Internal Medicine Commons^™

Strategies To Improve Control Of Blood A1c In Diabetics, Jennifer Aronson, Leanne Bellino, Elizabeth Eisenhardt, Diane Bryant, Haley Pelletier, Internal Medicine Team, Adult Outpatient Clinic

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center

A1c monitoring is an important aspect of controlling the health of a diabetic patient. An adult internal medicine clinic noted that the percentage of their diabetic patients who had an A1c higher than 9 or no reading within the past year exceeded the national average. As a result, operational excellence methods were implemented with the overall goal to reduce their percentage to 18% or less.

A root cause analysis identified several deficiencies to includelack of essential equipment, variations in

staff education and the absence of daily reminders.

Post KPI implementations, an overall decrease in the percentage of patients with poorly …

Patient Fall Prevention, R9 West Cardiovascular, Cathy Palleschi, Suneela Nayak, Ruth Hanselman, Stephen Tyzik

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center

PATIENT FALL PREVENTION STRATEGIES IN AN ACUTE HOSPITAL

Every year in the United States, hundreds of thousands of patients fall resulting in injury. Injured patients often require prolonged hospital stays and a resultant increase in medical costs.

The purpose of this study was to identify the current state of fall prevention strategies on a hospital inpatient acute care cardiac unit. Through a root cause analysis, some deficiencies were identified and a process improvement plan was implemented.

Several positive outcomes were attained as a result of the countermeasures initiated. Patient falls per month and total waste in dollars saw a decline …

Pneumonia Due To A Rare Pathogen: Achromobacter Xylosoxidans, Subspecies Denitrificans, Hesham Awadh, Munthir Mansour, Obadah Aqtash, Yousef Shweihat

Internal Medicine

Achromobacter xylosoxidans, subspecies denitrificans, is a gram-negative rod recently implicated as an emerging cause of infection in both immunosuppressed and immunocompetent populations. Few cases are reported in literature involvingmultiple body systems. Diagnosis depends on cultures of appropriate specimens, and management usually is by administration of appropriate antibiotics(usually agents with antipseudomonal activity).We report a rare case of pneumonia due to infection with this organism, in a patient with preexisting bronchiectasis secondary to chronic aspiration.

Spinal Cord Injury Without Radiographic Abnormality (Sciwora) In Adults: A Report Of Two Cases, Adil Aziz Khan, Shafaq Mahmood, Tayyaba Saif, Aleesha Gul

Section of Internal Medicine

Spinal cord injury without any radiographic abnormality (SCIWORA) is rare in adults. We describe here two case reports of adult patients, who presented to us with quadriplegia, following a road traffic accident. Plain radiography and computed tomography (CT) of cervical spine were normal. Hence the patients were diagnosed as cases of adult SCIWORA. However, subsequent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the two patients revealed cervical cord injury in the form of cord contusion and disc protrusion, respectively. Patient with cord contusion was managed medically, whereas the patient with disc lesion was treated with discectomy. Patient treated with discectomy showed marked …

Improving The Pharmacologic Management Of Patients After Osteoporotic Hip Fractures, Joseph Klaus, Milad Modarresi, Rodrigo Aguilar, Nasreen Benhamed, Franklin D. Shuler

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Abstract

Background

Osteoporotic hip fractures have become an increasingly common healthcare burden with significant morbidity and mortality in the geriatric population. Pharmacological management of the underlying osteoporosis is critical. Our objective is to determine the percentage of patients older than 65 who receive pharmacologic treatment of osteoporosis within six months after a fragility fracture at Cabell Huntington Hospital.

Methods

Data was extracted from medical records for patients age 65 or older who sustained a hip fracture during June 2013 - March 2015. Patients who received any form of pharmacologic treatment within six months after their fractures were identified. All analyses …

Purple Urine Bag Syndrome: An Educational Case Of A Colorful Condition In The Chronically Catheterized, Teshome Gebrmichael, Fikirte Feleke, Waseem Ahmed, Madhulika Urella, Samson Teka

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Purple Urine Bag Syndrome is a rare condition characterized by purple discoloration of the urinary drainage bag. It is typically seen in elderly patients with chronic indwelling urinary catheterization, and is associated with urinary tract infections with high bacterial load, female gender, severe disability, constipation, and alkaline urine. This phenomenon occurs when tryptophan metabolites in the urine are broken down by bacteria containing indoxyl sulphatase and phosphatase enzymes. This results in the production of indigo and indirubin, which combine to give a purple appearance. This article presents a 78-year-old male with chronic urinary retention requiring intermittent Foley catheterization for the …

Call For Vigilance – Red Flags In Systemic Lupus Erythematous, Badar Hasan, Talal Asif, Maryam Hasan, Amr Edrees

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Systemic Lupus Erythematous(SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease. It has been identified as the underlying cause for death for an average 1,034 deaths from 2000 and 2014. Our cases highlight two rare but life threatening complications of SLE; Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS) and Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) with mortality as high as 50-90%. Both cases presenting with respiratory symptoms, required meticulous monitoring in ICU and initially treated with broad spectrum antibiotics However, unlike pneumonia these patients required immunosuppressive and plasmapheresis leading to clinical improvement.

Betel Nut Use And Hyperglycemia, Edward Nabrinsky, Badar Hasan, Talal Asif, Rebecca R. Pauly

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Betel nut chewing previously has not been common in North America, yet it is the fourth major source of addiction and abuse worldwide. Approximately 700 million individuals, or 10 % of the global population, chew beetle nut on regular basis. It is important for patient safety and improved quality to recognize its use in uncontrolled diabetes. Our case is of a 49 year-old Burmese female with PMH of DM2, HTN, and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) who presented with a complaint of dizziness. Patient denied alcohol or tobacco use, but reported a 20-year history of betel nut chewing (4-5 times/day). …

Retrospective Analysis To Describe Associations Between Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Inhibitors And Copd-Related Hospitalizations, Neil A. Accortt, James B. Chung, Machaon Bonafede, Brendan L. Limone, David M. Mannino

Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Limited information exists on the impact of tumor necrosis factor inhibition on COPD exacerbations. This retrospective study characterized this impact among COPD patients with underlying autoimmune conditions, exposed to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) and/or non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
Patients and methods: Adult COPD patients with ≥1 diagnosis for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis (PsO), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), or ankylosing spondylitis (AS) before or within 6 months following the index COPD diagnosis were identified from the Truven Health MarketScan^® databases. Patients were required to have a second claim for RA, PsO, PsA, AS, or DMARD use (biologic or …

Changes In The Gut Microbial Communities Following Addition Of Walnuts To The Diet, Lauri O. Byerley, Derrick Samuelson, Eugene Blanchard, Meng Luo, Brittany N. Lorenzen, Shelia Banks, Monica A. Ponder, David A. Welsh, Christopher M. Taylor

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, phytochemicals and antioxidants making them unique compared to other foods. Consuming walnuts has been associated with health benefits including a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome has been linked to several chronic diseases. One potential mechanism by which walnuts may exert their health benefit is through modifying the gut microbiome. This study identified the changes in the gut microbial communities that occur following the inclusion of walnuts in the diet. Male Fischer 344 rats (n=20) were randomly assigned to one of two diets for as long as …

Bronchopleural Fistula Resolution With Endobronchial Valve Placement And Liberation From Mechanical Ventilation In Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Case Series, Haris Kalatoudis, Nikhil Meena, Fuad Zeid, Yousef Shweihat

Internal Medicine

Patients who have acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with persistent air leaks have worse outcomes. Endobronchial valves (EBV) are frequently deployed after pulmonary resection in noncritically ill patients to reduce and eliminate bronchopleural fistulas (BPFs) with persistent air leak (PAL). Information regarding EBV placement in mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS and high volume persistent air leaks is rare and limited to case reports. We describe three cases where EBV placement facilitated endotracheal extubation in patients with severe respiratory failure on prolonged mechanical ventilation with BPFs. In each case, EBV placement led to immediate resolution of PAL. We believe endobronchial valve …

Pembrolizumab Reactivates Pulmonary Granulomatosis, Majdi Al-Dliw, Mohammed Megri, Ibrahim M. Shahoub, Gaurav Sahay, Teresa I. Limjoco, Yousef Shweihat

Internal Medicine

Sarcoid like reaction is a well-known entity that occurs as a consequence to several malignancies or their therapies. Immunotherapy has gained a lot of interest in the past few years and has recently gained approval as first line therapy in multiple advanced stage malignancies. Pneumonitis has been described as complication of such therapy. Granulomatous inflammation has been only rarely reported subsequent to immunotherapy. We describe a case of granulomatous inflammation reactivation affecting the lungs in a patient previously exposed to Pembrolizumab and have evidence of a distant granulomatous infection. We discuss potential mechanisms of the inflammation and assert the importance …

Diabetic Ketoacidosis Characteristics And Differences In Type 1 Versus Type 2 Diabetes Patients, Muhammad Owais Rashid, Aisha Sheikh, Abdus Salam, Saad Farooq, Zareen Kiran, Najmul Islam

Section of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism

Background: Diabetes is undoubtedly one of the most challenging health problems of the 21st century. It is well known that diabetes once develop can lead to several complications. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is one of the life-threatening complications of diabetes. This study was designed to determine the frequency of DKA in diabetes patients and find out the clinical and biochemical determinants of DKA.

Methods: This descriptive study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) Karachi, Pakistan from January 2010 to February 2016. All known or newly diagnosed diabetic patients of >16 years of age irrespective of gender and type of …

Initial Construct Validity Evidence Of A Virtual Human Application For Competency Assessment In Breaking Bad News To A Cancer Patient, Timothy C. Guettermann, Frederick W. Kron, Toby C. Campbell, Mark W. Scerbo, Amy B. Zelenski, James F. Cleary, Michael D. Fetters

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Despite interest in using virtual humans (VHs) for assessing health care communication, evidence of validity is limited. We evaluated the validity of a VH application, MPathic-VR, for assessing performance-based competence in breaking bad news (BBN) to a VH patient.

Methods: We used a two-group quasi-experimental design, with residents participating in a 3-hour seminar on BBN. Group A (n=15) completed the VH simulation before and after the seminar, and Group B (n=12) completed the VH simulation only after the BBN seminar to avoid the possibility that testing alone affected performance. Pre-and postseminar differences for Group A were analyzed with a …

The Association Between Elevated Levels Of Erythropoietin Andendothelial Progenitor Cell With Improvement Of Endothelialfunction In Renal Failure Patients 3 Months After Kidneytransplantation, Linda Armelia, Endang Susalit, Maruhum Bonar Hm, Hamzah Shatri

Jurnal Penyakit Dalam Indonesia

Introduction. Endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) is considered possible to reduce asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels, which is a marker of improved endothelial function. However, clinically, there is still a debate about the role of EPC. This study was conducted to determine the correlation of elevated levels of erythropoietin (Epo) and the number of EPC CD34 + and CD133 + with improvement of endothelial function in renal failure patients 3 months after kidney transplantation. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in prior and 3 months after kidney transplantation of renal failure patients who underwent a kidney transplant in Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital. The …

The Changes Of Amino Terminal Pro B-Type Natriuretic Peptide(Nt-Probnp) Concentration And Left Ventricular Ejectionfraction On Doxorubicin Chemotherapy Patients, Telly Kamelia, Sarwono Waspadji, Lukman Hakim Makmun, Shufrie Effendi, Muchlis Ramli, Ina Susanti Timan

Jurnal Penyakit Dalam Indonesia

Introduction. Cancer patients who received chemotherapy regimen containing doxorubicin has been known to have serious side effect in heart, called as cardiotoxicity. The measurement of NT-proBNP proposed to be used as a new parameter to identify and evaluate cardiotoxicity in cancer patients earlier before it has been manifested, superior than measurement of left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF). The aims of this study to examine the changes of NT-proBNP concentration and LVEF on patients with cancer who receive chemotherapy regimen containing doxorubicin. Methods. The study used pre and post test design to observe the changes of NT-proBNP concentration and LVEF on …

Validation Of Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (Rems) In Predicting30 Days Mortality In Elderly Visiting Emergency Department, Aulia Rizka, Kuntjoro Harimurti, Ceva W. Pitoyo, Soekamto Koesno

Jurnal Penyakit Dalam Indonesia

Introduction. Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS) has been known as a useful instrument to stratify patients in emergency department (ED) based on its ability to predict short term mortality. As the clinical characteristics of elderly patients visiting ED are frequently aypical, validation of REMS in this specific population is very important. To measure predictive validity of REMS in elderly patients visiting ED Methods. Prospective cohort study in elderly visiting ED of Cipto Mangunkusumo between September to October 2016. Subjects were followed for 30 days after visiting ED. Calibration (Hosmer Lemeshow test), discrimination (Area Under ROC Curve) and REMS predictive value …

Factors Associated With Retention In Care One Year After Deliveryin Patients Undergoing Prevention Of Mother To Child Transmission(Pmtct) At Rscm, Yulidar Yulidar, Evy Yunihastuti, Samsuridjal Djauzi, Astrid Citra Padmita, Sukamto Koesnoe

Jurnal Penyakit Dalam Indonesia

Introduction. Retention in care is important to the successful of HIV treatment. This study is aimed to analyze factors associated with retention in care one year after delivery in patients undergoing PMTCT at HIV integrated clinic of RSCM. Methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted among post-partum HIV patients who were given ARV therapy for PMTCT at HIV intergrated clinic of Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital from January 2004 to May 2014. Evaluation of one year retention in care after PMTCT was performed by observing medical records of the patient. The collected data were factors associated with one year after delivery retention …

Clinical Characteristic And Prevalence Of Invasive Candidiasis Patient In Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Kemal Fariz Kalista, Lie Khie Chen, Retno Wahyuningsih, Cleopas Martin Rumende

Jurnal Penyakit Dalam Indonesia

Introduction. Incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFI) are reportedly increasing in many countries. Candida is the most common cause of IFI. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and etiologic pathogen in adult patients with invasive candidiasis (IC) at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hhospital. Methods. This was a cross sectional study with restropective data collection fromof septic patients that’ medical records hospitalized in January 2012 until June 2014. Subjects were selected based on EORTC/MSG 2008 diagnostic criteria for IC. Demographic data, clinical and supporting data, diagnosis, etiologic pathogens, antibiotics, antifungal, outcome, and length of stay were recorded. Results. The …

Correlation Between Disease Duration, Disease Activity Scoreand Disability Score With Diastolic Dysfunction In Rheumatoidarthritis Women In Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Dono Antono, Bernard Agus Sakti Dhaki, Harry Isbagio, Hamzah Shatri

Jurnal Penyakit Dalam Indonesia

Introduction. There are only few studies about correlation between non traditional risk factor and diastolic dysfunction in RA patients. This study aims to determinate the correlation between non traditional risk factors, including disease duration, disease activity and disability score with the diastolic dysfunction of women with RA. Methods. A cross-sectional, consecutive sampling study was conducted to 52 RA women without any previous cardiovascular disease history. All participants underwent an echocardiography to assess diastolic dysfunction and other findings associated. Duration of disease was assesed by direct interview, while the disease activity by calculating DAS28 and disability score by HAQ-DI. Results. Diastolic …