Factors Leading to the Loss of Natural Elite Control of HIV-1 Infection.

HIV-1 elite controllers (EC) maintain undetectable viral loads (VL) in the absence of antiretroviral treatment. However, these subjects have heterogeneous clinical outcomes, including a proportion that loses HIV-1 control over time. In this work, we compared, in a longitudinal design, transient EC, analyzed before and after the loss of virological control, with persistent EC.

Ultrasonography assessment of heel entheses in patients with spondyloarthritis: a comparative study with magnetic resonance imaging and conventional radiography.

The aim of the present study was to determine the agreement between ultrasonography (US), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and conventional radiography (CR) in the detection of findings indicative of enthesopathy in spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients. A cross-sectional study was performed in 40 SpA patients. Heel entheses (Achilles tendon and plantar fascia) were bilaterally examined by US, MRI, and CR.

Adherence to Two Methods of Education and Metabolic Control in Type 2 Diabetics.

Background: Education in diabetes optimizes metabolic control, prevents acute and chronic complications, and improves quality of life. Our main objective was to evaluate if a better metabolic control is achieved in diabetic patients undergoing a program of intensive interactive care than in those with traditional care and written information.

Methods: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), aged 20-60 years, education level at least of primary school, serum creatinine ≤ 2.

Characteristics, Outcomes, and Predictability of Critically Ill Obstetric Patients: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To evaluate pregnant/postpartum patients requiring ICUs admission in Argentina, describe characteristics of mothers and outcomes for mothers/babies, evaluate risk factors for maternal-fetal-neonatal mortality; and compare outcomes between patients admitted to public and private health sectors.

Design: Multicenter, prospective, national cohort study.

Setting: Twenty ICUs in Argentina (public, 8 and private, 12).

Dual therapy with darunavir/r plus etravirine is safe and effective as switching therapy in antiretroviral experienced HIV-patients. The BITER Study.

Introduction: Switching therapy studies are usually designed as second-line antiretroviral treatment (ART) in patients without previous virologic failures. Combined ART (cART) with DRV/r and ETR has a good pharmacokinetic profile, high genetic barrier and has been proved as rescue therapy. The aim of our study was to analyze efficacy and safety of therapy with DRV/r plus ETR in treatment experienced HIV-patients with previous therapeutic failures that need to switch ART.

Major challenges in clinical management of TB/HIV co-infected patients in Eastern Europe compared with Western Europe and Latin America.

Introduction: Rates of both TB/HIV co-infection and multi-drug-resistant (MDR) TB are increasing in Eastern Europe (EE). Data on the clinical management of TB/HIV co-infected patients are scarce. Our aim was to study the clinical characteristics of TB/HIV patients in Europe and Latin America (LA) at TB diagnosis, identify factors associated with MDR-TB and assess the activity of initial TB treatment regimens given the results of drug-susceptibility tests (DST).

[Primary hepatic lymphoma: an infrequent cause of focal hepatic lesion].

Primary hepatic lymphoma (PHL) is confined to the liver with no evidence of extrahepatic lymphomatosis. Histopathologically, the PHL belongs to the group of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and the most common subtype is the diffise large B-cell lymphoma. We present a 72-year-old woman, with no relevant antecedents and the following symptoms: early satiety, abdominal discomfort and rapid weight loss.

Prevalence of subclinical enthesopathy in patients with spondyloarthropathy: an ultrasound study.

Background: Ultrasound has demonstrated to be a highly sensitive tool in the evaluation of entheses in spondyloarthropathy (SpA) patients and improves the ability of clinical examination to detect enthesopathy.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of subclinical enthesopathy in SpA patients and to evaluate the reliability of ultrasound in the detection of abnormal findings indicative of enthesopathy.

Methods: Six hundred lower-limb entheses were assessed in 60 SpA patients without known history of entheseal involvement.

Human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis in Argentina: prevalence, genotypes and risk factors.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and genetic variability of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among 205 patients with clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in Buenos Aires in 2001. Infections with hepatitis B virus (HBV), HIV-1, hepatitis C virus (HCV), Treponema pallidum and human T-cell lymphotropic virus types I/II were diagnosed in 37/187 (19.8 %), 35/205 (17.

Investigation of the role of SMN1 and SMN2 haploinsufficiency as a risk factor for Hirayama's disease: clinical, neurophysiological and genetic characteristics in a Spanish series of 13 patients.

Objective: The effect of the number of copies in the SMN1 and SMN2 genes - the most extensively studied susceptibility and modifying genetic factors in adult onset motor neuron diseases - as a genetic risk factor for Hirayama's disease (HirD) has never been studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the number of copies of the SMN1/SMN2 genes on the resulting phenotype in 13 HirD Spanish patients.

Patients And Methods: We performed a qualitative and quantitative SMN1/SMN2 gene analysis in 13 unrelated HirD patients.

Kartagener syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis.

We report the case of a 38-year-old female patient, affected with Kartagener syndrome (primary ciliary dyskinesia), who developed seropositive and erosive rheumatoid arthritis. According to our review, there are only 6 cases reported so far with this association without a definite etiopathogenic linkage recognized in common. Chronic infections resulting from the ciliary dysfunction might be a trigger for rheumatoid arthritis.

Clindamycin-resistant Fusobacterium varium bacteremia and decubitus ulcer infection.

Bacteremia due to Fusobacterium spp. is unusual (<10% of cases of anaerobic bacteremia), and the isolation of Fusobacterium varium is especially uncommon. The most probable sources of Fusobacterium bacteremia are the respiratory, the gastrointestinal, and the genitourinary tracts.

[Percutaneous renal surgery with minimal access: miniperc].

Objectives: To describe the technique of the minimal access percutaneous nephrolithectomy, miniperc, and to analyze the results obtained with this treatment in adult patients.

Methods: We performed 42 minipercs between august 2002 and December 2003. Mean patient age was 48 years (19-62).

Pituitary stalk tuberculoma.

Pituitary tuberculomas are exceptionally rare. Even with no evidence of systemic tuberculosis, it is important to recognize these lesions in the differential diagnosis of the intrasuprasellar tumors because they are curable. At present, in developed countries the frequency of intracranial tuberculomas of nervous system tumors is around 0.

A novel exon 3 mutation (D76V) in the SOD1 gene associated with slowly progressive ALS.

Introduction: Details of the mutations in the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene in patients with the familial form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are currently being gathered in order better to understand the genotype-phenotype relationship in this disorder. We report on a large family with 15 affected individuals spanning five generations.

Results: A novel mutation in the exon 3 of the SOD1 gene, an A-to-T transversion at nucleotide position 696 in the heterozygous state leading to a D76V amino acid change, was identified in four family members.

Phenotypic variability in a Spanish family with MNGIE.

Clinical, biochemical, and genetic features of a Spanish family with mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy are reported. The proband presented with severe gastrointestinal dysmotility and the affected sister had extraocular muscle weakness. In both affected individuals, biochemical defects of thymidine phosphorylase and a pathogenic G-to-A transition mutation at nucleotide 435 in the thymidine phosphorylase gene were identified.

Bilateral optic nerve atrophy in myotonic dystrophy.

Purpose: To document a case of bilateral optic atrophy in a patient with myotonic dystrophy. Myotonic dystrophy is an autosomal dominant disorder, genetically resulting from an expansion of an unstable CTG repeat in the 3'-untranslated region of a protein kinase gene (DMPK) on chromosome 19q13.3.

Prostate specific antigen and benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a common condition in males over 50 years, but prostate cancer can develop in the same population. Prostate specific antigen, the best marker for prostate cancer, is also produced by benign epithelial cells, and there is an overlapping phenomenon between both conditions. The better we understand the relationships between benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate specific antigen, the higher will be the discrimination power of prostate specific antigen measurement as a marker for prostate cancer.

[Nutrition and behavioral eating disorders: anorexia and bulimia nervosa].

Behavioral eating disorders (BED's) have shown an intense growth in the last years. They are considered to be caused by multiple factors, showing a bio-psycho-socio-cultural etiology. Although there are clinical signs that could alert the physician and allow an early diagnosis, their final diagnosis must meet certain criteria set in the DSM-IV (1994).

[Percutaneous suprapubic bladder lithotripsy].

The authors present a case of multiple bladder stones in a patient with severe ankylosis of the lower extremities, treated via percutaneous suprapubic approach. The suprapubic tract was created with Teflon-coated dilators and an Amplatz tube and the stones were fragmented with the nephroscope and a pneumatic lithotriptor. The simplicity of the procedure and the ease of the manoeuvre accelerated the stone fragmentation process while avoiding unnecessary trauma of the urethra.

Octreotide: effects in experimental severe acute pancreatitis. Analysis of survival, biochemical findings and histomorphometry.

Objective: The effect of octreotide in acute experimental pancreatitis was examined.

Experimental Design: Acute pancreatitis was induced in 70 male Wistar rats by retrograde injection of 5% sodium taurocholate into the pancreatic duct. Octreotide (50 micrograms = 0.

[Early detection of adenomas in asymptomatic subjects: flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy].

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of adenomas as well as sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of FS for polyp screening in two groups of asymptomatic individuals using colonoscopy (CP) as the gold standard.

Background: Flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) is the screening procedure of choice for polyps and colorectal carcinoma (CRC) in asymptomatic individuals. However, the validity of this approach has been questioned, specially in subjects with a family history of CRC.