Prevalence and misdiagnosis of chronic heart failure in nursing home residents: the role of B-type natriuretic peptides

Background/objectives. Without knowing the exact CHF prevalence, chronic heart failure (CHF) occurs frequently in elderly people both inside and outside nursing homes. For a diagnosis we have to rely on physical examination and additional tests. We therefore run the risk of missing CHF diagnoses or of diagnosing CHF when we should not. Natriuretic peptide assays have emerged as a diagnostic test but their use in nursing home residents is limited. We examined the number of misdiagnoses, the CHF prevalence and the role of natriuretic peptide. Method. Residents in one centre without aphasia, cognitive impairments or metastatic cancer were screened for CHF; the natriuretic peptide levels were measured separately. Results. Of the 150 residents, 103 (64%) were included (79±11 years). The diagnosis of CHF was established in 24 of these 103 residents with NTproBNP 1871 (IQR 539 to 4262) and BNP 194 (IQR 92 to 460) pg/ml. A striking result was that of the 24 residents found to have CHF after the screening, 15 (66%) had previously been undetected: NT-proBNP 1146 (interquartile range (IQR) 228 to 3341) and BNP 200 (IQR 107 to 433) pg/ml. Moreover, in 13 out of 22 residents (62%) who had previously been thought to have CHF, the diagnosis was rejected: NT-proBNP 388 (IQR 174 to 719) and BPN 90 (IQR 35 to 128) pg/ml). Regarding the diagnostic accuracy of NT-proBNP and BNP, the optimal cut-off level of NT-proBNP was 450 pg/ml with a sensitivity of 0.71 and specificity of 0.67, and for BNP it was 100 pg/ml with a sensitivity of 0.71 and specificity of 0.70. Conclusion. Both undetected and incorrect diagnoses of CHF were common. NT-proBNP and BNP were moderately accurate at diagnosing CHF. CHF prevalence was 23%. (Neth Heart J 2008;16: 123-8.)     

常见支原体感染误诊与对策

临床支原体感染易发生误诊,不但加重患者精神和经济负担,而且延误患者病情,甚至留下后遗症。为此,我们综述了常见支原体感染误诊的特点和原因,深挖其中思维和思想根源,探讨减少或避免该类误诊现象的策略,旨在为临床医护人员和检验技术人员提供参考建议。     

Confounding factors leading to misdiagnosing ventricular tachycardia as supraventricular in the emergency room

Studies conducted during the last 50 years have proposed electrocardiographic criteria and algorithms to determine if a wide QRS tachycardia is ventricular or supraventricular in origin. Sustained ventricular tachycardia is an uncommon reason for consultation in the emergency room. The latter and the complexity of available electrocardiographic diagnostic criteria and algorithms result in frequent misdiagnoses. Good hemodynamic tolerance of tachycardia in the supine position does not exclude its ventricular origin. Although rare, ventricular tachycardia in patients with and without structural heart disease may show a QRS duration <120 ms. Interruption of tachycardia by coughing, carotid sinus massage, Valsalva maneuver, or following the infusion of adenosine or verapamil should not discard the ventricular origin of the arrhythmia. In patients with regular, uniform, sustained broad QRS tachycardia, the presence of structural heart disease or A-V dissociation strongly suggest its ventricular origin. Occasionally, ventricular tachycardia can present with AV dissociation without this being evident on the 12-lead ECG. Cardiac auscultation, examination of the jugular venous pulse, and arterial pulse palpation provide additional clues for identifying A-V dissociation during tachycardia. This paper does not review the electrocardiographic criteria for categorizing tachycardia as ventricular but rather why emergency physicians misdiagnose these patients.     

面癣误诊1例

报道由须癣毛癣菌感染引起并被长期误诊的面癣1例。患者女,37岁,因"面部反复红斑、丘疹、水疱伴瘙痒半年"就诊。多次被误诊为单纯疱疹、脓疱疮、湿疹、皮肤感染、脂溢性皮炎及玫瑰痤疮等,先后应用抗病毒、抗感染和抗过敏治疗,皮损未能完全消退并逐渐扩大。再次就诊,真菌学直接镜检阳性,真菌培养为须癣毛癣菌。给予口服特比萘芬片、外用联苯苄唑乳膏治疗后痊愈。     

A Case of Human Hepatic Alveolar Echinococcosis Accompanied by Lung and Brain Metastases

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is considered as a fatal zoonosis caused by the larvae of Echinococcus multilocularis. The lungs and brain are the most common metastatic organs. We report a human case of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis accompanied by lung and brain metastasis. In particular, the patient had a history of tuberculosis and the lung lesions were easily misdiagnosed as lung abscesses. The lesions of liver and lung underwent radical resection and confirmed as alveolar echinococcosis by pathological examination. The patient had no surgical complications after operation and was discharged after symptomatic treatment. Unfortunately, the patient later developed multiple intracerebral AE metastases. We required the patient to take albendazole orally for life and follow up.     

肺曲霉病40例的临床分析

目的：探讨肺曲霉病的临床表现、影像学特点、诊断和治疗,以提高对本病的认识。方法：回顾性分析本院2002年1月-2009年4月经病理确诊为肺曲霉病住院患者40例,总结其临床表现、影像学特点、诊断及治疗情况。结果：40例肺曲霉病患者中,曲菌球23例、侵袭性肺曲霉病17例。合并有基础疾病者36例（90．0％）：其中,肺结核15例（37．5％）,支气管扩张6例（15．0％）。肺曲霉病的主要症状为咳嗽32例（80．0％）,咳痰25例（62．5％）,咯血24例（60．0％0。影像学表现多样,肿块结节型23例（57．5％）,渗出型12例（30．0％）空洞样病灶12例（30．0％）,“洞中球征”和“晕征”各8例（20．0％）。所有病例均经过病理检出,手术切除后病理检出26例（65．0％）,纤维支气管镜下活检栓出12例（30．0％）,CT引导下经皮肺穿刺活检检出2例。本组病例中,26倒在病理诊断前被初诊误诊,误诊率高达65．0％,初诊为肺结核13例（32．5％）,肺癌8例（20．0％）,细菌感染3例,支气管扩张并感染2例。26例（65．0％）经外科手术切除,随访均无复发;10例（25．O％）经抗真菌药物治疗,9例痊愈或显效。结论：肺曲霉病多继发于肺部基础疾病,临床表现以咳嗽、咳痰、反复间断咯血为主,缺乏特异性;影像学表现复杂多样。曲菌球和侵袭性肺曲霉病的发病危险因素、临床表现、影像学以及治疗方法均有不同。肺曲霉病误诊率高,确诊有赖于组织病理学;外科治疗和抗真菌药物治疗有较好的疗效。     

1例热带念珠菌脓肿误诊分析

报告1例热带念珠菌引起的腹腔脓肿瘘管真菌感染。患者女,78岁,因十二指肠球部穿孔并发腹膜炎,行腹腔镜术,术后伤口反复未完全愈合,有少量分泌物溢出。发现腹壁瘘管及腹腔脓肿入院,两次细菌培养均无菌生长,再次取分泌物直接镜检阳性,真菌培养鉴定为热带念珠菌。手术清理组织,病理示感染性肉芽肿改变,查见大量假菌丝及孢子。经口服伊曲康唑和两性霉素B溶液纱条引流治疗3个月后基本痊愈。     

使用面罩行心肺运动试验（CPET）可能导致误诊的临床观察研究*

目的: 观察面罩增加解剖死腔,归纳总结CPET新9图结果中运动诱导的波浪式呼吸（EIOB）产生的规律,并分析出其发生率及易产生波浪式呼吸的年龄段。方法: 本研究全部CPET实验数据结果来自2014年至今在聊城市儿童医院门诊完成CPET的3至14岁的501例儿童。通过严格质控,根据Harbor-UCLA标准操作流程在经过特殊座位处理的儿童精准功率计上完成症状限制极限运动的CPET,通过CPET数据的标准化计算分析判读,对不同年龄儿童的气体交换特征性表现的EIOB发生频率进行分析,同时分析高强度运动时漏气导致摄氧量和氧脉搏递增变缓的可能。结果: 3~6 岁组EIOB 的发生率最高, 为42%;7~10 岁组EIOB 的发生率为29.4%,11~14 岁组EIOB 的发生率为29.9%。三组经卡方检验（x²=7.512）,差别具有统计学意义（P<0.05）。508 例患儿中有14 例在CPET 过程中出现漏气情况,发生率为2.7%。结论: 儿童出现波浪式呼吸（OB）现象可能因为面罩增加了解剖死腔,并非疾病所致。为提高CPET质控和减少临床误诊建议尽可能使用较少增加死腔的咬口器。