Non-cirrhotic portal hypertension in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: a new challenge in antiretroviral therapy era.

Non-cirrhotic portal hypertension (NCPH) has been recently reported as a liver disease in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected patients under antiretroviral therapy (ART). Combination of non-exclusive mechanisms has been described: primary endothelial damage of terminal portal veins induced by HIV or immunologic disorders, mitochondrial toxicity by didanosine and prothrombotic state. It is characterized by heterogeneous liver histological findings, frequently identified as nodular regenerative hyperplasia and clinical manifestations of portal hypertension with well-preserved liver function.

[Chylous ascites following radical nephrectomy and retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy].

Chylous ascites consists of the accumulation of chyle in the abdominal cavity. Postoperative presentation develops as a consequence of unrecognized injury of cisterna chyli or one of its major lumbar tributaries. It usually present as abdominal distention and pain or drainage of milky fluid from surgical wound or abdominal drain.

[The utility of artificial neural networks in the prediction of prostate cancer on transrectal biopsy].

Objective: To determine whether the development of an artificial neural network (ANN) made up of clinical variables allows for the prediction of prostate biopsy (PB) outcome.

Materials And Methods: Patients (n=953) underwent PB at the Arquitecto Marcide Hospital in Ferrol (Spain), between january 2000 and june 2005. The variables studied were age, PSA, digital rectal examination (DRE) and prostate volume, data for all of which were available in 843 cases.

[What is the cost of inappropriate admission of pneumonia patients?].

Background: The number of patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) varies greatly from one hospital to another. Prognostic models for CAP can help physicians decide which cases to treat on an outpatient basis. Our aims were: a) to validate a model for predicting low-risk CAP, and b) to estimate savings that would have resulted if the low-risk patients identified by the model had been treated at home rather than in hospital.