Effect of glucose variability on the mortality of adults aged 75 years and over during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: To our knowledge, only one study has examined the association between glucose variability (GV) and mortality in the elderly population with diabetes. GV was assessed by HbA1c, and a J-shaped curve was observed in the relationship between HbA1c thresholds and mortality. No study of GV was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdown.

Glycemic variability and all-cause mortality in a large prospective southern European cohort of patients with differences in glycemic status.

Background: Few studies have analyzed the relationship between glucose variability (GV) and adverse health outcomes in patients with differences in glycemic status. The present study tests the hypothesis that GV predicts all-cause mortality regardless of glycemic status after simple adjustment (age and sex) and full adjustment (age, sex, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, use of aspirin, statins, GLP-1 receptor agonists, SGLT-2 inhibitors and DPP-4 inhibitors, baseline FPG and average HbA1c).

Methods: Prospective cohort study with 795 normoglycemic patients, 233 patients with prediabetes, and 4,102 patients with type 2 diabetes.

Evaluation of 18 quality indicators from the external quality assurance preanalytical programme of the Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC).

Objectives: Most errors in laboratory medicine occur in the pre- and post-analytical phases of the total testing process (TTP). In 2014, the Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC) started the current Preanalytical Phase EQA Programme, with the objective of providing a tool for the improvement of the preanalytical phase. The aim of this study was to review the evolution of quality indicators (QI) and the comparability of established performance specifications (PS) with other EQA programmes.

Influence of study model, baseline catalytic concentrations and analytical system on the stability of serum alanine aminotransferase.

Objectives: The stability of the analytes most commonly used in routine clinical practice has been the subject of intensive research, with varying and even conflicting results. Such is the case of alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The purpose of this study was to determine the stability of serum ALT according to different variables.

Clinical Applications of Ultrasonography in Neurocritically Ill Patients.

Ultrasonography is part of the multimodal monitoring of the neurocritical patient. Through transcranial color Doppler ultrasound, carotid-color Doppler ultrasound, and ocular ultrasound it is possible to diagnose and monitor a multitude of pathological conditions, such as cerebrovascular events, vasospasm, Terson syndrome, carotid atheromatosis, and brain death. Furthermore, these techniques enable the monitoring of the intracranial pressure, the cerebral perfusion pressure, and the midline deviation, which allows us to understand the patient's neurocritical pathology at their bedside, in a noninvasive way.

Effectiveness and limitations of an incident-reporting system analyzed by local clinical safety leaders in a tertiary hospital: Prospective evaluation through real-time observations of patient safety incidents.

The effectiveness of a hospital incident-reporting system (IRS) on improve patient safety is unclear. This study objective was to assess which implemented improvement actions after the analysis of the incidents reported were effective in reduce near-misses or adverse events.Patient safety incidents (PSIs), near misses and adverse events, notified to the IRS were analyzed by local clinical safety leaders (CSLs) who propose and implement improvement actions.

[Ebola virus disease: Update].

The first known Ebola outbreak occurred in 1976. Since then, 24 limited outbreaks had been reported in Central Africa, but never affecting more than 425 persons. The current outbreak in Western Africa is the largest in history with 28,220 reported cases and 11,291 deaths.