OBJECTIVES. To assess efficacy and safety of two equine F(ab')2 antivenoms currently used to treat envenoming by European vipers. DESIGN. Retrospective case review study. SETTING. Case records collected by the Swedish Poison Information Centre concerning patients treated in Swedish hospitals for bites by the common European adder, Vipera berus. SUBJECTS. Patients presenting with V. berus envenoming treated with antivenom (n = 30) and two groups of patients not given antivenom (n = 16 and n = 38). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES. Clinical course and time in hospital were retrospectively studied and compared in patients treated or not treated with antivenom. RESULTS. There was a significantly lower incidence of extensive oedema (23 vs. 88%) and anaemia (10 vs. 50%) in the antivenom-treated group, and the hospital stay was shorter (median: 3 vs. 6 days). Antivenom treatment also resulted in prompt clinical improvement in the acute phase. Adverse effects consisting of urticaria and serum sickness occurred in 10% of the patients given antivenom. CONCLUSIONS. Antivenom treatment was associated with a reduced morbidity in severe V. berus envenoming. However, the occurrence of allergic side-effects is not negligible with this type of antivenom.
The Nordic organ exchange organization Scandiatransplant was founded in 1969. It covers a population of 24.41 million inhabitants in five countries: Denmark (5.45 million), Finland (5.19 million), Iceland (0.29 million), Norway (4.54 million), and Sweden (8.94 million). Initially, the purpose of Scandiatransplant was to establish and maintain a common waiting list for all Nordic patients with end-stage renal failure waiting for a cadaveric kidney transplant. The basis of maintaining a common Nordic waiting list was the recognition of the wide polymorphism of the human leukocyte antigen system, which demands a substantial pool of waiting patients to provide optimal histocompatibility matching between organ donor and recipient. Thus, one of the major tasks of the organization was and still is to specify rules for the exchange of kidneys between the participating transplant centers. Scandiatransplant includes the cooperation of all 10 Nordic kidney transplant centers in addition to eight immunology laboratories. Denmark has four transplant centers located in Copenhagen, Herlev, Odense, and Aarhus. Finland has one center in Helsinki. Norway has one center located in Oslo. Sweden has four kidney transplantation centers located in each of the university hospitals in Göteborg, Malmö, Stockholm, and Uppsala. The fifth Nordic country, Iceland, is participating fully in organ donation but has no individual transplant center. Organ transplantation in Icelandic patients is performed in other Nordic countries.
1 During the three years 1978--1980 the Swedish Poison Information Centre received reports of 184 patients hospitalized due to beta-adrenoceptor blocker overdosage. Of the 35 patients who developed signs of severe cardiac dysfunction (HR less than 50 beats/min, systolic blood pressure less than 80 mm Hg), 23 had ingested propranolol, 10 metoprolol and 2 alprenolol. 2 The mean value of the defined daily doses (DDD) per 1000 inhabitants per day in Sweden during these years were 11.97 for propranolol, 8.02 for alprenolol and 7.74 for metoprolol. The incidence of severe poisoning due to alprenolol overdosage is lower than expected according to DDD. 3 During 1979 19 persons died from overdosage with beta-adrenoceptor blockers in Sweden: 15 due to propranolol (non-selective, lacks intrinsic sympathomimetic activity), 2 to metoprolol (cardioselective, lacks intrinsic sympathomimetic activity). These findings indicate that severe and even fatal poisoning may occur regardless of the type of beta-blocking agent. 4 The usefulness of prenalterol, a cardioselective beta-adrenoceptor partial agonist, in reversing unwanted cardiac effects of beta-adrenoceptor blocking agents is illustrated by two cases of massive propranolol intoxication (maximal plasma concentrations of propranolol 7.2 and 7.8 mumol/l respectively). Prenalterol in high doses (130 and 280 mg/24 h respectively) restored cardiac function.
The toxic effects of acute citalopram overdose are reported by the Swedish Poisons Information Centre.
Case reports received from Swedish hospitals during 1995 have been analyzed. Forty-four cases of pure citalopram intoxication have been studied in detail.
At doses below 600 mg, mild symptoms were observed. Doses above 600 mg caused ECG abnormalities and convulsions in some patients, while doses greater than 1900 mg caused such symptoms in all patients.
The findings are consistent with previous reports claiming that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are less toxic compared to tricyclic antidepressants. However, there is a risk of developing serious symptoms when large doses have been ingested.
Early detection is a prerequisite for the active management of twin pregnancy. Detection rate was not, or was only slightly, increased by improved anamnesis or more alert physical examination. General placental lactogen screening selected 95% of the twins but implied a subsequent ultrasonic screening examination of 16% of the pregnant population for the definitive diagnosis. A general screening programme with ultrasound detected 90% of the twin pregnancies (methodological error 1.7%; not participating 8%) in the mid-trimester. Extensive restriction of maternal physical activity from the 29th to the 36th gestational week by bed rest in hospital reduced perinatal mortality to the level of singletons and also decreased the incidence of neurological and mental handicap among the surviving twins. For the supervision of twin pregnancy, urinary estriol estimates predict birth weight rather than fetal distress. Monitoring with repeated ultrasonic biparietal diameter measurements seem limited in value; even large intertwin BPD differences are not indicators of fetal distress in the smallest twin. The decrease of perinatal mortality and morbidity among twins subjected to special antenatal supervision suggests that large gains can be made by early detection and antenatal hospitalization. The earlier finding that impairment of the intrauterine supply line is closely associated with neurological sequelae gives added importance to the reduction of CNS handicap and of growth-retarded fetuses observed during such a programme.
AIMS: To relate clinical data in a consecutive cohort of patients admitted with heart failure in Sweden to demographic data and the use of diagnostic tests, medical treatment, care process and mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS: Retrospective investigation of all charts concerning patients discharged with primary diagnosis of heart failure in two Swedish hospitals during the second half of 1995 was undertaken. Records from 187 men and 192 women were analyzed, median age was 78 years. During hospital stay 75% of the patients, regardless of gender, were examined with chest radiography. Echocardiography was performed in 59% of all patients, more often in men than in women (68% vs. 55%, P
