Age assessment based on dental calcification in individuals with Down syndrome

It is important to estimate both chronological age (CA) and maturational age of an individual, in order to perform orthopedic treatment or surgery, and in cases of lost documentation. Use of dental age (DA) for these purposes has been widely studied; however, the literature is scarce with regard to individuals with Down syndrome (DS), a prevalent condition worldwide. In this study the chronology of dental maturation was evaluated by analyzing the DA of individuals with DS based on the Chronological Mineralization Table proposed by Nolla (1960). Thus, second molars were evaluated in 57 panoramic radiographs of male and female individuals with DS, between 5 and 16 years-old. These data were compared with a control group of 191 nonsyndromic individuals of the same age group. Correlation between CA and DA was ascertained using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), and the difference between these variables was measured using Student's t-test for paired samples and the method proposed by Bland and Altman. The difference between DA and CA was compared between the control and DS groups using Student's t-test for independent samples (α = 0.05). DA was slightly lower than the CA; however, this difference was only significant for females. The difference between DA and CA was not significant between individuals with DS and control group (both genders, p = 0.945; males, p = 0.542; females, p = 0.381). We concluded that dental maturation in individuals with DS occurs similarly to that of nonsyndromic individuals.     

Inequality in pediatric kidney transplantation in Brazil

Background

The aim of this study was to describe the access and factors associated with kidney transplantation for children in different regions of Brazil.

Methods

We analyzed a cohort of 1211 children enrolled on the transplant list from January 2011 to December of 2013. We fitted regression models to investigate factors associated with: (a) undergoing kidney transplantation from a deceased donor, and (b) being removed from the waiting list.

Results

The incidence of transplantation was uneven across regions, with the lowest rate at 0.4 per million age-related population (pmarp) in the Midwest and the highest incidence rate of 8.3 cases pmarp in the South. Children from the North and the Midwest regions had a 3–4 times lower probability of undergoing a deceased donor transplant (p < 0.05). Apart from the geographic region, age of recipients and GDP influenced the outcome. The likelihood of undergoing transplantation was very low in the youngest children in the North and Midwest. The number of transplant centers was not associated with either outcome.

Conclusions

Factors of inequality in transplantation in Brazil are of macroeconomic origin, but there is room to reduce inequalities. Training existing transplant center professionals in the care of children could diminish the discrepancies.

     

Spinal metallosis: a systematic review

Purpose

To document a rarely reported complication associated with spinal instrumentation and to evaluate the current literature on spinal metallosis and spinal metalloma.

Methods

A local case report is presented. EBSCOhost, PubMed and ScienceDirect databases were used to conduct a systematic review for articles describing spinal metallosis and spinal metalloma.

Results

A total of 836 articles were identified using the terms “metalloma” or “metallosis”. Exclusion of arthroplasty-related abstracts retrieved 46 articles of which 3 full text articles presenting spinal metalloma as a causative pathological finding responsible for neurological signs and symptoms in patients with previous spinal fusion instrumentation were reviewed. Our case is the first described with titanium-composed posterior instrumentation and fifth reported, demonstrating the phenomena of neurological symptoms and signs attributed directly to neural tissue compression by spinal metalloma after spinal instrumentation.

Conclusion

Spinal metallosis can present weeks to years after spinal instrumentation surgery and is a potential cause of neural compression. This process appears to be independent of the instrument composition as metallosis has now been demonstrated in both titanium and stainless steel constructs.

     

Mycobacterium tuberculosis heat-shock protein 70 impairs maturation of dendritic cells from bone marrow precursors, induces interleukin-10 production and inhibits T-cell proliferation in vitro

In different inflammatory disease models, heat-shock proteins (hsp) and hsp-derived peptides have been demonstrated to possess anti-inflammatory properties. While some studies have shown that hsp can directly interact with antigen-presenting cells, others report that bacterial hsp can induce specific T cells with regulatory phenotypes. Effective characterization of the immunomodulatory effects of hsp 70, however, has historically been confounded by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) contamination. In this study, we compared the effects of LPS-free Mycobacterial tuberculosis hsp 70 (TBhsp70) and its possible contaminants on dendritic cells (DC). We demonstrate herein that LPS-free TBhsp70 inhibits murine DC maturation in vitro, while LPS-contaminated TBhsp70 induces DC maturation. Mock recombinant preparations have no effect. In contrast to LPS, TBhsp70 does not induce tumour necrosis factor-alpha production by DC, but interleukin-10. In vivo, only LPS-contaminated TBhsp70 induces up-regulation of CD86 in splenic mature DC. Finally, TBhsp70 inhibited phytohaemagglutinin-induced T-cell proliferation. Our results support the hypothesis that TBhsp70 does not have inflammatory potential, but rather has immunosuppressive properties.     

Neuropsychiatric clinical manifestations in elderly patients treated with hydroxychloroquine: a review article

Little is known about the development of psychosis during hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) treatment, especially in elderly patients affected by rheumatic diseases, with multiple comorbidities and treatments. To summarize the available evidence on HCQ-induced psychosis in elders, we performed a literature review. Additionally, individual case safety reports sent to the European Pharmacovigilance database (EudraVigilance) with HCQ as suspected drug and related to adverse events belonging to the System Organ Class ‘Psychiatric disorders’ were shown. Over the years, evidence was published about the risk of neuropsychiatric clinical manifestations during HCQ treatment for rheumatic diseases, but few of them were related to elderly patients. These adverse events can include less severe clinical manifestations such as affect lability and nervousness or more severe conditions such as actual psychosis and suicidal tendencies, which frequency are actually unknown. The presence of risk factors in these patients may precipitate HCQ-induced psychosis and their precocious detection could be associated with a risk minimization. Among predisposing risk factors, there are the co-exposure to interacting drugs, alcohol intake, familial history of psychiatric diseases, female gender, and the concomitant use of low-dose glucocorticoids. In some cases it was possible to reverse psychotic behaviour with the antipsychotic treatment or with HCQ suspension.     

Budget impact analysis of the adoption of new hypertension guidelines in Colombia

Background

Hypertension represents a high burden of disease in different healthcare systems. Recent guideline published in 2017 by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology has generated a debate between clinicians and policymakers due to the lowering of diagnosis threshold and the subsequent increase of the prevalence and healthcare costs. No empirical research exists addressing the question about the pressure on healthcare costs generated by new standards. This study aims to quantify the impact on the hypertension diagnosis and treatment costs for healthcare system using the new hypertension guideline.

Methods

We conducted a budget impact analysis from a Colombianhealthcare payer’s perspective with a 3-year time horizon (2018–2020), in which we estimated the difference in total medical care costs between previous hypertension cut-off points (140/90 mmHg) and new guideline cut-off points (130/80 mmHg).

Results

Our results show that the impact of the adoption of the new hypertension guideline would represent a decrease close to 22% in total annual high blood pressure costs in Colombia. This reduction is mainly driven by a lower number of cardiovascular complications. It is worth noting that these results should be taken with caution due to local available data.

Conclusions

A high-middle income country such as Colombia should carry out an exhaustive revision of the recommendations of the new hypertension guideline, due to its high probability of saving medical treatment costs for the healthcare system.

     

Knowledge of appropriate acetaminophen use: A survey of college-age women

Objectives

To evaluate college-age women’s knowledge of appropriate doses and potential toxicities of acetaminophen, competency in interpreting Drug Facts label dosing information, and ability to recognize products containing acetaminophen.

Anomalous coronary artery causing transmural ischaemia and ventricular tachycardia in a high school athlete

A previously asymptomatic 15-year-old boy was treated at our institution after an episode of chest pain, palpitation, and syncope while playing in a high school soccer game. The patient's resting electrocardiogram was normal. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed an anomalous left main coronary artery originating from the right sinus of Valsalva. Contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography demonstrated clearly that the anomalous vessel coursed between the aorta and the pulmonary trunk (interarterial subtype). Treadmill testing registered several nonsustained polymorphic ventricular tachycardias and transmural myocardial ischaemia in the early recovery phase (ST-elevation up to 5mm in CM5 and V2 leads). The patient underwent bypass grafting. One year later, he remains asymptomatic, and new treadmill tests have been normal. In this patient, severe transmural myocardial ischaemia was detected, possibly due to collapse or vasospasm of the anomalous vessel, triggering life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias.