Diferencias entre los pacientes con sarcoidosis con y sin compromiso articular atendidos durante quince años en un hospital de tercer nivel de complejidad

IntroductionSarcoidosis is a complex disease of unknown etiology, with a variable course and highly different forms of presentation. Our objective was to characterize all our patients with sarcoidosis with emphasis on their clinical presentation and to establish differences between patients with sarcoidosis with and without joint involvement.MethodsWe reviewed the medical records of all patients with a diagnosis of sarcoidosis who were treated at the outpatient or inpatient services of the Pablo Tobón Uribe Hospital in Medellín, Colombia, from January 2002 to April 2017.ResultsWe identified 22 patients with sarcoidosis. There were joint symptoms in 13 of them. All but one of the patients with sarcoidosis affecting the joints had concomitant skin involvement (92%), which was much less frequent in patients without joint involvement (22%) (odds ratio = 4.2; P < .001).ConclusionsPatients with sarcoidosis who have joint involvement have a much higher frequency of concomitant skin involvement. The absence of cutaneous findings in a patient with joint symptoms decreases the likelihood of sarcoidosis.     

Evidence-making hepatitis C cure: Towards a science that knows more carefully

There has been some controversy concerning the curative potential of new treatments for hepatitis C. This follows a systematic review of the Cochrane Collaboration questioning the clinical benefits of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). This controversy has been debated as a matter of methods regarding how best to evidence treatment in an evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach. Drawing from science and technology studies (STS), we offer an alternative perspective. We propose a different way of thinking with evidence; one which treats ‘evidencing as performative’. Using the Cochrane review and its linked published responses as a resource for this analysis, we consider how hepatitis C cure is differently made-up through the knowledge-making practices performing it. We show how matters of apparent fact in evidence-based science are enacted as matters of clinical, social and ethico-political concern. We notice hepatitis C cure as a fluid object in negotiation. We highlight the limits of current debate to advocate a more critical and careful practice-based approach to knowing hepatitis C cure. This calls upon public health researchers to reflect on the performative work of their evidencing. We propose a ‘more-than’ EBM approach which treats ‘evidence-based’ science as an ‘evidence-making intervention’. We consider the implications of such an approach for the evidencing of public health interventions and for treating hepatitis C in the DAA era of ‘viral elimination’.     

面部敏感性皮肤防晒化妆品的筛选与评价

【摘要】 目的 对面部敏感性皮肤防晒化妆品进行筛选与评价。方法 2019年6 - 8月在重庆市中医院职工中招募40例乳酸刺痛试验阳性者作为研究对象，分别进行4种敏感性皮肤用防晒化妆品（标记为产品Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ）的人体皮肤封闭型斑贴试验。将40例受试者平均分为2组，分别于面部使用安全性较高的2种产品，于使用前、使用后2周和4周评估红斑、水肿、脱屑情况，采用仪器无创检测经皮水分丢失、皮肤角质层含水量、皮肤黑素含量、皮肤油脂含量。分别于受试者背部涂上述2种产品，采用紫外日光模拟仪进行防晒指数（SPF，12例）及长波紫外线防护指数（PFA，11例）测定。计量资料采用配对t检验和单因素方差分析比较；非参数资料采用Wilcoxon符号秩检验比较。结果 斑贴试验显示，防晒产品Ⅲ仅发生1例1级反应，产品Ⅳ未发生阳性反应，安全性高于另外2款产品。主观安全性评价显示，使用产品Ⅲ、Ⅳ4周时红斑程度均低于使用前（Wilcoxon符号秩检验，Z = 4.73、4.82，均P < 0.05）。客观功效性评价显示，使用防晒产品Ⅲ、Ⅳ前及使用2周、4周时表皮失水率、角质层含水量、黑素含量差异均有统计学意义（均P < 0.05）；使用产品Ⅲ、Ⅳ4周时表皮失水率（30.05 ± 1.47、30.37 ± 1.28）、黑素含量（112.58 ± 7.34、103.47 ± 5.48）均低于使用前（均P < 0.05），角质层含水量（62.35 ± 2.67、63.72 ± 2.54）均高于使用前（均P < 0.05）。使用4周时，产品Ⅳ组黑素含量（103.47 ± 5.48）与产品Ⅲ组（112.58 ± 7.34）比较，差异有统计学意义（t = 8.45，P < 0.05）。产品ⅣSPF值、PFA值（51.8 ± 2.9、10.1 ± 1.2）均高于产品Ⅲ（31.5 ± 2.6、7.4 ± 0.7，t = 15.34、24.66，均P < 0.05）。结论 综合应用封闭型斑贴实验、长期试用试验、防晒指数测定等方法可评价面部敏感性皮肤防晒化妆品的安全性和防晒功效。     

Principles of studying low-level neurotoxic exposures in children: using the Seychelles Child Development Study of methyl mercury as a prototype

Epidemiological studies to determine the impact of low level toxic exposure on child development are important in guiding clinical and public health action. However, carrying out such studies and interpreting their findings presents a number of significant challenges to the investigators. First, they must find a cohort with suitable exposure, select a biomarker that will accurately determine the level of exposure and determine the endpoints that are most likely to detect subtle differences in neurodevelopment. Following that, the logistics of the study must be organised and collaboration established with the local population and health authorities. To accurately interpret the data, they must also accurately determine covariates that impact child development. After the data are collected, interpreting the findings presents a further challenge. Throughout this process, the study must adhere to fundamental epidemiological principles and clearly defined statistical approaches. This paper discusses those principles and uses the Seychelles Child Development Study to show how one epidemiological study addressed them.     

Scholastic achievement among children enrolled in the Seychelles Child Development Study

The Seychelles Child Development Study is a longitudinal cohort study following a group of 779 children exposed prenatally to methyl mercury (MeHg) through a maternal diet high in fish. The cohort has been examined six times beginning in infancy with no consistent evidence of adverse effects. In fact, their performance resembles what would be expected from normal children of comparable ages growing up in western cultures. During a neurodevelopment assessment at 66 months, the children were tested for scholastic achievement using the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement. Their reading scores were depressed relative to US norms while arithmetic scores were within normal limits. This disparity was not evident at 107 months; in fact, reading achievement scores far exceeded expected performance relative to US norms, with over 75% of the cohort obtaining scores at or above the 90th percentile. This study reports a secondary analysis of the scholastic achievement data to test the hypothesis that the results obtained in the primary analysis were probably due to the onset of the primary school curriculum between the first and second testing, and not to inherent cognitive deficits among the children at 66 months. The results suggest that a combination of reading instruction and characteristically consistent letter-sound relationships in Creole, the language spoken at home by the majority of Seychellois families, probably accounted for the high achievement scores at 107 months.