The Psychological Impact on Relatives of Critically Ill Patients: The Influence of Visiting Hours.

Objectives: To identify the psychologic impact of admission to the ICU on the relatives of critically ill patients, the influence of coping, and the factors involved.

Design: We performed a cohort study with repeated measures evaluation using descriptive and comparative bivariate and multivariate analyses.

Settings: An adult ICU of a third-level complexity hospital.

High-flow nasal oxygen reduces endotracheal intubation: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: The benefits of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) as primary intervention in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) are still a matter in debate. Our objective was to compare HFNC therapy conventional oxygen therapy (COT) in the prevention of endotracheal intubation in this group of patients.

Methods: An open-label, controlled and single-centre clinical trial was conducted in patients with severe AHRF, defined by a PaO/FIO ratio ⩽200, to compare HFNC with a control group (CG) treated by COT delivered through a face mask, with the need to perform intubation as the primary outcome.

Potential EEG biomarkers of sedation doses in intensive care patients unveiled by using a machine learning approach.

Objective: Sedation of neurocritically ill patients is one of the most challenging situation in ICUs. Quantitative knowledge on the sedation effect on brain activity in that complex scenario could help to uncover new markers for sedation assessment. Hence, we aim to evaluate the existence of changes of diverse EEG-derived measures in deeply-sedated (RASS-Richmond agitation-sedation scale  -4 and  -5) neurocritically ill patients, and also whether sedation doses are related with those eventual changes.

Identifying causal relationships between EEG activity and intracranial pressure changes in neurocritical care patients.

Objective: To explore and assess the relationship between electroencephalography (EEG) activity and intracranial pressure (ICP) in patients suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) during their stay in an intensive care unit.

Approach: We performed an observational prospective cohort study of adult patients suffering from TBI or SAH. Continuous EEG-ECG was performed during ICP monitoring.

Evaluation of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients with 64-slice multidetector computed tomography versus FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography in initial staging and restaging after treatment.

Background And Objectives: To prospectively compare the accuracy in initial staging and end-of-treatment restaging of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) between 64-slice multidetector computed tomography (64MDCT) and 18FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18FGD PET/CT) with intravenous contrast injection.

Material And Methods: Randomised and blind controlled clinical multicentric trial that included biopsy-proven DLBCL patients. Seventy-two patients from five different hospitals in the region of Madrid, Spain, were enrolled in the study between January 2012 and June 2015.

Profile of the Patient Who Refuses to Participate in the Expert Patients Program.

The Expert Patients Program (EPP), an educational intervention for chronic diseases aimed at nonprofessionals, has high nonparticipation and dropout rates. We used quantitative and qualitative methods to identify the prevalence of and reasons for nonparticipation in 100 patients with acute myocardial infarction and 69 with stroke. We confirmed a high prevalence of refusal, identifying three groups based on degree of participation: patients who refused to attend (51%), patients who attended and then dropped out (10%), and patients who attended (39%).

Dose-response association of physical activity with acute myocardial infarction: do amount and intensity matter?

Objective: The aims of this study were to analyze the dose-response association between leisure time physical activity (PA) practice and myocardial infarction (MI), considering not only the total amount but also the amount of PA at different levels of intensity, and to determine whether these associations were modified by age.

Method: In a population-based age- and sex-matched case-control study, all first acute MI patients aged 25 to 74 years were prospectively registered in four Spanish hospitals between 2002 and 2004. Controls were randomly selected from population-based samples recruited during the same period of time.

[Profile of the patient with inadequate follow-up and control of cardiovascular risk factors after suffering an acute myocardial infarction].

Objective: To draw up a profile of patients with inadequate follow-up and control of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: Primary care in Albacete, province of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

[Association between paraoxonase-1 and paraoxonase-2 polymorphisms and the risk of acute myocardial infarction].

Introduction And Objectives: Two particular polymorphisms, namely PON1-192 and PON2-311, in the genes encoding the antioxidant enzymes paraoxonase-1 (PON1) and paraoxonase-2 (PON2) have been associated with an increased risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, previous findings have been contradictory. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the PON1-192 and PON2-311 polymorphisms and their interaction on AMI risk.

Smoking and myocardial infarction case-fatality: hospital and population approach.

Background: Smoking is a risk factor for coronary heart disease, but it has been associated with better short-term prognosis in hospitalized patients with acute myocardial infarction. The aims of this study were to determine the association between smoking and myocardial infarction 28-day case-fatality in hospitalized patients and at the population level; and, whether smokers presenting with fatal myocardial infarction are more likely to die before reaching a hospital.

Design And Methods: Population-based myocardial infarction registry, carried out in 1997-1998 in seven regions of Spain, used standardized methods to find and analyze suspected myocardial infarction patients (10 654 patients; 7796 hospitalized).

[Effect of cardiovascular risk factors on long-term morbidity and mortality following acute myocardial infarction].

Introduction And Objectives: Generally, cardiovascular risk factors are poorly controlled after myocardial infarction. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of these risk factors on long-term morbidity and mortality in patients experiencing a myocardial infarction.

Methods: In total, 655 acute myocardial infarction survivors recorded in the IBERICA database for the Spanish province of Albacete were followed up.

[Analysis with the propensity score of the association between likelihood of treatment and event of interest in observational studies. An example with myocardial reperfusion].

Introduction And Objectives: Analysis of the effect of treatment in observational studies is complex due to differences between treated and nontreated patients. Calculating the probability of receiving treatment conditioned on relevant covariates (propensity score [PS]) has been proposed as a method to control for these differences. We report an application of PS to assess the association between reperfusion treatment and 28-day case fatality in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Regional variability in population acute myocardial infarction cumulative incidence and mortality rates in Spain 1997 and 1998.

Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) incidence and mortality display a high geographic variation.

Aims: The objective of the present study was to analyze MI mortality, cumulative incidence rate variability in seven regions of Spain from 1997 to 1998.

Methods And Results: Standardized methods were used to identify, find, register, and classify MI cases that were classified as definite, possible, insufficient-data MI, and non-MI.

[Hospital resources and myocardial infarction case fatality. The IBERICA study].

Introduction And Objectives: To determine the proportion of patients with myocardial infarction (MI) not admitted to a coronary care unit (CCU), the variables associated with admission into a CCU, and whether admission to a CCU, and the availability of coronary angiography in the same hospital, were associated with 28-day case fatality.

Patients And Method: Population-based registry of MI in patients 25 to 74 years of age, admitted during 1996-1998. Demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded, as well as management, clinical course and survival after 28 days.

Public perception of stroke in Spain.

Background And Purpose: Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in western countries. Improving attention to stroke demands better public information about the illness. The aim of the present study was to determine the current knowledge of stroke among the Spanish population.