Browsing by Author "Meireles, J."
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Portuguese validation of the Cambridge pulmonary hypertension outcome review (CAMPHOR) questionnairePublication . Reis, A.; Twiss, J.; Vicente, M.; Gonçalves, F.; Carvalho, L.; Meireles, J.; Melo, A.; McKenna, S.; Almeida, L.BACKGROUND: Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and other forms of precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) have impaired quality of life (QoL). The Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review (CAMPHOR) is a PH-specific patient-reported outcome measure that assesses symptoms, activity limitations and QoL. It was originally developed in UK-English. The main objective of this study was to create an adaptation of the CAMPHOR suitable for a Portuguese-speaking population. METHODS: A multi-step approach was followed: bilingual and lay panel translation; cognitive debriefing interviews; and psychometric testing in repeated postal surveys (2 weeks apart) including assessment of internal consistency, reproducibility and validity. The Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) questionnaire was used as a comparator instrument to test convergent validity. RESULTS: The CAMPHOR was translated without difficulty by the two panels. Cognitive debriefing interviews showed the questionnaire was easily understood and considered relevant to patients' experience with their illness. Psychometric evaluation was performed with 50 PAH patients (47 ± 14 years, 37 women). Cronbach's alpha coefficients showed good internal consistency for the three CAMPHOR scales [Symptoms = 0.95; Activities = 0.93 and QoL = 0.94]. Test-retest coefficients showed that all scales had excellent reliability (Symptoms = 0.94; Activities = 0.89 and QoL = 0.93), indicating low levels of random measurement error. The CAMPHOR correlated as expected with the NHP. The magnitude of correlations followed a similar pattern to those in the original development study. The CAMPHOR also exhibited evidence of known group validity in its ability to distinguish between self-reported severity and general health groups. CONCLUSIONS: A valid and reliable version of the CAMPHOR questionnaire for the European Portuguese-speaking population was developed and is recommended for use.
- Pulmonary Hypertension in Portugal: First Data from a Nationwide RegistryPublication . Baptista, R.; Meireles, J.; Agapito, A.; Castro, G.; Marinho-Silva, A:; Shiang, T.; Gonçalves, F.; Rubalo-Martins, S.; Nunes-Diogo, A.; Reis, A.Introduction. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease that must be managed in specialized centers; therefore, the availability of epidemiological national data is critical. Methods. We conducted a prospective, observational, and multicenter registry with a joint collaboration from five centers from Portugal and included adult incident patients with PAH or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Results. Of the 79 patients enrolled in this study, 46 (58.2%) were classified as PAH and 33 patients (41.8%) as CTEPH. PAH patients had a mean age of 43.4 ± 16.4 years. Idiopathic PAH was the most common etiology (37%). At presentation, PAH patients had elevated right atrial pressure (RAP) (7.7 ± 5.9 mmHg) and mean pulmonary vascular resistance (11.4 ± 6.5 Wood units), with a low cardiac index (2.7 ± 1.1 L·min−1·m−2); no patient was under selective pulmonary vasodilators; however, at follow-up, most patients were on single (50%), double (28%), or triple (9%) combination vasodilator therapy. One-year survival was 93.5%, similar to CTEPH patients (93.9%), that were older (60.0 ± 12.5 years) and had higher RAP (11.0 ± 5.2 mmHg, ). Conclusions. We describe for the first time nationwide data on the diagnosis, management, and prognosis of PAH and CTEPH patients in Portugal. Clinical presentation and outcomes are comparable with those reported on other national registries.
- Sustained-Release Bupropion Overdose: A Case ReportPublication . Mendonça, C.; Rocha, S.; Meireles, J.; Pestana, P.; Teixeira, C.; Aragão, I.Bupropion is an atypical antidepressant with a unique aminoketone structure similar to amphetamines. A narrow therapeutic margin is evident from observational studies that show seizure activity with doses of 400-600 mg or higher. A 38-year old woman took an overdose of 6 grams of bupropion with 110 grams of alcohol. She presented to the Emergency Department with agitation, visual hallucinations and myoclonus of the upper limbs; eyes spontaneously open with isochoric and light reactive pupils with horizontal nystagmus; afebrile, normotensive (121/63 mm Hg) and tachycardic (120 beats/minute). The electrocardiogram revealed a sinus tachycardia with prolonged QT interval (QT/QTc: 0.46/ 0.537) and a QRS complex length in the upper limit of normal. Arterial blood gases revealed metabolic acidosis (pH = 7.16) with increased anion-gap (value=18). She developed mal epilepticus needing thiopental induced coma and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. She suffered prolonged symptoms including seizures before fully recovering. The narrow therapeutic range and the increasing use in the treatment of smoking cessation boosted the number of intentional and unintentional poisoning by this drug. Previous reports of bupropion overdose almost all involve the immediate release formulation. There are some reports of overdose with sustained-release formulation, but there is limited information on its spectrum of toxicity.