Biomedical subjects

C Schindler

Publications and source records attributed to C Schindler.

148 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Pattern of prescriptions issued by nursing home-based physicians versus office-based physicians for frail elderly patients in German nursing homes.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the physician prescription pattern for frail elderly patients in German nursing homes and to identify differences, if any, between that of physicians based in the nursing homes (A) and those with office-based practices (B). METHODS: Retrospective, longitudinal study of medication prescriptions on the basis of the database of a health insurance (Betriebskrankenkasse) in Berlin, Germany. We assessed the medication prescriptions for all 996 unselected insured individuals aged > or = 60 years who were insured throughout 1999 and lived in nursing homes. We analyzed selected patient characteristics and prescription data. Drugs were classified according to the WHO ATC code and were assigned a mean daily defined dose (DDD). RESULTS: 816 individuals were women and 180 were men. A total of 78% of women and 43% of men were aged 80 years or older. Two hundred sixty three patients were seen by nursing home-based physicians (A) and 733 by office-based physicians (B). The median of prescriptions per patient and year was 31 (A) and 37 (B) (p between groups < 0.001). Patients in Group A also received a lower number of DDDs in comparison to Group B (1109 vs 1250; p < 0.01). Costs were substantially higher in group B, and in both groups higher in the 60-69 years old in comparison to the more senior patients. The prescription pattern suggested a considerable frequency of inappropriate drug use in both groups in the following classes: psychopharmacological agents (neuroleptics, antidepressants, hypnotics), pain medication, digitalis glycosides, laxants and loop diuretics. On an average, office-based physicians (B) prescribed relatively more medications in all major classes with the exception of non-opiate analgesics, laxants and anxiolytics. CONCLUSIONS: These data are indicative of a considerable use of inappropriate medication for frail geriatric patients. Differences between the prescribing pattern among nursing home-based and office-based physicians were not substantial, however, the latter group prescribed relatively more drugs.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of L-carnitine supplemented total parenteral nutrition on lipid and energy metabolism in postoperative stress.

During episodes of trauma carnitine-free total parenteral nutrition (TPN) may result in a reduction of the total body carnitine pool, leading to a diminished rate of fat oxidation. Sixteen patients undergoing esophagectomy were divided randomly in two equal isonitrogenous groups (0.2 g/kg.day). Both received TPN (35 kcal/kg.day; equally provided as long-chain triglycerides and glucose) over 11 days without (group A) and with (group B) L-carnitine supplementation (12 mg/kg.day = 75 mumol/kg.day). Compared with healthy controls, the total body carnitine pool prior to the operation was significantly reduced in both groups, suggesting a state of semistarvation and muscle wasting. In group A the plasma levels of total carnitine and its subfractions (free carnitine, short- and long-chain acylcarnitine) remained stable during the study whereas in group B the total plasma carnitine concentration rose mainly due to an increase in free carnitine. In group A the cumulative urinary carnitine losses were 11.5 +/- 2.6 mmol (= 15.5 +/- 3.1% of the estimated total body carnitine pool). In group B 3.1 +/- 1.9 mmol (= 11.1 +/- 7.6%) of the infused carnitine was retained in the immediate postoperative phase until day 6, but this amount was completely lost at completion of the study period. No significant differences in the respiratory quotient or in the plasma levels of triglycerides, free fatty acids, and ketone bodies were observed, between or within the groups, before the operation and after 11 days of treatment. It is concluded that the usefulness of carnitine supplementation during postoperative TPN was not apparent in the present patient material.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Metabolic and respiratory effects of sodium lactate during short i.v. nutrition in critically ill patients.

BACKGROUND: Hyperglycemia and an increased ventilatory demand secondary to an increased CO2 production are frequent undesirable effects of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in critically ill patients. This study was performed to assess whether sodium lactate as a metabolic substrate may affect these variables. METHODS: Five male patients with multiple trauma during the flow phase were studied during two consecutive 3-hour periods of isocaloric (1.1 x resting energy expenditure) TPN. Sixty-five percent of total calories was provided as carbohydrate, 15% as lipids, and 20% as amino acids during the first period (TPN-glucose), whereas 35% carbohydrate, 30% lactate, 20% lipids, and 15% amino acids (TPN-lactate) were substituted during the second period. Respiratory gas exchanges and net substrate oxidation were assessed by means of indirect calorimetry. Glucose kinetics was determined by primed-constant infusion of U-13C glucose. RESULTS: Compared with TPN-glucose, TPN-lactate decreased glycemia by 20%, insulinemia by 43%, net carbohydrate oxidation (assessed from indirect calorimetry) by 34%, and plasma glucose oxidation (assessed from 13CO2) by 54%. Respiratory oxygen exchange were increased by 3.7% due to a 20% thermic effect of lactate, but respiratory CO2 exchanges did not change. Pao2 decreased by 11.3 mm Hg, indicating that the increased O2 consumption was not matched by an appropriate increase in spontaneous ventilation. Arterial pH increased from 7.41 +/- 0.04 to 7.46 +/- 0.05. CONCLUSION: Sodium lactate as a metabolic substrate limits hyperglycemia but induces metabolic alkalosis and does not spare the ventilatory demand.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Monstrous fetal lymphangioma of the thoracic wall bilaterally. Case report and discussion of diagnosis and perinatal management].

Prenatal diagnosis, perinatal management, and surgical treatment of children with lymphangioma can cause considerable difficulties. This paper presents a case of a thoracic wall lymphangioma diagnosed in the seventeenth week of pregnancy, with quickly developed monstrous dimensions. The postnatal phase was complicated by preterm delivery in the 32nd week or pregnancy, bleeding in the tumor and mechanical compression of the thorax by the huge masses. Pediatric intensive care and surgical treatment save the child. Cosmetic result is convenient. By example of the presented case the literature, problems of diagnosis, perinatal management and nomenclature of lymphangioma are discussed.

Adult↗