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 261,466 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Though patients usually die peacefully, problems may arise in the last period of a terminal illness. In the final days new symptoms may arise or there may be exacerbation or recurrence of symptoms previously well controlled. Two hundred consecutive hospice patients were studied. The incidence was noted of pain, dyspnea, moist breathing, nausea and vomiting, confusion, restlessness, jerking and twitching, difficulty in swallowing, incontinence and retention of urine, sweating, moaning and groaning, and loss of consciousness. Each symptom is considered and the results of the management employed are noted. Many of the features appearing in the last days of a terminal illness, especially cancer, can be attributed to organic brain disease consequent to metabolic disorder associated with multi-organ failure. An awareness of the nature of the problems that may arise in the last 48 hours of life makes it possible to keep the patient comfortable to the end.
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PMID:The last 48 hours of life. 170 17

Radiotherapy is an indispensable modality in the palliation of cancer. All palliative care programs should be acquainted with its indications and have a close working relationship with a radiation oncology department. The technical aspects of the subject may be intimidating to many staff and patients, and departments need to improve their outreach and education. The main indications are: pain relief (particularly bone pain), control of hemorrhage, fungation and ulceration, dyspnea, blockage of hollow viscera, and the shrinkage of any tumors causing problems by virtue of space occupancy. In addition, it has an important role in the palliation of three oncological emergencies: superior vena caval obstruction, spinal cord compression, and raised intracranial pressure due to cerebral metastases. More pragmatic fractionation schedules are being developed that are compatible with good results in terms of palliative end points, giving shorter courses with fewer hospital attendances for patient and family comfort and convenience. More clinical research and evaluation of palliative radiotherapy are required.
J Pain Symptom Manage 1991 Aug
PMID:The role of radiotherapy in palliative care. 171 70

Endovascular infections that involve the right side of the heart present their own unique etiologies, pathophysiologies, clinical manifestations, and therapeutic issues. The pathology of the vegetations of right-sided endocarditis is identical to that of left-sided endocarditis. These vegetations are irregular, friable masses of varying size the contain platelets, fibrin, RBCs, and microorganisms. These lesions serve as a nidus for deep-seated infection and produce sustained bacteremia. Right-sided endocarditis occurs in 5% to 10% of all cases of endocarditis. The most common predisposing factors are IV drug abuse and congenital heart disease. S. aureus is the most common pathogen. The clinical manifestations include fever, chills, rigor, dyspnea, pleuritic pain, productive cough, and hemoptysis. The cardiac manifestations can be notably absent early in the course of the disease, with only 20% of patients initially showing a significant murmur on physical examination. Peripheral embolic lesions can be seen. Echocardiography is helpful in identifying vegetations on the tricuspid valve in a significant proportion of patients. The chest radiograph is characteristic, showing features typical of multiple septic pulmonary emboli. The radiograph shows multiple, small, fuzzy, patchy, peripherally located densities that can change rapidly on serial films. Complications of right-sided endocarditis include pulmonary infarction, pulmonary abscess, progressive right-sided heart failure, and renal abnormalities. The treatment of right-sided endocarditis includes prolonged therapy, with high doses of IV bactericidal antibiotics. Four weeks of antibiotic therapy is generally required, but newer regimens using combination antibiotic therapy can be successful in sensitive strains of viridans group streptococci and S. aureus. Surgical resection of the tricuspid valve is recommended for organisms that do not respond to initial antibiotic therapy, fungal endocarditis, resistant relapsing organisms, or coexistent infection with S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The prognosis of right-sided endocarditis is generally favorable when compared with left-sided endocarditis. The prognosis is especially favorable in IV drug abusers infected with S. aureus. Patients infected with fungal organisms, Pseudomonas or Serratia, have a worse prognosis. The presence of significant right-sided heart failure also imparts a worse prognosis.
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PMID:Endovascular infections arising from right-sided heart structures. 173 55

During the last three years, 79 adults suffering from acute epiglottitis have been treated in the ENT departments of the university hospital Rudolf Virchow, Berlin, 36 women (41 years of age as an average) and 43 men (average age 39 years). Acute epiglottitis developed either all of a sudden, within hours, or gradually, within days. All patients complained of dysphagia and pain in the throat; dyspnea could be observed in 20%. During examination, we could see an inflamed, thickened epiglottis with edema of the arytenoid cartilages. 55 patients reported an infection of the upper airway prior to the onset of symptoms of acute epiglottitis, epiglottic abscess developed in 11 adults. The inflammation responded satisfactorily to conservative antibiotic management (broad spectrum penicillin). Only one patient had to undergo intubation, none of the adults required tracheotomy.
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PMID:[Clinical aspects of acute epiglottitis in adults]. 175 15

A 36-year-old woman presented with multiple shadows, up to 1 cm in diameter, in both lungs revealed by routine chest radiography. Right thoracotomy showed numerous firm nodules in the middle and lower lobes. Histological examination of the wedge biopsy disclosed an epithelioid haemangioendothelioma of the lung (positive immunohistochemical reaction for factor VIII-associated antigen). Eight years later the patient remains symptom-free without treatment and the radiological picture is almost unaltered. Another woman, 22 years old, had a skin nodule near the right external malleolus. It was removed and found to be a semi-malignant haemangioendothelioma. Five years later a chest radiograph showed finely nodular shadowing in both lungs which roused suspicion of sarcoidosis. She had steroid therapy for one year, but the radiological findings remained unchanged. After a further 10 years a round lesion, some 3 cm in diameter with partial calcification, was found in the right lower lobe. Histological examination revealed an epithelioid haemangioendothelioma with a positive immunohistochemical reaction for factor VIII-associated antigen. She subsequently complained of severe pain in the left shoulder (with histologically demonstrated bone involvement by the neoplasm) together with rapidly increasing dyspnoea. Seventeen years after the original diagnosis she died of rapidly progressive diffuse lymphangiomatosis carcinomatosa. Post mortem secondary deposits were found in the liver as well.
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PMID:[The morphology and clinical picture of epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the lung]. 175 94

By reviewing the literature, this paper explores the nature and function of sleep. Most of the evidence for the functional theories of sleep has been obtained as a result of examining the effects of sleep deprivation, the physiological, emotional and behavioural effects of which are discussed. There is a discussion on how an awareness of the theoretical knowledge may help in the nursing care of patients with advanced cancer and other chronic diseases, as well as their carers. The physiological effects of stress, and the possible relationship to patients and their carers, leads the author to highlight the need for further research, and possible benefit of proactive intervention for the bereaved. The effects of poor nutrition and common symptoms such as pain and dyspnoea on sleep, and the iatrogenic causes of sleep disturbances, are discussed. The importance of individualized patient care is stressed. The conclusion is drawn that although researchers do not seem to have been able to prove conclusively any essential function of sleep, the nurse is in a unique position to facilitate and enable patients and their carers to cope during the waking hours, without the added stress that sleep disruption and deprivation bring.
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PMID:Why do we need sleep? Relating theory to nursing practice. 179 Dec 60

Myopathy may be associated with the syndrome of seroconversion in individuals infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or may represent the initial symptom of AIDS. In 1990, 39-year old white, single homosexual who was admitted 1 month prior had experienced an episode of edema and pain in the left thigh that faded with the use of nonhormonal antiinflammatory drugs. 15 days later both forearms became enlarged accompanied by pain and erythema. Erythromycin and cefalexine were used without success. Intermittent fever started to appear before admission accompanied by dyspnea when straining. Examination showed tachypnea, oral candidiasis, and enlargement of both upper arms with pain and local erythema without articular involvement. Neurological examination revealed hypotonia and generalized hyperreflexia with intact muscle strength. Serology was positive for HIV, rheumatic activity tests were negative, and muscle biopsy indicated multifocal myonecrosis. Creatinine phosphokinase was 1019 IU (decrease to 44 IU after treatment), aldolase was 19 IU (decrease to 5.6 IU), and glutamic-pyruvic transminase was 50 IU (decrease to 22 IU). Radiography of the thorax indicated interstitial infiltration. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy indicated Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Sulfamethoxazole and trimetropim treatment cured the dyspnea and hypoxemia, but the enlargement of both arms progressed. Capillaroscopy indicated vasculitis that was treated without success with indomethacin (150 mg/day), for 7 days; prednisone (40-80 mg/day) for 10 days; and dexamethasone (280 mg/day) for 2 days. 6 days after methotrexate (50 mg/dose/week) treatment the fever disappeared and the enlargement in the extremities receded, but a lower dose of 7.5 mg caused the return of fever and edema in the right thigh. The myopathy remained asymptomatic for 5 months with a weekly dose of 15 mg of methotrexate.
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PMID:[AIDS and myopathy: report of a case and review of the literature]. 180 40

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SPM) is a relatively uncommon, infrequently reported entity. To determine the clinical presentation and sequelae of SPM, data were obtained from 25 patients: 14 from Hadassah University Hospital, and 11 from other medical institutions. The mean age was 18.8 +/- 5.2 years (+/- SD), with a range of 8 to 31 years. The most common presenting complaint was retrosternal pain in 22 patients (88 percent), dyspnea in 15 (60 percent), dysphagia in 10 (40 percent), and weakness in 10 (40 percent). Predisposing factors for the development of SPM could be identified in 18 patients (72 percent). Information on the sequelae of SPM during a mean period of 87.4 +/- 38.0 months following the initial SPM episode was obtained from 23 patients. Recurrent SPM occurred in 1 patient at 18 months, and another patient experienced 4 episodes of recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax. No other long-term sequelae were reported. We conclude that SPM is a benign self-limited disease with diverse clinical manifestations. Although uncommon, recurrences of SPM may be observed.
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PMID:Spontaneous pneumomediastinum. A report of 25 cases. 160 Aug 16

A 59 year old patient with leg pain and dyspnea was hospitalized for suspected deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The clinical, scintigraphic and radiological findings confirmed the diagnosis. Immediate therapy with heparin and oral warfarin resulted in an improvement of pain and dyspnea within a few days. The strategy for diagnostic evaluation of patients with suspected pulmonary thromboembolism is discussed.
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PMID:[Leg pain, dyspnea]. 186 61

Main clinical symptoms and signs in diffuse malignant pleura mesotheliomas are thoracic pain (58%) and gradually increasing dyspnoea (50%). Pleural effusion is the most frequent x-ray manifestation (80%), but it is haemorrhagic in only 50% of the cases. Cytology has a sensitivity of approx. 50%; with the epithelial type it yields definitely better results (76%) than with the biphasic (49%) or fibrous (25%) types. The carcinoembryonic antigen level is usually low in the effusion, but enhanced values do not exclude a diffuse malignant pleura mesothelioma. For differentiation against metastasised adenocarcinomas, which is often difficult, it is recommended to effect histological examination of the tumour tissue obtained either by pleura punch biopsy (sensitivity 40-50%) or by thoracoscopy (sensitivity 90-95%). In this manner, accurate staging is possible in conjunction with CT. Particularly in case of fibrous growth, it is sometimes only thoracotomy that enables final diagnostic clarification.
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PMID:[Diagnosis of diffuse pleural mesotheliomas]. 187 93


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