Are the current chronic allograft nephropathy grading systems sufficient to predict renal allograft survival?

A major problem in renal transplantation is identifying a grading system that can predict long-term graft survival. The present study determined the extent to which the two existing grading systems (Banff 97 and chronic allograft damage index, CADI) correlate with each other and with graft loss. A total of 161 transplant patient biopsies with chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) were studied.

CPAP at 10 cm H2O during cardiopulmonary bypass does not improve postoperative gas exchange.

Objective: To compare postoperative (PO) pulmonary gas exchange indexes in patients submitted to myocardial revascularization (MR) with or without the application of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

Methods: Thirty adult patients submitted to MR with CPB between March and September 2005 were randomly allocated to two groups: CPAP (n=15), patients that received CPAP at 10 cm H2O during CPB, and control (n=15), patients that didn't receive CPAP. PaO(2)/FiO2 and P(A-a)O2 were analyzed at four moments: Pre (just before CPB, with FiO2=1.

HTLV-1 infection in blood donors from the Western Brazilian Amazon region: seroprevalence and molecular study of viral isolates.

To determine the seroprevalence of HTLV-1 in Brazil, and to review the virus molecular epidemiology in this Amazon population (Rio Branco-Acre), 219 blood donors were screened for HTLV-1. Only one case of infection (0.46% seroprevalence) was detected during July 2004 screening at the Acre Hospital Foundation (FUNDACRE).

Effects of corticosteroid therapy on the long-term outcome of radiofrequency lesions in the Swine caval veins.

Background: We explored the angiographic and pathological effects of corticosteroids on the long-term outcome of radiofrequency (RF) ablation lesions in the swine caval veins.

Methods: Under fluoroscopy guidance, a single linear RF lesion (4-mm tip, 60 degrees C, 180 seconds) was created in each vena cava (from +/-2 cm into the vein to the venoatrial junction) of 20 anesthetized minipigs (35+/- 2 kg). Three groups were studied: acute (n = 4), killed 1 hour after RF; control (n = 8), sacrificed 83+/- 1 days after RF; and pigs (n = 8) receiving hydrocortisone (400 mg i.

Usefulness of the polymerase chain reaction for monitoring cure of mice infected with different Trypanosoma cruzi clonal genotypes following treatment with benznidazole.

The capacity of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the DNA of Trypanosoma cruzi was evaluated in 90 blood samples from BALB/c mice infected with T. cruzi cloned stocks of genotypes 19 and 20 (T. cruzi I) and 39 and 32 (T.

Changes of RAPD profile of Trypanosoma cruzi II with Canova and Benznidazole.

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, involves immunomediated processes. Canova (CA) is a homeopathic treatment indicated in the diseases in which the immune system is depressed. This study evaluated the Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profile of T.

Comparison between early and delayed acute kidney injury secondary to infectious disease in the intensive care unit.

Background: Results from a number of studies suggest that the delayed manifestation of acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with higher in-hospital mortality, while other studies were unable to demonstrate any difference among early and delayed AKI in terms of in-hospital mortality.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate differences in outcome among patients with AKI upon admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) and those who develop AKI post-admission.

Methods: We studied patients with AKI secondary to infectious diseases admitted to the ICU.

Synchronization and stability in noisy population dynamics.

We study the stability and synchronization of predator-prey populations subjected to noise. The system is described by patches of local populations coupled by migration and predation over a neighborhood. When a single patch is considered, random perturbations tend to destabilize the populations, leading to extinction.

Vasopressin serum levels and disorders of sodium and water balance in patients with severe brain injury.

Background: Disorders of water and sodium balance are frequently seen in patients with severe brain injury (SBI), and may worsen their prognosis.

Purpose: To evaluate vasopressin (AVP) serum levels and sodium and water balance disorders during the first week post-injury in patients with SBI.

Method: Thirty-six adult patients with SBI (admission Glasgow Coma Scale score < or= 8) and an estimated time of injury View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Acute kidney injury in an infectious disease intensive care unit - an assessment of prognostic factors.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in many infectious diseases. There are few studies to investigate risk factors for death in infectious diseases-associated AKI.

Methods: This is a retrospective study including all patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) admitted to an infectious diseases intensive care unit (ICU) in Brazil between October 2003 and September 2006.

Early rectal cancer: local excision or radical surgery?

Background: Sphincter preservation, disease control, and long-term survival are the main goals in the treatment of rectal cancer. Although transanal local excision is attractive because it is a sphincter sparing procedure, some contradictory data exist in the literature about its ability to locally control disease and provide overall survival comparable with radical procedures, even for patients with early stage tumor.

Purpose: To compare transanal local excision and radical surgery treatment results based on the appropriate data in literature.

Stapled hemorrhoidectomy vs closed diathermy-excision hemorrhoidectomy without suture-ligation: a case-controlled trial.

Background/aims: We compared stapled hemorrhoidectomy to closed diathermy-excision hemorrhoidectomy without suture-ligation regarding postoperative pain, complications and long-term efficacy.

Methodology: A series of 108 patients had indication for stapled hemorrhoidectomy. Patients who underwent stapled hemorrhoidectomy (76) were compared to patients submitted to closed diathermy-excision hemorrhoidectomy (32) due to non-insurance cover.

Toxicity of artemisinin [Artemisia annua L.] in two different periods of pregnancy in Wistar rats.

Artemisinin compounds are important for treating multidrug-resistant malaria; however, the possible resorption and abnormalities observed in animal reproduction studies may contraindicate artemisinin use during the first trimester. To evaluate whether artemisinin interferes with developmental outcomes at different periods of pregnancy, Wistar rats were treated by gavage with increasing doses of 7, 35 and 70 mg/kg/day from gestational day [GD] 7 to 13 or 14 to 20. Viable embryos and post-implantation losses, and progestagens and testosterone levels, were monitored in the former treatment group and pregnancy and outcomes data, post-implantation losses and male and female developmental endpoints of the offspring were evaluated in the latter treatment group.

Effect of dexamethasone associated with serum therapy on treatment of Bothrops jararaca venom-induced paw edema in mice.

Objective And Design: The present study investigates the supposed advantage of using an association of anti-inflammatory drugs and serum therapy to treat mouse paw edema induced by injection of Bothrops jararaca snake venom (BjV).

Material And Methods: Edema was induced by injecting BjV (2 microg) into the footpad of male Swiss mice (20-25 g) and measured by plethysmography. Groups of mice were treated 15, 30 or 45 min after BjV injection with Bothrops antivenom or anti-inflammatory drugs (dexamethasone, indomethacin or zileuton), or with the association of antivenom and each one of these drugs.

Syndromes related to sodium and arginine vasopressin alterations in post-operative neurosurgery.

Background: Cerebral salt wasting syndrome (CSWS), syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) and diabetes insipidus (DI) are frequently found in postoperative neurosurgery.

Purpose: To identify these syndromes following neurosurgery.

Method: The study included 30 patients who had been submitted to tumor resection and cerebral aneurysm clipping.

Tramtrack regulates different morphogenetic events during Drosophila tracheal development.

Tramtrack (Ttk) is a widely expressed transcription factor, the function of which has been analysed in different adult and embryonic tissues in Drosophila. So far, the described roles of Ttk have been mainly related to cell fate specification, cell proliferation and cell cycle regulation. Using the tracheal system of Drosophila as a morphogenetic model, we have undertaken a detailed analysis of Ttk function.

Clinical and laboratory features of disseminated histoplasmosis in HIV patients from Brazil.

Objectives: To identify the main clinical and laboratory features of disseminated histoplasmosis (DH) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients and compare them with those of HIV patients with other opportunistic diseases.

Methods: Retrospective study of HIV patients comparing the clinical and laboratory data of patients with and without DH. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to verify the risk factors related to DH.

DNA ploidy status and prognosis in colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of published data.

Purpose: In colorectal cancer, the negative effect of aneuploidy has been a controversy for more than 20 years. Studies to determine a survival-deoxyribonucleic acid content relationship have conflicting results. A systematic literature search followed by a meta-analysis of published studies addressing prognostic effect of aneuploidy for patients who underwent surgical treatment of colon and rectal cancer was conducted.

[Comparison among three methods to measure the rapid shallow breathing index in patients submitted to weaning from mechanical ventilation].

Background And Objectives: To compare the attainment of the rapid shallow breathing index (IRRS) in modalities PSV 10 cmH2O and PEEP 5 cmH2O (PSV10), CPAP 5 cmH2O (CPAP5) and spontaneous breathing (SB), correlating them with success on failure in the withdrawal of mechanical ventilation (MV).

Methods: Prospective study including 54 patients in MV > 48 hours, submitted to the IRRS in three ventilatory modalities: PSV10, CPAP5 and SB at the moments before and after T-tube spontaneous breathing. The patients were removed from MV when IRRS was < 105.

[Cuff leak test preextubation: comparison between three methods in spontaneous ventilation].

Background And Objectives: The cuff leak test aims to evaluate the presence of airway obstruction and normally is carried through in the controlled mode of mechanical ventilation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cuff leak in patients breathing spontaneously, across three different methods, and to compare them.

Methods: Twenty intubated patients had been submitted to three different forms of cuff leak test, all of them in spontaneous respiration: measuring air leak buy using a ventilometer and with the patient connected to the mechanical ventilator (test 1); through the display of the mechanical ventilator (test 2); and with ventilometer and the patient detached from the mechanical ventilator (test 3).

Pattern formation, outbreaks, and synchronization in food chains with two and three species.

We study the dynamics of populations of predators and preys using a mean field approach and a spatial model. The mean field description assumes that the individuals are homogeneously mixed and interact with one another with equal probability, so that space can be ignored. In the spatial model, on the other hand, predators can prey only in a certain neighborhood of their spatial location.

[Anxiety disorders and physical exercise].

Objective: Until the mid 90's, most of the studies on the anxiolytic effects of exercise were carried out through the evaluation of the anxiety state of young individuals. They were college students or athletes who might be considered pre-fit, thus limiting the validity of the conclusions as regards populations with pathological anxiety. The number of studies involving patients with anxiety disorder is increasing nowadays.

Coronary giant cell arteritis and acute myocardial infarction.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic immune-mediated granulomatous vasculitis of large- and medium-sized arteries mainly affecting elderly people. Death from GCA alone is rare and usually results of ruptured aorta. In this paper is reported a case of a 83-year-old woman who unexpectedly died during treatment of GCA.

[The influence of early tracheostomy in the weaning of patients with severe traumatic brain injury].

Background And Objectives: Actually, It’s doubtful if early tracheostomy (ET) can influence mechanical ventilation (MV) weaning time or the hospital length of stay in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The main objective of this trial was to verify the influence of ET on weaning time of patients with severe TBI.

Methods: Prospective, observational study, including 33 patients with severe TBI (GCS < 10 at hospital admission), evaluated according to tracheostomy performance time (early: t < 6 days; intermediate: t = 7 to 11 days; and late: t > 12 days) and the weaning from MV.