Diagnóstico microbiológico de las infecciones intraabdominales

Intra-abdominal infections represent a large and wide group of diseases which include intra- and retro-peritoneal infections. Some of them could be defined as uncomplicated, where the infectious process is limited to the organ or tissue of origin (appendicitis, diverticulitis, cholecystitis…). Complications occur when the infection spreads to the peritoneum, triggering localised peritonitis and abdominal abscesses.     

Consensus Report of the XI Congress of the Spanish Society of Odontology for the Handicapped and Special Patients

This article summarizes the findings of consensus of the XI congress of the SEOEME. All of these conclusions are referring to the review articles responsible to the general rapporteurs in order to bringing up to date knowledge with regard to the use of implants in patients medically compromised and with special needs and, in the dental management of autism and cerebral palsy, in the dental treatment of patients with genetic and adquired haematological disorders, the dental implications of cardiovascular disease and hospital dentistry. Key words:Autism, cardiovascular diseases, cerebral palsy, dental implants, disabled patients, haematological disorders, hospital dentistry.     

Proposal of new regression formulae for the estimation of age in infant skeletal remains from the metric study of the pars basilaris

In the context of physical and forensic anthropology, when a child’s skeleton is damaged or in poor condition, which is common, many of the metric methods for the estimation of skeletal age cannot be used. In these circumstances, those more resistant bones, such as the pars basilaris, will be most useful. The aims of this study were to test existing methods for estimating skeletal age from the metric study of the pars basilaris and to propose new regression formulae. One hundred fourteen individuals aged between 5 months of gestation and 6 years were analyzed; seven measures were taken from each pars basilaris using a digital caliper. The chronological age was compared with the estimated age using the methods published by Fazekas and Kósa in 1978 and by Scheuer and MacLaughlin in 1994. New regression formulae are proposed, obtained by classical calibration, which include confidence intervals at 50 and 97.5 % to express the error. With both methods, significant differences were observed; the method of Fazekas and Kósa shows a tendency to underestimate the age, and the method of Scheuer and MacLaughlin tends to overestimate it. The proposed formulae represent a good tool for estimating age in many different contexts because they are relatively easy to apply, although other analysis systems, such as Bayesian approach or geometric morphometry, offer more robust and effective results.

     

Medicalización de la vida en la consulta: ¿hacia dónde caminamos?

The power of medicine has lately enhanced the idea of medicalizing any aspects of life that can be perceived as medical problems. Medicine sometimes creates false needs and there is nowadays an increasing number of situations are medicalized with the pretext of treating fake diseases such as spring fatigue, shyness o natural biological processes like menopause.Despite the better life conditions, we now attend more people that complain about discomfort that may have more to do with «feeling sick» than with authentic disease. There is an endless list: sadness, hyperactive children, anorexia, bulimia, vigorexia or problematic teenagers, amongst others. In this article we revise some interventions that, contribute to promote these situations also from the own doctor's office. Everyday adversity acquires today the status of disease, hence the remarkable increase in these consultations in the diverse sanitary services.     

Different pattern of pleiotrophin and midkine expression in neuropathic pain: Correlation between changes in pleiotrophin gene expression and rat strain differences in neuropathic pain

Pleiotrophin (PTN) and midkine (MK) are two growth factors highly redundant in function that exhibit neurotrophic actions and are upregulated at sites of nerve injury, both properties being compatible with a potential involvement in the pathophysiological events that follow nerve damage (i.e. neuropathic pain). We have tested this hypothesis by comparatively studying PTN and MK gene expression in the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of three rat strains known to differ in their behavioural responses to chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve: Lewis, Fischer 344 (F344) and Sprague–Dawley (SD). Real time RT-PCR revealed minimal changes in PTN/MK gene expression in the spinal cord after CCI despite the strain considered, but marked changes were detected in DRG. A significant upregulation of PTN gene expression occurred in injured DRG of the F344 strain, the only strain that recovers from CCI-induced mechanical allodynia 28 days after surgery. In contrast, PTN was found to be downregulated in injured DRG of SD rats, the most sensitive strain in behavioural studies. These changes in PTN were not paralleled by concomitant modifications of MK gene expression. The results demonstrate previously unidentified differences between PTN and MK patterns of expression. Furthermore, the data suggest that upregulation of PTN, but not MK, could play an important role in the recovery from CCI.