Undernutrition is associated with mortality,exacerbation, and poorer quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review with meta-analysis of observational studies

Impaired nutrition status is recognized as a risk factor for worse clinical outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aims of this study were to investigate how undernutrition is diagnosed, its prevalence, and whether there is an association between this condition and clinical outcomes in patients with COPD. The search for this systematic review of observational studies (PROSPERO: CRD42020191888) was performed in the PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases, with no date or language restrictions. The studies had to report data on the diagnosis of undernutrition and its association with mortality, exacerbation, length of hospital stay, or quality of life in adult patients with COPD. A meta-analysis with a random-effects model was performed to combine data. Forty-nine studies were included (20 of them classified as having a low risk of bias), and the most common diagnostic method of undernutrition was body mass index (BMI) (n = 36). The pooled prevalence of undernutrition was equal to 20% (95% CI, 0.15–0.25; I² = 100%), and it was associated with mortality (risk ratio = 1.97; 95% CI, 1.55–2.50; I² = 98%), exacerbation (risk ratio = 1.73; 95% CI, 1.03–2.91; I² = 96%), and poorer quality of life (mean difference = 8.25; 95% CI, 5.40–11.10; I² = 79%). For all outcomes, the certainty of evidence was very low. In conclusion, undernutrition is prevalent and is associated with poorer outcomes in patients with COPD. However, undernutrition is mainly diagnosed by BMI, which underreports its prevalence, and the certainty of the evidence is very low.     

Pseudoangiosarcomatous squamous cell carcinoma: first case report on penis

Pseudoangiosarcomatous squamous cell carcinoma, also called pseudovascular, pseudoangiomatoid or adenoid pseudovascular carcinoma, is an uncommon and highly aggressive variant of squamous cell carcinoma. Histologically, it is characterized by proliferation of atypical keratinocytes with acantholysis and formation of pseudovascular spaces, forming anastomosed channels lined with neoplastic cells that invade the dermis. These cells are positive for cytokeratin and negative for vascular markers such as CD31 and CD34. There are few reports of this variant in the literature. Skin, breast, lung and vulva involvement have been described, but to the best of our knowledge, no cases involving the penis has been described. This study aims to describe the first case of angiosarcomatous squamous cell carcinoma of the penis. The patient presented with a painful lesion in the penis associated with urinary retention. Macroscopic findings exhibited an ulcerative vegetating lesion that involving the entire glans and part of the penile body, as well as infiltration of penile structures and scrotal skin. Microscopy shows atypical proliferation of sarcomatous keratinocyte pattern mimicking vascular spaces. Human papilloma virus (HPV) biomarkers and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were all negative. Advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma with aggressive lymph node metastasis. This report presents the first case of penile pseudoangiosarcomatous squamous cell carcinoma, as an important differential diagnosis.     

Risky Sexual Behavior Among Street Children,Adolescents, and Young People Living on the street in southern Brazil

Although adolescents living on the street tend to have unprotected sex with many partners and substance abuse, little is known about this reality in Brazil. To estimate the prevalence and factors associated with risky sexual behavior among children and adolescents living on the street in Porto Alegre and Rio Grande. A cross-sectional study was carried out using the Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) sampling method to quickly and efficiently access populations of difficult access. Poisson regression with robust adjustment of variance was used in the multivariate analysis. The sample consisted of 231 participants aged 10–21 years. Most were male and aged 16- 21 years. More than half (66.7%) of the respondents did not have a school bond, and 64.5% did not live with the family. Half of the sample had been living on the street for at least four years, spending 15 h or more on the street. Most (86.6%) responded that they had already used illicit drugs in their lives, and unprotected sex prevalence was 61.9%. The variables independently associated with unprotected sex were years living on the street, hours spent on the street, having a steady partner, illicit drug use, and sexual intercourse without a condom under the influence of drugs. The high prevalence of unprotected sex points to the need for intervention policies for this population to prevent the main risk factors.

     

Intrapleural analgesia in a child with a mediastinal tumour

A case is presented of an eight-year-old child with a mediastinal tumour, who had developed acute renal failure following the institution of steroid therapy. Intrapleural analgesia was successfully used for the insertion of a peritoneal dialysis catheter so that the considerable risks of general anaesthesia were avoided. Subsequent dialysis allowed chemotherapy to commence and, as a result of the shrinkage in tumour size, general anaesthesia was administered safely two days later. The purpose of this report is to highlight the use of intrapleural analgesia in children as an alternative to general anaesthesia, when the latter is contraindicated. The mechanism of action of intra-pleural analgesia and the risks of anaesthesia in the presence of a mediastinal tumour are discussed.     

The expression of sadness in a working class bairro in Salvador,Bahia, Brazil

This paper examines the peculiarities of the expression of emotion in a poor neighborhood from Northeastern Brazil, the bairro of Nordeste de Amaralina, in Salvador, Bahia. Focusing on the expression of sadness, we built a scheme in which to understand how the informants perceive, identify, and deal with this emotion in the course of their daily lives. We attempted to reach an understanding of the wavs people in the bairro interpret sadness. In order to accomplish this goal. we built a semantic network which revealed three main clusters of emotional expression: the inner set, the bodily set, and the interactional set. We came to realize the various superpositions benween the universe of emotional expression and the local concept of person.     

Years of life lost by mortality: a component of the burden of disease

INTRODUCTION: The register of death by cause, sex and age groups of residents in 1994 in Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and Santa Catarina (SC), two Brazilian southern states, were studied to calculate the years of life lost (YLL), one of the two components that summarize disability adjusted life years (DALY), in RS, SC and Brazil. METHODS: The methodology employed is the same used in the Global Burden of Disease study to quantify the mortality component (YLL) of DALY in the world. RESULTS: The results show that the greatest proportion and rates caused by Group II (Noncommunicable diseases), linked with more advanced stages of the epidemiological transition, in RS, SC and Brazil. But in both states and especially in Brazil, Group I (Communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions) causes an important proportion of YLL. The Group III (Injuries) was the second more important group in RS and SC and the third in Brazil. Road traffic accidents are particularly important in SC, where the intentional injury rate is half than the one in RS. The leading causes of YLL were road traffic accidents, ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease in SC, and ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and road traffic accidents in RS. CONCLUSIONS: Death certification in the southern region of Brazil has a complete coverage and miscoded death proportion is small, providing a reliable mortality information. DALY allow comparing fatal and nonfatal health outcomes to determine the importance of different diseases and to establish health priorities. DALY are also an useful tool to identify disadvantaged groups, target health interventions and provide information for social control of resource allocation.     

Using food frequency questionnaire in past dietary intake assessment

This paper aims to discuss which one is the best estimator of past diet: a retrospective report or a recent diet recall. The analysis included 13 articles published between 1984-1997 and selected from a MEDLINE search and from other reviews on this subject. The selection criterion was the use of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in a validation study of retrospective report of dietary intake in remote past. Literature review shows that even taking into account misclassification, retrospective report of diet usually yields to a more reliable estimate of past diet pattern than current report. Past diet recall was strongly influenced by current intake and by diet patterns change. Analyzed investigations indicate that agreement between original and retrospective report was higher either for foods eaten rarely or frequently and lower for foods moderately consumed. This review allows considering the FFQ as a valuable instrument when studying the role of diet on the etiology of chronic diseases.     

Physical activity and incident hypertension in black and white adults: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

BACKGROUND: The epidemiologic observation that physical activity reduces the risk for hypertension has only been made for white men who self-reported hypertension. This study examined physical activity and clinically determined incident hypertension in black and white men and women of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. METHODS: ARIC is a population-based prospective study with four U.S. clinic centers. The present analyses included 7,459 black and white adults 45-65 years of age. Hypertension (systolic/diastolic blood pressure >/= 140/90 mm Hg) was defined by blood pressure measured by a random-zero device or medication use. Physical activity was assessed with the Baecke questionnaire. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, baseline blood pressure, ARIC center, education, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, parental history of hypertension, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and diet, white men in the highest quartile of leisure activity (primarily cycling and walking) had a 34% lower odds of developing hypertension over 6 years compared to the least active (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.47-0.94; P for quartile trend = 0.01). Baseline activity was not associated with incident hypertension in white women or blacks. CONCLUSIONS: Leisure-time physical activity reduces the odds of hypertension in middle-aged white men. Additional studies in women and blacks are needed.     

Intercomparison of calibration procedures for 192Ir HDR sources in Brazil

The lack of well established dosimetry protocols for HDR sources is a point of great concern regarding the uniformity of procedures within a particular country and worldwide. The main objective of this paper is to report the results from ten institutions of an intercomparison of calibration procedures for 192Ir HDR sources currently in use in Brazil. The treatment irradiator of one institution was calibrated by a reference system and used by all participants with their own measuring electrometers and ionization chambers under the same experimental conditions. Two methods were used: the calibration jig and the well-type ionization chamber. Each participant was allowed to use their own method and formalism. The results of this exercise were very positive since this was the first time in Brazil that a group of users gathered to share their experience and openly discuss the physical concepts behind the calibration procedures. The results were all within +/-3.0%, except one case where -4.6% was observed and later identified as a problem with the Nk value for x-rays. Though the magnitude of the deviations found was generally acceptable considering the diversity of formalisms currently in use, a proposal is now being prepared to be adopted as a national protocol. The identification of the institutions was left out for the sake of confidentiality.