DPP-4 Levels Are Increased in Subjects with Poor Sleep Quality.

Up to 30% of the population has sleep disturbances, generating a negative health impact, a situation that is often not known and no medical attention is sought. It has been observed that after a total deprivation of sleep, the levels of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) tend to increase. The aim of this study was to compare serum levels of DPP-4 in healthy subjects, with adequate and poor-quality sleep needing medical/pharmacological treatment.

DPP-4 as a Possible Biomarker of Inflammation Before Abdominal Surgery for Chronic Pathology: Our Experience with Elective Cholecystectomy.

Dipeptidyl-Peptidase 4 (DPP-4) is a protein expressed in numerous cells and tissues. Recently it has shown its involvement as a catalyst in the inflammatory response in various pulmonary, autoimmune, intestinal and other pathologies. The objective of this study was to compare the preoperative serum levels of DPP-4 in patients with and without surgical finding of perivesicular inflammation.

[Efficacy of modified auriculotherapy for post-operative pain control in patients subjected to laparoscopic cholecystectomy].

Background: The high frequency of post-operative pain in the patients after laparoscopic cholecystectomy has led to the need to use multiple analgesic therapies. These include auriculotherapy, although not very good results have been obtained with the traditional techniques.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of modified auriculotherapy for post-operative pain control in laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients.

[Video-assisted thoracic surgery diagnosis of mucinous (colloid) lung adenocarcinoma: Case report].

Background: Mucinous colloid lung adenocarcinoma is an uncommon variant of lung carcinomas with similar features to tumours seen in the gastrointestinal tract. To distinguish between these tumours and other mucinous lung tumours, such as mucinous bronchioloalveolar cell carcinomas and metastatic mucinous lesions could be difficult with small biopsy specimens from fine needle aspiration.

Clinical Case: The case is described of a 49-year-old female with history of dyspnoea and cough with bloody sputum and weight lose.

[Usefulness of colonoscopy with biopsy for the study of patients with chronic diarrhea].

Background: the endoscopic evaluation of the colonic mucosa complemented with biopsy sampling may be very useful in the study of patients with chronic diarrhea. However its value in daily practice has not been extensively explored.

Objective: to know the utility of colonoscopy with systematic biopsy sampling in the study of the patients with chronic diarrhea.

[Surgical site infection in non-traumatic surgery].

Background: Risk factors of surgical site infection (SSI) have been widely studied, such as abdominal surgery, surgical time >2 h, contaminated or dirty surgery, three or more diagnoses at discharge, and ASA classification >II.

Methods: A prospective risk factor study was carried out for SSI in patients who underwent non-traumatic abdominal surgery, comparing an institutional (Secretary of Health) and a private third-level hospital during the period from October 2001 to May 2002.

Results: We studied 527 patients with 21 cases (3.

[Comparison of two forms of nasal and pharyngeal topical anestesia for performing esophageal manometry].

Background: The esophageal manometry (EM) is an invasive procedure that causes nasal pain, pharyngeal pain, and nausea. A topical anesthetic may improve tolerance of the examination.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of 10% lidocaine with 20% benzocaine as topical anesthetics in order to reduce discomfort during an EM.

[Peritoneal coccidioidomycosis].

Background: Peritonitis is a very rare condition that has been found on inmunocompromised patients and patients on peritoneal dialysis.

Objective: To present one case of a patient with chronic abdominal pain that was found to have coccidioidomycosis.

Case Presentation: 50 year old female with 6 months of intermittent abdominal pain referred to right upper quadrant, nausea and vomiting, without fever or jaundice.

[Prevalence of different groups that comprise endoscopy-negative reflux disease].

Background Data: Endoscopic-negative reflux disease (ENRD) is a heterogeneous population. There are few data regarding the prevalenece of each group and subgroups that constitutes ENRD population.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of the differents groups and subgroups in ENRD.

[Appendiceal tumors. Clinicopathologic review of 5,307 appendectomies].

Introduction: Appendix tumors are unusual, accounting for 0.4% of all gastrointestinal- tract malignancies. Although rare, the spectrum of malignant disease is complex and has led to confusion with regard to accurate description of the natural history of these tumors.

[Inflammatory pseudotumor of the retroperitoneum].

Inflammatory pseudotumor is a rare, benign lesion of various organs and tissues, characterized by proliferating fibrovascular tissue admixed with inflammatory cells of etiology and pathogenesis that are largely unknown. We report a case of a 55-years-old woman with acute pancreatitis with a retroperitoneal mass in Morrison's space detected by tomography. Aspects concerning incidence, etiology, clinical, and histopathologic characteristics are discussed.