[Tuberculosis in the area of Lorca: to adapt or resist].

Objective: We studied the epidemiological characteristic of tuberculosis in Lorca area, drug resistant and the effect of the immigration population (Ecuador) in this area.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective study for six years ago (1999, January to 2004, December) was realized. Epidemiological data, initial diagnostic probability, mycobacteria stain and cultive, drug resistance, treatment response, and epidemiological differences between immigrants and spain population were compared.

Morphogenesis of rat experimental pulmonary emphysema induced by intratracheally administered papain: changes in elastic fibres.

The ultrastructural changes of elastic fibres in emphysematous lungs have been studied in men, but few works exist on this topic in experimental emphysematous animals. In this paper, the morphogenesis of emphysema and alterations of the elastic fibres produced by the instillation of papain are described by light and electron microscopy. Wistar rats were instilled through the trachea with papain at a rate of 3 mg/100 g animal weight.

Influence of residency training on personal stress and impairment in family life: analysis of related factors.

Objectives: This cross-sectional study was designed to assess the level of stress among residents and stress-related impairment of family life.

Subjects And Methods: A 41-item anonymous questionnaire was designed to determine the level of stress and its effects on the residents' family as well as factors associated with stress during residency training in a tertiary-care hospital accredited with official resident training 'Medicos Internos Residentes' in Murcia, Spain. Questionnaires were distributed in sealed nominal envelopes during February and March 2002 to 227 eligible residents.

[Factors with influence on sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome].

Background And Objective: Evaluate the influence of some variables (gender, age, alcohol intake and obesity) on the apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) in patients with sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (SAHS).

Patients And Method: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients with SAHS in the Hospital General Universitario of Murcia. We assessed demographic variables, alcohol intake, Epworth's scale, obesity and cardiorespiratory polygraphy or polysomnography.

Pomegranate juice supplementation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a 5-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Objective: The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of antioxidant polyphenol-rich pomegranate juice (PJ) supplementation for 5 weeks on patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), since the oxidative stress plays a major role in the evolution and pathophysiology of COPD.

Design: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted.

Subjects: A total of 30 patients with stable COPD were randomly distributed in two groups (15 patients each).

Cold urticaria associated with acute serologic toxoplasmosis.

Cold urticaria is defined as a urticarial and/or angioedematous reaction of the skin to contact with cold objects, water or air. Types of urticaria associated with infectious diseases, such as mononucleosis, rubeola, varicella, syphilis, hepatitis, and HIV infection have been reported. We present the case of a patient who developed cold urticaria associated with acute serologic toxoplasmosis.

Guidelines for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia: predictors of adherence and outcome.

Rationale: Some studies highlight the association of better clinical responses with adherence to guidelines for empiric treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), but little is known about factors that influence this adherence.

Objectives: Our objectives were to identify factors influencing adherence to the guidelines for empiric treatment of CAP, and to evaluate the impact of adherence on outcome.

Methods: We studied 1,288 patients with CAP admitted to 13 Spanish hospitals.

[Scintigraphic study of gastric emptying of rehydration drinks in athletes].

Unlabelled: This study aims to evaluate how rehydration beverage ingestion influences gastric emptying rate (in cycle ergometer) at rest and during exercise at 70 % of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max).

Material And Method: 26 well-trained cyclists performed a preliminary maximal test until exhaustion to evaluate their VO2max, and two submaximal exercise tests at 70 % of their mode-specific VO2max. Each test was separated by one week.

Effect of N-acetylcysteine on antioxidant status in glycerol-induced acute renal failure in rats.

Myoglobinuric acute renal failure has three pathogenic mechanisms: tubular obstruction, renal vasoconstriction, and oxidative stress. The latter is generated through the iron released from the group hemo of the myoglobin. Iron induces the formation of high-activity oxygen free radicals that increase oxidative stress and provoke lipid peroxidation and cellular death.

Reaching stability in community-acquired pneumonia: the effects of the severity of disease, treatment, and the characteristics of patients.

Background: The natural history of the resolution of infectious parameters in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is not completely known. The aim of our study was to identify those factors related to host characteristics, the severity of pneumonia, and treatment that influence clinical stability.

Methods: In a prospective, multicenter, observational study, we observed 1424 patients with CAP who were admitted to 15 Spanish hospitals.

Research training during medical residency (MIR). Satisfaction questionnaire.

Introduction: It is during Medical Residency Training (MIR) that knowledge, abilities and habits are acquired, which will shape professional activity in the future. It is therefore very likely that residents who do not acquire the necessary habits and knowledge for research activities will eventually not carry out these activities in the future. The aim of this study was to analyze the level of satisfaction of residents with his or her scientific and research training, and to determine any deficiencies with respect to this training.

Risk factors of treatment failure in community acquired pneumonia: implications for disease outcome.

Background: An inadequate response to initial empirical treatment of community acquired pneumonia (CAP) represents a challenge for clinicians and requires early identification and intervention. A study was undertaken to quantify the incidence of failure of empirical treatment in CAP, to identify risk factors for treatment failure, and to determine the implications of treatment failure on the outcome.

Methods: A prospective multicentre cohort study was performed in 1424 hospitalised patients from 15 hospitals.

[Pharmacoeconomic analysis of patients with acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis treated with telithromycin or cefuroxime-axetil].

Introduction: A pharmacoeconomic analysis was done to compare the efficiency of two treatments in the acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis: telithromycin and cefuroxime-axetil.

Methods: Restrospective analysis, modeled through a decision tree. The effectiveness of the treatments was estimated through a randomized and double-blind clinical trial in which 800 mg/day (5 days) of telithromycin were compared with 1,000 mg/day (10 days) of cefuroxime-axetil in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis (140 and 142 patients, respectively).

[Incidence, air pollution and risk factors of acute otitis media in the first year of life: a prospective study].

Background: Epidemiological studies of acute otitis media (AOM) are scarce and no prospective studies have been performed in Spain.

Objectives: To describe the incidence of AOM in the first year of life and its associated risk factors, with special focus on air pollution.

Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study of 229 newborn infants during the first year of life stratified by pollution zones, and followed-up by their pediatricians in their health center.

[Pharmacoeconomic analysis of community-acquired pneumonia treatment with telithromycin or clarithromycin].

A pharmacoeconomic analysis was carried out comparing the efficacy of two treatment options for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP): telithromycin and clarithromycin. It was a retrospective analysis using a decision tree model. The efficacy of the two treatment options was estimated from a randomized, double-blind clinical trial, in which 800 mg/day oral telithromycin for 10 days was compared to 1000 mg/day oral clarithromycin for 10 days in patients with CAP (162 and 156 respectively).

Occupational rhinitis and bronchial asthma due to TBTU and HBTU sensitization.

Exposure to an increasing amount of products in the work environment is leading to new cases of occupational asthma among workers. We report the case of a worker at a pharmaceutical plant who developed occupational rhinitis and bronchial asthma due to HBTU: 2-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)-1,1,3,3-tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate and TBTU: 2-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)-1,1,3,3-tetramethyluronium tetrafluoroborate sensitization, two chemical products widely used in peptide synthesis and coupling. Skin tests (prick test) with HBTU and TBTU solutions in PBS were positive at a concentration of 1 mg/ml.

[Significance and management of testicular microlithiasis].

Objectives: Testicular microlithiasis is an infrequent urologic diagnosis of non well-known etiology; it has been observed in patients with infertility, testicular atrophy, chromosomopathies, etc., and it had been considered as a benign non progressive disease for a long time. Recent reports have shown its occasional association with malignant tumors.

[Tuberculous liver abscess in an immigrant patient with pulmonary tuberculosis].

Liver abscess due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis associated with pulmonary tuberculosis is a rare diagnosis, particularly in patients without AIDS. We report the case of a male immigrant with no HIV infection who developed a tuberculous liver abscess and pulmonary tuberculosis simultaneously. Ziehl-Neelsen stain, PCR and Löwenstein-Jensen culture of material sampled from the abscess established the microbiological diagnosis.