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PurposeThe purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between the perioperative neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and cardiac surgery patient outcomes.Patients and methodsA retrospective cohort study of 145 patients who underwent cardiac surgery in a tertiary hospital of Athens, Greece, from January to March 2015, was conducted. By using a structured short questionnaire, this study reviewed the electronic hospital database and the medical and nursing patient records for data collection purposes. The statistical significance was two-tailed, and p-values <0.05 were considered significant. The statistical analysis was performed with Mann–Whitney U test and Spearman’s correlation coefficient, by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (IBM SPSS 21.0 for Windows).ResultsThe increased preoperative levels of NLR were associated with significantly higher mortality, both in-hospital (p=0.001) and 30-day (p=0.002), prolonged postoperative hospital length of stay (LOS), both in the cardiac intensive care unit (ICU) (p=0.002), and in-hospital (p=0.018), and likewise with delayed tracheal extubation (p≤0.001). Furthermore, patients with elevated NLR during the second postoperative day had significantly higher in-hospital mortality (p=0.018), increased incidence of pneumonia (p=0.022), higher probability of readmission to the ICU (p=0.002), prolonged ICU LOS (p≤0.001), and delayed tracheal extubation (p≤0.001).ConclusionIncreased perioperative NLR seems to be associated with significantly higher mortality and morbidity in cardiac surgery patients. At the same time, NLR is a significant and inexpensive biomarker for the early identification of patients at high risk for complications. In addition, NLR levels could lead clinicians to perform measures for the optimal therapeutic patient approach.

The translation and validation of an instrument evaluating the level of knowledge of hypertension contribute to assessing the provided educational intervention. Low knowledge level should lead to the development of new methods of education, therefore nurses will have the opportunity to amplify their role in patients' education and develop relationships based on honesty and respect.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) plays a significant role in management of heart diseases resulting in an improvement in patients' physical activity and quality of life and a decrease of healthcare costs. The purpose of this article was to review studies that examine outcomes of CR regarding the modifiable risk factors. Literature published between 1995 and 2012 was researched using PubMed and MEDLINE and reference lists of articles. Five hundred and eight studies were identified, however, only 16 met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies included patients with any coronary heart disease. The study concluded that CR improves patients' self-care; a reduction in cholesterol and body mass index was observed. In addition to this, patients tended to quit smoking and increase their exercise activity. This suggests that the establishment and development of CR services is essential for the most effective management of heart condition.

Background: the choice of the appropriate tool for assessing level of medication adherence is a significant barrier in scientific research. Aims: to translate into Greek and test the reliability of the Hill-Bone and A-14 scales among patients with hypertension. Also, to compare patients' responses in the Hill-Bone scale, A-14 scale and Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS). Methods: data collection occurred between February 2016 and March 2016 at a general hospital in Athens, Greece. The sample consisted of hypertensive patients (n=34) and non-hypertensive patients (n=34). Findings: the coefficient alpha in hypertensive patients was 0.76 for Hill-Bone, 0.64 for MMAS and 0.91 for the A-14 scale. In non-hypertensive patients, the Cronbach's alpha for MMAS was 0.81 and 0.78 for A-14. A statistically significant difference was found among the mean scores of the scales, whereas strong correlation was found only between two pairs of questions with similar meaning. Conclusion: all tools are appropriate to assess the level of medication adherence in Greek hypertensive patients. However, careful translation of the scales is essential since items with the same meaning could be understudied in a different way.

Patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) often require prolonged periods of bed rest owing to the severity of their illness. Care is also required to maintain the position and integrity of the ECMO cannula. However, they experience a range of effects due to prolonged bed rest. This systematic review examined the possible effects of the early mobilization in patients on ECMO. The database PUBMED was searched by using appropriate keywords: “rehabilitation”, “mobilization”, “ECMO” and “extracorporeal membrane oxygenation”. The selection criteria for the article search were the following: (a) studies published in the last five years, (b) descriptive studies, (c) randomized studies, (d) published in the English language and (e) studies in adults. A total of 259 studies were found, 8 of which were finally selected. Most of the studies showed that early intensive physical rehabilitation related to a decrease in in-hospital stay and a reduction in the duration of mechanical ventilation and doses of vasopressors. In addition, improvements in the functional status and rate of mortality were observed along with a reduction in health care costs. Exercise training should be a fundamental part of the management of patients on ECMO.

PurposeTo investigate the effect of body mass index (BMI) values on 1- and 2-year mortality rates in patients with chronic heart failure (HF).Patients and methodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of 112 patients with confirmed HF who visited the HF outpatient unit of a tertiary hospital of Athens, Greece, during a 5-month period (December 2012 – April 2013). These patients were assigned to four groups based on their BMI category. Data collection was carried out through a review of the medical patient records and the filling in of a structured questionnaire, including information on the demographic and clinical patient variables. Additionally, 1- and 2-year patient mortality was recorded. The statistical significance was two-tailed, and p-values of less than 0.05 were considered significant. The statistical analysis was performed with Mann–Whitney U test, χ2 test, and Student’s t-test using the SPSS software (IBM SPSS 21.0 for Windows).ResultsObese patients had significantly lower 1-year (13% vs 34.6%, p=0.039) and 2-year (4% vs 21.4%, p=0.022) mortality rates compared with those with normal BMI values. Additionally, we found clinically and not statistically significant lower mortality in overweight and obese patients, when compared with normal BMI and overweight patients, respectively.ConclusionObesity paradox seems to be present in our study, translating to significantly lower long-term mortality rates of obese patients compared to those with normal BMI. The significantly higher left ventricular ejection fraction and hematocrit levels among obese HF patients could justify our study findings. Further research is needed due to the inherent weaknesses of BMI and the other study limitations.

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