Vesical endometriosis: report of two cases

Endometriosis affecting the urinary tract is very rare and the most common site of involvement is urinary bladder. The clinical features are urgency and frequency, hipogastric pain and hematuria. Cistoscopic examination is the most valuable diagnostic test but definitive diagnosis requires histologic confirmation. We report 2 cases of endometriosis in 2 young women, one with previously cesarean section, in which surgical treatment was effective. After 1 and 3 years of follow-up respectively the patients remain assymptomatic.     

Parvovirus B19 in the acute arthropathies and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of recent parvovirus B19 infection in a cohort of children presenting with acute arthropathy and to determine the prevalence of a subsequent diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in this cohort. METHOD: In this prospective study, parvovirus B19 IgM antibody was investigated in 75 patients who were referred to our clinic with acute joint complaints and also in 75 healthy controls. One patient in each group was excluded due to neuroblastoma and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The characteristics of parvovirus B19 IgM positive patients who were accepted as parvovirus B19 arthropathy were further evaluated. All the patients were followed up for at least 6 weeks and the patients with chronic progression of joint complaints were followed for at least 6 months to determine their progress. The cases of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in this chronic group were identified. RESULTS: Parvovirus B19 IgM was detected in 16 of 74 patients (21.6%) with acute arthropathy compared with 3 of 74 (4.1%) in the healthy control group (chi(2) = 8.67; P = 0.003). The parvovirus B19 positive patients with arthropathy were more likely to become chronic (P = 3.7 x 10(-7)) and to be diagnosed as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (P = 0.03) than the parvovirus B19 IgM negative group with arthropathy. Additional joint destruction developed in one case who was parvovirus B19 IgM positive in whom juvenile rheumatoid arthritis was diagnosed during follow up. CONCLUSION: These data support the hypothesis that parvovirus B19 infection may be associated with the onset of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in a proportion of patients.     

Effects of early enteral nutrition on intestinal permeability and the development of multiple organ failure after multiple injury

Objective: To determine how immediate enteral nutrition (EN) affects gut permeability and the development of multiple organ failure (MOF) in multiply injured patients. Design: Prospective, randomised clinical trial. Setting: 20-bed surgical intensive care unit (ICU), university hospital. Patients: 28 consecutive multiply injured patients, admitted in shock and stabilised in 6 h. Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned to EN started not later than 6 h after admission to the ICU (group A), and to EN started later than 24 h after admission (group B). Measurements and main results: The lactulose/mannitol (L/M) test was performed in patients on days 2 and 4 after trauma, and in 5 healthy volunteers. MOF scores were calculated daily. The mean MOF score from day 4 onwards was 1.84 in group A versus 2.81 in group B (p < 0.002), and was correlated with the time of initiation of EN after injury and the L/M ratio on day 2. The median L/M ratio on day 2 was 0.029 for group A and 0.045 for group B, while on day 4 it was 0.020 and 0.060, respectively. On day 2 after trauma, the L/M ratio was significantly higher in group B (p < 0.05) than in normal volunteers (median 0.014) and was positively correlated with the time of starting EN. Conclusions: In contrast with normal volunteers, the patients started on EN later than 24 h after admission to the ICU demonstrated increased intestinal permeability on the second day after sustaining multiple injury. Also, they had a more severe form of MOF than the group placed on EN immediately upon admission. However, early EN had no influence on the length of ICU stay or the time of mechanical ventilation. Received: 16 March 1998 Final revision received: 15 September 1998 Accepted: 18 September 1998     

Embarazo abdominal secundario tras una esterilización tubárica

The ectopic pregnancy appears in the 10-12% of cases after tubal sterilization and it is usually located in the tube. 1% of ectopic pregnancies are abdominal and the implantation in omentum is a rare condition with only 16 described cases. According to Studdiford, they can be classified as primary or secondary depending on whether they are originated or not in the peritoneal cavity. We present the case of a secondary abdominal pregnancy located in omentum, in a woman with previous tubal sterilization, which has not been described to date; one is an abdominal pregnancy with origin in a tubal abortion, since trofoblastic invasion does not exist in omentum and there are remains of the same tissue in the right tube.     

CT-Determined Sarcopenia in GLIM-Defined Malnutrition and Prediction of 6-Month Mortality in Cancer Inpatients

Our objective was to evaluate the clinical application of third lumbar vertebra (L3)-computer tomography (CT)-determined sarcopenia as a marker of muscle mass in cancer inpatients diagnosed with malnutrition according to the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria and to establish its association with 6-month mortality. Methods: This was an observational, prospective study in patients from an inpatient oncology unit. We performed a nutritional assessment according to GLIM criteria, including muscle cross-sectional area at L3 by CT and skeletal muscle index (SMI). Six-month mortality was evaluated. Results: A total of 208 patients were included. The skeletal muscle cross-sectional area at L3 was 136.2 ± 32.5 cm² in men and 98.1 ± 21.2 cm² in women. The SMI was 47.4 ± 12.3 cm²/m² in men and 38.7 ± 8.3 cm²/m² in women. Sarcopenia (low SMI) was detected in 59.6% of the subjects. Using SMI as a marker of low muscle mass in application of GLIM criteria, we found 183 (87.9%) malnourished patients. There were 104 deaths (50%) at 6 months. The deceased patients had a lower skeletal muscle cross-sectional area (112.9 ± 27.9 vs. 126.1 ± 37.8 cm²; p = 0.003) and a lower SMI (41.3 ± 9.5 vs. 45.7 ± 12.9 cm²/m²; p = 0.006). An increased risk of 6-month mortality was found in malnourished patients according to GLIM criteria using SMI (HR 2.47; 95% confidence interval 1.07–5.68; p = 0.033). Conclusions: Low muscle mass, assessed by L3-CT, was observed to affect more than half of cancer inpatients. The deceased patients at 6 months had a lower skeletal muscle cross-sectional area and SMI. Malnutrition according to GLIM criteria using CT-determined sarcopenia was shown to adequately predict 6-month mortality.     

Prediction of dose-hepatotoxic response in humans based on toxicokinetic/toxicodynamic modeling with or without in vivo data: A case study with acetaminophen

In the present legislations, the use of methods alternative to animal testing is explicitly encouraged, to use animal testing only ‘as a last resort’ or to ban it. The use of alternative methods to replace kinetics or repeated dose in vivo tests is a challenging issue. We propose here a strategy based on in vitro tests and QSAR (Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship) models to calibrate a dose–response model predicting hepatotoxicity. The dose response consists in calibrating and coupling a PBPK (physiologically-based pharmacokinetic) model with a toxicodynamic model for cell viability. We applied our strategy to acetaminophen and compared three different ways to calibrate the PBPK model: only with in vitro and in silico methods, using rat data or using all available data including data on humans. Some estimates of kinetic parameters differed substantially among the three calibration processes, but, at the end, the three models were quite comparable in terms of liver toxicity predictions and close to the usual range of human overdose. For the model based on alternative methods, the good adequation with the two other models resulted from an overestimated renal elimination rate which compensated for the underestimation of the metabolism rate. Our study points out that toxicokinetics/toxicodynamics approaches, based on alternative methods and modelling only, can predict in vivo liver toxicity with accuracy comparable to in vivo methods.     

The Human Sexual System in the Context of the Health Sciences

Before the lack of systematic sexual formation in the medical curriculum, we propose a sexual model based on the theory of the systems of Bertanalaffy, originator of the organisation of the paradigm of the sciences in the 20th century. A proof of it is that of medicine, abandoning the term apparatus to utilise systems, a concept that implies interrelationship, equilibrium and biogenesis, articulating its knowledge in locomotive, respiratory, digestive, excretory, circulatory endocrine, nervous and reproductive systems etc, The absence of the Sexual System is responsible for the scarcity of economic and research investment in the biological dimension of sexuality. Indeed, it does not exist as material on the page of knowledge, Throughout the article we present the anatomical subsystems that comprise it, the laws of the system and its ends. Its incorporation as a system would make obligatory instruction in sexuality, contribute to the advance of biological research and to assistance. It would end with the concept of quality to be constitutive and determinant of the human.     

A study of work changes due to cancer in tumor-free primary-treated cancer patients. A NOCWO study

GOALS OF WORK: The goal of this study is to explore the characteristics of tumor-free cancer survivors (CSs) who after their primary treatment were still working but made work changes due to cancer and compare them to survivors who did not. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 431 CSs (219 females with breast cancer, 212 males with testicular (N = 150) or prostate cancer (N = 62)) diagnosed 2-6 years prior to the study. All CSs had good prognosis and had returned to work after primary treatment. All CSs filled in a mailed questionnaire covering demography, morbidity, life style, mental distress, fatigue, quality of life and job strain. RESULTS: Seventy-two CSs (17%) had made work changes due to cancer during the observation period, and 359 (83%) had not. Among CSs who made work changes, significantly more were females; they showed significantly poorer physical and mental work ability, worked fewer hours per week, reported more comorbidity, and had lower physical and mental quality of life and more neuroticism, compared to the nonchange group. Work changes were moderately correlated with current work ability. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of CSs did not report any work changes due to cancer during the 2-6-year observation period, which is an encouraging finding. A minority had done work changes, and this group consisted mainly of women and was also characterized by poorer physical and mental quality of life and poorer mental work ability due to cancer. The issue of work changes and work ability should be considered in the follow-up of cancer survivors.