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J Insausti

Publications and source records attributed to J Insausti.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Modelling home televisiting services using systems dynamic theory.

A quantitative model was developed to study the provision of a home televisiting service. Systems dynamic theory was used to describe the relationships between quality of care, accessibility and cost-effectiveness. Input information was gathered from the telemedicine literature, as well as from over 75 sessions of a televisiting service provided by the Severo Ochoa Hospital to 18 housebound patients from three different medical specialties. The model allowed the Severo Ochoa Hospital to estimate the equipment needed to support increased medical contacts for intensive cardiac and other patients.

Adult↗

Impact of a broadband interactive televisit/teleconsultation service for residential and working environments.

The availability of health care attention at the point of need is one of the key benefits of telemedicine. Home environment and working place are the two scenarios selected in this article to evaluate the impact of a televisit and teleconsultation service. 31 users from four different medical and patient groups participated in this study supported by European Commission ATTRACT project. The experiences, carried out in Madrid and Valencia Spanish sites, benefited from interactive broadband access networks to provide cost-effective telecare services. Key areas analyzed encompass systems usability, clinical outcomes, patients quality of care and infoethic issues. Services advantages were verified and compared both from patients and medical staff points of view. Main benefits pointed out refer to displacement reduction, better communication doctor/patient, provision of comfort or friendliness, more precise therapy follow-up and increases in patients sense of well being.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Etiology and microbial patterns of pulmonary infiltrates in patients with orthotopic liver transplantation.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the etiology and microbial patterns of pulmonary infiltrates in liver transplant patients using a bronchoscopic diagnostic approach and the impact of diagnostic results on antimicrobial treatment decisions. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. SETTING: A 1,000-bed tertiary-care university hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty consecutive liver transplant patients with 60 episodes of pulmonary infiltrates (33 episodes during mechanical ventilation) were studied using flexible bronchoscopy with protected specimen brush (PSB) and BAL. RESULTS: A definite infectious etiology was confirmed in 29 episodes (48%). Eighteen episodes corresponded to probable pneumonia (30%), 10 episodes had noninfectious etiologies (17%), and 3 remained undetermined (5%). Opportunistic infections were the most frequent etiology (16/29, 55%, including 1 mixed etiology). Bacterial infections (mainly Gram-negative) accounted for 14 of 29 episodes (48%), including 1 of mixed etiology. The majority of bacterial pneumonia episodes (n = 10, 71%) occurred in period 1 (1 to 28 days posttransplant) during mechanical ventilation, whereas opportunistic episodes were predominant in periods 2 and 3 (29 to 180 days and > 180 days posttransplant, respectively; n = 14, 82%). Microbial treatment was changed according to diagnostic results in 21 episodes (35%). CONCLUSIONS: Microbial patterns in liver transplant patients with pulmonary infiltrates corresponded to nosocomial, mainly Gram-negative bacterial pneumonia in period 1, and to opportunistic infections in period 2 and, to a lesser extent, period 3. A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation including PSB and BAL fluid examination frequently guided specific antimicrobial therapy.

Adolescent↗

Long-term improvement in patients with severe Parkinson's disease after implantation of fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue in a cavity of the caudate nucleus: 5-year follow up in 10 patients. Clinica Puerta de Hierro Neural Transplantation Group.

Different groups worldwide have observed in recent years that stereotactic implantation of fetal tissue can ameliorate the clinical symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The authors therefore investigated whether implantation of fetal ventral mesencephalic (FVM) tissue via open surgery is also capable of producing an improvement and whether this improvement is transient or long lasting. The authors report their findings in a 5-year follow-up study in 10 patients with Hoehn and Yahr Grade IV or V Parkinson's disease in whom a single FVM graft was implanted in a cavity created in the right caudate nucleus. The results indicate that the implants improved motor function and that clinical recovery persisted in seven of the 10 patients 5 years after implantation. Amelioration was observed in both the on and off phases and was accompanied by a 64% reduction in the levodopa dose and withdrawal of the dopamine agonist. The on phase was prolonged from 39% of the waking day to 72%, with reduced intensity and duration of dyskinesias. All symptoms that were analyzed showed improvement, although they differed in intensity and time of onset. The course of improvement seemed to be stepwise, with significant improvement between 5 and 7 months postimplantation followed by two waves of progress peaking in Months 15 and 36. Withdrawal of cyclosporine in three patients after more than 2 years of administration produced a decline in the patients' clinical conditions. In conclusion, the results indicate that open surgery implantation of FVM tissue in the caudate nucleus improves the clinical condition of parkinsonian patients and that this improvement can persist for at least 5 years. In comparison with two earlier series reported by the authors, which involved implants of perfused adrenal medulla and coimplantation of adrenal medulla and peripheral nerve, the course and pattern of improvement in these implant recipients suggests that their recovery can be attributed to more than one factor.

Aged↗

[Severe community-acquired pneumonia].

There is no precise definition for severe community-acquired pneumonia (SEHP), but there are a number of factors which are associated with a greater severity, and which therefore recommended the admission of these patients in an intensive care unit (ICU). In the present article, we mainly refer to SEHP in the immune competent population. SEHP makes up 8-10% of the total number of admissions of an ICU although this depends greatly on the type of unit concerned. The majority of patients admitted, do so because they need mechanical ventilation, because they present a shock situation, or because they develop a multi-organ failure in the course of the disease. The battery of usual tests recommended basically includes a chest x-ray, arterial gas, a count of red and white blood cells, biochemical profile, blood cultures, analysis and culture of the pleural liquid (if this is present), and respiratory samples. The therapeutic strategies tend to guarantee the simultaneous coverage of S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, and the so-called atypical pathogens. Keeping in mind the considerable percentage of penicillin resistant pneumococcus existing in our country, in a general manner it is recommended to use a combination of a macrolide with a 3rd generation cephalosporin against this organism. They should be detected early, especially those situations in which there is respiratory failure and shock which shall require the use of mechanical ventilation and inotropics as well as an adequate monitoring.

Aged↗

A predictive model for the treatment approach to community-acquired pneumonia in patients needing ICU admission.

OBJECTIVE: To create a predictive model for the treatment approach to community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in patients needing Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. DESIGN: Multicenter prospective study. SETTING: Twenty-six Spanish ICUs. PATIENTS: One hundred seven patients with CAP, all of them with accurate etiological diagnosis, divided in three groups according to their etiology in typical (bacterial pneumonia), Legionella and other atypical (Mycoplasma, Chlamydia spp. and virus). For the multivariate analysis we grouped Legionella and other atypical etiologies in the same category. METHODS: We recorded 34 variables including clinical characteristics, risk factors and radiographic pattern. We used a multivariate logistic regression analysis to find out a predictive model. RESULTS: We have the complete data in 70 patients. Four variables: APACHE II, (categorized as a dummy variable) serum sodium and phosphorus and "length of symptoms" gave an accurate predictive model (c = 0.856). From the model we created a score that predicts typical pneumonia with a sensitivity of 90.2% and specificity 72.4%. CONCLUSION: Our model is an attempt to help in the treatment approach to CAP in ICU patients based on a predictive model of basic clinical and laboratory information. Further studies, including larger numbers of patients, should validate and investigate the utility of this model in different clinical settings.

APACHE↗