Extrachromosomal Amplification of Human Papillomavirus Episomes Is a Mechanism of Cervical Carcinogenesis.

Multimers of the HPV genome are generated in cervical tumors replicating as extrachromosomal episomes, which is associated with deletion and rearrangement of the HPV genome and provides a mechanism for oncogenesis without integration.

Correction to: Low-cost HPV testing and the prevalence of cervical infection in asymptomatic populations in Guatemala.

Following publication of the original article [1], an error was reported in the tagging of Joël Fokom Domgue in the author group. The tagging in this correction article has been fixed.

Cutaneous features of Zika virus infection: a clinicopathological overview.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus transmitted mainly by Aedes species of mosquitos. Although the infection is usually mild and self-limiting, it is emerging as a public health challenge in tropical and subtropical countries owing to its unprecedented pathogenicity and increased risk for fetal malformations and neurological symptoms. Cutaneous manifestations as for other mosquito-borne viruses remain a hallmark of the disease.

Macrolide therapy is associated with lower mortality in community-acquired bacteraemic pneumonia.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has a potential complication of bacteremia. The objective of this study was to define the clinical outcomes of patients with CAP and bacteremia treated with and without a macrolide.

Materials And Methods: Secondary analysis of the Community-Acquired Pneumonia Organization database of hospitalized patients with CAP.

Low-cost HPV testing and the prevalence of cervical infection in asymptomatic populations in Guatemala.

Background: A low cost and accurate method for detecting high-risk (HR) human papillomavirus (HPV) is important to permit HPV testing for cervical cancer prevention. We used a commercially available HPV method (H13, Hybribio) which was documented to function accurately in a reduced volume of cervical specimen to determine the most prevalent HPV types and the distribution of HPV infections in over 1795 cancer-free women in Guatemala undergoing primary screening for cervical cancer by cytology.

Methods: HR-HPV detection was attempted in cervical samples from 1795 cancer-free women receiving Pap smears using the Hybribio™ real-time PCR assay of 13 HR types.

Generalized pustular psoriasis triggered by Zika virus infection.

Zika virus is an emerging arbovirus, which is expanding in epidemic proportions through tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Although Zika is linked to a number of congenital and neurological complications, there is scarce knowledge on the impact of ZIKV infection in human skin. We report the case of a 68-year old woman who presented with generalized pustular psoriasis after a preceding and otherwise uneventful episode of ZIKV infection.

The orbitozygomatic stich: A technical modification of the lateral supraorbital approach.

Background: The lateral supraorbital approach (LSO) provides access to a variety of pathologies including anterior and some posterior circulation aneurysms, sellar and suprasellar lesions, and anterior fossa tumors. Technical modifications of LSO improve the surgical exposure of the skull base.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 73 consecutive patients treated by the senior author (Juha A.

Transient Cardiac Arrest Induced by Adenosine: A Tool for Contralateral Clipping of Internal Carotid Artery-Ophthalmic Segment Aneurysms.

Background: The disadvantages of a contralateral approach (CA) include deep and narrow surgical corridors and inconsistent ability to achieve proximal control of the supraclinoid internal carotid artery (ICA). However, a CA remains as a microsurgical option for selected ICA-ophthalmic (opht) segment aneurysms.

Objective: To describe transient cardiac arrest induced by adenosine as an alternative tool to obtain proximal vascular control and soften the aneurysm sac in selected patients while performing a CA.

Contralateral Approach to Bilateral Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysms: Comparative Study, Angiographic Analysis, and Surgical Results.

Background: Bilateral aneurysms located between the 2 middle cerebral artery (MCA) bifurcations may be approachable through a single unilateral approach.

Objective: To identify anatomic parameters based on imaging that would favor a contralateral approach.

Methods: From January 1998 to December 2013, we retrospectively identified 173 patients with bilateral intracranial aneurysms.

Genome Analysis of Latin American Cervical Cancer: Frequent Activation of the PIK3CA Pathway.

Purpose: Cervical cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer mortality for women living in poverty, causing more than 28,000 deaths annually in Latin America and 266,000 worldwide. To better understand the molecular basis of the disease, we ascertained blood and tumor samples from Guatemala and Venezuela and performed genomic characterization.

Experimental Design: We performed human papillomavirus (HPV) typing and identified somatically mutated genes using exome and ultra-deep targeted sequencing with confirmation in samples from Mexico.

Association of common variants on chromosome 8q24 with gastric cancer in Venezuelan patients.

Gastric cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in the world, being Central and South America among the regions showing the highest incidence and mortality rates worldwide. Although several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified in the chromosomal region 8q24 by genome-wide association studies have been related with the risk of different kinds of cancers, their role in the susceptibility of gastric cancer in Latin American populations has not been evaluated yet. Hereby, we performed a case-control study to explore the associations between three SNPs at 8q24 and gastric cancer risk in Venezuelan patients.

Study of the oipA genetic diversity and EPIYA motif patterns in cagA-positive Helicobacter pylori strains from Venezuelan patients with chronic gastritis.

CagA and OipA are involved, among other virulence factors, in the ability of Helicobacter pylori to colonize the gastric mucosa and to modulate the host environment during the establishment of chronic infection. The number and type of EPIYA phosphorylation motifs and the presence and functional status of oipA have been involved in the induction of cellular transformations playing an important role in the development of H. pylori associated gastric diseases.

[Increased expression of the c-Met receptor mRNA in gastric cancer].

Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies in the world. In the last decades, the attention has been focused in possible alterations of genetic factors that include proto-oncogene activation and/or the tumor suppressor gene inactivation. The product of the proto-oncogene c-MET and its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), have been implicated in cell proliferation and migration in gastric cancer.

[Basic standards in handling patients with dengue fever, hemorrhagic dengue and dengue shock].

The Dengue epidemic in Venezuela has increase dramatically during the last years. There is a rise in the number of cases as well as in the severity of the disease. The fact that it circulates more than one serotype of the virus (1, 2 and 4), from the four described turn us into a hyperendemic region.

[Longitudinal follow-up study of 64 children chronically infected with hepatitis B virus, treated and not treated with interferon].

With the purpose of knowing the spectrum of the disease we studied the outcome of 64 children chronically infected by Hepatitis B Virus (HBV): 38 treated with Interferon (INF) and 26 without treatment. The period of infection was no less than 8 months, the average age was 4.7 years, 39 boys, 25 girls, and the observation period was 5 years, 3 moths (range 6 months-14 years).

[The effectiveness of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in the etiological diagnosis of postcholecystectomy syndrome].

A retrospective study of 249 with symptoms and signs of postcholecystectomy syndrome was made to evaluate the usefulness of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ER CP) in its etiological diagnosis. From 1693 ERCP evaluated, 1108 were checked and from these 249 patients showed symptoms and signs after the cholecystectomy. So they were selected to practice a diagnostic ERCP.

[Ultrasonography in the differential diagnosis of obstructive jaundice: comparison with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography].

A retrospective study comparing ultrasound (US) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) as practiced on 42 jaundiced patients. Obstruction of the bile ducts was demonstrated in 21 by US and in 33 by ERCP, this latter method was taken as the gold standard for comparison, and thus the sensibility of US for detecting obstructive jaundice was 64% and specificity was 89%. Choledocolithiasis and papillary stenosis were the most frequent etiologies, diagnosed in 26 cases by ERCP and in 14 cases by US.

[The relationship between intestinal metaplasia and gastric carcinoma: a study of 722 biopsies].

Intestinal metaplasia has been shown by many investigators to be a premalignant state. Considering this fact, 722 gastric biopsies were studied, a 24% of association was found between gastric carcinoma and intestinal metaplasia and 27% of the cases with metaplasia were found in "apparently normal" or with benign stomach lesions. The group most affected was males over 61 years.

[Abdominal tuberculosis].

20 cases of abdominal tuberculosis (TB) were evaluated; from these, 10% with intestinal TB without peritoneal involvement and 90% presenting TB of peritoneal localization. 80% of the patients showed clinical manifestation in other organs. Pleura-lung alterations were found in 83% of the cases after X-ray chest examination.