Symposium articles

The National Review of Asthma Deaths found that most patients who died were actually considered to have mild to moderate asthma, with 57% of fatal cases not under specialist care at the time of their death. In cases of fatal asthma there was widespread underuse of inhaled corticosteroids and an overreliance on short-acting beta-agonists. Referral to secondary care should take place when there is diagnostic uncertainty or atypical features, the possibility of hypersensitivity to inhaled material or concerns over treatment or exacerbations. Patients who have suffered even a single life-threatening asthma attack should be under specialist supervision. 

Overall survival has improved dramatically for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) since the millennium such that median life expectancy now extends into the fifth decade. However, with increasing longevity comes a range of comorbidities, some as complications of the disease itself but others as a consequence of long-term treatments required to manage CF. Chronic infection and inflammation eventually cause irreversible bronchiectasis and decline in pulmonary function, and 90% of CF deaths are caused by progressive respiratory failure.

Syncope is a transient loss of consciousness (T-LOC) caused by cerebral hypoperfusion, characterised by a rapid onset, short duration and spontaneous complete recovery. It needs to be differentiated from other conditions that can cause T-LOC such as seizures, trauma, hypoglycaemia, and psychogenic causes. Three principal types of syncope can be identified: reflex or neurally mediated, orthostatic hypotensive and cardiac. The common denominator of all these conditions is low systemic BP causing global cerebral hypoperfusion.

Nocturnal epilepsies account for 10-15% of all epilepsies, and 80% of nocturnal epilepsies in adults are focal. They present a diagnostic challenge as they can be difficult to differentiate from normal movements and behaviour during sleep and also from several non-epileptic, sleep-related, motor and behavioural disorders. More than 90% of the seizures in sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy (SHE) occur during sleep. Seizures in SHE are simple partial seizures which easily wake the patient so that they will usually be able to recall the seizures, often describing auras of somatic sensations or feeling unable to breathe. SHE seizures have a rapid onset and offset, a short duration (usually < 2 min), and a stereotyped motor pattern for that individual.

The combination of an aggressive disease, vague presenting symptoms and insensitive standard diagnostic tests is a key factor contributing to poor outcomes with only 15% of patients with pancreatic cancer having operable disease at diagnosis. The NICE guideline on referral for suspected cancer recommends urgent referral via a suspected cancer pathway referral if the patient is aged 40 and over with jaundice. It also recommends that an urgent direct access computerised tomography (CT) scan referral should be considered in patients aged 60 and over with weight loss and any of the following: diarrhoea; back pain; abdominal pain; nausea; vomiting; constipation; new onset diabetes. Pancreatic cancer requires a CT scan for diagnosis.

The symptoms of depression in adolescents are similar to those in adults. Depression in children of primary school age may be very subtle and symptoms include mood fluctuations, tearfulness, frustration or temper tantrums. If depression is suspected, it is essential to evaluate the degree of risk. Risk has two key aspects: the likelihood of a potentially harmful incident occurring and degree of potential harm.

Co-occurring severe mental illness, usually schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder, and substance misuse is termed dual diagnosis. Mental illness and its consequences may lead to substance misuse as a coping strategy. Substance misuse can lead to mental health problems, either by triggering a first episode in a susceptible person, or by exacerbating an existing disorder. However, substance misuse itself is unlikely to be the sole cause of a severe and enduring mental illness.

Urinary retention is the most common urological emergency and more than 95% of cases occur in men. Acute urinary retention (AUR) is defined as the sudden inability to pass any urine voluntarily associated with a painful, palpable or percussable bladder. In chronic urinary retention (CUR) there is a non-painful bladder, which remains palpable or percussable after the man has passed urine, with a post-void residual volume > 300 ml. In acute on chronic urinary retention no urine can be voluntarily passed but the condition is relatively painless and the residual volume on catheterisation is > 1.5 litres.

Most patients with osteoporosis are asymptomatic unless they suffer a fragility fracture. A fragility fracture is a type of pathological fracture that occurs as a result of normal activities, such as lifting, bending, or a fall from standing height or less. There are three fracture sites said to be typical of fragility fractures: vertebral fractures; fractures of the neck of the femur; and Colles' fracture of the wrist. Following fracture risk assessment a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan may be recommended.

Renal cell carcinoma should be suspected in the presence of: localising symptoms such as flank pain, a loin mass or haematuria; constitutional upset including weight loss, pyrexia and/or night sweats; or unexplained test results. Smoking, obesity and hypertension are common risk factors and all three demonstrate a dose-response relationship with the relative risk of renal cell carcinoma.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a multifaceted programme of exercise and education that aims to improve breathlessness, exercise capacity, and quality of life, and aid self-management. Patients with chronic respiratory failure, those on long-term or ambulatory oxygen and patients with anxiety and depression can all benefit from rehabilitation. It is one of the most beneficial and cost-effective treatments for COPD and should be considered a fundamental component of disease management rather than an option.

The spondyloarthritis group is divided into two main subgroups: axial spondyloarthritis and peripheral spondyloarthritis. These may exist as separate entities or coexist in the same patient. Classically, axial spondyloarthritis presents with insidious onset inflammatory lower back pain, which is typically worse in the morning and after rest, and improves with activity. Peripheral spondyloarthritis can present with peripheral joint pain and/or swelling, swelling of the digits (dactylitis), tendon and entheseal pain that is not secondary to a mechanical cause. Early referral of patients with suspected spondyloarthritis to specialist care is strongly recommended as this can improve long-term outcomes.

Cigarette smoking is overwhelmingly the most important risk factor for COPD. In some cases, other factors such as occupation, passive exposure to inhalants and fetal nutrition/low birthweight are also important. The diagnosis should be suspected in symptomatic patients with risk factors, usually cigarette smoking, aged 40 years or above, albeit a majority of people with COPD present when considerably older. The 2017 GOLD guideline recommends that management should be focused on two objectives. First, to relieve symptoms of breathlessness (assessed using the MRC dyspnoea scale) and improve quality of life (assessed by the COPD Assessment Test). Second, to reduce risk assessed by the number of exacerbations and hospitalisations in the previous year.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects seven million people in the UK alone. Modifiable risk factors for CVD include smoking, abnormal lipid profile, hypertension, diabetes, abdominal obesity, psychosocial factors, diet, alcohol consumption, and lack of physical activity. The INTERHEART study concluded that these factors account for more than 90% of the risk of MI worldwide. Well validated studies have suggested that QRISK2 is a better predictor of a patient’s ten-year risk of CVD compared with the traditionally used Framingham equation.

The prevalence of sleep complaints in adults in a primary care setting is > 10%. The most frequently seen condition by far is that of primary insomnia, which affects 10% of adults on a chronic basis. In contrast to primary insomnia, in which most patients report tiredness and fatigue during the day but are unable to sleep during the day either, the second most frequent sleep disorder encountered, obstructive sleep apnoea, is typified by excessive daytime sleepiness. Patients with primary insomnia or fatigue syndromes typically will score low on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS < 3) whereas those with organic sleep pathologies or sleep restriction will score higher. A score > 10 is seen as 'pathological', with a mean ESS in the population of 5-6.