author(s):  
Wissam G. El Hajj Moussa ◽  
Simon E. Rizk ◽  
Nidal C. Assaker ◽  
Elias S. Makhoul ◽  
Elie H. Chelala

2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Bullock ◽  
S. Libretto

SummaryRisperidone is one of the newer atypical antipsychotic agents, which combines potent serotonin and dopamine receptor antagonism. It shows efficacy against the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenic psychoses and other psychotic conditions, and has a low propensity to cause extrapyramidal side effects. The aim of these case reports in elderly patients is to provide the benefit of personal experience with risperidone to the body of published literature and to demonstrate the types of patients that may benefit from treatment. These cases were compiled retrospectively from data collected on referral and during routine hospital appointments. This series covers four main areas of concern when treating the elderly: low-maintenance dosing minimising the likelihood of adverse events; successful treatment of patients previously uncontrolled and experiencing side effects with other antipsychotics; the possibility of intermittent rather than continuous treatment; and the benefits to patients, carers and the health services. At low doses, risperidone is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for psychoses in elderly patients that improves the quality of life for both patients and their caregivers.


Revista Dor ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matheus Santos Gomes Jorge ◽  
Lia Mara Wibelinger ◽  
Bruna Knob ◽  
Caroline Zanin

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 1113
Author(s):  
Anna Beltrame ◽  
Gianfranco Barabino ◽  
Yiran Wei ◽  
Andrea Clapasson ◽  
Pierantonio Orza ◽  
...  

Leprosy is a chronic neglected infectious disease that affects over 200,000 people each year and causes disabilities in more than four million people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The disease can appear with a wide spectrum of clinical forms, and therefore the clinical suspicion is often difficult. Refugees and migrants from endemic countries affected by leprosy can remain undiagnosed in Europe due to the unpreparedness of clinicians. We retrospectively describe the characteristics of 55 refugees/migrants with a diagnosis of leprosy established in Italy from 2009 to 2018. Continents of origin were Africa (42%), Asia (40%), and South and Central America (18%). The symptoms reported were skin lesions (91%), neuropathy (71%), edema (7%), eye involvement (6%), fever (6%), arthritis (4%), and lymphadenopathy (4%). Seven patients (13%) had irreversible complications. Overall, 35% were relapses and 66% multibacillary leprosy. Furthermore, we conducted a review of 17 case reports or case series and five nationwide reports, published in the same decade, describing 280 migrant patients with leprosy in Europe. In Europe, leprosy is a rare chronic infectious disease, but it has not completely disappeared. Diagnosis and treatment of leprosy in refugees and migrants from endemic countries are a challenge. European guidelines for this neglected disease in this high-risk population would be beneficial.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Leonidas Grigorakos ◽  
Katerina Tzortzopoulou ◽  
Anastasia Alexopoulou ◽  
Eva Sotiriou ◽  
Dimitra Markopoulou ◽  
...  

Background: Differentiated diagnosis of meningoencephalitis in elderly patients, when an uncommon picture of respiratory infection leading to acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) and without neurological signs is present, may raise serious difficulties.Case report: Two patients aged 72 (patient 1) and 75 (patient 2), without any medical history of respiratory problems, were hospitalized during spring with influenza symptoms. Within less than 24 hours from their admission, patients developed AHFR, which led to disturbances of arterial blood gases (ABGs). They were intubated and transferred, mechanically ventilated, to our intensive care unit (ICU). After normalization of ABGs, a weaning process followed. Weaning was unsuccessful, as unexpected neurological semiotics occurred. The imaging of neurological MRI revealed no special damage apart from microangiopathy. Further investigations through lumbar puncture with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing revealed meningoencephalitis. Antiviral treatment was applied and the outcome was successful for both patients.Conclusion: Critical care medical personnel should be aware of the event of viral meningoencephalitis in elderly patients with AHRF. Especially in the middle of influenza endemic periods, the management of elderly patients may not be appropriate, thus resulting in serious delays for a proper treatment of disease. Laboratory screening of blood and urine, as well as other body fluids, can help detect and determine brain infection. Results from these tests can help exclude other diseases that mimic meningoencephalitis. In cases of patients who are hospitalized in the ICU due to AHRF and do not exhibit neurological abnormalities from the onset of illness, lumbar puncture and check of CSF should be a routine examination. Prophylactic vaccination of high-risk groups may be of crucial importance for preventing complications in patients who develop meningoencephalitis. However, once infected with this disease, the positive outcome is highly dependent on the immediate diagnosis and proper treatment of patients in the ICU.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 172-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginie Siguret ◽  
Alain Leizorovicz ◽  
Eric Pautas ◽  
Isabelle Gouin-Thibault

Abstract Abstract 172 The “Innohep® in Renal Insufficiency Study” (IRIS) was an international, multicentre, open, randomized, parallel group clinical trial with a primary objective to compare the safety of tinzaparin and unfractionated heparin in terms of clinically relevant bleeding (CRB) in elderly patients with impaired renal function for initial treatment of acute deep vein thrombosis. In the elderly, concerns have been raised about the risk of an accumulation effect and/or overdose due to the renal elimination of low molecular weight heparins (LMWH). In a subset of centres participating in the IRIS study, we conducted a substudy in order to assess whether there was an accumulation of anti-Xa activity and whether there was any relationship between anti-Xa activity and age, weight, creatinine clearance or clinical outcomes in patients treated with tinzaparin (175 IU/kg/24h) for venous thromboembolism. Plasma anti-Xa activity was to be analysed at peak level (4–6 hours after injection) on Day 2 or Day 3 and on Day 5 or at visit S (VS: day of visit at end of SC treatment) using a chromogenic assay (Rotachrom® heparin, Diagnostica Stago®). Of the complete IRIS study population who received tinzaparin (n=268), data from 87 patients (32%) were analysed. The patient characteristics (mean age 83±5 years [75–99 years], mean creatinine clearance (Cockcroft-Gault) 40.8 mL/min (SD 11.7, range 14–59) were consistent with those of the overall population of IRIS study. Of note, 24.1% had severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance < 30 mL/min). The mean peak anti-Xa activities, which were 0.86 (SD 0.34) and 0.87 (SD 0.31) IU/mL on Day2/3 and Day5/VS, respectively, were found close to the mean 0.85 IU/mL reported in the literature in patients receiving tinzaparin at therapeutic dose. There was no correlation between the anti-Xa activity and age, weight, or creatinine clearance. There was no significant difference in the anti-Xa levels between patients with, versus those without, severe renal impairment. The mean accumulation ratio (defined as anti-Xa activity on Day5/VS divided by the anti-Xa activity on Day2/3) was 1.06 (SD 0.30, 90% CI:1.01–1.11): as the 90% CI of the accumulation did not exceed the pre-defined upper limit of 1.25, no significant accumulation was detected. The mean anti-Xa activity did not differ significantly between the 8 patients experiencing a CRB during tinzaparin treatment and the 79 who did not experience a CRB during tinzaparin treatment. Among the 8 patients who had a CRB, one had an anti-Xa activity > 2.0 IU/mL (considered above therapeutic level) whereas the seven others had anti-Xa < 1.5 IU/mL. Interestingly, we found that the mean anti-Xa activities were significantly lower in the 12 patients with infectious disease at baseline compared to the patients without infectious disease: 0.66 (SD 0.18) vs 0.8 (SD 0.35) IU/mL on Day2/3, p=0.007; 0.62 (SD 0.23) vs 0.91 (SD 0.30) IU/mL on Day5/VS, p=0.002). These numbers are small but may require further investigation. There was no statistically significant difference in anti-Xa levels when comparing patients with versus those without ongoing malignancy. In conclusion, an IRIS substudy demonstrated no accumulation of anti-Xa activity in elderly patients with moderate to severe renal impairment receiving unadjusted recommended full dose of tinzaparin and confirms previous pharmacokinetic studies in similar populations. The high proportion of higher molecular weight moieties in tinzaparin may account for reduced dependence on renal elimination of the anti-Xa activity seen in elderly patients with renal impairment. Disclosures: Siguret: Leo-Pharma: this work was supported by a grant from Leo-Pharma. Leizorovicz:GSK: Consultancy. Gouin-Thibault:Leo-Pharma: this work was supported by a grant from Leo-Pharma.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Hoffmann ◽  
Mark Berneburg ◽  
Stephan Schreml

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a blistering autoimmune disease mainly observed in elderly patients. Several triggers are known for this autoimmune disease and some drugs are known to be a cause of BP. However, there are only few case reports on the induction of BP under adalimumab therapy. Other autoimmune diseases, such as lupus erythematosus, are also known to occur under TNF inhibition. Here, we report on an 81-year-old patient who received adalimumab for ulcerative colitis and subsequently developed BP. Other causes of BP (tumors, other drugs, viral or toxoplasma infections) were excluded. We initiated a topical and systemic therapy (prednisolone 1 mg/kg/day) and stopped the adalimumab injections. The patient’s symptoms resolved quickly and we were able to taper corticosteroid therapy. This rare case highlights the importance to monitor for autoimmune events during TNF inhibition.


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