The Difficult Decision Not to Prescribe Artificial Nutrition by Health Professionals and Family: Bioethical Aspects.

Introduction: Bioethics and nutrition are essential issues in end of life, advanced dementia, life-sustaining therapies, permanent vegetative status, and unacceptably minimal quality of life. Even though artificially administered nutrition (AAN), for this type of health condition, does not improve quality of life and extension of life, and there is evidence of complications (pulmonary and gastrointestinal), it has been used frequently. It had been easier considering cardiopulmonary resuscitation as an ineffective treatment than AAN for a healthy team and/or family.

A Child as a Donor for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Bioethical Justification-A Case Study on Sickle Cell Disease.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an important treatment option for children with severe and refractory sickle cell disease (SCD) with debilitating clinical complications. HSCT with cells from the bone marrow of a HLA-identical sibling used in SCD has a low mortality risk, high cure rate, and high event-free survival rate after a median follow-up of 5-6 years. However, matched donors are found in only about 20% of the patients.

Pleuropericardial cyst torsion: case report.

Pericardial cysts account for 12-18% of all mediastinal masses. They are usually asymptomatic and incidentally detected. However, when large, they can cause symptoms.

Ventilator associated pneumonia: comparison between quantitative and qualitative cultures of tracheal aspirates.

Introduction: Deferred or inappropriate antibiotic treatment in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is associated with increased mortality, and clinical and radiological criteria are frequently employed to establish an early diagnosis. Culture results are used to confirm the clinical diagnosis and to adjust or sometimes withdraw antibiotic treatment. Tracheal aspirates have been shown to be useful for these purposes.