Increase in hospital care at the end of life: Retrospective analysis of the last 20 years of life of a cohort of patients.

Background: There is an increasing need for end-of-life care due to society's progressive aging. This study aimed to describe how hospitalizations evolve long-term and in the last months life of a cohort of deceased patients.

Methods: The study population were those who died in one year who lived in a district in southern Spain.

Role of telemedicine in the management of oral anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation: a practical clinical approach.

Compared with face-to-face consultations, telemedicine has many advantages, including more efficient use of healthcare resources, partial relief of the burden of care, reduced exposure to COVID-19, treatment adjustment, organization of more efficient healthcare circuits and patient empowerment. Ensuring optimal anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation patients is mandatory if we want to reduce the thromboembolic risk. Of note, telemedicine is an excellent option for the long-term management of atrial fibrillation patients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 hospitalization outcomes in persons with and without HIV in Spain.

Objective: To compare coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalization outcomes between persons with and without HIV.

Design: Retrospective observational cohort study in 150 hospitals in Spain.

Methods: Patients admitted from 1 March to 8 October 2020 with COVID-19 diagnosis confirmed by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 positive) PCR test in respiratory tract samples.

Early use of tocilizumab in patients with severe pneumonia secondary to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and poor prognostic criteria: Impact on mortality rate and intensive care unit admission.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, keeps spreading globally. Evidence suggests that a subgroup of patients with severe symptomatology might have cytokine storms, which increases mortality. The use of interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitors may help in controlling the pathological immune response to the virus.

Estimation of Admission D-dimer Cut-off Value to Predict Venous Thrombotic Events in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: Analysis of the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry.

Background: Venous thrombotic events (VTE) are frequent in COVID-19, and elevated plasma D-dimer (pDd) and dyspnea are common in both entities.

Objective: To determine the admission pDd cut-off value associated with in-hospital VTE in patients with COVID-19.

Methods: Multicenter, retrospective study analyzing the at-admission pDd cut-off value to predict VTE and anticoagulation intensity along hospitalization due to COVID-19.

Calcifediol Treatment and Hospital Mortality Due to COVID-19: A Cohort Study.

Context: Calcifediol has been proposed as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients.

Objective: To compare the administration or not of oral calcifediol on mortality risk of patients hospitalized because of COVID-19.

Design: Retrospective, multicenter, open, non-randomized cohort study.

The value of telephone consultations during COVID-19 pandemic. An observational study.

Background: Many Spanish hospitals converted scheduled in-person visits to telephone visits during the COVID-19 lockdown. There is scarce information about the performance of those visits.

Aim: To compare telephone visits during the COVID-19 lockdown period with previous in-person visits.

Health-related quality of life in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients with controlled or uncontrolled anticoagulation status.

Background: There is a dearth of evidence regarding Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients undergoing oral anticoagulation therapy. Our objective was to describe HRQoL in NVAF patients on oral anticoagulation, focusing on uncontrolled patients on vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) versus controlled patients on VKAs or non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs), in a real-world setting. Additionally, we assessed the clinical characteristics of patients with uncontrolled anticoagulation.

Search for asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers during the pandemic: a Spanish experience.

Background: Asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2 can be a vehicle for transmission of the infection. This fact is of particular importance in the case of healthcare workers (HCWs).

Design: Cross-sectional study in HCWs in a medium size hospital in the South of Spain.

Reducing residual thrombotic risk in patients with peripheral artery disease: impact of the COMPASS trial.

Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) are at a high risk not only for the classical cardiovascular (CV) outcomes (major adverse cardiovascular events; MACE) but also for vascular limb events (major adverse limb events; MALE). Therefore, a comprehensive approach for these patients should include both goals. However, the traditional antithrombotic approach with only antiplatelet agents (single or dual antiplatelet therapy) does not sufficiently reduce the risk of recurrent thrombotic events.

The Hospital of the Future in 10 points.

Over the course of 2018 and 2019, the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine carried out a project called "The Future Hospital." Based on cumulative knowledge on the Spanish National Health System, this project seeks to transfer the observations on the organization of healthcare in future hospitals made by the Royal College of Physicians in the United Kingdom to the context of the Spanish healthcare system. The project's participants included numerous scientific and medical societies, professional associations in the health sector, and patient associations.

Residual risk reduction opportunities in patients with chronic coronary syndrome. Role of dual pathway inhibition.

Introduction: In this review, the role of the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin approach (dual pathway inhibition - DPI) in patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) and to perform practical recommendations about its use was updated.

Areas Covered: The contents of this review were proposed in an expert meeting. To identify relevant articles, a systematic search of Medline/Embase was performed (to July 2019), using the key words 'rivaroxaban', 'vascular dose', 'COMPASS' and 'coronary artery disease' in the search strategy.

Effect of daily consumption of extra virgin olive oil on the lipid profile and microbiota of HIV-infected patients over 50 years of age.

Background: Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has shown beneficial effects on the lipid profile and inflammatory parameters in general population. Our goal is to analyze these changes together with those of intestinal microbiota in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients over 50 years of age.

Methods: Experimental single arm open study.

The role of aspirin as antiaggregant therapy in primary prevention. An update.

Aspirin indication in primary prevention has been questioned in the last ten years due to the publication of several trials with neutral outcomes. In the last year, three research studies discussed in this review (ASCEND, ARRIVE, ASPREE) have weighed the benefit (cardiovascular events reduction) against the adverse effects (especially bleeding) in several situations such as general population with moderate cardiovascular risk, diabetics and elderly population. This review performs a detailed analysis of these trials and it also comments on a recent metanalysis that includes these projects along with others undertaken in the last 30 years.

Validation of the PROFUND index to predict early post-hospital discharge mortality.

Background: The PROFUND index (PI) is a prognostic scale for polypathological patients at 12 months. The objective of the study was to validate the PI as a predictor of 1-year mortality in a current cohort of polypathological patients and analyse its prognostic usefulness in the short-term (1 month and 3 months) after discharge from Internal Medicine.

Design: We conducted a prospective observational study and all polypathological patients discharged from an Internal Medicine Department between 01 March 2016 and 28 February 2017 were enrolled.