[Integrated Management Area of Vascular Risk: A new organisational model for global control of risk factors].

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), is a major cause of morbidity and mortality that increases the cost of care. Currently there is a low degree of control of the main cardiovascular risk factors, although we have a good therapeutic arsenal. To achieve the improvement of this reality, a good coordination and multidisciplinary participation are essential.

Food allergy in Catalonia: Clinical manifestations and its association with airborne allergens.

Background: Food allergy affects around 6% of the European population and its prevalence worldwide has been increasing in the last decades, but studies focused on investigating food allergy epidemiology in Europe are lacking.

Objective: The Cibus project was created to register the main culprit foods and their clinical manifestations in food allergic patients in Catalonia.

Methods: A specific online database was designed.

Contemporary management of acute right ventricular failure: a statement from the Heart Failure Association and the Working Group on Pulmonary Circulation and Right Ventricular Function of the European Society of Cardiology.

Acute right ventricular (RV) failure is a complex clinical syndrome that results from many causes. Research efforts have disproportionately focused on the failing left ventricle, but recently the need has been recognized to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of RV anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology, and of management approaches. Right ventricular mechanics and function are altered in the setting of either pressure overload or volume overload.

[Hypertensive crisis and sudden change of vision in young patients].

The sudden change in vision is a medical emergency that must be evaluated immediately to rule out important institutions as systemic vasculitis or ischemic stroke. Its association with hypertensive crisis makes it necessary to rule out accelerated-malignant hypertension, which is accompanied by other retinal disorders (exudates and hemorrhages) and adrenal involvement. Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) is another entity to consider, as is it not uncommon in the young (12.

HPV Involvement in Head and Neck Cancers: Comprehensive Assessment of Biomarkers in 3680 Patients.

Background: We conducted a large international study to estimate fractions of head and neck cancers (HNCs) attributable to human papillomavirus (HPV-AFs) using six HPV-related biomarkers of viral detection, transcription, and cellular transformation.

Methods: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cancer tissues of the oral cavity (OC), pharynx, and larynx were collected from pathology archives in 29 countries. All samples were subject to histopathological evaluation, DNA quality control, and HPV-DNA detection.

The continuum of HIV care in Catalonia.

The objective was to produce a cascade of care for Catalonia to gain a public health perspective on the overall quality of HIV services and allow comparison with other countries. It was constructed using the Integrated Epidemiological Surveillance System of HIV in Catalonia and data from the PISCIS Cohort. Estimates of the number of people living with HIV in Catalonia are modelled using Spectrum Projection Package 2011 (UNAIDS/WHO).

Sublingual Fentanyl Tablets for Relief of Breakthrough Pain in Cancer Patients and Association with Quality-of-Life Outcomes.

Background And Objective: Breakthrough pain (BTP) is highly prevalent in patients with cancer and is strongly associated with adverse outcomes related to health status, mood, anxiety and depression. However, studies on the effect of BTP medication on quality of life (QOL) are lacking. The purpose of this study was to provide a qualitative evaluation of the effect of sublingual fentanyl tablets (SFT), a therapy specifically developed for BTP, on the QOL of cancer pain patients.

Underscreened Women Remain Overrepresented in the Pool of Cervical Cancer Cases in Spain: A Need to Rethink the Screening Interventions.

Objective: Audit of women with invasive cervical cancer (CC) is critical for quality control within screening activities. We analysed the screening history in the 10 years preceding the study entry in women with and without CC during 2000-2011.

Methods: 323 women with CC from six pathology departments in Catalonia (Spain) and 23,782 women with negative cytology were compared.

Ultrasound-guided aspiration of adnexal cysts with a low risk of malignancy: is it a recommendable option?

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to establish the viability of ultrasound (US)-guided adnexal cyst aspiration and identify a target group in which this procedure would be advisable.

Methods: A prospective cohort of 96 women with a low risk of malignant adnexal cysts was studied between 2002 and 2009, using recurrence after the procedure as the primary outcome measure. All procedures were performed on an outpatient basis without anesthesia.

Screening of cervical cancer in Catalonia 2006-2012.

The early detection of intraepithelial lesions of the cervix, through the periodic examination of cervical cells, has been fundamental for the prevention of invasive cervical cancer and its related mortality. In this report, we summarise the cervical cancer screening activities carried out in Catalonia, Spain, within the National Health System during 2008-2011. The study population covers over two million women resident in the area.

Capecitabine and irinotecan with bevacizumab 2-weekly for metastatic colorectal cancer: the phase II AVAXIRI study.

Background: The optimal sequence of chemotherapeutic agents is not firmly established for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). This phase II multi-centre study investigated the efficacy and tolerability of a standard capecitabine plus irinotecan (XELIRI) regimen with bevacizumab in previously untreated patients with mCRC.

Methods: Patients received intravenous irinotecan 175 mg/m(2) on day 1 and oral capecitabine 1000 mg/m(2) (800 mg/m(2) for patients >65 years of age) twice daily on days 2-8, followed by a 1-week rest, and bevacizumab 5 mg/kg as an intravenous infusion on day 1 every 2 weeks.

Cross-sectional study comparing public and private hospitals in Catalonia: is the practice of routine episiotomy changing?

Background: In Spain, the Strategy for Assistance in Normal Childbirth (SANC) promoted a model of care, which respects the physiological birth process and discards unnecessary routine interventions, such as episiotomies. We evaluated the rate of episiotomy use and perineal trauma as indicators of how selective introduction of the SANC initiative has impacted childbirth outcomes in hospitals of Catalonia.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of all singleton vaginal term deliveries without instrument registered in the Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) of Catalonia in 2007, 2010 and 2012.

A randomized phase II study of capecitabine-based chemoradiation with or without bevacizumab in resectable locally advanced rectal cancer: clinical and biological features.

Background: Perioperatory chemoradiotherapy (CRT) improves local control and survival in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). The objective of the current study was to evaluate the addition of bevacizumab (BEV) to preoperative capecitabine (CAP)-based CRT in LARC, and to explore biomarkers for downstaging.

Methods: Patients (pts) were randomized to receive 5 weeks of radiotherapy 45 Gy/25 fractions with concurrent CAP 825 mg/m(2) twice daily 5 days per week and BEV 5 mg/kg once every 2 weeks (3 doses) (arm A), or the same schedule without BEV (arm B).

Phase II study of preoperative bevacizumab, capecitabine and radiotherapy for resectable locally-advanced rectal cancer.

Background: To evaluate whether the addition of bevacizumab (BVZ) to capecitabine-based chemoradiotherapy in the preoperative treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) improves efficacy measured by the pathological complete response (pCR) rate.

Methods: A phase II two-step design was performed. Patients received four cycles of therapy consisting of: BVZ 10 mg/kg in first infusion on day 1 and 5 mg/kg on days 15, 29, 43, capecitabine 1800 mg/m(2)/day 5 days per week during radiotherapy, which consisted of external-beam irradiation (45 Gy in 1.

Ethanol sclerotherapy of ovarian endometrioma: a safe and effective minimal invasive procedure. Preliminary results.

Objective: To study if ultrasound-guided aspiration with ethanol sclerosis is a safe and effective treatment for endometriomas.

Study Design: We conducted a prospective study of 25 women with 27 endometriomas (two bilateral) measuring 4-10cm in diameter with no suspected malignancy, who underwent ultrasound-guided aspiration and ethanol sclerosis between August 2010 and July 2014. Patients were followed up by ultrasound at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months to identify rates of complication and recurrence.

Cardiovascular news 2013/2014.

During 2013 and the first months of 2014, numerous studies have been published in the cardiovascular field. New guidelines have appeared for managing arterial hypertension and reducing cardiovascular risk by lowering cholesterol levels. New data have emerged on the considerable lipid-lowering efficacy of monoclonal antibodies against PCSK-9, in contrast, however, to the clinical trials directed towards raising HDL-cholesterol with nicotinic acid, which have not shown a reduction in the rate of cardiovascular complications.

Large contribution of human papillomavirus in vaginal neoplastic lesions: a worldwide study in 597 samples.

Aim: This work describes the human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence and the HPV type distribution in a large series of vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN) grades 2/3 and vaginal cancer worldwide.

Methods: We analysed 189 VAIN 2/3 and 408 invasive vaginal cancer cases collected from 31 countries from 1986 to 2011. After histopathological evaluation of sectioned formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples, HPV DNA detection and typing was performed using the SPF-10/DNA enzyme immunoassay (DEIA)/LiPA25 system (version 1).

Noninvasive ventilation in acute respiratory failure.

After the institution of positive-pressure ventilation, the use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) through an interface substantially increased. The first technique was continuous positive airway pressure; but, after the introduction of pressure support ventilation at the end of the 20th century, this became the main modality. Both techniques, and some others that have been recently introduced and which integrate some technological innovations, have extensively demonstrated a faster improvement of acute respiratory failure in different patient populations, avoiding endotracheal intubation and facilitating the release of conventional invasive mechanical ventilation.

Nuchal translucency thickness in the prediction of unbalanced translocations.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the role of nuchal translucency (NT) in the prediction of unbalanced translocation in offspring of couples in which one of the parents is a balanced translocation carrier.

Material And Methods: From January 1996 to December 2012, fetal NT was measured before chorionic villus sampling in 86 pregnancies referred because of parental balanced translocation.

Results: No significant differences in pregnancy characteristics and in NT expressed in millimetres or in multiples of the median (MoMs) were observed between the 41 fetuses with a normal karyotype [1.

HPV prevalence and genotypes in different histological subtypes of cervical adenocarcinoma, a worldwide analysis of 760 cases.

The goal of our study was to provide comprehensive data on the worldwide human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype distribution in patients with invasive cervical adenocarcinoma in correlation with histologic tumor subtypes, geographical location, patients' age, and duration of sample storage. Paraffin-embedded samples of 760 cervical adenocarcinoma cases were collected worldwide. A three-level pathology review of cases was performed to obtain consensus histologic diagnoses and 682 cases were determined to be eligible for further analysis.

Results of the first 100 single port laparoscopic cholecystectomies in a secondary care hospital.

Introduction: Despite the excellent results obtained with standard laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the efforts for minimizing the ports needed to reduce postoperative pain, for a quicker recovery and to improve the patient's cosmetics continue. The aim of this study is to report the results of the first 100 cases of single port laparoscopic cholecystectomy performed in a secondary care hospital.

Material And Methods: Prospective, observational and unicentric study including 100 patients between January 2010 and April 2012.