Feasibility of umbilical cord blood as a source of red blood cell transfusion in preterm infants.

Background: Preterm infants born earlier than 32 weeks of gestational age (GA) often need red blood cell (RBC) transfusions, which have been associated with an increased incidence of complications of prematurity, due to changes in tissue oxygenation. Transfusion of umbilical cord blood (UCB) could be beneficial for this group. The aims of this study were: (i) to determine the RBC transfusion needs in infants <32 weeks in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona; (ii) to identify the target GA group that would benefit most from UCB transfusion; and (iii) to assess the current availability of UCB as a potential source of RBC transfusion for these premature infants in our tertiary referral blood bank.

[Assessing bioethics education: Teaching to be virtuous doctors or just doctors with practical ethical skills].

Objective: In the last decades, bioethics has been incorporated into the academic training of the Medical Schools. Some studies analyze the ethical-moral development of medical students and the effect of ethical education in other countries. This evaluation is done by measuring Kohlberg's moral reasoning (virtuous doctors), or ethical sensitivity to resolve clinical cases (physicians with ethical skills).

Gastric Dilatation and Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in a Child with Prader-Willi Syndrome.

BACKGROUND Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder characterized by initial muscular hypotonia and feeding difficulties, and later an insatiable appetite, hyperphagia and obesity along with mild to moderate intellectual impairment. Affected individuals' food-seeking behavior and suspected delayed gastric emptying can lead to gastric dilatation with subsequent necrosis and perforation. CASE REPORT We present the case of a 5-year-old boy diagnosed with Prader-Willi syndrome at neonatal age due to muscular hypotonia, who started growth hormone therapy at 20 months.

Bioethics in Mediterranean culture: the Spanish experience.

This article presents a view of bioethics in the Spanish context. We may identify several features common to Mediterranean countries because of their relatively similar social organisation. Each country has its own distinguishing features but we would point two aspects which are of particular interest: the Mediterranean view of autonomy and the importance of Catholicism in Mediterranean culture.

[Helicobacter pylori infection in a group of HIV/AIDS patients].

The prevalence of H. pylori infection in AIDS patients has been controversial. A.

[Differences in the subjective effects of drugs in patients with a first psychotic episode. Preliminary results].

Introduction: The study of the subjective effects of abuse substances may facilitate comprehension of the high prevalence of substance abuse in psychosis.

Objective: To assess the subjective effects of psychoactive substances in psychotic patients with substance use disorder in a prospective open study with a 6 month evaluation.

Methods: Thirty patients consecutively admitted for the first time to a psychiatric hospital because of a psychotic disorder (DSM-IV) were included.

Gender differences in a sample of schizophrenic outpatients.

Our objective was to study gender differences in schizophrenia, comparing clinical, social, and illness course characteristics. A sample of 239 schizophrenic (DSM-IV criteria) outpatients were administered the following instruments: service use and demographic questionnaires, the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), the Disability Assessment Scale (DAS), and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. The female to male ratio was 1/2.

[Comparative study of the needs of patients with schizophrenia by gender].

Objectives: To evaluate the gender differences in the needs of the people with schizophrenia who live in the community.

Method: We randomly selected 231 patients with schizophrenia who were receiving treatment in one of the five mental health care centres that participated in the study. Patients were evaluated with a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Positive and Negative Syndromes Scale (PANSS) and Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) questionnaire.

[Symptomatology and gender in schizophrenia].

Objective: To study the possible symptomatological gender differences in a sample of schizophrenic outpatients.

Method: A sample of 239 schizophrenic patients (DSM-IV criteria) was administered a demographic questionnaire and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The PANSS symptoms were grouped in accordance with Kay's five factors model.

[Gender differences in schizophrenia. A literature review].

Gender differences in schizophrenia have been the subject of extensive research in the last two decades. The study of these differences can help us improve the understanding of schizophrenia as well as find new treatment options. Recent studies have challenged the classical view that incidence and prevalence rates of schizophrenia are similar in men and in women.

Predictors of tuberculosis transmission in prisons: an analysis using conventional and molecular methods.

Objective: To determine the tuberculosis (TB) transmission patterns within the prison system in Catalonia, conventional epidemiological techniques were combined with DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Methods: IS6110- and polymorphic GC-rich repeat sequence (PGRS)-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were combined with epidemiological studies to assess the relatedness of isolates from all patients with confirmed TB at five prisons in the province of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain), between 1 July 1994 and 31 December 1996. Risk factors for transmission were analysed to a logistic regression.

[Non-steroid anti-inflammatory agents and gastrointestinal protection: adequate prescription in primary care?].

Objectives: To find the frequency of prescription of gastro-intestinal protectors (GIP) at the same time as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID). To find certain characteristics linked to their use in primary care. To evaluate how correctly they are prescribed.

[Characteristics of infantile asthma in patients seen in primary care].

Objective: To compare an asthmatic and non-asthmatic group of children by looking at determined characteristics.

Design: Study of cases and paired one-to-one controls by age and gender.

Setting: Primary Care.