BackgroundInappropriate medication prescription is a common cause of preventable adverse drug events among elderly persons in the primary care setting.ObjectiveThe aim of this systematic review is to quantify the extent of inappropriate prescription to elderly persons in the primary care setting.MethodsWe systematically searched Ovid-Medline and Ovid-EMBASE from 1950 and 1980 respectively to March 2012. Two independent reviewers screened and selected primary studies published in English that measured (in)appropriate medication prescription among elderly persons (>65 years) in the primary care setting. We extracted data sources, instruments for assessing medication prescription appropriateness, and the rate of inappropriate medication prescriptions. We grouped the reported individual medications according to the Anatomical Therapeutic and Chemical (ATC) classification and compared the median rate of inappropriate medication prescription and its range within each therapeutic class.ResultsWe included 19 studies, 14 of which used the Beers criteria as the instrument for assessing appropriateness of prescriptions. The median rate of inappropriate medication prescriptions (IMP) was 20.5% [IQR 18.1 to 25.6%.]. Medications with largest median rate of inappropriate medication prescriptions were propoxyphene 4.52(0.10–23.30)%, doxazosin 3.96 (0.32 15.70)%, diphenhydramine 3.30(0.02–4.40)% and amitriptiline 3.20 (0.05–20.5)% in a decreasing order of IMP rate. Available studies described unequal sets of medications and different measurement tools to estimate the overall prevalence of inappropriate prescription.ConclusionsApproximately one in five prescriptions to elderly persons in primary care is inappropropriate despite the attention that has been directed to quality of prescription. Diphenhydramine and amitriptiline are the most common inappropriately prescribed medications with high risk adverse events while propoxyphene and doxazoxin are the most commonly prescribed medications with low risk adverse events. These medications are good candidates for being targeted for improvement e.g. by computerized clinical decision support.

Kienböck's disease is a form of osteonecrosis affecting the lunate. Its aetiology remains unknown. Morphological variations, such as negative ulnar variance, high uncovering of the lunate, abnormal radial inclination and/or a trapezoidal shape of the lunate and the particular pattern of its vascularity may be predisposing factors. A history of trauma is common. The diagnosis is made on plain radiographs, but MRI can be helpful early in the disease. A CT scan is useful to demonstrate fracture or fragmentation of the lunate. Lichtman classified Kienböck disease into five stages. The natural history of the condition is not well known, and the symptoms do not correlate well with the changes in shape of the lunate and the degree of carpal collapse. There is no strong evidence to support any particular form of treatment. Many patients are improved by temporary immobilisation of the wrist, which does not stop the progression of carpal collapse. Radial shortening may be the treatment of choice in young symptomatic patients presenting with stages I to III-A of Kienböck's disease and negative ulnar variance. Many other forms of surgical treatment have been described.

Curcumin is proposed as a potential treatment option for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) by inhibiting the virus entrance, encapsulation and replication, and modulating various cellular signaling pathways. In this open-label nonrandomized clinical trial, efficacy of nano-curcumin oral formulation has been evaluated in hospitalized patients with mild-moderate COVID-19. Forty-one patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were allocated to nano-curcumin (n = 21) group (Sinacurcumin soft gel, contains 40 mg curcuminoids as nanomicelles, two capsules twice a day) or control (n = 20) group, for 2 weeks. Patients' symptoms and laboratory data were assessed at baseline and during follow-up period. Most of symptoms including fever and chills, tachypnea, myalgia, and cough resolved significantly faster in curcumin group. Moreover, SaO 2 was significantly higher in treatment group after 2, 4, 7, and 14 days of follow-up and lymphocyte count after 7 and 14 days. Duration of supplemental O 2 use and hospitalization was also meaningfully shorter in treatment group. It is also noteworthy to mention that no patient in treatment group experienced deterioration of infection during follow-up period, but it occurred in 40% of control group. Oral curcumin nano-formulation can significantly improve recovery time in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Further randomized placebo controlled trials with larger sample size are recommended.

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