- Symptoms
- Occupation
- Family history
- Triggers, Treatment
- Medications taken
- Atrophy, Activity, Allergies
- Smoking history, Socioeconomic status
- History
Category Archives: Diagnostics
SOFTMASH – mnemonic for assessing COPD
HbA1c Conversion
| HbA1c DCCT (%) | 6.0 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 |
| HbA1c IFCC (mmol/mol) | 42 | 48 | 53 | 59 | 64 | 69 | 75 | 80 |
Interpretation of ABPI
- 1.3 or above may indicate arterial disease or calcification. Seek advice from tissue viability nurse
- 1.0-1.3 normal arterial flow. Regular compression is probably safe, if not otherwise contraindicated
- 0.8-1.0 Mild arterial disease, but sufficient for compression if not otherwise contraindicated
- 0.5-0.8 Moderate arterial insufficiency. Seek advice from tissue viability nurse; reduced compression may be appropriate following specialist advice
Korotkoff Sounds
- Phase I – the initial appeance of faint, repetitive tapping sounds that grandually increase in intensity for at least two consecutive beats (the systolic blood pressure)
- Phase II – a brief period during which the sounds soften and acquire a swishing quality. In some patients the sounds may even disappear briefly. This is known as an auscultatory gap
- Phase III – the return of sharper sounds, which may even be stronger than those in Phase I
- Phase IV – distinct, abrupt muffling sounds that become soft and blowing in quality
- Phase V – all sounds finally disappearing (the point of diastolic blood pressure)
Thanks to Nursing in Practice 62 (2011)
NICE Guidelines – Ovarian cancer
Women presenting with abdominal distension, pelvic or abdominal pain and/or urinary urgency/frequency, or feeling full or with decreased appetite ought to be offered a CA125 test. Cancer antigen 125 I found in ovarian cancer cells. If CA125 is 35iu/ml or more, the patient should be referred for abdominal/pelvic ultrasound.
Urinalysis
| Appearance | Indications |
| Green | Pseudomonas Presence of bilirubin |
| Pink or red | ?beetroot Blood, haemoglobin, phenindone |
| Orange | Excess urobilinogen, rifampacin |
| Yellow | Bilirubin |
| Brown | Bilirubin, alkaptonuria |
| Debris | Indications |
| Cloudy | Infection, stale sample |
| Sediment | Infection, contaminated sample |
| Odour | Indications |
| Fishy | Infection |
| Sweet smelling / acetone | Ketones, acetone |
| Dipstick | Potential Indications |
| Glucose | Diabetes mellitus Cushing’s syndrome Acute pancreatitis |
| Ketones | Starvation Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus |
| Bilirubin and urobilinigen | Hepatic or biliary disease Chirosis Destruction of erythrocytes |
| Protein | Renal disease UTI Pyelonephritis Hypertension Pre-eclampsiaCongestive cardiac failureProtein in men may be due to sperm following sex |
| Blood | Trauma UTI Renal stones Sulphonomides Urinary tract tumourMenstruationLocal contamination |
| Nitrites | UTI |
| Leukocytes | Bladder or renal infection |
| Ph>7 | Infection, fever, gout, metabolic acidosis |
| Specific gravity (normal range 1010-1025) | Concentrated urine Dehydration Excess fluid intake Renal disease Diabetes insipidus |
Taken from Nursing in Practice July/August 2011 Number 61.
Translation of PQRST wave
- P wave shows atrial depolarisation as the atria contract
- QRS complex shows ventricular depolarisation as the ventricles contract and electrical impulse is conducted from the sinoatrial node, down the bundle of His, into the right and left bundle branches and Purkinje fibres.
- T wave is the repolarisation of the ventricles as the ventricles relax.
Prostate Cancer Screening
Routine screening for prostate cancer has been shown not to prevent a significant number of deaths, and can lead to over-treatment. The findings of a Swedish trial which began in 1987 have now been published in the BMJ.
