Charlson Comorbidity Index and other predictors of in-hospital mortality among adults with community-acquired pneumonia.

Objective: To compare the performance of Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) with those of the mental Confusion, Urea, Respiratory rate, Blood pressure, and age = 65 years (CURB-65) score and the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) as predictors of all-cause in-hospital mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Methods: This was a cohort study involving hospitalized patients with CAP between April of 2014 and March of 2015. Clinical, laboratory, and radiological data were obtained in the ER, and the scores of CCI, CURB-65, and PSI were calculated.

Clinical, epidemiological, and etiological profile of inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia in a public hospital in the interior of Brazil.

Objective: To describe the patient profile, mortality rates, the accuracy of prognostic scores, and mortality-associated factors in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in a general hospital in Brazil.

Methods: This was a cohort study involving patients with a clinical and laboratory diagnosis of CAP and requiring admission to a public hospital in the interior of Brazil between March 2014 and April 2015. We performed multivariate analysis using a Poisson regression model with robust variance to identify factors associated with in-hospital mortality.

Risk factors for acute kidney injury in patients treated with polymyxin B at a Tertiary Care Medical Center.

Introduction: Polimyxins were originally abandoned due to high rates of nephrotoxicity. However they have been recently reintroduced due to activity against carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative organisms. Recent literature suggests a lower rate of nephrotoxicity than historically reported.

Decreased mortality in patients hospitalized due to respiratory diseases after installation of an intensive care unit in a secondary hospital in the interior of Brazil.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the in-hospital mortality of patients hospitalized due to respiratory diseases and the availability of intensive care units.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study evaluated a database from a hospital medicine service involving patients hospitalized due to respiratory non-terminal diseases. Data on clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with mortality, such as Charlson score and length of hospital stay, were collected.

Computerized tomography contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) among adult inpatients.

Introduction: Contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) is one of the complications of the use of intravascular contrast agents, being defined as a reduction of the glomerular filtration rate caused by the iodinated contrast. Most CIN data derive from the cardiovascular literature, which identified as the most consistent risk factors pre-existing chronic renal insufficiency and diabetes mellitus. However, these studies limit their conclusions to a more specific patient population.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: differences between pregnant and non-pregnant patients.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a clinical-radiologic entity not yet understood, that presents with transient neurologic symptoms and particular radiological findings. Few papers show the differences between pregnant and non-pregnant patients. We review the cases of 38 women diagnosed with PRES, in order to find significant differences between pregnant (18) and non-pregnant (20) patients.

Is there an association between non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and contrast nephropathy?

Background: The association between the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acute or chronic renal failure is well documented, but evidence of such association between NSAIDs and Contrast-Induced Nephropathies (CIN) is not found in the indexed literature.

Objective: To evaluate the possible association between NSAIDs and CIN.

Methods: In a cohort study, through clinical interviews of patients that underwent cardiac catheterization, we analyzed the use of NSAIDs and its association with the development of CIN, through alterations in serum creatinine or glomerular filtration rate in 48 or 72 hours.