Reinforcement of the Standard Therapy with Two Infusions of Convalescent Plasma for Patients with COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: The aim was to evaluate the reinforcement of the standard therapy with hyperimmune plasma (HP) in Coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) patients.

Methods: Open-label, multicenter, randomized clinical trial performed in three hospitals in the Balearic Islands. Non-severe COVID-19 hospitalized patients with clinical time evolution equal to/less than 7 days were included, and randomized in: plasma group (PG) ( = 37), receiving 600 mL divided into two doses from convalescent plasma donor, administered on days 1 and 2 after the enrollment; and control group (CG) ( = 17).

Tempranillo clones differ in the response of berry sugar and anthocyanin accumulation to elevated temperature.

The intra-varietal genetic diversity of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) may be exploited to maintain grape quality under future warm conditions, which may alter grape berry development and composition. The present study assesses the effects of elevated temperature on the development of berry, grape composition and anthocyanins:sugars ratio of thirteen clones of V.

Preliminary findings on the influence of FTO rs9939609 and MC4R rs17782313 polymorphisms on resting energy expenditure, leptin and thyrotropin levels in obese non-morbid premenopausal women.

Given that leptin, ghrelin and thyrotropin play a major role in the regulation of resting energy expenditure (REE) and that the FTO rs9939609 and the MC4R rs17782313 polymorphisms have been proposed to affect energy homeostasis, we hypothesized that both polymorphisms are associated with REE and that these relationships can be mediated by leptin, ghrelin and thyrotropin in obesity. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the relationships between FTO rs9939609 and the MC4R rs17782313 with REE, leptin, ghrelin and thyrotropin levels in obese women. The study comprised 77 obese (body mass index 34.

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase and Forkhead, a switch for cell division.

Cell cycle progression is a tightly controlled process. To initiate cell division, mitogens trigger a number of early signals that promote the G(0)-G(1) transition by inducing cell growth and the activation of G(1) cyclins. Activation of cyclin E/cdk2 (cyclin-dependent kinase 2) at the end of G(1) is then required to trigger DNA synthesis (S phase entry).

Hysteroscopy: an alternative to dilatation and curettage in the diagnosis of postmenopausal bleeding.

Data were collected prospectively on 100 women suffering from postmenopausal bleeding who were investigated by hysteroscopy in a 5-month period. Women using hormone replacement therapy were excluded. The most common hysteroscopic finding was atrophy (44%).

[Thickness variation of the dural sac].

Objective: To measure carefully the thickness of the dural sac and evaluate possible variation in recently removed human specimens that had not yet undergone postmortem change. The thickness of the dural membrane is of interest because of its function as a barrier during diffusion processes and during closure of spinal lesions.

Material And Methods: After receiving the consent of our hospital's ethics committee and the family of the deceased, and immediately after extraction of organs for transplantation, we removed the dural sac and nerves contained therein from the cadaver of 56-year-old patient diagnosed of brain death.

[Microscopic characteristics of epidural filter pores].

Objective: The increased use of the epidural route for administering opioids to treat chronic pain and the need to reduce complications as much as possible, has led some authors to recommend using micro filters to reduce catheter contamination. This study was motivated by the lack of technical information documenting epidural filters used routinely, as well as by the scarcity of literature describing their characteristics. Our aim was to investigate the true nature of the membrane pores, their characteristics and dimensions.

[Pseudosarcomatous tumor of the bladder].

Pseudosarcomatous tumour of the bladder is a benign neoforming process of uncommon occurrence, consisting in a fibroblastic proliferation originated in the vesical wall and the perivesical fat, with unknown etiology, that given its cellular pleomorphism and the infiltrative nature of the injury can be incorrectly diagnosed as a sarcoma. This paper presents one case of pseudosarcomatous tumour of the bladder in a 9 year-old child, with no history of local traumatism or previous surgery, consisting in a tumoration affecting the vesical wall associated with a significant perivesical fibrosis with extension towards the area of the iliac veasels. Microscopically, the injury shows proliferation of spindle cells, arranged in a myxoid stroma with a prominent vascular net.

[Transitional carcinomas of the urinary tract: synchronous and metachronous lesions].

Objective: The urothelium is a pseudostratified cylindrical epithelium that lines the calices, renal pelvis, urethers, bladder, part of the urethra and part of the prostate ducts. Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is a malignant neoplasia that can appear in any site where urothelium is present, being the bladder the most frequently affected organ. We performed an analysis of our experience and conducted a literature-based metanalysis to evaluate the coexistence of tumoral lesions at different locations in the urinary tract.

Intravesical BCG therapy of superficial bladder cancer: study of adverse effects.

Immunotherapy with intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has proved to be more effective than most chemotherapeutic agents in the prophylaxis and treatment of superficial bladder tumours. Side-effects, both local and systemic, are the main limitations against its use. With the aim of lowering the incidence and severity of side-effects, we started to use two vials of BCG, Connaught type, per instillation, instead of three vials, as recommended by the manufacturer.

[Descriptive epidemiology of bladder cancer in the health area 8 in Madrid. Retrospective study on 315 patients].

The Madrid Health Care District No. 8 includes 19 town councils located in the South and West of the Autonomous Community. The actual population is 381,052 inhabitants with a floating population of 50,000 people.

[Extracorporeal lithotripsy for urolithiasis: retrospective study of 227 patients].

Presentation of a retrospective study in 227 lithiasic patients with indication for extracorporeal lithotrity (ESWL) as first line of therapy or as adjuvant treatment, referred to three lithotripter units over the last five years. There was a high percentage of personal history of lithiasis (55.5%), colic pain being the most frequent symptom (78%).

[Flow index: a substitute for uroflow nomograms?].

One hundred and twenty-nine flowmetries from an equal number of male patients with urinary obstructive symptoms have been analyzed, and the data provided by Siroky's nomogram compared to the flow ratios. Flow ratio was considered compatible with obstruction if below 0.80, which in turn correlated to -2 DE in Siroky's nomogram.

[Scrotal suspension with hypogastric suture. Hemostatic technique in intrascrotal surgery].

Appearance of haemorrhages and bruises after surgery of scrotal bags contents is one of the most frequent complications in Urology. Presentation of results obtained in a prospective study carried out on 86 patients who had underwent surgery due to intrascrotal disease. In all of them and regardless of the approach used (inguinal or scrotal), suspension of bags to hypogastrium using suture traction was performed by Oesterling technique in combination to Joseph and O'Boyle's technique.

[Flurbiprofen: therapeutic alternative in nephritic colic].

A double blind randomized study was conducted in 52 patients with renoureteric colic to compare the therapeutic efficacy of two analgesics given in a single intramuscular dose. Following the administration of 2 gm dipirone plus 20 mg hyoscine N-butylbromide (n = 26) or 150 mg flurbiprofen (n-26), the patients were assessed for pain intensity, relief and pain status for a period of one hour. Both treatments afforded a similar analgesic effect, with pain remitting in 76.

[Renal fungal infection: presentation forms and therapeutic advances].

Fluconazole is a broad spectrum anti-fungal agent which combines good tolerance, efficacy and low toxicity, and offers useful advantages in the treatment of certain forms of mycosis. Three cases of renal fungal disease treated with surgery (nephrectomy in two cases and pyelolitectomy plus partial nephrectomy in the third one) and fluconazole or amphotericin B are presented. In all three cases there was at least one predisposing factor (diabetes, urolithiasis, urinary catheter, previous therapy with antibiotics, or AIDS), and the causing pathogens were Candida and Mucor.

[Diagnosis and treatment with ureterorenoscopy of ureteral obstruction caused by papillary necrosis].

Increasing use of endourological procedures to establish a diagnosis of pyeloureteral lesions detected as a repletion deficiency during urographic study, which when they are obstructive, affect the upper urinary tract. The present report describes the use of ureterorenoscopy as a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure for the ureteral obstruction occurring in a patient with papillary necrosis secondary to analgesics abuse. The papilla was indwelt in the right distal ureter causing obstruction and symptoms of renal colic and septicemia.

[Orchiectomy and buserelin in combination with flutamide: comparative results in metastatic prostatic carcinoma].

In a prospective, non-randomized study in 44 patients with metastatic prostate carcinoma (D2), without previous hormone therapy, two alternative therapeutic courses to achieve complete androgenic blockade were compared. A first group (n = 29) was assigned to received Flutamide plus Buserelin, whereas the second group (n = 15) underwent orchidectomy, also in association to Flutamide. Both regimes were sustained without interruption, except when progression was evident, and both achieved castration levels of testosterone plasma titres.

[Alkaline encrusted cystitis: factors affecting prognosis].

Alkaline encrusted cystitis is characterized by the formation of calcareous plaques in the bladder mucosa and submucosa in the presence of several factors: infection by urolithic organisms, earlier pathology of the vesical wall and precipitation of calcium phosphate salts. Treatment includes: urine acidification, correction of the urinary infection and use of acetohydroxamic acid. This paper presents three patients where the response to medical treatment was conditioned by the evolution of the existing vesical impairment.

[Conservative treatment of bladder and prostatic rhabdomyosarcoma in childhood: possibilities for non-radical surgery].

Treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) of the bladder and prostate has always been difficult. Despite the significant advancements that have permitted cure, there is no agreement in the choice and order of the different therapeutic options. We reviewed the available literature evaluating the role of non-radical surgery and attempts at bladder preservation especially in children.

[Obstructive uropathy in genital prolapse].

Two cases of genitourinary prolapse are presented, with a severe high obstructive uropathy complicated with lithiasis and infectious picture. Both cases were elderly patients and had had this problem for many years. They had received no urological or gynaecological examination that could have prevented later complications.

[Retroperitoneal hematoma secondary to traumatic rupture of the psoas muscle].

Rupturing of the psoas muscle by closed injury as a result of the formation of a retroperitoneal hematoma is a very uncommon pathological entity, which may rise problems of differential diagnosis with kidney lesions. Supplementary explorations do not always clear up diagnostic doubts, and it is surgery, if indicated, that confirms the picture. We present a case of retroperitoneal hematoma of traumatic origin in a one-kidney ipsilateral patient, in whom the abdominal CAT revealed affection of the renal capsule associated with rupture of teh psoas.

[Transverse testicular ectopy with common deferent duct].

Transverse testicular ectopia is a malfunction of which there are 65 cases described in the Western literature. The pathogeny is unknown, although in the cases in which it is associated with persistence of Mullerian residue, it is attributed to a defect in the secretion of MIF (Mullerian inhibiting factor). In the other cases the fundamental cause is considered to stem from alterations in the vascularization of the genital crest, which determines the type of testicular ectopia.