Acute venous thromboembolic disease and paradoxical embolism.

Background: We report two cases of paradoxical cerebral embolism associated with acute venous thromboembolic disease.

Case Report: The first case corresponds to a 49-year-old woman with sudden onset of dyspnea and syncope, followed by right upper extremity paresis, aphasia and dysarthria. The admission brain computed tomography (CT) was unremarkable, but lung CT showed multilobar and multisegmentary pulmonary embolism.

[Revista Médica de Chile in the year 2012].

During the year 2012, 539 manuscripts were submitted to this journal, following an increasing trend in the recent decade. Rejection rate was 33%. This higher number of submissions demanded a larger number and wider scope of external reviews, retarding the editorial process.

[Mechanical ventilation in patients with acute brain injury].

In about 20% of patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) the indication of mechanical ventilation (MV) is a neurological disease. These patients have a prolonged MV stay and high mortality. The appropriate use of MV in patients with acute brain injury (ABI) is critical considering that MV by itself is able to induce or worsen an underlying lung injury.

[Epidemiologial profile of invasive candidiasis in intensive care units at a university hospital].

Unlabelled: Invasive candidiasis (IC) epidemiology has changed in critically ill patients and limited data are available in Chile.

Objective: To describe the epidemiological and microbiological profile of IC in critically ill patients.

Methods: Observational prospective study conducted from October 2001 to August 2003 in critically ill adults with suspected or confirmed IC.

[The relevance and fate of abstracts presented in scientific meetings].

Abstracts presented in scientific meetings are indispensable tools to diffuse the latest research in the field. They provide the authors with an opportunity to receive feedback from a critical audience so they can prepare a final manuscript to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. However, several studies in a wide range of medical specialties and other related sciences showed that no more than 50% of abstracts presented in annual meetings of learned societies are published in a 5-year follow up after the meeting.

[Revista Médica de Chile in the year 2009].

During the first semester of 2009 Revista Médica de Chile has received an increasing number of manuscripts. Close to 30% were rejected while most other are in the process of being improved by the authors after receiving criticisms by external peer reviewers and the editors. The time lag between acceptance and publication of manuscripts is on an average six months.

[Evaluation of sublingual microcirculation in septic shock. Report of one patient treated with high volume hemofiltration].

Microcirculation is severely compromised in sepsis, with a reduction of capillary density and flow impairment. These alterations have important prognostic implications, being more severe in non-survivors to septic shock. Today microcirculation may be assessed bedside, non-invasively using polarized light videomicroscopy a technique known as SDF (side dark field).

[What determines the time-lag for publications in Revista Médica de Chile?].

The number of manuscripts submitted for publication in Revista Médica de Chile has increased steadily. Consequently, the number of external experts that generously contribute in the peer review process has also been enlarged. When the manuscripts return to the authors with specific requests to be improved, according to the criticisms raised by their reviewers or the editors, more time is added until a corrected version is received and accepted.

[Oxidative stress in critically ill patients].

Among critically ill patients, several physio-pathological processes such as global and local hypo-perfusion, hypoxia, endothelial injury and acidosis have been associated with the production and release of large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a non regulated fashion. Although in physiologic conditions ROS influence intracellular processes and participate in the defense against infectious organism, in critically ill conditions they are associated with potential oxidative damage over cellular structures and with persistent activation of the inflammatory response. Mechanisms associated with oxidative damage are activation of the macrophage-monocyte system and neutrophils, ischemia-reperfusion events and intracellular ROS production.

[Malaria: report of 12 non autochthonous cases].

Malaria is a protozoan infection caused by four Plasmodia species transmitted by female Anopheles mosquito. Nearly 40% of the world population is at risk of acquiring the disease because of increasing resistance to treatment, climate changes and travels to endemic zones. We report twelve patients with diagnosis of malaria, supported by the identification of parasites on blood smear.

[Ascites and renal failure caused by a bladder fistula: report of one case].

Bladder fistula to open peritoneum is an uncommon cause of ascites. We report a 50 year-old woman with a history of pain in the lower abdomen and slight weight loss. The patient had a history of a repaired bladder perforation 12 years before, during a labor with forceps.

[The growing challenge of the editorial process in Revista Médica de Chile].

During the recent 6 years, a growing number of manuscripts have been submitted annually to Revista Médica de Chile. In 2005 this number was 60% greater than in the year 2000. This determined an increased workload in the editorial handling of manuscripts and in the number of external peer reviewers, who were over 400 participants during 2004, each one reviewing from one to five manuscripts in that year.

[Cerebrovascular disease in a Neurologic Intermediate Care Unit in Chile. Analysis of 459 consecutive patients].

Background: Stroke is the second cause of mortality and the first cause of morbidity in Chile and worldwide. Nowadays there is a major interest in introducing new therapies applying evidence based medicine for these patients.

Aim: To describe the clinical profile of patients attended after a stroke, to determine stroke subtypes and their risk factors.

[Decompressive hemicraniectomy for malignant middle cerebral artery infarction. Report of two cases].

Malignant middle cerebral territory infarction represents 5 to 10% of all brain infarctions. Its mortality is 80%, due to brain herniation and it is not reduced by medical treatment. Decompressive hemicraniectomy reduces mortality to 12%, and the subsequent quality of life of patients is acceptable.