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Pre-eclampsia is associated with deficient intravascular production of prostacyclin, a vasodilator, and excessive production of thromboxane, a vasoconstrictor and stimulant of platelet aggregation. These observations led to the hypotheses that antiplatelet agents, low-dose aspirin in particular, might prevent or delay development of pre-eclampsia. This Cochrane review aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of antiplatelet agents, such as aspirin and dipyridamole, when given to women at risk of developing preeclampsia. A systematic review of literature was carried out by searching the following databases up to September 2019: Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's Trials Register, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), and reference lists of retrieved studies. Seventy-seven trials were included, including 40 249 women at risk of developing pre-eclampsia. About 80% of these women were evaluated in nine of the 77 trials included, with eight of these nine trials providing individual data. Interventions were administration of an antiplatelet agent, and comparisons were either placebo or no antiplatelet. The present review provides high-quality evidence that administering low-dose aspirin (50 - 150 mg) to pregnant women led to small-to-moderate benefits, including reductions in the risk of pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, small-for-gestational age fetus, and fetal or neonatal death. Overall, administering antiplatelet agents to 1000 women led to 20 fewer pregnancies with serious adverse outcomes.

Introduction: Portugal presents the highest incidence of stage 5 chronic kidney disease in Europe. It is speculated that a high consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) may contribute to this high incidence. Our aim was to characterize the prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to patients with diabetes mellitus in Portugal., Material and Methods: We analyzed the national prescription database in triennium 2015 - 2017. In patients with diabetes mellitus, we evaluated the prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs according to age, gender and region of the patient and specialty of the prescribing physician. We evaluated the prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in all patients with diabetes mellitus, in patients with presumed renal impairment, and in those with concomitant prescription of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor antagonists., Results: We analyzed 23 320 620 prescriptions, corresponding to 610 157 adults, including 104 306 patients with diabetes mellitus. The most prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were ibuprofen (20.1%), metamizole (14.7%), and diclofenac (11.4%). The prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs was higher in females, in patients aged 51 - 70 years and in the Alentejo region. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were prescribed to 70.6% of patients with diabetes mellitus, from which 10.6% were prescribed ≥ 10 packages during the three years. Among patients with diabetes mellitus on angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor antagonists and with presumed reduction in kidney function, 69.3% were prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and 11.5% were prescribed ≥ 10 packages during the three years., Discussion: The level of prescribing of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to patients with diabetes mellitus is high. The concern of reducing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs prescription to patients already on angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor antagonists and/or decreased renal function does not seem to exist., Conclusion: In Portugal, the level of prescribing of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to patients with diabetes mellitus should be reduced, particularly in the subgroups identified with higher prescription and with higher risk of progression to stage 5 chronic kidney disease.

Asymptomatic bacteriuria is frequently detected in women aged up to 60 years, patients with diabetes and elderly patients. The benefit of antibiotic treatment for this condition is controversial. The objective of this Cochrane systematic review was to assess the effectiveness and safety of antibiotic treatment for asymptomatic bacteriuria in adults. A systematic review of the literature up to 24 February 2015 was performed using the Cochrane Renal Group's Specialised Register. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasirandomised controlled trials comparing antibiotics to placebo or no treatment for asymptomatic bacteriuria in adults were included. The outcomes of interest were the development of symptomatic urinary tract infection, complications, death, adverse events, development of antibiotic resistance, bacteriological cure, and decline in kidney function. Nine studies (1614 participants) were included in this review. The incidence of symptomatic urinary tract infection, complications or death was similar between groups. Antibiotic use was significantly associated with bacteriological cure and an increase in minor adverse events. No decline in kidney function was observed with any one of the treatments. According to the results of the studies included in this revision, authors have concluded that there is no clinical benefit in treating asymptomatic bacteriuria in adults.

Hospital at home is a service that provides active treatment by healthcare professionals in the patient's home for a condition that otherwise would require acute hospital in-patient care. However, the clinical bene t of this intervention and its effect on health costs are not established. This Cochrane systematic review aimed to assess the effectiveness and costs of managing patients with hospital at home compared with inpatient hospital care. A systematic review of the literature was carried out by searching the following databases to 9 January 2017: Cochrane Effective Practice and Organization of Care Group (EPOC) register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, EconLit and clinical trials registries. Thirty-two randomized trials (2 of which unpublished), including 4746 patients, were included. The present review provides insuf cient objective evidence of economic bene t (through a reduction in hospital length of stay) or improved health outcomes.

Arterial hypertension is a public health problem that affects approximately 25% of the world's adult population. The association between hypertension and hyperuricemia has been shown on epidemiological and experimental studies. However, it is unclear whether lowering serum uric acid might lower blood pressure. This Cochrane systematic review - a revised edition of a previously published one - intended as primary objective to evaluate the effect of hypouricemic drugs in patients with primary hypertension or prehypertension. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hypouricemic drugs. A systematic search until February 2016 on controlled, randomized or quasi-randomized trials comparing the effect of hypouricemic drug versus placebo in hypertensive or prehypertensive patients was performed on the following databases: The Cochrane Hypertension Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline, Embase, The World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, e ClinicalTrials.gov. LILACS database up to March 2016 was also searched and the authors of relevant studies were contacted. There were 349 identified papers, 21 were preselected and three randomized clinical trials (211 patients) were included in the qualitative analysis and in the meta-analysis. Two of the trials were conducted exclusively on adolescents. The authors conclude that hypouricemic drugs are not effective in lowering blood pressure in patients with hyperuricemia and primary prehypertension or hypertension. However, this strategy might be more effective in the specific population of adolescents with prehypertension or mild primary hypertension recently diagnosed. Hypouricemic drugs effectively reduce serum uric acid level and withdrawals of therapy due to adverse effects were not superior in the treated group, comparing to placebo; however, one patient withdrew due to a severe cutaneous reaction.

Introduction: In the last years, the global context of medical education and Medical Residency programs in Portugal suffered substantial changes. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate and characterize medical residents ́ satisfaction with medical residency programs in Portugal and to identify features that could be improved., Material and Methods: We utilized as model the survey Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure that has been developed in the United Kingdom and is speci cally targeted to medical residents. The survey was translated and adapted to the Portuguese reality. The survey was available online during April and May of 2016., Results: A total of 3456 responses were obtained, corresponding to a response rate of 35%. Endocrinology/Nutrition, Cardiology, Anesthesiology, Family Physician and Gastroenterology were the specialties in which the degree of satisfaction was higher, while Forensic Medicine, Medical Oncology, Internal Medicine, General Surgery and Pneumology showed the lowest level of satisfaction., Discussion: This study presented a high response rate when compared to previous studies. Portuguese medical residents presented high levels of satisfaction. Depending on year of medical residency, region, type of specialty and type of hospital marked asymmetries were noticed., Conclusion: The survey ́s results should constitute in the future a support tool for the implementation of local and national measures relating to the medical residency. It is advisable to regularly conduct satisfaction surveys to medical residents.