[Acute respiratory distress syndrome: a review of the Berlin definition].

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is due to many causes. The absence of a universal definition up until now has led to a series of practical problems for a definitive diagnosis. The incidences of ARDS and Acute Lung Injury (ALI) vary widely in the current literature.

[Perioperative fluid therapy].

Physiologic balance between fluids and electrolytes should remain stable during the perioperative period. Gaps in our understanding of how this balance is maintained has given rise to inappropriate management practices. Both failure to replace lost fluids and the infusion of excessive amounts can lead to serious consequences for the patient.

[Myocarditis in the differential diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome].

A 69-year-old man with no remarkable medical history was admitted to the intensive care unit in septic shock due to severe community-acquired pneumonia. Twelve hours later he developed electrocardiographic abnormalities with ST elevation in leads II, III, aVF, V5, and V6 in the absence of chest pain and the presence of dyspnea, agitation, and hypertension. Serial measurements of cardiac enzymes were also elevated.

[Growth charts for the Spanish population with neurofibromatosis type 1].

Objective: To make the charts of stature and head circumference of Spanish pediatric patients affected with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), to compare them with the ones from a healthy population and to review the possible causes of its alterations.

Patients And Methods: We obtained the data from 251 Spanish patients (122 women and 129 men) with NF1 seen in seven hospitals between the years 2000 and 2002, with ages between 1 month and 18 years old. The calculation of the 50th centile or median was done using the method of mobile variables, and the 3rd and 97th centiles where calculated from this median.

Antibiotic resistance of Salmonella spp. from animal sources in Spain in 1996 and 2000.

Emergence of resistant and multiresistant bacteria has become an important worldwide sanitary problem. International agencies recommend improving resistance surveillance studies in not only human but also animal origin strains. Because of its ubiquitous characteristics and zoonotic agent consideration, Salmonella spp.

Antimicrobial resistance in salmonellae from humans, food and animals in Spain in 1998.

We studied 1710 Salmonella: spp. isolates from human (1051), food (421) and animal (238) sources. They were tested by the disc diffusion method for susceptibility to 12 different antimicrobial agents.

[Infection and sepsis in resuscitation].

Perhaps no area of medicine has advanced as dramatically and rapidly as the one dedicated to the knowledge of infections and sepsis. In the last decade, there has been a virtual explosion of new information in the area, including, among others, the discovering of new antibiotics of broad spectre and important sighting into the mechanisms of cardiovascular dysfunction, several sepsis-induced new cytokines and inflammatory mediators, as well as the role of the L-arginine-nitric oxide pathway in the pathophysiology of sepsis. These advances have provided further expectations in reduction of morbidity and mortality from sepsis, that have not still been confirmed on different phase III clinical trials with immunologic therapies.

[The effect of the composition of the enteral nutrition on infection in the critical patient].

We have conducted a prospective, randomized study to evaluate the influence of the immuno-modulatory nutrition Impact, on septic complications, and on the morbido-mortality of 30 patients who were admitted to our Critical Care Unit. This unit, situated in a tertiary care hospital, is composed of 11 beds, into which are admitted traumatic, medical and surgical patients. The patients admitted to this study had Apache II scores > 10; TISS > 20 and/or CGS > or = 9.

[Zinc deficiency caused by postgastrectomy fistula with high flow in a patient undergoing prolonged parenteral nutrition].

A case is presented of a 57-year-old male patient who underwent total gastrectomy due to gastric adenocarcinoma. During the postoperative period the patient required long-term parenteral nutrition due to a high-debit GI fistula (over 700 ml/day) and sepsis. Two months after parenteral nutrition was started, the patients presented irritability, mucocutaneous lesions and progressive bolding.

A user's experience with a standard non-linear regression program (BMDP3R).

A study was made to test and compare the behavior of a standard non-linear regression program (BMDP3R) in fitting data from six classical least-squares problems. The use of three program control parameters is discussed and four measures of regression failure are utilized to give a quantitative reference of success. Recommendations are given to aid the user of packaged programs in the parameter estimation of non-linear regression models.

Changes in haemoglobin and haematocrit values in children aged 6 to 13 1/2 years in Mexico City.

Levels of haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Ht) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were determined in 523 boys and 350 girls, clinically healthy, ages 6-0 to 13-5 years, middle socio-economic class living in Mexico City. In girls no significant differences according to age were observed in Hb or MCHC; however, Ht was significantly greater at 10-5 than at 10-0 years, without subsequent modifications. In boys, Hb and Ht had a first increase between 10-5 and 11-0 years and a second rise from 12-5 years on: MCHC remained unchanged.

[Molecular mechanism of noradrenaline transport by rat auricles in vitro].

The transport of tritium-labelled noradrenaline (3H-NA) into bisected rat auricular appendages in vitro, has been studied, using 14C-inulin as an extracellular space tracer, thus allowing a precise measurement of the 3H-NA transported into the cells. The NA transport time course is relatively fast, and initial rates lasted 5 min. in 150 mM sodium, 3 min.

[Quantitative analysis of the electroencephalographic activity during human sleep].

Correlation of hormonal changes and EEG activity requires objective measurements to define the behavior of the different frequency bands during sleep. With this purpose, EEG activity of six healthy male volunteers (19-22 years) was recorded throughout all night during spontaneous sleep. The C4-left mastoid EEG combination was channeled to a frequency analyzer with four band pass filters (beta, alpha, theta, and delta) using a one minute averaging interval.