Collaborative registry of pulmonary hypertension in Argentina (RECOPILAR). Final analysis.

The epidemiology of pulmonary hypertension (PH), especially pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), has not been evaluated in our country, therefore there is no reference parameter to establishing the representativeness of this information in the national order. This registry represents the first collaborative effort to provide a knowledge base of this disease, including 5 scientific societies that represent different specialties (pediatrics, rheumatology, pulmonology and cardiology) with data from 23 Argentine provinces. These efforts involved five societies of various adult (cardiology, rheumatology, and pulmonology) and pediatric (cardiology) specialties.

[Venous thromboembolism prevention in non-surgical adult patients admitted in a general hospital].

Adult patients hospitalized for a non-surgical condition, usually have a high risk of venous thromboembolism and may develop some form of this disease when they do not receive appropriate preventive treatment. The objectives of this prospective, analytical, observational and cross-sectional study were: 1) to determine what percentage of adult patients hospitalized for a non-surgical acute condition at the Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martín, Universidad de Buenos Aires, had indication for preventive thromboprophylaxis, 2) to establish how many of them had been prescribed a preventive treatment of venous thromboembolism, 3) to establish how many of them had been prescribed a preventive treatment of venous thromboembolism without having reasons to justify the treatment. The study was performed on 93 patients for 72 consecutive hours.

[Value of sputum analysis in the management of inflammatory airway diseases].

Cellular analysis of sputum either spontaneous or by induced sputum technique, has become a widespread tool for the evaluation and guidance of treatment of inflammatory diseases of the airway, primarily asthma, COPD and eosinophilic bronchitis. Induced sputum method is a validated, standardized and non-invasive technique, useful in patients with difficulties to expectorate. Its implementation is simple and cost effective.

Inflammatory mediators in exhaled breath condensate of healthy donors and exacerbated COPD patients.

Samples of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) provide a convenient and non-invasive method to study inflammation in lung diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the inflammatory protein mediator levels in EBC from healthy donors (HD) and from patients with exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using an EBC collection device with and without a coating of albumin as a carrier. We studied 13 HD and 26 patients with exacerbation of COPD.

[Update in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension].

The term pulmonary hypertension includes a heterogeneous group of disorders which produce an obstructive remodeling of the lung vessels characterized by a steady rise in pulmonary arterial pressure. The ensuing morbidity and mortality of this disease result from the failure of the right ventricle to compensate this increase in the after-load. The conditions to achieve an optimum treatment of pulmonary hypertension patients are: a clinical presumption and early diagnosis, an adequate stratification based on the underlying causes and the different vascular territories involved, the response to therapy and the degree of severity, the selection of the different therapeutic alternatives and their timely indication.

[Frequency and incidence of venous thromboembolism in a general hospital].

The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in an Argentine universitary hospital. We used a longitudinal, retrospective, observational design. Participants were all over-16 year patients who were discharged or died in clinical, obstetrical and surgical units in the Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martín during a 24 month period between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2003, with a diagnosis on release of VTE.

[Masquerade syndrome in a patient with a primary central nervous syndrome lymphoma].

We report the case of a 37-year-old, white male with a primary central nervous system lymphoma with multiple supra and infratentorial locations. The patient developed manifestations of intraocular inflammation secondary to the intracranial neoplasm (masquerade syndrome) and lymphocytopenia--with a low CD4 cell count--representing an immunodeficiency state which etiology was undiagnosed. The diagnosis of lymphoma was established by vitreous cytology.