A Prospective Study of Neurocognitive Changes 15 Years After Chronic Inhalant Abuse.
A prospective study of neurocognitive changes 15 years after chronic inhalant abuse.
Addiction. 2013 Mar 13;
Cairney S, O’ Connor N, Dingwall KM, Maruff P, Shafiq-Antonacci R, Currie J, Currie BJ
AIMS: In a previous study, neurological and cognitive deficits reflecting central nervous system (CNS) disruption from chronic inhalant abuse showed substantial recovery after 2 years’ abstinence. Functional recovery was progressive, with recovery rates dependent on the degree of impairment prior to abstinence, and severity and duration of initial abuse. Persistent deficits occurred in those with previous ‘lead encephalopathy’ from leaded petrol abuse. The current study examined recovery in the same cohort 15 years after baseline. DESIGN: Prospective cohort design. SETTING: Two remote Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Using baseline group classifications, 27 healthy controls, 60 ex-chronic inhalant abusers and an additional 17 with previous lead encephalopathy were assessed. MEASUREMENTS: Standard neurological, ocular-motor and cognitive functions and blood lead levels. FINDINGS: Chronic (non-encephalopathic) inhalant abusers showed elevated blood lead levels and abnormal scores on most tasks at baseline. At 2 years’ abstinence, blood lead was reduced but remained elevated and most scores had normalized. By 15 years, blood lead and all performance scores were equivalent to healthy controls for this group (P?>?0.05). The encephalopathic group was more severely impaired on all scores at baseline and showed little improvement, if any, across all tests after both 2 and 15 years’ abstinence. Blood lead for this group declined, and was not significantly different to controls after 15 years. CONCLUSIONS: Some inhalant abusers experience severe and persistent neurological deficits, suggesting irrecoverable damage attributable to lead encephalopathy. In the absence of this encephalopathy long-term abstinence from inhalants may allow recovery of normal brain function. HubMed – addiction
The Diagnostic Utility of Transthoracic Echocardiography for the Diagnosis of Infective Endocarditis in the Real World of the Italian Registry on Infective Endocarditis.
Echocardiography. 2013 Mar 12;
Cecchi E, Chirillo F, Faggiano P, Imazio M, Cecconi M, Moreo A, Cialfi A, Rinaldi M, Ponte SD, Squeri A, Gaddi O, Enia F, Ferro S, Costanzo P, Zuppiroli A, Bergandi G, Bologna F, Ciampani N, De Rosa F, Belli R,
BACKGROUND: The choice of the imaging modality (transthoracic [TTE] vs. transesophageal echocardiography [TEE]) for the diagnosis of infective endocarditis (IE) depends on different variables. Aim of the present study is to provide updated data on the diagnostic sensitivity and the clinical usefulness of TTE vs. TEE from the Italian Registry on IE (RIEI). METHODS: The RIEI has enrolled consecutive cases of IE in every participating centre, evaluating diagnostic and therapeutic data from a real world practice perspective. RESULTS: From July 2007 to October 2010, 658 consecutive cases with definite IE according to Duke criteria have been enrolled in the RIEI (483 males). The following diagnostic echocardiographic exams were performed: 616 TTE (94%) and 476 TEE (72%). A positive TTE was recorded in 399 cases (65%), an uncertain TTE in 108 cases (17%), and a negative TTE in 109 cases (18%). For TEE, a positive study was reported in 451 cases (95%), uncertain in 13 cases (2.7%), and negative in 12 cases (2.5%) (P < 0.001). This difference is not evident in patients with tricuspid valve IE or i.v. drug addiction, and in Streptococcus bovis or Streptococcus viridans IE. TTE was significantly more performed before the admission and earlier than TEE during admission (P = 0.000). TTE was mainly responsible for the initial diagnosis in 59%. TEE contributed to changing the therapeutic approach in 42%. CONCLUSIONS: In the real world, TTE is performed earlier and more commonly, and it is the major echocardiographic tool for the initial diagnosis. TEE confirms its superior diagnostic sensitivity in most cases, although it is relatively underused. HubMed – addiction
Childhood socioeconomic status, school failure, and drug abuse – a Swedish national cohort study.
Addiction. 2013 Mar 13;
Gauffin K, Vinnerljung B, Fridell M, Hesse M, Hjern A
AIM: To investigate whether socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood and school failure at 15 years of age predict illicit drug abuse in youth and young adulthood. DESIGNSETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Register study in a Swedish national cohort born 1973-1988 (N = 1 405 763), followed from age 16 to 20-35 years. Cox regression analyses were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) for any indication of drug abuse. MEASUREMENTS: Our outcomes were hospital admissions, death and criminality associated with illicit drug abuse. Data on socio-demographics, school grades and parental psychosocial problems were collected from censuses (1985 and 1990) and national registers. School failure was defined as having mean school grades from the final year in primary school lower than -1SD, and/or no grades in core subjects. FINDINGS: School failure was a strong predictor of illicit drug abuse with a HR of 5.87 (95% CI: 5.76-5.99) after adjustment for age and sex. Childhood SES was associated with illicit drug abuse later in life in a stepwise manner. The lowest stratum had a HR of 2.28 (95% CI: 2.20-2.37) compared with the highest stratum as the reference, when adjusted for other socio-demographic variables. In the fully adjusted model, the effect of SES was greatly attenuated to a HR of 1.23 (95% CI: 1.19-1.28) in the lowest SES category, while the effect of school failure remained high with a HR of 4.22 (95% CI: 4.13-4.31). CONCLUSIONS: School failure and childhood socioeconomic status independently predict illicit drug abuse in youth and young adults in Sweden. HubMed – addiction
Buprenorphine and buprenorphine/naloxone intoxication in children – how strong is the risk?
Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2013 Mar 11;
Soyka M
Opioid maintenance therapy with methadone or buprenorphine is an established and first-line treatment for opioid dependence. Risk of diversion and toxicity of opioid prescription drugs, including buprenorphine, causes significant concerns. This is particular case mostly found in the United States, where the number of related emergency visits is increasing, especially in children. A systematic literature research (Medline, Pubmed) was performed to assess the risk associated with buprenorphine. The search, which was not limited to particular publication years, was performed with the key words buprenorphine AND toxicity (114 counts ) AND children (4 counts) and buprenorphine AND mortality AND children (5 counts). In addition, the author obtained information from relevant websites (NIDA, SAMSHA) and pharmacovigilance data from the manufacturer of buprenorphine. Clinical and toxicological data suggest a low risk for fatal intoxications associated with bupreorphine in adults. Data from emergency units indicate a dramatic, 20-fold increase in buprenorphine exposure in children over the past decade, mostly in those under 6. The US ‘Researched Abuse, Diversion and Addiction-Related Surveillance’ (RADARS) system indicates a lower risk of severe opioid intoxications with buprenorphine than with other opioids, with no fatal outcomes recorded. Correspondingly, data from spontaneous reports to the surveillance programme of the manufacturer of buprenorphine (13,600 buprenorphine exposures, 4879 of these in children under six) show a serious medical outcome in 34% of children under the age of six but only one fatal outcome. Although exposure to buprenorphine and other opioids remains a significant concern in children, the drug seems rather to be safe with respect to severe outcomes, in particular death. HubMed – addiction