Applying the Generalizability Theory to Identify the Sources of Validity Evidence for the Quality of Communication Questionnaire.

Effective doctor-patient-family communication is an integral and sensitive part of health care, assessing its quality is essential to identify aspects needing disclosure and, if necessary, improvement. Cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the sources of evidence of validity and the number of participants needed to reliably apply the Quality of Communication Questionnaire (QoC) through Generalizability Theory (GT). The mean age of the 150 patients hospitalized at the end of life was 50.

Visceral leishmaniasis mimicking systemic lupus erythematosus.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), or kala-azar, a serious disease resulting from a systemic infection caused by a protozoan of the genus Leishmania, is potentially fatal to humans. According to data from Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (Brazil's Information System for Notifiable Diseases) from 2015 to 2016, 6,489 new cases were recorded in Brazil in 22 of the 27 federative units. In addition to typical clinical findings, VL may be associated with autoimmune phenomena, including simulating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Leptospirosis presenting as ascending progressive leg weakness and complicating with acute pancreatitis.

Leptospirosis is a spirochetal bacterial infection of great public health importance. It has a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations which goes from subclinical infection and self-limited anicteric febrile illness (80-90% of all cases) to icteric leptospiropirosis known as Weil's disease. This is a severe disease characterized by hemorrhage, acute renal failure and jaundice.