Patients' Characterization, Pattern of Medication Use, and Factors Associated with Polypharmacy: A Cross-Sectional Study Focused on Eight Units of the Portuguese National Network for Long-Term Integrated Care.

The Portuguese National Network for Long-term Integrated Care (RNCCI) comprises several Units for Integrated Continuous Care (UCCIs) that provide medical, nursing, and rehabilitation care. This study aimed to evaluate the demographic and medical characteristics of patients admitted to the RNCCI, their patterns of medication use, and factors associated with polypharmacy. An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, multicenter study was performed.

Safety of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in the Elderly: An Analysis of Published Literature and Reports Sent to the Portuguese Pharmacovigilance System.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most frequently used agents to treat musculoskeletal disorders (principally by the elderly), thus raising the risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). This work aims to monitor NSAIDs safety profile in older people by using literature and pharmacovigilance data. Published clinical studies reporting the NSAIDs safety in elderly patients (age ≥ 65) were identified by a literature search and were then deeply analyzed.

Potentially Inappropriate Medications and Potential Prescribing Omissions in Elderly Patients Receiving Post-Acute and Long-Term Care: Application of Screening Tool of Older People's Prescriptions/Screening Tool to Alert to Right Treatment Criteria.

Screening Tool of Older People's Prescriptions (STOPP) and Screening Tool to Alert to Right Treatment (START) criteria have been used to detect potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and potential prescribing omissions (PPOs). These criteria were applied to geriatric Portuguese patients receiving post-acute and long-term care to assess the prevalence and predictors of PIMs and PPOs. An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional and multicenter study was performed in 161 patients (aged ≥65 years) from eight Units for Integrated Continuous Care.

Assessment of suspected adverse drug reactions in elderly patients with diabetes mellitus based on a Portuguese spontaneous reporting database: analysis of reporting from 2008 to 2018.

Background: Age is one of the most important risk factors in the development of diabetes mellitus and certain drug classes indicated for this condition may be associated with clinically important adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The aim of this study was to analyze the suspected ADRs in older patients with diabetes mellitus, reported to the Portuguese Pharmacovigilance System from 2008 to 2018.

Research Design And Methods: A retrospective analysis of suspected ADRs reports was performed, involving patients aged ≥65 years.

Theta-Burst Stimulation Is Able to Impact Cognitive Processing: A P300 and Neuropsychological Test Study.

Introduction: Theta-burst stimulation (TBS) is a safe non-invasive neurostimulation technique used to improve cognitive and neuropsychiatric impairments. Combined outcome evaluation using event-related potentials (ERPs) and neuropsychological tests may allow a more thorough assessment of TBS treatment efficacy; however, some mixed results have been found, and their use remains scarce. Our main objective was to evaluate whether a session of TBS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) can impact upon the performance of both neuropsychological and neurophysiological tests.

PET/CT in the Evaluation of Hypoxia for Radiotherapy Planning in Head and Neck Tumors: Systematic Literature Review.

PET/CT combines imaging at the molecular level along with imaging at the anatomic level, which, with the administration of a hypoxia-sensitive radiopharmaceutical, allows evaluation of tissue oxygenation. This work consisted of a systematic literature review that included websites, books, and articles dated from July 1997 to December 2019. The aim was to identify the PET radiopharmaceuticals best suited to the detection of cell hypoxia and to recognize the benefits for planning intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric arc therapy (VMAT).

Quality of life after coronary artery bypass graft surgery - results of cardiac rehabilitation programme.

Accountability, involvement, empowerment of the patients and families/caregiver, as well as the incentive for health behaviors based on physical exercise and healthy living habits with the support of health professionals, are fundamental in meeting the demands of the current society. The main objective of this report is to describe the process of developing skills in rehabilitation nursing that was possible in the context of the final stage in which an intervention program in the area of cardiac rehabilitation was designed, implemented and evaluated. In this quantitative study with exploratory characteristics, it was used the collection of observable and quantifiable data, from patients submitted to coronary artery bypass grafting.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Adults With Amblyopia.

Background: Through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) it is possible to change cortical excitability of the visual cortex, and to influence binocular balance. The main goal of our study is to assess the effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation, specifically theta burst stimulation (TBS), in a group of amblyopic volunteers measuring several visual parameters: visual acuity, suppressive imbalance, and stereoacuity.

Methods: Thirteen volunteers aged 19 to 24 years, randomly split in 2 groups, underwent 1 session of continuous TBS, stimulating the right occipital lobe.

Can theta burst stimulation safely influence auditory hearing thresholds in healthy young adults?

Objective: This TBS sham-controlled study aimed to evaluate the effects of intermittent TBS (iTBS) and continuous TBS (cTBS) upon ipsilateral hearing thresholds after stimulation on the left auditory cortex.

Methods: Sixty healthy adults, aged between 19 and 32 years (median of 23 years), were randomly distributed into three groups and underwent iTBS, cTBS or sham stimulation. Each double-blind experimental session comprised two pure tone audiometric evaluations per subject, before and after stimulation.

Physiopathology and diagnosis of cardiotoxicity in patients submitted to chemotherapy treatment.

Cardiovascular diseases and neoplastic diseases are the two main causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Treated cancer patients usually develop cardiac diseases late in life due to chemotherapy- induced heart damage. The type of damage caused to the heart depends on the type of agent used during cancer treatment.

Bilateral theta-burst magnetic stimulation influence on event-related brain potentials.

Theta-burst stimulation (TBS) can be a non-invasive technique to modulate cognitive functions, with promising therapeutic potential, but with some contradictory results. Event related potentials are used as a marker of brain deterioration and can be used to evaluate TBS-related cognitive performance, but its use remains scant. This study aimed to study bilateral inhibitory and excitatory TBS effects upon neurocognitive performance of young healthy volunteers, using the auditory P300' results.