Clinical diagnosis of 80 cases of dementia in a university hospital

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to estimate the prevalence of dementia subtypes and to assess the socio-demographic data of patients attending the outpatient clinic of dementia at Hospital das Clínicas from January 2008 to December 2009, in the city of Goiânia-GO, Brazil. METHODS: Procedures provided for diagnosis included physical and neurological examination, laboratory tests, neuroimaging and DSM-IV. The functional capacity and level of cognitive deficit were assessed by Pfeffer Functional Activities Questionnaire (Pfeffer-FAQ) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), respectively. RESULTS: Eighty patients met the criteria for dementia. The mean age was 63.48 (± 16.85) years old, the schooling was 3.30 (± 3.59) years old, the MMSE was 13.89 (± 7.79) and Pfeffer 17.73 (± 9.76). The Vascular Dementia (VD; 17.5%) was the most frequent cause of dementia, followed by Lewy body dementia (LBD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) (12.25%). CONCLUSION: Considering entire sample and only the elderly over 60 years, VD, AD and LBD are the most common subtypes observed at both groups. Further epidemiological studies are necessary to confirm such rates, which may have a considerable impact on the organization and planning of healthcare services in our country.

Forensic neuropsychological assessment: clinical case of depression and working incapacity

Issues related to mental health in relation to court matters have increasingly required the participation of the psychologist. We present the use of forensic neuropsychological assessment in a case of retirement reversal. Incapacity was attested due to disability resulting from depression of a 35-year-old attorney, and the case was forwarded from the courts to the Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology Unit at the USP Clinical Hospital. A clinical interview and application of cognitive tests was conducted. Despite the depression, significant cognitive losses that would prevent return to his professional assignments were not detected. The neuropsychological assessment has been shown to be an important tool in the forensic context, as it assists with diagnostic value for clarification of functional aspects in the various psychopathological areas in terms of disabilities or potentialities.

Contenção física no hospital psiquiátrico: estudo transversal das práticas e fatores de risco

RESUMO Objetivos Descrever a utilização da contenção física em um hospital psiquiátrico público e analisar os fatores de risco associados com seu uso, no contexto da implantação de um protocolo clínico. Métodos Em um hospital psiquiátrico público de Belo Horizonte-MG, os formulários de registro e monitoramento de contenção física (2011-2012) foram analisados e comparados com os registros das demais internações englobadas no mesmo período. Neste estudo transversal, além das análises descritivas das características clínicas e demográficas dos pacientes contidos, das técnicas utilizadas e das complicações reportadas, os fatores de risco associados com o uso da contenção foram analisados por meio de regressão logística múltipla. Resultados A contenção foi utilizada em 13,4% das internações, sendo mais comum em pacientes jovens, do sexo masculino, portadores de psicoses não orgânicas, apresentando agitação/agressividade. A técnica foi geralmente de quatro pontos, durando entre 61-240 minutos. Os únicos fatores de risco significativos para o uso da contenção incluíram a idade (OR = 0,98; p = 0,008) e o tempo de permanência (OR = 1,01; p < 0,001). Conclusões A contenção física foi utilizada usualmente na abordagem aguda do paciente agitado/agressivo inabordável verbalmente, no contexto de um transtorno psicótico. O registro dos dados vitais e dos efeitos adversos foram os itens menos aderentes aos protocolos vigentes.

Longitudinal analysis of tumor marker CEA of breast cancer patients from Braga's hospital

Allied to an epidemiological study of population of the Senology Unit of Braga’s Hospital that have been diagnosed with malignant breast cancer, we describe the progression in time of repeated measurements of tumor marker Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Our main purpose is to describe the progression of this tumor marker as a function of possible risk factors and, hence, to understand how these risk factors influences that progression. The response variable, values of CEA, was analyzed making use of longitudinal models, testing for different correlation structures. The same covariates used in a previous survival analysis were considered in the longitudinal model. The reference time used was time from diagnose until death from breast cancer. For diagnostic of the models fitted we have used empirical and theoretical variograms. To evaluate the fixed term of the longitudinal model we have tested for a changing point on the effect of time on the tumor marker progression. A longitudinal model was also fitted only to the subset of patients that died from breast cancer, using the reference time as time from date of death until blood test.

Tratamento medicamentoso da insuficiência cardíaca em hospital terciário de São Paulo

OBJETIVO: Verificar como são tratados pacientes com insuficiência cardíaca (IC) em hospital terciário de São Paulo. MÉTODOS: Analisados 100 pacientes com IC, em tratamento ambulatorial, com idade média de 56,8 anos, sendo 76 homens. Todos realizaram estudo ecocardiográfico, que identificou diâmetros ventriculares entre 48 e 89mm (média 65,9) e fração de ejeção (FE) entre 0,22 e 0,59 (média 0,43). A etiologia da disfunção ventricular (DV) foi isquêmica em 42 casos, cardiomiopatia dilatada em 28, secundária à valvopatia em 12, doença de Chagas em 10 e cardiomiopatia hipertensiva em 8. Analisou-se a terapêutica prescrita, se continha inibidores da enzima conversora de angiotensina (IECA) e qual a sua dosagem. Foi analisado, também, se a etiologia ou o grau de DV tinha influência na prescrição. RESULTADOS: Oitenta e sete pacientes receberam IECA, sendo que em 31 a dose foi inferior à preconizada nos grandes estudos. Digoxina foi prescrita em 69 casos, diuréticos em 85 e ácido acetilsalicílico em 33. Dividindo os pacientes em dois grupos, com FE maior e menor que 0,45, observamos que, no último, foi maior a prescrição de IECA (91,5% vs 80,4%) e maior o uso de doses adequadas (61% vs 48,7%). CONCLUSÃO: A maioria dos pacientes foi tratada conforme recomendações atuais, apresentando boa tolerabilidade para IECA, contudo 1/3 deles não usou IECA em dose considerada adequada. Esquemas terapêuticos com betabloqueadores e inibidores da angiotensina II não fizeram parte da prática clínica rotineira.

O hospital da misericórdia de Penafiel (1600-1850)

Tese de Doutoramento em História - Especialidade de Idade Moderna

Depressão em pacientes HIV positivos: a realidade de um hospital português

Aims: Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder among people infected with HIV. This study aims to characterize the Hospital of Joaquim Urbano population of HIV-infected patients’ profile regarding depressive symptoms and whether they correlate with the analytical parameters most frequently evaluated in the context of infection by this virus – HIV viral load, CD4+ count and CD4+ percentage. Methods: We conducted an observational descriptive and analytical study. The participants’ level of depressive symptoms was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory. The medical and psychiatric history and the analytical values of viral load, CD4+ count and CD4+ percentage were obtained by consulting the participants’ clinical processes. Results: A prevalence of 65.5% in HIV-infected patients’ depressive symptoms was found, with a considerable high percentage of subjects presenting with severe symptoms (32.7%). No associations between the depressive symptoms’ levels and CD4+ count, CD4+ percentage or viral load were found. However, depressive symptoms were associated with substance abuse and education level. Conclusions: The high prevalence of depressive symptoms found in this study reinforces the importance of monitoring this type of symptoms in HIV-infected subjects. The fact that there have been no associations between depressive symptoms and the analytical parameters evaluated is in line with previous studies.