Elderly patients in the USA account for 26–50% of all intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. The applicability of validated ICU scoring systems to predict outcomes in the “Oldest Old” is poorly documented. We evaluated the utility of three commonly used ICU scoring systems (SAPS II, SAPS III, and APACHE II) to predict clinical outcomes in patients > 90 years. 1,189 surgical procedures performed upon 951 patients > 90 years (between 2000 and 2010) were analyzed. SAPS II, SAPS III, and Acute APACHE II were calculated for all patients admitted to the SICU. Differences between survivors and nonsurvivors were analyzed using the Student's t-test and binary logistic regression analysis. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed for each scoring system studied. The area under the ROC curve (aROC) for the SAPS III was 0.81 at a cut-off value of 57, whereas the aROC for SAPS II was 0.75 at a cut-off score of 44 and the aROC for APACHE II was 0.74 at a cut-off score of 13. The SAPS III ROC curve for prediction of hospital mortality exhibited the greatest sensitivity (84%) and specificity (66%) with a score of 57 for the “Oldest Old” population.
Thoracic venous injuries are predominantly attributed to traumatic and iatrogenic causes. Gunshot wounds and knife stabbings make up the vast majority of penetrating trauma whereas motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of blunt trauma to the chest. Iatrogenic injuries, mostly from central venous catheter complications are being described in growing detail. Although these injuries are rare, they pose a diagnostic challenge as their clinical presentation does not substantially differ from that of arterial injury. Furthermore, the highly lethal nature of some of these injuries provides limited literature for review and probably underestimates their true incidence. The widespread use of multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) has increased the detection rate of these lesions in hemodynamically stable patients that survive the initial traumatic event. In this article, we will discuss and illustrate various causes of injury to each vein and their supporting CT findings while briefly discussing management. The available literature will be reviewed for penetrating, blunt, and iatrogenic injuries to the vena cava, innominate, subclavian, axillary, azygos, and pulmonary veins.
Objective To review experience in the management of the obstructed ureter using antegrade stenting in a variety of conditions.
Patients and methods Between 1984 and 1993, 41 patients (mean age 57 years, range 9–83) had antegrade stents placed by an experienced interventional radiologist. The causes of obstruction were urological in 27, gynaecological in eight, colorectal in three and miscellaneous in three.
Results The overall success rate for antegrade stent insertion was 83% and the failure rate was greatest (four of six) in cases of ureteric injury following gynaecological procedures. There were no immediate complications.
Conclusion Antegrade stenting can be used as a temporary or permanent solution to ureteric obstruction. The technique is safe, acceptable to patients and avoids the need for a general anaesthetic.
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