Browsing by Author "Sousa, P."
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- Calprotectin and the Magnitude of Antibodies to Infliximab in Clinically-stable Ulcerative Colitis Patients are More Relevant Than Infliximab Trough Levels and Pharmacokinetics for Therapeutic EscalationPublication . Magro, F.; Afonso, J.; Lopes, S.; Coelho, R.; Gonçalves, R.; Caldeira, P.; Lago, P.; Sousa, H.; Ramos, J.; Gonçalves, A.; Ministro, P.; Rosa, I.; Vieira, A.; Andrade, P.; Soares, J.; Carvalho, D.; Sousa, P.; Meira, T.; Lopes, J.; Moleiro, J.; Dias, C.; Falcão, A.; Geboes, K.; Carneiro, F.Although infliximab (IFX) is an efficient therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, a considerably high rate of therapeutic failures still occurs. This study aimed at a better understanding of IFX pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics among clinically-asymptomatic UC patients. This was a multicentric and prospective study involving 65 UC patients in the maintenance phase of IFX therapy. There were no significant differences between patients with positive and negative clinical, endoscopic and histological outcomes concerning their IFX trough levels (TLs), area under the IFX concentration vs. time curve (AUC), clearance and antibodies to infliximab (ATI) levels. However, the need to undergo therapeutic escalation later in disease development was significantly associated with higher ATI levels (2.62μg/mL vs. 1.15μg/mL, p=0.028). Moreover, and after adjusting for disease severity, the HR (hazard ratio) for therapeutic escalation was significantly decreased for patients with an ATI concentration below 3μg/mL (HR=0.119, p=0.010), and increased for patients with fecal calprotectin (FC) level above 250μg/g (HR=9.309, p=0.018). In clinically-stable UC patients, IFX pharmacokinetic features cannot predict therapeutic response on a short-term basis. However, high levels of ATIs or FC may be indicative of a future therapeutic escalation.
- Clinical performance of an infliximab rapid quantification assayPublication . Magro, F.; Afonso, J.; Lopes, S.; Coelho, R.; Gonçalves, R.; Caldeira, P.; Lago, P.; Sousa, H.; Ramos, J.; Gonçalves, A.; Ministro, P.; Rosa, I.; Meira, T.; Andrade, P.; Soares, J.; Carvalho, D.; Sousa, P.; Vieira, A.; Lopes, J.; Dias, C.; Geboes, K.; Carneiro, F.BACKGROUND: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM)-based algorithms can be used to guide infliximab (IFX) adjustments in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. This study aimed to explore a rapid IFX-quantification test from a clinical perspective. METHODS: This manuscript describes a prospective cohort study involving 110 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients on the maintenance phase of IFX. IFX trough levels were quantified using a rapid quantification assay and a commonly-used reference kit. RESULTS: Irrespective of the assay used to measure IFX, its through levels were statistically different between patients with and without endoscopic remission (Mayo endoscopic score = 0), as well as between patients stratified by their faecal calprotectin (FC) levels. Despite the fact that the two methods correlated well with each other [Spearman's rank correlation coefficient = 0.843, p < 0.001; intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.857, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.791-0.903], there was a discernible systematic variation; values obtained with the reference kit were on average 2.62 units higher than those obtained with the rapid assay. Notwithstanding, 3 µg/ml was shown to be an acceptable cut-off to assess endoscopic status and inflammatory burden levels using both assays. The percentage of patients that had a positive outcome when the IFX concentration measured by the rapid assay ranked above 3 µg/ml was 88% both for a Mayo endoscopic score ⩽ 1 and for an FC concentration <250 µg/g. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this study, we concluded that using the rapid IFX assessment system with a 3 µg/ml threshold is a reliable alternative to the time-consuming enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in patients on the maintenance phase of IFX.
- Genes, crianças e pediatras: Síndrome de Sly - Mucopolissacaridose VIIPublication . Sousa, P.; Lima, M.; Martins, E.
- Mediastinal Mass in a Patient with Colorectal Cancer: A Diagnostic ChallengePublication . Martins, C.; Sousa, P.; Araújo, T.; Castro-Poças, F.; Pedroto, I.The differential diagnosis of mediastinal masses involves many benign and malignant conditions, such as lymphadenopathies and cystic lesions. Metastatic mediastinal adenopathies are usually due to lung, esophagus, and stomach cancer and, rarely, due to colorectal cancer. Gastrointestinal duplication cysts are uncommon inherited lesions usually diagnosed during childhood and may involve the esophagus in 20% of cases. In adults, they are usually asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally. We report the case of a 54-year-old male who recently underwent sigmoidectomy due to an obstructive colon adenocarcinoma. Staging computed tomography scan showed a hypodense lesion in the posterior mediastinum suggestive of metastatic adenopathy. Endoscopic ultrasound revealed a homogeneous and hypoechogenic lesion with intramural location in the upper esophagus, suggestive of a duplication esophageal cyst. Given the oncologic background and to exclude metastatic disease, endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration was performed, and a mucinous fluid was aspirated. The cytologic examination supported the ultrasonographic diagnostic hypothesis. This case highlights the role of endoscopic ultrasound in the differential diagnosis of mediastinal masses, particularly in oncologic patients, in order to rule out more ominous lesions.
- PROGNÓSTICO A CURTO E LONGO PRAZO E FOLLOW-UP ANGIOGRÁFICO APÓS INTERVENÇÃO CORONÁRIA PERCUTÂNEA COM STENTS REVESTIDOS COM RAPAMICINA EM OCLUSÕES CORONÁRIAS CRÓNICAS: ESTUDO PROSPECTIVO DE UM CENTROPublication . Vieira, M.; Dias, V.; Meireles, A.; Gomes, C.; Antunes, N.; Anjo, D.; Luz, A.; Dias, H.; Correia, A.; Pinto, R.; Silveira, J.; Sousa, P.; Cyrne-Carvalho, H.; Torres, S.
- Sistemas de Informação de Enfermagem: exploração da informação partilhada com os médicosPublication . Mota, L.; Pereira, F.; Sousa, P.Enquadramento: Ao longo dos anos foram-se verificando alterações substanciais ao nível da documentação em enfermagem resultantes da utilização de tecnologias da informação na atividade diária dos profissionais de saúde. Os médicos são os maiores consumidores da informação recolhida, processada e documentada pelos enfermeiros, dada a relevância dessa informação no seu processo de tomada de decisão clínica. Objetivos: Identificar e descrever a informação recolhida, processada e documentada pelos enfermeiros que é mais relevante para atividade profissional dos médicos. Metodologia: Estudo qualitativo e exploratório com recurso à observação participante (98 horas) e entrevistas semi-estruturadas (3) com informantes-chave, realizado em contexto hospitalar. Foi realizada a análise indutiva de conteúdo das notas de campo e entrevistas. Resultados: A informação mais relevante para os médicos depende do contexto dos sujeitos, da ação e das profissões, e foi agregada em três categorias: «parâmetros de vigilância»; «medicação e atitudes terapêuticas»; e «dados intercorrentes». Conclusão: As estratégias de recolha de dados mostraram-se capazes de gerar dados válidos para a identificação das categorias de informação mais relevantes para os médicos («parâmetros de vigilância», «medicação e atitudes terapêuticas» e «dados intercorrentes»). A informação relevante para os médicos não é influenciada por quem toma a decisão de prescrição da colheita dos dados.
- Sistemas de Saúde e a segurança dos doentesPublication . Sousa, P.Patient safety has become a core issue for many modern healthcare systems. All healthcare systems around the world occasionally and unintentionally harm patients whom they are seeking to help. In recognition of this, patient safety has become a fundamental part of the drive to improve quality in many countries. The effects of harming a patient are widespread. There can be devastating emotional and physical consequence for patients and their families. For the staff involved too, incidents can be distressing, while members of their clinical teams can become demoralised and disaffected. Safety incidents also incur costs through litigation and extra treatment. Patient safety is nowadays a serious problem of public health, with several implications in different clinical areas and level of care. It is crucial to establish priorities, hierarchy’s interventions and engaged all stakeholders who are involved around this big issue. In other word, it is important to define a strategy that could reflect a global framework, which allow us to integrate, articulate and be actors action-oriented, with the final aim of reducing the possibilities to harm patients. Consequently, these could contribute for a health care delivery of excellence and based on the best evidence. In the last few years, several studies have estimated that around 4% to 17% of patients have experienced an adverse event, and that up to half of these incidents could have been prevented. Many of them have also showed that, the best way of reducing error rates, is to target the underlying systems failures, rather than take actions against individual members of staff. We should recognise that healthcare will always involve risk, but that these risks can be reduced by analysing and tackling the root causes of patient safety incidents. It is important to promote an open and fair culture, and to encourage staff to report when things have gone wrong.
- The risk of disabling, surgery and reoperation in Crohn's disease - A decision tree-based approach to prognosisPublication . Dias, C.; Pereira Rodrigues, P.; Fernandes, S.; Portela, F.; Ministro, P.; Martins, D.; Sousa, P.; Lago, P.; Rosa, I.; Correia, L.; Moura Santos, P.; Magro, F.INTRODUCTION: Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease known to carry a high risk of disabling and many times requiring surgical interventions. This article describes a decision-tree based approach that defines the CD patients' risk or undergoing disabling events, surgical interventions and reoperations, based on clinical and demographic variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This multicentric study involved 1547 CD patients retrospectively enrolled and divided into two cohorts: a derivation one (80%) and a validation one (20%). Decision trees were built upon applying the CHAIRT algorithm for the selection of variables. RESULTS: Three-level decision trees were built for the risk of disabling and reoperation, whereas the risk of surgery was described in a two-level one. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed, and the area under the curves (AUC) Was higher than 70% for all outcomes. The defined risk cut-off values show usefulness for the assessed outcomes: risk levels above 75% for disabling had an odds test positivity of 4.06 [3.50-4.71], whereas risk levels below 34% and 19% excluded surgery and reoperation with an odds test negativity of 0.15 [0.09-0.25] and 0.50 [0.24-1.01], respectively. Overall, patients with B2 or B3 phenotype had a higher proportion of disabling disease and surgery, while patients with later introduction of pharmacological therapeutic (1 months after initial surgery) had a higher proportion of reoperation. CONCLUSIONS: The decision-tree based approach used in this study, with demographic and clinical variables, has shown to be a valid and useful approach to depict such risks of disabling, surgery and reoperation.
- Thrombus aspiration in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction: results of a national registry of interventional cardiologyPublication . Pereira, H.; Caldeira, D.; Teles, R.; Costa, M.; Silva, P.; Ribeiro, V.; Brandão, V.; Martins, D.; Matias, F.; Pereira-Machado, F.; Baptista, J.; Abreu, P.; Santos, R.; Drummond, A.; Carvalho, H.; Calisto, J.; Silva, J.; Pipa, J.; Marques, J.; Sousa, P.; Fernandes, R.; Ferreira, R.; Ramos, S.; Oliveira, E.; Almeida, M.BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the impact of thrombus aspiration (TA) during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (P-PCI) in 'real-world' settings. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study, using data from the National Registry of Interventional Cardiology (RNCI 2006-2012, Portugal) with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients treated with P-PCI. The primary outcome, in-hospital mortality, was analysed through adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). RESULTS: We assessed data for 9458 STEMI patients that undergone P-PCI (35% treated with TA). The risk of in-hospital mortality with TA (aOR 0.93, 95%CI:0.54-1.60) was not significantly decreased. After matching patients through the propensity score, TA reduced significantly the risk of in-hospital mortality (OR 0.58, 95%CI:0.35-0.98; 3500 patients). CONCLUSIONS: The whole cohort data does not support the routine use of TA in P-PCI, but the results of the propensity-score matched cohort suggests that the use of selective TA may improve the short-term risks of STEMI.
- Type 2 Autoimmune Pancreatitis: A Challenge in the Differential Diagnosis of a Pancreatic MassPublication . Martins, C.; Lago, P.; Sousa, P.; Araújo, T.; Davide, J.; Castro-Poças, F.; Pedroto, I.Autoimmune pancreatitis is a rare entity of unknown etiology that can mimic pancreatic cancer and whose diagnosis involves clinical, serological, imagiological, and histological findings. There are two types of autoimmune pancreatitis: type 1, in which the pancreas is involved as one part of a systemic immunoglobulin G4-related disease, and type 2, generally without immunoglobulin G4-positive cells and without systemic involvement.