Selective sentinel lymph node biopsy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer: results of the GEICAM 2005-07 study.

Introduction: A controversial aspect of breast cancer management is the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in patients requiring neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT). This paper discusses the detection rate (DT) and false negatives (FN) of SLNB after NCT to investigate the influence of initial nodal disease and the protocols applied.

Methods: Prospective observational multicenter study in women with breast cancer, treated with NCT and SLNB post-NCT with subsequent lymphadenectomy.

[Experience of a falls prevention unit in an intermediate care hospital].

Introduction: The aim of this study is to determine clinical features and interventions in patients attended in our hospital falls prevention unit.

Material And Methods: Medical records and evaluation protocols from October 2010 to June 2012 were reviewed. Results are expressed in means and standard deviation.

[The optimal blood glucose target in critically ill patient: comparison of two intensive insulin therapy protocols].

Background And Objective: Recent studies in critically ill patients receiving insulin intravenous therapy (IIT) have shown an increased incidence of severe hypoglycemia, while intermittent subcutaneous insulin «sliding scales» (conventional insulin therapy [CIT]) is associated with hyperglycemia. The objective of this study is to assess whether glycemic control range IIT can affect glucose levels and their variability and to compare it with CIT.

Patients And Method: Prospective comparative cohort study in intensive care unit, with 2 study periods: Period 1, IIT with glycemic target range 110-140 mg/dL, and Period 2, IIT of 140-180 mg/dL.

[Potentially inappropriate medication on admission to a medium-stay unit according to STOPP and START criteria].

Introduction: In older people some drugs are classified as potentially inappropriate and some tools have been developed to help to prescribe correctly, such as the "Screening Tool of Older Persons' potentially inappropriate Prescriptions" (STOPP) and the "Screening Tool to Alert doctors to the Right Treatment" (START) criteria. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and advice on the usefulness of these criteria in a medium-stay unit of a geriatric hospital.

Material And Methods: A 6 month prospective cross-sectional study was designed.

Changes in clinical, pulmonary function, quality of life and costs in a cohort of asthmatic patients followed for 10 years.

Unlabelled: Few studies have comprehensively assessed the evolution asthma disease in recent years.

Objectives: To determine changes in morbidity, lung function and quality of life and to establish the impact in terms of cost in a cohort of patients with asthma.

Methods: Prospective, descriptive and realistic study that included 220 asthma patients evaluated 10 years after their inclusion (1994-2004).

[Apache III score: a prognostic factor in pressure ulcer development in an intensive care unit].

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVE. To analyze total APACHE III score association to pressure ulcers development in patients hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU).

Material And Methods: Prospective cohort study conducted in an intensive care unit of the Hospital General de VIC.

[An educative intervention to improve treatment compliance and to prevent readmissions of elderly patients with heart failure].

Background And Objective: To assess the efficacy of a multifactorial intervention at discharge in elderly patients with heart failure to improve the adherence to treatment, reduce readmissions and days of hospitalisation, and to evaluate its effect on quality of life.

Patients And Method: A prospective, randomized clinical trial. Subgroup analysis in elderly patients (older than 70 years) admitted for heart failure.

[One-stop outpatient cardiology clinics: 10 years' experience].

A one-stop outpatient cardiology clinic was set up at the Vic General Hospital in Spain in 1996. The aims were to provide patients with a rapid response, and to ensure that, on the same day, they saw a specialist and were referred for any relevant investigations required, primarily echocardiography, exercise testing, and Holter monitoring. We report experience from 10 years of follow-up, involving 19,515 consultations.

[Smoking among adolescents: population study on parental and school influences].

Objective: Smoking represents a public health problem, one which begins during adolescence. The main objective of this study was to analyze the association between smoking and parental and school factors.

Subjects And Methods: The study sample consisted of the students from the 20 secondary schools in the region of Osona, Barcelona, Spain.

[Alzheimer's disease and brain evolution: is Alzheimer's disease an example of antagonistic pleiotropy?].

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) appears to be exclusive to our species. This suggests a relationship between the disease and genetic, functional and structural changes that have taken place throughout the evolution of the human brain.

Development: The expression of genes linked to neurotransmission, neuroplasticity, axonal transport, aerobic metabolism and neuroprotection seems to have increased within the human cerebral cortex and such phenomena represent adaptations that induce greater neuronal activity throughout a long lifespan.

[Are symbolic behaviour and neuroplasticity an example of gene-culture coevolution?].

Introduction And Development: The brain size in the Homo genus not only has not increased during the last 150,000 years but has also experienced a slight reduction in the last 35,000 years. This reduction coincides with the generalization of the symbolic culture that was most likely established during the Upper Palaeolithic. Therefore, the cognitive capacities characteristic in the Homo sapiens could be due to structural and functional changes during the brain evolution, rather than an increase of the brain size.

[Diagnosis and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis after a Colles' fracture].

Objectives: To investigate whether the presence of Colles fracture leads to diagnostic studies or treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

Design: Retrospective study with follow-up of incident cases.

Setting: Hospital General de Vic and Primary Care Centre Osona.

[Recurrent acute pericarditis associated with adult-onset Still's disease treated with pericardiectomy].

Recurrent acute pericarditis associated with adult onset Still's disease is an unusual feature. We present a case with recurrent episodes of acute pericarditis with cardiac tamponade which only improved with corticosteroid therapy. Because of the severe and frequent recurrences and corticodependence development, a subtotal pericardiectomy was performed with a good outcome after a 12-month observation period.

[Acute pericarditis with effusion as a form of presentation of psittacosis].

Psittacosis is an uncommon cause of acute pericarditis and pericardial effusion. However, some isolated cases have been reported. We present a case which the first clinical feature of psittacosis was acute pericarditis.

[Carotid paraganglioma: a case report].

Carotid paraganglioma are tumors arising from chemoreceptor paraganglioma cells. These cells have proved to have an embryologic origin from the neural crests. Due to their low incidence these tumors are not an habitually found in daily practices.

[Diseases associated with articular chondrocalcinosis: an analysis of a series of 95 cases].

Background: There are different diseases which are associated with articular chondrocalcinosis (ACC) although in some it is debated whether this is a real association or an accidental coexistence. The aim of the present study was to analyze the prevalence and type of associated diseases in a series of patients with ACC and to compare with other series in the literature, as well as determine the performance of a protocol directed to the search for such diseases in patients with ACC.

Method: A total of 95 patients diagnosed of ACC and attended in the out patients department of Rheumatology in a general hospital over a 5 year period (1987-1991) were included in a protocol specially designed to search for diseases associated to ACC.

[Massive hematuria and bladder perforation, complication of systemic amyloidosis].

Secondary amyloidosis of the bladder is a rare cause of hematuria. When it presents, it is a life-threatening condition with a mortality rate of 60%. The diagnosis is based on the anatomopathological finding of amyloid deposits in extracellular interstitium.