Israel Medical Association Journal

Objectives: To review the value of mortality-case discussions in primary care clinics, particularly teaching clinics.

Methods: The clinic death register, instituted in 1998, includes age, gender, cause of death, place of death, relevant illnesses, and support provided to the patient before the death. In the half-yearly sessions, the data are reviewed, and individual cases that had an emotional impact on the staff, or information that can bring about changes in future care are discussed by the clinic staff and trainees.

Results: In our clinic 233 deaths occurred during a 6 year period (1998–2003). The crude all-cause mortality rate was 7.1/1000. The median age was 80 years old. Neoplastic causes were slightly more frequent than cardiovascular causes of death. Only 15% died at home; 20% lived alone and 70% lived with a spouse or family members before the death. Topics discussed in the mortality review meetings include identifying pre-suicidal patients, when to hospitalize the sick elderly, dealing with the anger of bereaved families, and ensuring proper home care for terminal patients.

Conclusions: We recommend keeping a death register and conducting mortality review sessions in order to improve the quality of care, emotional support of the staff, and training students and residents about the complex issues surrounding the death of patients.

Background: Debate continues in Israel as to whether to allow patients in public hospitals to choose their physician in return for an additional, out-of-pocket payment. One argument against this arrangement is that the most senior physicians will devote most of their time to private patients and not be sufficiently available to public patients with complex cases.

Objectives: To analyze the patterns of surgical seniority in Jerusalem hospitals from a number of perspectives, including the extent to which: a) opting for private care increases the likelihood of being treated by a very senior surgeon; b) public patients undergoing complex operations are being treated by very senior surgeons, c) the most senior surgeons allocate a significant portion of their time to private patients.

Methods: Demographic and clinical data were retrieved from the operating room records of three of the public hospitals in Jerusalem for all 38,840 operations performed in 2001. Of them, roughly 6000 operations (16%) were performed privately. Operations were classified as "most complex," "moderately complex" and "least complex" by averaging the independent ratings of eight medical and surgical experts. The surgeon's seniority was graded as "tenured" (tenured board-certified specialists, including department heads), "senior" (non-tenured board-certified specialists), and "residents." For each operation, we considered the seniority of the lead surgeon and of the most senior surgeon on the surgical team.

Results: The lead surgeon was of tenured rank in 99% of the most complex private cases and 74% of the most complex public cases, in 93% of the moderately complex private and 35% of the moderately complex public cases, and in 92% of the least complex private and 32% of the least complex public cases. The surgical team included a tenured physician in 97%, 66%, and 53% of the most complex, moderately complex, and least complex public operations, respectively. In both private and public cases, a board-certified (tenured or senior) specialist was a member of the surgical team for almost all of the most complex and moderately complex operations. On average, over half of the operations in which the lead surgeon was a department head were performed on public patients. Among tenured surgeons, those who spent more hours than their colleagues leading private operations also tended, on average, to spend more hours leading public operations.

Conclusions: Private patients have an advantage over public patients in terms of the seniority of the lead surgeon. However, there is also substantial involvement of very senior surgeons in the treatment of public patients, particularly in those cases that are most complex. 

Multidetector-row computed tomography has been validated as a useful non-invasive diagnostic method in patients with various cardiac diseases.

Objective: To identify risk factors and associated conditions that may cause TdP[1] in patients on chronic amiodarone treatment.

Methods: We reviewed the data of six consecutive patients on chronic amiodarone treatment who were admitted to the intensive cardiac care unit due to syncope and TdP.

Results: The patients’ median age was 73.5 years, and five were women. Concomitantly, loratadine was given to two patients and trazodone to one patient. Associated and attributing conditions to the development of TdP were hypokalemia in three patients, drug-induced bradycardia in one and reduced left ventricular function in four.

Conclusions: TdP associated with chronic amiodarone treatment may occur when amiodarone is co-administered with drugs that may potentially prolong QT interval. Additional risk factors for amiodarone-associated TdP include female gender, hypokalemia, reduced left ventricular function and bradycardia.

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[1] TdP = torsade de pointes

Background: Cardiac rupture is a rare but ominous complication of myocardial infarction.

Objectives: To study the clinical presentation, medical course, outcome and echocardiographic predictors of patients with myocardial rupture.

Methods: We evaluated 15 consecutive patients with cardiac rupture during a 4 year period in our department. The current report explores the presence of potential risk factors, timing, relation to the thrombolysis, coronary interventions and outcome.

Results: The index event in all patients was first ST elevation myocardial infarction. In seven patients rupture occurred in the first 24 hours. Pericardial effusion on admission with a clot was present in three patients. Five patients received thrombolytic therapy. Only three patients underwent coronary angioplasty, but in one case it was performed late and in two patients the culprit artery could not be opened. Six patients reached the operating room, of whom three survived.

Conclusions: The lack of early mechanical reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction and thrombolytic therapy are risk factors for cardiac rupture. Pericardial effusion on admission and evidence of a clot are echocardiographic indicators of cardiac rupture and should alert the medical team to further assess the possibility of cardiac rupture.
 

Mortality rates have been falling at all ages, even for very old cohorts, in most western countries as well as in Israel. The question remains open as to whether morbidity rates are also decreasing, especially for Israel’s elderly. While health is improving in almost all industrialized countries, the situation in Israel is not yet resolved. While the more recent cohorts of the young-old (65–74 years) are healthier than their predecessors, Israel’s old-old (75+) may still be lagging behind other countries with regard to improvements in health status. This phenomenon is not well understood but could be explained in part by the more severe formative experiences of many of Israel’s very elderly cohort.