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Biomedical subjects

C Helmers

Publications and source records attributed to C Helmers.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Initial serum potassium level in relation to early complications and prognosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

During two years 450 patients with AMI have been treated in the CCU at Serafimerlasarettet. Serum potassium level was determined in 444 patients on admission. Hyperkalaemia was a rare finding associated with a bad state on admission and a poor prognosis. Hypokalaemia was recorded in 15% of the patients and was associated with previous diuretic treatment, supraventricular bradycardia as well as atrial flutter and fibrillation during the first 24 hours in the CCU. Ventricular ectopic beats and venticular tachycardia were also seen more frequently in hypokalaemic than in other patients.

Acute Disease↗

Assessment of 3-year prognosis in survivors of acute myocardial infarction.

A 3-year follow-up with regard to survival was made of 475 initial survivors of an acute myocardial infarction originally treated in a coronary care unit. Previous diseases, complications during the hospital stay, as well as findings recorded on discharge from hospital, were used to construct a prognostic stratification. By multivariate analyses maximum respiratory rate during the coronary care unit stay, left bundle-branch block, and age proved prognostically most important. Using only these factors, patient groups with a 3-year monthly mortality up to 74 per cent were characterized.

Age Factors↗

Prediction of sudden death in patients discharged after acute myocardial infarction.

A follow-up was made of 475 patients discharged after an acute myocardial infarction. Sudden death, i.e. death within 2 hours after the onset of the final attack, was more common in patients below 60 years on admission than in the older age groups. Patients succumbing suddenly often had a history of an earlier myocardial infarction. They also had a higher incidence of inferior infarcts and more frequently showed ventricular tachycardia during the early hospital period than those dying more than 24 hours after the onset of the final episode. When comparisons were made with all patients dying after more than 2 hours' duration of the terminal attack no significant differences were noted for these or other parameters. Prediction of sudden death in immediate survivors of acute myocardial infarction thus seems elusive. Further studies of the relations between the incidence of ventricular ectopic activity during the early and late hospital phase of acute myocardial infarction and sudden death after discharge from hospital are implicated.

Acute Disease↗

Accuracy of bedside diagnosis in stroke.

The clinical diagnosis of the type of acute cerebrovascular diseases is often considered unreliable, although this has not been validated prospectively in representative patients. The accuracy of bedside diagnostics was, therefore, tested in 206 patients consecutively admitted to the Stroke Unit of the Serafimerlasarettet in Stockholm. Bedside diagnosis turned out to be correct in 69%. In 24% the diagnoses were altered after hospital investigation and in the remaining 7% no defined preliminary and/or final diagnosis could be made. When the diagnoses were considered "fairly certain" they were accurate in 87%, compared to 53% when regarded as only "probable". The diagnostic accuracy improved during the period studied. Sensitivity in identifying hemorrhages was much lower (39%) than for cerebral infarctions (83%). It is suggested that new investigational methods should be compared with what can be accomplished with bedside methods alone.

Aged↗