[Evaluation of the management of inhalers by the nursing personnel in a reference hospital].

Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge and skills of nurses on the management of inhaled therapy in different hospitalization wards.

Material And Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study, in which nurses were asked to perform a practical demonstration of the management of a pressurized canister with an inhalation chamber, without previous theoretical instruction about the technique. The inhalation technique was evaluated step by step following the recommendations of the Spanish Society of Pneumologists and Chest Surgeons (SEPAR).

Empiric treatment in hospitalized community-acquired pneumonia. Impact on mortality, length of stay and re-admission.

Objective: To evaluate adherence to guidelines when choosing an empirical treatment and its impact upon the prognosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Methods: A prospective multicentre study was conducted in 425 CAP patients hospitalized on ward. Initial empirical treatment was classified as adhering or not to Spanish guidelines.

[Design and validation of a questionnaire for the detection of major depression in elderly patients].

Background And Objective: The aim of this study was to design and validate a scale to detect major depressive disorders in elderly individuals in primary care (Detection of Depression in the Elderly Scale [DDES]).

Methods: We performed an observational and cross-sectional study for the validation of a scale, administered by means of a personal interview, in 259 patients aged 65 years old or older. Available instruments were reviewed and the questions were designed.

[Characteristics of tuberculosis in a tertiary hospital during the years 1993-1996. Influence of the coinfection with HIV].

To assess and compare epidemiological factors, clinical and radiological signs, laboratory results and drug resistance in patients with tuberculosis (TB) with and without AIDS. Retrospective study of TB diagnosed bacteriologically between January 1993 and December 1996 at Hospital Universitario La Fe. Annual rates were 41.

[Strongyloides stercoralis infection in patients with bronchial obstructive pathology].

Strongyloides stercoralis infection was hardly seen in Spain until a few years ago but has recently been shown to be fairly common in some geographic areas. In the respiratory tract this germ can cause acute bronchospasms that make diagnosis difficult, particularly in patients with underlying bronchial disease. To determine if curing S.

[Infection by Strongyloides stercoralis in the county of Safor, Spain].

Background: Strongyloides stercoralis is an endemic nematode in tropical and subtropical regions, but almost unknown in Spain.

Patients And Methods: In order to know some epidemiological, clinical and analytic features of this infection in our area (La Safor, Valencia), we performed a prospective study for 19 months. Through the search for the parasite in feces of patients with eosinophilia, we identified 37 subjects who were studied at diagnosis and 4 months later.

[The prognostic factors for early mortality and for total or partial gammagraphic resolution in venous thromboembolic disease].

Our objective was to investigate possible factors implicated in either early death from or scintigraphic resolution of pulmonary embolism. To that end we conducted a retrospective study of 116 patients with either a high likelihood of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) diagnosed by scintiscan or with a fair probability of PTE by scintiscan accompanied by a positive phlebograph. The images were taken upon admission, at 7 days, 10 days and 6 months.

[Strongyloides stercoralis infection in a cortico-dependent patient with chronic airflow obstruction].

We report a case of Strongyloides stercoralis infection in a male agricultural worker with corticoid dependent chronic obstructive air flow disease and bronchial hyperreactivity. The clinical picture initially involved digestive symptoms and bronchospasm resistant to steroid treatment. Diagnosis was established by demonstrating the larvae of S.

[Large-cell lung carcinoma producing chorionic gonadotropin hormone: the difficulty in its differential diagnosis from choriocarcinoma].

We describe a patient with giant cell carcinoma with ectopic production of chorionic gonadotrophin hormone (CGH). This entity is compared with choriocarcinoma, given that the immunologic, histologic and chemical similarities between the two neoplasms can make their anatomic and pathologic differential diagnosis difficult. Clinical examination, response to treatment and CGH blood levels are the criteria for differentiation.