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Background: It has been suggested that compounds present in silicone breast implants (eg, silicone particles or heavy metals such as platinum) migrate into the body and can cause systemic symptoms in susceptible women, causing what is known as breast implant illness. This pilot study investigates possible associations between hair platinum levels in patients with breast implants and breast implant illness, and evaluates its possible use for diagnostic purposes. Methods: Patients were included from the silicone outpatient clinic at Amsterdam University Medical Centre. Platinum concentration in hair samples of 10 women with breast implants and systemic symptoms (group A) was compared with that in 10 women with breast implants but no symptoms (group B), and a control group of 10 women without implants or symptoms (group C), using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Radiological imaging was used to assess implant ruptures or silicone leakage. Results: A median platinum concentration of 0.09 μg per kg [IQR 0.04-0.15] was found in group A, 0.08 μg per kg [IQR 0.04-0.12] in group B, and 0.04 μg per kg [IQR 0.02-0.13] in group C, with no statistical significant difference between the groups (Kruskal-Wallis test, P = 0.43). No correlation between radiologically proven implant leakage and platinum level was found. Conclusions: There was no statistically significant difference in hair platinum levels in women with or without silicone breast implants or breast implant illness. Therefore, based on this pilot study, we do not recommend this test for clinical use. Given the small sample size, more research is required to fully assess its possible use for diagnostic purposes.

Background: Sepsis in patients with cancer is increasingly common and associated with high mortality. To date, no studies have examined the effectiveness of prehospital antibiotics in septic patients with cancer. This study aimed to compare survival of septic patients with cancer to those without and to evaluate the effect of prehospital antibiotics in septic patients with cancer. Methods: We conducted a post-hoc sub-analysis of the PHANTASi (PreHospital ANTibioitcs Against Sepsis) trial database: a randomised controlled trial which enrolled patients with suspected sepsis who were transported to the emergency department by ambulance. Patients in the intervention group were administered prehospital intravenous antibiotics while those in the control group received usual care. We compared patients who had cancer to those who did not. Primary outcome was 28-day mortality; among the secondary outcomes, we included in-hospital mortality and 90-day mortality. Results: 357(13.4%) of the 2658 included patients had cancer in the past five years, of which, 209 (58.5%) were included in the intervention and 148 (41.5%) usual care groups; 28-day mortality was significantly higher in patients who were diagnosed with cancer in the past five years than those without cancer in the past five years: 15.2% vs. 7.1%, respectively (p < 0.001). Prehospital antibiotics in the group of patients with cancer in the last five years yielded no significant effect on survival. There were however, significantly fewer 30-day readmissions (p = 0.031) in the intervention group of cancer patients (12.2% vs 5.7%). Conclusion: Prehospital antibiotics did not improve overall survival. However, there was a significant reduction in 30-day readmissions. Published version

Of the warning scores in use for recognition of high-risk patients at the Emergency Department (ED), few incorporate laboratory results. Although hematological characteristics have shown prognostic value in small studies, large studies in elderly ED populations are lacking. We studied the association between blood cell and platelet counts and characteristics as well as C-reactive protein (CRP) at ED presentation with mortality in non-multitrauma patients ≥ 65 years. Comparison between survivors and non-survivors showed small, significant differences with AUROCs ranging between 56.6% and 65.2% for 30-day mortality. Combining parameters yielded an evident improvement (AUROC of 70.4%). Efforts should be pursued to study the added value of hematological parameters on top of clinical data when assessing patient risk.

International audience; Background: A long completion time in the Emergency Department (ED) is associated with higher morbidity and in-hospital mortality. A completion time of more than four hours is a frequently used cutoff point. Mostly, older and sicker patients exceed a completion time of four hours on the ED. The primary aim was to examine which factors currently contribute to overcrowding and a time to completion of more than four hours on the EDs of two different hospitals, namely: the VU Medical Center (VUmc), an academic level 1 trauma centre and the St. Antonius Hospital, a large community hospital in Nieuwegein. In addition, we compared the differences between these hospitals. Methods: In this observational study, the time steps in the process of diagnosing and treatment of all patients visiting the EDs of the two hospitals were measured for four weeks. Patients triaged as Emergency Severity Index (ESI) category 2/3 or Manchester Triage System (MTS) orange/yellow were followed more closely and prospectively by researchers for detailed information in the same period from 12.00-23.00 hrs. Results: In the VUmc, 89% of the patients had a completion time of less than four hours. The average completion time (n = 2262) was 2:10 hours, (median 1:51 hours, range: 0:05-12:08). In the St. Antonius Hospital, 77% of patients had a completion time shorter than four hours (n = 1656). The average completion time in hours was 2:49 (n = 1655, median 2:34, range: 0:08-11:04). In the VUmc, a larger percentage of ESI 1, 2 and 3 patients did not achieve the 4-hour target (14%, 20% and 19%) compared with ESI 4 and 5 patients (2.7% and 0%), p < 0.001. At the St. Antonius Hospital, a greater percentage of orange and yellow categorised patients exceeded four hours on the ED (32% and 28%) compared with red (8%) and green/blue (13%), p < 0.001. For both hospitals there was a significant dependency between exceeding four hours on the ED and the following: whether a consultation was performed (p < 0.001), the number of radiology tests performed (p < 0.001), and an age above 65 years. Conclusion: Factors leading to ED stagnation were similar in both hospitals, namely old age, treatment by more than one speciality and undergoing radiological tests. Uniform remedial measures should be taken on a nationwide level to deal with these factors to reduce stagnation in the EDs. Long completion time in the emergency department (ED) can lead to overcrowding and is associated with negative outcomes, such as increased risk of hospital admission and in-hospital mortality. 1 Therefore, optimising ED patient flow is an important and frequently discussed topic. Because the frequency and type of presentations

A 39-year-old woman presented with a ruptured aneurysm of the splenic artery. The postoperative course was complicated by poor wound healing. This, in combination with a history of easy bruising and joint hypermobility, made us consider a connective tissue disease as underlying cause. The vascular type of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome was diagnosed by identifying collagen III deficiency and the corresponding gene mutation in cultured fibroblasts from a skin biopsy.

Three male patients aged 29, 30 and 34 years and a 36-year-old female are reported with nasal septum perforation and a history of cocaine abuse. Two of the patients also had a perforation of the hard palate. In all four, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) were found. One had a cytoplasmic immunofluorescence-staining pattern (c-ANCA), the other three showed a perinuclear staining pattern (p-ANCA). Furthermore, all patients were found to be nasal carriers of S. aureus. We hypothesise that tissue damage to the nasal and palatal area in patients using cocaine may partly be mediated by the presence of ANCA antibodies. Furthermore, we speculate that S. aureus facilitates the development of these ANCA antibodies.

A 51-year-old woman presented at the internal medical outpatients' clinic complaining of fatigue. She had been having frightening suicidal and homicidal thoughts for about 9 months prior to coming to the clinic. Physical examination and extensive laboratory examination revealed no abnormalities. She had been taking vitamin C and a herbal extract of St. John's wort. She was asked to stop taking this herbal extract and her suicidal and homicidal thoughts disappeared within about 3 weeks. She then recalled having used the preparation for some time 3 years earlier, which had given her similar psychiatric symptoms. At that time these symptoms had also disappeared after discontinuation of the preparation. This case illustrates that it is very important to ask about the use of non-regular medication during history taking.