Evaluation of self-care with feet among patients with diabetes mellitus.

Background: The diabetic foot is a complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) and is the most common cause of lower limb amputation.

Objectives: To assess foot self-care practices by sex and educational level in DM patients from the Northeast of Brazil, state of Bahia.

Methods: This was a quantitative, cross-sectional, observational, analytical study with 88 DM patients seen at routine consultations from February to March of 2020.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of trastuzumab for early breast cancer in Brazil.

Background: Adjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab for HER2 positive breast cancers has brought considerable benefits to disease-free survival and overall survival.

Objective: To conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of the treatment of patients with early and locally advanced HER2 positive breast cancer, within the scope of the Brazilian public health system, comparing adjuvant chemotherapy with and without trastuzumab, for 1 year of treatment.

Methods: A 4-state Markov model was developed to estimate strategy costs and outcomes.

Doppler ultrasound and calcification score: improving vascular access surveillance.

Aim: Vascular access (VA) dysfunction limits hemodialysis delivery, which increases morbidity and mortality. The most com mon cause of VA failure is thrombosis, due to flow limiting stenosis resulting from neointimal hyperplasia. This occurs not only due to hemodynamic factors but also by systemic ones related to vascular atherosclerosis, inflammation and calcification, which has developed a simple vascular calcification score (SVCS) predictor of vascular calcification and arterial stiffness.

Doppler ultrasound: a powerful tool for vascular access surveillance.

National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF KDOQI) guidelines recommend Doppler ultrasound (DU) for surveillance of vascular access (VA), but trials have not been unanimous about its benefit on VA patency. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of DU for patency, as well as to highlight additional data provided by this method. A transversal study was conducted to evaluate DU method in correlation with BTM using paired t-test and Pearson test.

Scope and efficiency of the newborn screening program in identifying hemoglobin S.

Background: In 2001, the Brazilian Ministry of Health added hemoglobinopathies to the National Neonatal Screening Program to be implemented in three steps. In order to meet the proposed goals, it is crucial to establish periodic assessments of this program with the aim of monitoring its implementation.

Objective: To assess the scope and the efficiency of the stages of the National Newborn Screening Program in identifying hemoglobin S.

Random spot urine protein/creatinine ratio: a reliable method for monitoring lupus nephritis?

Background: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a common and severe manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that can lead to end-stage renal disease. According to the Kidney Disease Outcomes Global Improving clinical Guidelines for Glomerulonephritis, spot urine protein/creatinine (P/C) ratio should be used for monitoring LN. However, some reports write that the random spot urine P/C ratio is unreliable in monitoring proteinuria in SLE glomerulonephritis patients.

Peritoneal phosphate removal varies by peritoneal dialysis regimen: an underestimated parameter of phosphate control.

Background: The optimization of phosphate (P) removal by peritoneal dialysis (PD) is often underestimated. Our objective was to investigate peritoneal P clearance and its relationship with standard adequacy targets, hyperphosphatemia and automated PD (APD) parameters.

Methods: Dialysis dose, P clearances (24-hour urine and effluent samples), estimated percentage of diffusive P removal and peritoneal transport rate (PET) were evaluated in 77 adult prevalent PD patients.

[HTLV 1/2 infection: prenatal performance as a disease control strategy in State of Mato Grosso do Sul].

In this study, the prevalence of HTLV 1/2 infection among pregnant women in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul was estimated by means of the ELISA, Western Blot and PCR techniques, in blood samples collected by peripheral venous puncture. 116,689 pregnant women were examined and 153 were diagnosed as presenting HTLV 1/2 infection, with prevalence of 0.13%.

Adrenal incidentalomas: diagnostic evaluation and long-term follow-up.

Objective: To evaluate the cause and the clinical and laboratory features of adrenal incidentalomas (AI) in 52 patients and to assess the evolution of nonsurgically treated lesions during long-term follow-up.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 52 patients with AI undergoing routine follow-up in 2 Brazilian endocrine centers.

Results: In our study group, nonfunctioning adenomas were the most frequent cause of AI (42%), followed by cortisol-secreting adenomas (15%), metastatic disease (10%), pheochromocytomas (8%), myelolipomas (6%), cysts (6%), carcinomas (4%), lymphomas (4%), tuberculosis (4%), and aldosteronoma (2%).

[Endogenous Cushing's syndrome: clinical and laboratorial features in 73 cases].

We studied clinical and laboratorial features of 73 patients with endogenous Cushing's syndrome, subdivided as follows: 46 (63%) with Cushing's disease (CD), 21 (28.7%) with an adrenal tumor and 6 (8.2%) with ectopic ACTH secretion (EAS).

[Prevalence of macroprolactinemia among 115 patients with hyperprolactinemia].

Macroprolactinemia is characterized by the predominance in the serum of macroprolactin, a prolactin (PRL) with high molecular mass and low biological activity that does not need treatment. The prevalence of macroprolactinemia was evaluated in 115 consecutive patients with hyperprolactinemia. Among them, 19 (16.

Expression of p53, Ki-67 and c-erb B2 in growth hormone-and/or prolactin-secreting pituitary adenomas.

The subcellular events implicated on the formation and behavior of pituitary adenomas are not fully understood. In this study we investigated the presence of p53, Ki-67 and c-erb B2 in 38 pituitary adenomas with immunohistochemical positivity for GH and prolactin (n=26; 68.4%), for prolactin (n=9; 23.

[Non-functioning pituitary adenomas: clinical features and immunohistochemistry].

Unlabelled: Clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas do not produce clinical signs of hormonal hypersecretion. Therefore, signs and symptoms will depend on the mass effect of these adenomas over the central nervous system. Their etiopathogeny is complex and their development is probably influenced by several factors, such as hypothalamic hormones (GHRH), growth factors (FGF), proliferation factors (PCNA, and KI-67), protein P53 and the proto-oncogene c-erb-B2.