Israel Medical Association Journal

Background: Little information is available on the clinical practice and implementation of guidelines in treating acute myocardial infarction patients in Israel.

Objective: To assess patient characteristics, hospital course, management, and 30 day clinical outcome of all AMI[1] patients hospitalized in Israel during a 2 month period in 2000.

Method: We conducted a prospective 2 month survey of consecutive AMI patients admitted to 82 of 96 internal medicine departments and all 26 cardiac departments operating in Israel in 2000. Data were collected uniformly by means of a hospital and 30 day follow-up form.

Results: During the survey 1,683 consecutive patients with a discharge diagnosis of AMI were included. Their mean age was 66 years; 73% were male. The electrocardiographic pattern on admission revealed ST elevation, non-ST elevation and an undetermined ECG[2] in 63%, 34% and 4% of patients respectively. Aspirin and heparin were given to 95% of patients. Beta-blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were given to 76% and 65% of patients respectively. Among hospital survivors, 45% received lipid-lowering drugs. Thrombolytic therapy was administered in 28% of patients, coronary angiography was used in 45%, and 7% of patients underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention. The 7 and 30 day mortality rates were 7% and 11% respectively.

Conclusions: This nationwide survey shows that one-third of the AMI patients in Israel are elderly (≥ 75 years). The survey suggests that clinical guidelines for the management of patients with AMI are partially implemented in the community. Data from large surveys representing the "real world" practice are of utmost importance for the evaluation of clinical guidelines, research and educational purposes.

Background: Acute renal infarction is an oft-missed diagnosis. As a result; its true incidence, although presumed to be low, is actually unknown. Surprisingly, the medical literature on the subject, other than anecdotal case reports, is scarce.

Objectives: To increase physician awareness of the diagnosis and to identify predictive clinical and laboratory features of the entity.

Method: Between 1 November 1997 and 31 October 2000, 11 cases of acute renal infarction in 10 patients were diagnosed in our center by contrast-enhanced computerized tomography. The medical charts of these patients were reviewed regarding risk factor, clinical presentation, possible predictive laboratory examinations, and out-come.

Results: During the 36 month observation period, the incidence of acute renal infarction was 0.007%. The mean age of the patients (5 men and 5 women) was 67.4 + 21.1 (range 30-87 years). In four cases the right and in five the left kidney was involved; in the other. two cases bilateral:involvement was seen. In 7/10 patients, an increased risk for thromboembolic events was found. Six had chronic atrial fibrillation and one had a combined activated protein C resistance and protein S deficiency, Three patients had suffered a previous thromboembolic event. Two cases were receiving anticoagulant therapy with an INR of 1.6 and 1.8, respectively. On admission, flank pain was recorded in 10/11, fever in 5 and nausea/vomiting in 4 cases. Hematuria was detected in urine reagent strips in all cases; Serum lactate dehydrogenase and white blood cell count were elevated in all cases (1,570 + 703 IU/L and 12,988 + 3,841/ l, respectively). In no case was the diagnosis of acute renal infarction  initially entertained. The working diagnoses were .renal colic in 2 pyelonephritis in 3, renal carcinoma, digitails intoxication, and suspected endocarditis in one patient each, and an acute abdomen in 3. Time from admission to definitive CT diagnosis ranged from 24 hours to 6 days; Three patients were treated with intravenous heparin and another with a combination of IV heparin and renal intra-arterial urokinase infusion with, in the latter case, no recovery of function of the affected kidney. With the exception of this one patient (with a contralateral contracted kidney) who required maintenance dialysis, in all other cases serum creatinine levels. remained unchanged or reverted to the baseline mean of 1.1 mg/dl (0.9-1.2).

Conclusions: Acute renal infarction is not as rare as previously assumed. The entity is often misdiagnosed. Unilateral flank pain in a patient with an increased risk for thromboembolism should raise the suspicion of renal infarction. In such a setting, hematuria, leuaocytosis and an elevated LDH level are strongly supportive of the diagnosis.

Background: Eldercare often necessitates the presence of a family caregiver at the senior's visit to a doctor’s office. Studies indicate that some caregivers are not satisfied with these encounters or with as An understanding of the dynamics of these complex interactions is required.

Objectives: To explore family physicians’ attitudes to interfacing family caregivers of the elderly, to identify factors within the family patient-caregiver encounters in the office setting that for physicians,  to ascertain factors that might be problematic for physicians, to ascertain factors that might contribute to doctors’ behaviors and concerns, and to propose possible solutions for optimizing the outcomes of these visits.

Method: A questionnaire for self-administration was mailed to 200 family physicians in Montreal, Canada who are affiliated with two community secondary care and one tertiary care hospital and involved in geriatric office practice. The survey focused on family physician attitudes, concerns and observations on the interactions among themselves, elderly patients and their family caregivers during office visits.

Results: A total of 142 completed questionnaires were returned with a 71% response rate. Most family doctors felt that it was their responsibility to respond to caregiver concerns (90.6%) and that they were generally meeting their needs (94.2%). In contrast, 81% found this activity stressful and that as few as three such encounters per day were sufficient to generate stress. Causes of stress included: a) concern regarding misdiagnosis, b) different agendas or conflicting responses of patient and caregiver to doctors’ suggestions, and c) reluctance of the elderly or the caregiver to use community resources. A common physician strategy was reliance on acquired professional experience to solving problems of the elderly or of their caregivers.

Conclusions: Despite the stress involved, physicians are interested in assisting caregivers in the management of the elderly. Many doctors lack adequate knowledge about or confidence in community resources. Clinicians may require enhanced skills in conflict resolution necessary to achieve optimal outcomes.

Background: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in Israel. Unfortunately, compliance  with annual fecal occult blood testing is very low.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of interventions to increase FOBT[1] screening in primary care clinics in Israel.

Methods: A prospective, randomized study included all 50–75 year old enrollees of six family physicians in two primary care clinics. The register of two physicians, one from each clinic, was allocated to one of three groups. Two FOBT reminder strategies were tested: a physician reminder (753 patients), and a patient reminder that was either a phone call (312 patients) or a letter (337 patients). The control group (913 patients) of physicians continued administering their regular level of care. The main outcome measure was the percentage of patients undergoing FOBT screening in each study arm at the conclusion of the one year study period.

Results: In the intervention groups 14.3% (201/1,402) were screened using the FOBT over the course of the study year. Using an intent-to-screen analysis, the screening rate in the physician and patient reminder groups was significantly higher than in the control group(16.5 and 11.9%,vs. 1.2% respectively, P < 0.0001). Phone reminders were significantly more efective as compared to letters (14.7 vs. 9.2%, P = 0.01).

Conclusions: Our study has shown the benefit of various FOBT reminder systems, especially those centered around the family physician. Further research should focus on this area, in conjunction with other novel approaches.

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[1] FOBT = fecal occult blood testing

Background: Carcinoma of the gallbladder is diagnosed in 0.3–1.5% of all cholecystectomy specimens.

Objectives: To establish the overall rate of gallbladder carcinoma and unexpected gallbladder carcinoma based on our experience.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated all consecutive cholecystectomies performed in our ward during a 6 year period in order to determine the incidence of gallbladder carcinoma and to identify common characteristics of this particular group of patients.

Results: Of the 1,697 cholecystectomies performed in our ward during the 6 years, gallbladder carcinoma was diagnosed in six patients (0.35%), but was not suspected prior to surgery in any of them. In accordance with the literature, the occurrence in women (5/6) was higher than in men (1/6). The mean age was 70 years (range 55–90). The most common symptom was abdominal pain; the majority (5/6) had cholelithiasis, and the pathologic report confirmed the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma in all six patients.

Conclusions: The overall incidence of unsuspected gallbladder carcinoma in our series was 0.35%. We could not find any common characteristics for this particular group of patients when compared to patients with non-malignant pathology.

Background: Acute appendicitis is one of the most common conditions requiring surgical intervention. Open appendectomy has been a safe and effective operation for acute appendicitis for more than a century. Recently, several authors proposed that the new technique of laparoscopic appendectomy should be the preferred treatment for acute appendicitis. However, unlike laparoscopic cholecystectomy, LA[1] has not yet gained popularity.

Objectives: To compare open with laparoscopic appendectomy for length of operation, complications, postoperative pain control, length of hospitalization, and hospital costs.

Methods: A sample of 194 patients who underwent OA[2] and LA during 1995 was randomly selected for the study. Patients' demographic data, preoperative laboratory and physical values, histopathologic diagnosis of removed appendix, mean operating time, length of hospitalization, and postoperative pain control and complications were reviewed.

Results: Acute appendicitis was confirmed in 66% of patients. The groups were similar demographically (gender and mean age). We could not find any statistical differences in intraoperative and postoperative complications and use of antibiotics. The operative time was longer in the OA group (62.4 vs. 57.3 minutes), but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.075). The hospital stay was 2.5 days in the LA group and 2.7 days in the OA group. Higher operative costs were observed in the LA group.

Conclusion: Laparoscopic appendectomy is comparable to open appendectomy with regard to complications, length of operation, hospital stay, but it is more costly. Laparoscopic appendectomy does not offer any significant benefit over the open approach.

Background: Pregnant diabetic women are often subjected to frequent and prolonged hospitalizations to assure tight glycemic control, but in recent years attempts have been made at ambulatory control. The financial and social advantages of ambulatory management are obvious, but no report to date has prospectively compared its efficacy with that of hospitalization.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and cost of ambulatory care as compared to repeated hospitalizations for management of diabetes in pregnancy.

Methods: We conducted an 8 year prospective controlled study that included 681 diabetic women, experiencing 801 singleton pregnancies, with commencement of therapy prior to 34 gestational weeks. During 1986–1989, 394 pregnancies (60 pre-gestational diabetes mellitus and 334 gestational diabetes mellitus) were managed by hospitalization, and for the period 1990–1993, 407 pregnancies (61 PGDM and 346 GDM) were managed ambulatorily. Glycemic control, maternal complications, perinatal mortality, neonatal morbidity and hospital cost were analyzed.

Results: There was no difference in metabolic control and pregnancy outcome in women with PGDM between the hospitalized and the ambulatory groups. Patients with GDM who were managed ambulatorily had significantly lower mean capillary glucose levels, later delivery and higher gestational age at induction of labor as compared to their hospitalized counterparts. In this group there were also lower rates of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, phototherapy and intensive care unit admissions and stay. The saved hospital cost (in Israeli prices) in the ambulatory group was $6,000 and $15,000 per GDM and PGDM pregnancy, respectively.

Conclusions: Ambulatory care is as effective as hospitalization among PGDM patients and more effective among GDM patients with regard to glycemic control and neonatal morbidity. This is not only more convenient for the pregnant diabetic patient, but significantly reduces treatment costs.
 

Background: Acute scrotal pain in children presents a major diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Epididymitis has been considered uncommon in childhood. The clinical spectrum and therapeutic policy of the acute scrotum in children is continually being reassessed.

Objectives: To determine whether there has been an increase in the incidence of epididymitis in children and to advocate a more selective surgical approach to the acute scrotum.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 65 children admitted to our department of pediatric surgery with the diagnosis of acute scrotum during a 5 year period.

Results: Of the 65 children admitted with the diagnosis of acute scrotum, epididymitis was diagnosed in 42 (64.6%). The remaining cases included torsion of the testis in 12 patients (18.5%), torsion of the appendix testis in 5 (7.7%), scrotal pain and minimal physical findings in 4 (6.1%), and scrotal hematoma and idiopathic scrotal edema in one patient each. Doppler ultrasound of the groin, color Doppler ultrasound of the testis and testicular nuclide scintigraphy (Tc-99m scan) examinations were performed on 49, 30 and 57 occasions, respectively; the Tc-99m scan was the most effective tool. All the patients with epididymitis were diagnosed before surgical intervention and were treated conservatively.

Conclusions: We observed an increasing frequency of epididymitis in children admitted with the diagnosis of acute scrotum.