‘I believe high blood pressure can kill me:’ using the PEN-3 Cultural Model to understand patients’ perceptions of an intervention to control hypertension in Ghana

Objectives: Currently in Ghana, there is an on-going task-shifting strategy in which nurses are trained in hypertension management. While this study will provide useful information on the viability of this approach, it is not clear how patients in the intervention perceive hypertension, the task-shifting strategy, and its effects on blood pressure management. The objective of this paper is to examine patients’ perceptions of hypertension and hypertension management in the context of an on-going task-shifting intervention to manage blood pressure control in Ghana.

Design: Forty-two patients participating in the Task Shifting Strategy for Hypertension program (23 males, 19 females, and mean age 61. 7 years) completed in-depth, qualitative interviews. Interviews were transcribed, and key words and phrases were extracted and coded using the PEN-3 Cultural Model as a guide through open and axial coding techniques, thus allowing rich exploration of the data.

Results: Emergent themes included patients’ perceptions of hypertension, which encompassed misperceptions of hypertension and blood pressure control. Additional themes included enablers and barriers to hypertension management, and how the intervention nurtured lifestyle change associated with blood pressure control. Primary enabling factors included the supportive nature of TASSH nurses, while notable barriers were financial constraints and difficulty accessing medication. Nurturing factors included the motivational interviewing and patient counseling which instilled confidence in the patients that they could make lasting behavior changes.

Conclusions: This study offers a unique perspective of blood pressure control by examining how patients view an on-going task-shifting initiative for hypertension management. The results of this study shed light on factors that can help and hinder individuals in low-resource settings with long-term blood pressure management.     

脑出血围手术期护理安全中细节管理的重要性分析

目的分析脑出血围手术期护理安全中细节管理的重要性。方法将于2018年6-10月在该院接受治疗的60例脑出血围术期患者作为该研究的常规组。将于2018年11月-2019年3月在该院接受治疗的60例脑出血围术期患者作为该研究的细节组。该院于2018年11月开始实施细节管理,以加强保障脑出血围术期患者的安全。对比两组患者的护理满意度、手术失败率、死亡率、住院时间及日常生活能力。结果细节组护理满意度明显高于常规组(P<0.05)。常规组的手术失败率、死亡率为均高于细节组,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);细节组的住院时间明显短于常规组(P<0.05),ADL评分明显大于常规组(P<0.05)。结论细节管理在脑出血围手术期护理安全中具有相当重要性,可提升护理满意度,加快恢复速度,提升恢复效果。     

Outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with heart failure with a midrange ejection fraction

BackgroundCoronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) improves survival in patients with heart failure and severely reduced left ventricular systolic function (LVEF). Limited data exist regarding adverse cardiovascular event rates after CABG in patients with heart failure with midrange ejection fraction (HFmrEF; LVEF > 40% and < 55%).MethodsWe analyzed data on isolated CABG patients from the Veterans Affairs national database (2010-2019). We stratified patients into control (normal LVEF and no heart failure), HFmrEF, and heart failure with reduced LVEF (HFrEF) groups. We compared all-cause mortality and heart failure hospitalization rates between groups with a Cox model and recurrent events analysis, respectively.ResultsIn 6533 veterans, HFmrEF and HFrEF was present in 1715 (26.3%) and 566 (8.6%) respectively; the control group had 4252 (65.1%) patients. HFrEF patients were more likely to have diabetes mellitus (59%), insulin therapy (36%), and previous myocardial infarction (31%). Anemia was more prevalent in patients with HFrEF (49%) as was a lower serum albumin (mean, 3.6 mg/dL). Compared with the control group, a higher risk of death was observed in the HFmrEF (hazard ratio [HR], 1.3 [1.2-1.5)] and HFrEF (HR, 1.5 [1.2-1.7]) groups. HFmrEF patients had the higher risk of myocardial infarction (subdistribution HR, 1.2 [1-1.6]; P = .04). Risk of heart failure hospitalization was higher in patients with HFmrEF (HR, 4.1 [3.5-4.7]) and patients with HFrEF (HR, 7.2 [6.2-8.5]).ConclusionsHeart failure with midrange ejection fraction negatively affects survival after CABG. These patients also experience higher rates myocardial infarction and heart failure hospitalization.     

Prediction and Detection of Secondary Hemorrhages after Thrombolytic Therapy in Ischemic Stroke

Abstract It is well established that thrombolytic therapy increases the risk of secondary intracerebral hemorrhage in ischemic stroke patients. However, the term “intracerebral hemorrhage” (ICH) covers a wide spectrum from tiny spots of blood to massive space-occupying hematoma. We will review the etiology and clinical consequences of secondary hemorrhage after thrombolysis in ischemic stroke patients and discuss the ability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict this phenomenon. MRI is a highly sensitive tool for detection of hemorrhagic transformation after ischemic stroke. The definitions of a so-called symptomatic hemorrhage after ischemic infarction differ considerably and will also be described. Attributing a causal relationship of a clinical deterioration to a secondary hemorrhage is not easy and should be only addressed when it exceeds at least 30% of the infarct volume. In other patients, secondary hemorrhage might be regarded as side effect of reperfusion within the region with the most severe perfusion deficit. Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are a frequent finding in patients with leukoaraiosis and appear to be a general marker of various types of bleeding- prone small vessel disease and a predictor of recurrent vascular events. Current data do not support the hypothesis that the detection of CMBs is a useful diagnostic criterion for the exclusion of patients with CMBs from thrombolytic therapy. However, an increased risk for the rare patients with numerous CMBs can not be ruled out.      

高压氧综合治疗持续植物状态30例疗效分析

目的评估高压氧综合治疗持续植物状态的疗效和探讨最佳治疗方案。方法回顾性分析了1999年—2005年应用高压氧治疗的30例持续植物状态病例,主要分析了原发病因、高压氧治疗次数以及高压氧治疗时机与疗效的关系。结果脑外伤组显效率和好转率明显高于非脑外伤组(P<0.05),开始治疗时间≤30d组及31～60d组好转率明显高于≥61d组(P<0.05)。结论高压氧综合治疗对脑外伤所致持续植物状态患者60d以内开始行高压氧治疗的患者疗效较好。     

促血小板生成素对预测脑瘫高危儿的意义

目的探讨缺氧缺血性脑病(hypoxia-ischem ia encephalopathy,H IE)胎儿和H IE新生儿血清中促血小板生成素(Thrombopoietin,TPO)水平与脑损伤的关系,为脑瘫(cerebral palsy,CP)高危儿人群进行早期干预提供监测手段。方法收集23例H IE胎儿和34例H IE新生儿血清以及25例正常胎儿和30例正常新生儿血清,34例H IE新生儿包括11例轻度H IE,8例中度H IE和15例重度H IE。采用双抗体夹心ABC-ELISA法检测H IE胎儿组和轻、中、重H IE新生儿组血清中TPO的水平,并与正常胎儿组和正常新生儿组比较。结果H IE胎儿组和H IE新生儿组TPO分别高于正常胎儿组和正常新生儿组(分别P<0.01,P<0.01),重度H IE组TPO低于轻度H IE组(P<0.05)。结论血清TPO水平与H IE所致脑损伤严重程度有关。脐血TPO检测可为脑瘫高危儿人群进行早期干预提供监测手段。     

28例颈内动脉系统急性脑梗塞动脉溶栓治疗

目的分析颈内动脉系统急性脑梗塞动脉溶栓治疗的有效性和安全性。方法对28例颈内动脉急性脑梗塞的患者进行了动脉溶栓治疗．通过造影显示血管再通情况。术后即刻和24h后分别行头颅CT扫描以了解有无颅内出血（ICH）。术后第90天采用Barthel指数（BI）对患者生活状态进行评估。结果28例患者经动脉溶栓治疗，堵塞血管再通18例，部分再通6例，未通4例；症状性颅内出血8例，死亡5例。术后第90天，生活状态优者14例，良者8例，差或者死亡6例。再通患者生活状态明显优于部分再通及未通患者。结论动脉溶栓具有较高的症状性颅内出血率及死亡率。再通患者生活状态较好。     

Observations on the efficacy of combined acupuncture and medicine in Treating 50 cases of pseudobulbar paralysis

目的：观察针药结合治疗假性延髓麻痹的疗效。方法：采用完全随机抽样法分为针刺组50例，对照组48例。针刺组在西医治疗的同时，应用针刺进行综合治疗；对照组单纯接受西医药物治疗。结果：针刺组有效率为92．0％，对照组为62．5％。两组疗效差异具有非常显著性意义（P〈0．01）。结论：针药结合治疗假性延髓麻痹效果明显优于单纯西药治疗。     

缺氧缺血性脑病新生鼠补钙前后脑细胞,红细胞内外钙的变化

为了观察一般剂量补钙对缺氧缺血性脑病（ＨＩＥ）脑细胞和红细胞内外钙变化的影响，以探讨ＨＩＥ时补钙是否增加脑细胞钙超载，用ＨＩＥ新生动物模型进行了实验研究，结果表明：（１）缺氧缺血时红细胞、脑细胞及脑组织出现钙积聚；（２）补钙后，血浆总钙浓度明显升高，而脑细胞、脑组织及红细胞钙积聚并未加重；（３）血浆总钙浓度与脑细胞或红细胞胞浆游离钙离子浓度无相关关系。提示：（１）ＨＩＥ时钙内流可能是全身性的；（２）对ＨＩＥ并低钙血症患儿吸氧后一般剂量补钙可能是安全的。     

Statistical analysis of gait patterns of persons with cerebral palsy

Patients at Boston's Children's Hospital diagnosed as having cerebral palsy were filmed walking. These films were digitized and translated into measurements associated with leg motion. In this paper we use the gait measurements of 128 such patients to illustrate that the kth nearest neighbour clustering procedure results in a gait typology for patients with cerebral palsy. The procedure identifies four subpopulations from the sample data; the membership of a patient within this typology is mostly determined by the patient's motor control. The developed typology differs from the present diagnostic system which classifies a cerebral palsy patient as either quadriplegic, diaplegic or hemiplegic.