Publications by authors named "Bethlehem C"

Introduction: Early mobilization reduces long-term muscle weakness after intensive care unit (ICU) admission, but barriers (e.g., anxiety, lack of motivation) may complicate patients' adherence to exercise.

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  • A patient with miliary tuberculosis was diagnosed with drug-induced immune thrombocytopenia (DITP) caused by ceftriaxone, contrary to the initial assumption that it was due to the tuberculosis drugs.
  • Identifying the specific drug causing DITP is crucial to ensure continuation of essential tuberculosis treatment without unnecessary changes.
  • When multiple medications are involved, additional testing for drug-dependent platelet antibodies may be needed to make an informed decision about treatment adjustments.
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Background: We report a case of a 25-year-old female who presented with fever, rash and general malaise.

Case Presentation: She was initially diagnosed and treated for peri-/myocarditis, but she deteriorated quickly with the development of extensive bilateral consolidations for which she was mechanically ventilated. Two weeks before admission, she took isotretinoin for less than a week for disfiguring acne.

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  • ICU survivors frequently experience long-term mental health issues, including symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, negatively impacting their recovery and quality of life.
  • The study surveyed 239 ICU patients over 12 months and found a 38% prevalence of mental frailty, identified using established clinical assessment tools.
  • The results stress the importance of creating comprehensive aftercare programs to support both survivors and their informal caregivers to improve mental health outcomes.
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Introduction: Mercaptopurine, a thiopurine, is used in various disorders of immune regulation, such as autoimmune hepatitis. Thiopurine metabolism is complex with risk for overdosing, especially when metabolism is impaired by liver dysfunction. Hepatotoxicity may be due to mercaptopurine overdose and is often reversible after prompt cessation of the drug.

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Objectives: Impaired right ventricular (RV) function after cardiac surgery is associated with morbidity and long-term mortality. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that play a role in the development of RV dysfunction in the perioperative cardiac surgery setting.

Design: We performed a prospective, observational, single centre study.

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Purpose: Formative assessments can help motivate students and ease students' learning through feedback. There is a pressing need for improvement of clinical pharmacotherapy (CPT) education since junior doctors make many prescribing errors. The aim of this study was to determine whether a formative assessment with personalized narrative feedback helps medical students to increase their prescribing skills.

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Purpose: COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in ICU patients. We investigated the incidence of, risk factors for and potential benefit of a pre-emptive screening strategy for CAPA in ICUs in the Netherlands/Belgium during immunosuppressive COVID-19 treatment.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective, observational, multicentre study was performed from September 2020-April 2021 including patients admitted to the ICU who had undergone diagnostics for CAPA.

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Purpose: Fentanyl is an analgesic that is frequently prescribed, which resulted in non-intentional as well as intentional misuse and deaths. Here, we present a postmortem case of a patient who clearly died of a fentanyl overdose due to an extensive number of fentanyl patches combined with oral intake of fentanyl and cocaine. We aimed to show how postmortem analysis can be used to interpret postmortem fentanyl concentrations in unique cases like the one we present.

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Severe salicylate intoxication usually presents with a high anion gap metabolic acidosis. We describe a patient with severe salicylate intoxication who presented with a surprisingly normal anion gap metabolic acidosis. Initial salicylate level was 594 mg/L (therapeutic range 50-300 mg/L).

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Aims: Prescribing errors occur frequently, especially among junior doctors. Our aim was to investigate prescribing errors made by final-year medical students. Information on these errors can help to improve education on and assessment of clinical pharmacotherapy (CPT).

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A patient with severe asthma on benralizumab therapy was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. At the end of the 8 week benralizumab dosing interval, discussion arose as to whether benralizumab should be administered or if treatment should be discontinued, due to the lack of experience with benralizumab in this situation. Severe broncho-obstruction developed, and the next injection of benralizumab was administered during ICU admission without detrimental symptoms.

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Total hip- and knee arthroplasty generally result in successful outcomes. A small percentage of patients however suffer from periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) postoperatively, often with severe consequences. The standard treatment of chronic PJIs consists of a staged arthroplasty exchange during which antibiotic therapy plays a crucial role.

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  • The study aimed to analyze cardiovascular changes in critically ill COVID-19 patients using a cohort of 28 mechanically ventilated individuals.
  • Researchers found that mean arterial pressure and cardiac index significantly increased over 21 days, while most markers of heart function and peripheral blood flow remained normal.
  • Improvements were noted in extravascular lung water, vascular permeability, and intrapulmonary shunts, leading to better gas exchange, indicating overall stability in cardiovascular function despite respiratory failure.
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Approximately 500 patients per year are admitted to the emergency department (ED) of the Erasmus University Medical Center presenting with intoxications with medication. For adequate treatment, it is sometimes important to know which drugs in which quantities were ingested. This can require laboratory analysis of blood or urine samples; however, these samples do not provide information about the possible effects that can still be expected.

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A 28-year-old female patient was admitted to our hospital with severe dyspnoea and hypoxemia due to methaemoglobinaemia caused by dapsone. The patient recovered completely after repeated infusions of methylene blue and cessation of dapsone. However, 12 days after cessation of dapsone, the patient was readmitted due to recurrence of symptoms based on a relapse of methaemoglobinaemia.

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  • * The research included a multicenter cohort study with data collected from patients admitted on World Delirium Awareness Day 2018, revealing a point-prevalence of 23% and a period-prevalence of 42% for delirium.
  • * Most ICUs had a protocol for managing delirium, showing compliance in assessment practices, yet the study highlighted that certain factors like infection and mechanical ventilation were more common in patients experiencing delirium.
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Introduction: Delirium during ICU stay is a widespread problem with complex aetiology. A premorbid psychiatric disorder has been associated with an increased incidence of delirium in the general hospital population, but data on the impact of ICU delirium and consequences for morbidity and long-term mortality remain scarce.

Methods: In this single-centre retrospective analysis, 472 patients with an ICU stay >48 hours were included during a 2-year period.

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We describe a 27-year-old female with repeated episodes of pulseless electrical activity due to intoxication with a substance that was unidentified at presentation. Severe QRS widening was observed and empiric treatment with sodium bicarbonate and intravenous lipid emulsion was administered. In this case, intraosseous administration of lipid emulsion failed to improve haemodynamic parameters, suggesting that this dose remained in the bone marrow compartment.

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Background: The yew (Taxus baccata) is a common evergreen tree containing the toxin taxine B. Between 42 and 91 g of yew leaf is lethal to a 70-kg adult. The objective of this article is to present an overview of findings in fatal yew intoxications.

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