Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2018-03"
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- Simulation and Training of Gynaecological SkillsPublication . Ferreira, H.; van Belle, Y.; Tanos, V.; Rabischong, B.; Grimbizis, G.; Di Spiezio Sardo, A.; Campo, R.In order to offer our patients, the "state of the art" treatment in gynaecology, we need a structured teaching program for trainees concerning the gynaecological skills. In recent years, training and education in endoscopic surgery has been critically reviewed. Clinicians, both surgeons as gynaecologists who perform endoscopic surgery without proper training of the specific psychomotor skills, are at higher risk to increased patient morbidity and mortality. The traditional apprentice-tutor model is no longer valid for developing all skills necessary in gynaecological surgery, particularly in endoscopy. Endoscopic training should happen at both the theoretical and the practical skill level. The acquisition of the correct knowledge regarding general laparoscopy, hysteroscopy and standard level procedures is as important as learning the necessary psychomotor skills to successfully perform endoscopic manipulations. Training in the operating room can only start when it is proven that knowledge and skills are present. To learn and train total abdominal hysterectomy by laparotomy there are inexpensive simple models that can be used, which are easy to reproduce. The development, construction, cost, and utility of a low-cost and anatomically representative vaginal hysterectomy simulator also has been described. The complexity of modern surgery has increased the demands and challenges to surgical education and the quality control.
- Artroplastia total do joelho em doente previamente patelectomizado: reconstrução patelar com técnica original utilizando autoenxerto de prato tibialPublication . Neves, P.; Soares, D.; Costa, L.; Sousa, R.Introdução: os autores pretendem demonstrar uma técnica original de reconstrução patelar, apresentando para isso um caso clínico. Trata-se de uma doente previamente submetida a patelectomia por artrose patelofemoral, que acabou por desenvolver artrose femoro-tibial que condicionava dor resistente ao tratamento conservador. Perante uma doente com diminuição de força do aparelho extensor, consideramos que seria benéfica a reconstrução patelar no momento da artroplastia. Caso Clínico: neste trabalho apresentamos o estado funcional da doente, incluindo as mobilidades e scores funcionais pré e pós-operatórios. São descritos em pormenor todos os passos que constituíram o procedimento cirúrgico, incluindo a colheita do enxerto, o ajuste do mesmo às dimensões e forma necessárias e a forma de integração em bolsa subsinovial confecionada. Discussão-Conclusão: a patelectomia não deve excluir a indicação para artroplastia do joelho, não só pelos bons resultados que pode ter como também pela diversidade de técnicas de reconstrução patelar que existe. Apesar dos bons resultados com as técnicas já conhecidas, todas acabam por ter desvantagens nem sempre desprezíveis. O uso de prato tibial externo parece-nos uma excelente opção com morbilidade mínima que além dos bons resultados obtidos no imediato, demonstrou vantagem clínica a médio prazo.
- Organization of rehabilitation care in Portuguese intensive care unitsPublication . Mendes, R.; Nunes, M.; Pinho, J.; Gonçalves, R.Objective: To describe the different rehabilitation care models in practice in Portuguese adult intensive care units. Methods: A simple observational (cross-sectional) study was conducted through an online survey sent to the head nurses or individuals responsible for the 58 adult intensive care units that are part of the database of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Cuidados Intensivos. Results: We identified three models of organization of rehabilitation care: care provided by the staff of the intensive care unit (22.9%), care provided by specialized external teams (25.0%), and a mixture of the previous models, combining the two situations (52.1%). In the first model, the care was provided mainly by nurses with specialization in rehabilitation and, in the second model, the care was provided by physiotherapists. No significant differences were found between the models regarding the availability of care, in hours/day or days/week (p = 0.268 and 0.994, respectively), or results such as length of hospital stay in intensive care, ventilation time, or mortality rate in the unit (p = 0.418, 0.923, and 0.240, respectively). Conclusion: The organization of rehabilitation care in Portuguese intensive care units is unique and heterogeneous. Despite different care organization models, the availability of hours of care is similar, as are the overall results observed in patients.
- The epidemiology of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV: A cross-region global cohort analysisPublication . Slogrove, A.; Schomaker, M.; Davies, M.; Williams, P.; Balkan, S.; Ben-Farhat, J.; Calles, N.; Chokephaibulkit, K.; Duff, C.; Eboua, T.; Kekitiinwa-Rukyalekere, A.; Maxwell, N.; Pinto, J.; Seage, G.; Teasdale, C.; Wanless, S.; Warszawski, J.; Wools-Kaloustian, K.; Yotebieng, M.; Timmerman, V.; Collins, I.; Goodall, R.; Smith, C.; Patel, K.; Paul, M.; Gibb, D.; Vreeman, R.; Abrams, E.; Hazra, R.; Van Dyke, R.; Bekker, L.; Mofenson, L.; Vicari, M.; Essajee, S.; Penazzato, M.; Anabwani, G.; Q Mohapi, E.; N Kazembe, P.; Hlatshwayo, M.; Lumumba, M.; Goetghebuer, T.; Thorne, C.; Galli, L.; van Rossum, A.; Giaquinto, C.; Marczynska, M.; Marques, L.; Prata, F.; Ene, L.; Okhonskaia, L.; Rojo, P.; Fortuny, C.; Naver, L.; Rudin, C.; Le Coeur, S.; Volokha, A.; Rouzier, V.; Succi, R.; Sohn, A.; Kariminia, A.; Edmonds, A.; Lelo, P.; Ayaya, S.; Ongwen, P.; Jefferys, L.; Phiri, S.; Mubiana-Mbewe, Mw.; Sawry, S.; Renner, L.; Sylla, M.; Abzug, M.; Levin, M.; Oleske, J.; Chernoff, M.; Traite, S.; Purswani, M.; Chadwick, E.; Judd, A.; Leroy, V.Background: Globally, the population of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV (APHs) continues to expand. In this study, we pooled data from observational pediatric HIV cohorts and cohort networks, allowing comparisons of adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV in "real-life" settings across multiple regions. We describe the geographic and temporal characteristics and mortality outcomes of APHs across multiple regions, including South America and the Caribbean, North America, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. Methods and findings: Through the Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER), individual retrospective longitudinal data from 12 cohort networks were pooled. All children infected with HIV who entered care before age 10 years, were not known to have horizontally acquired HIV, and were followed up beyond age 10 years were included in this analysis conducted from May 2016 to January 2017. Our primary analysis describes patient and treatment characteristics of APHs at key time points, including first HIV-associated clinic visit, antiretroviral therapy (ART) start, age 10 years, and last visit, and compares these characteristics by geographic region, country income group (CIG), and birth period. Our secondary analysis describes mortality, transfer out, and lost to follow-up (LTFU) as outcomes at age 15 years, using competing risk analysis. Among the 38,187 APHs included, 51% were female, 79% were from sub-Saharan Africa and 65% lived in low-income countries. APHs from 51 countries were included (Europe: 14 countries and 3,054 APHs; North America: 1 country and 1,032 APHs; South America and the Caribbean: 4 countries and 903 APHs; South and Southeast Asia: 7 countries and 2,902 APHs; sub-Saharan Africa, 25 countries and 30,296 APHs). Observation started as early as 1982 in Europe and 1996 in sub-Saharan Africa, and continued until at least 2014 in all regions. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) duration of adolescent follow-up was 3.1 (1.5-5.2) years for the total cohort and 6.4 (3.6-8.0) years in Europe, 3.7 (2.0-5.4) years in North America, 2.5 (1.2-4.4) years in South and Southeast Asia, 5.0 (2.7-7.5) years in South America and the Caribbean, and 2.1 (0.9-3.8) years in sub-Saharan Africa. Median (IQR) age at first visit differed substantially by region, ranging from 0.7 (0.3-2.1) years in North America to 7.1 (5.3-8.6) years in sub-Saharan Africa. The median age at ART start varied from 0.9 (0.4-2.6) years in North America to 7.9 (6.0-9.3) years in sub-Saharan Africa. The cumulative incidence estimates (95% confidence interval [CI]) at age 15 years for mortality, transfers out, and LTFU for all APHs were 2.6% (2.4%-2.8%), 15.6% (15.1%-16.0%), and 11.3% (10.9%-11.8%), respectively. Mortality was lowest in Europe (0.8% [0.5%-1.1%]) and highest in South America and the Caribbean (4.4% [3.1%-6.1%]). However, LTFU was lowest in South America and the Caribbean (4.8% [3.4%-6.7%]) and highest in sub-Saharan Africa (13.2% [12.6%-13.7%]). Study limitations include the high LTFU rate in sub-Saharan Africa, which could have affected the comparison of mortality across regions; inclusion of data only for APHs receiving ART from some countries; and unavailability of data from high-burden countries such as Nigeria. Conclusion: To our knowledge, our study represents the largest multiregional epidemiological analysis of APHs. Despite probable under-ascertained mortality, mortality in APHs remains substantially higher in sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and South America and the Caribbean than in Europe. Collaborations such as CIPHER enable us to monitor current global temporal trends in outcomes over time to inform appropriate policy responses.
- A pilot study on the usefulness of peripheral blood flow cytometry for the diagnosis of lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes: the "MDS thermometer"Publication . Aires, A.; Teixeira, M.; Lau, C.; Moreira, C.; Spínola, A.; Mota, A.; Freitas, I.; Coutinho, J.; Lima, M.Background: Immunophenotypic analysis of the bone marrow (BM) cells has proven to be helpful in the diagnosis of Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS). However, the usefulness of flow cytometry (FCM) for the detection of myelodysplasia in the peripheral blood (PB) still needs to be investigated. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the value of FCM-based PB neutrophil and monocyte immunophenotyping for the diagnosis of lower risk MDS (LR-MDS). Methods: We evaluated by 8-color FCM the expression of multiple cell surface molecules (CD10, CD11b, CD11c, CD13, CD14, CD15, CD16, CD34, CD45, CD56, CD64 and HLA-DR) in PB neutrophils and monocytes from a series of 14 adult LR-MDS patients versus 14 normal individuals. Results: Peripheral blood neutrophils from patients with LR-MDS frequently had low forward scatter (FSC) and side scatter (SSC) values and low levels of CD11b, CD11c, CD10, CD16, CD13 and CD45 expression, in that order, as compared to normal neutrophils. In addition, patients with LR-MDS commonly display a higher fraction of CD14+CD56+ and a lower fraction of CD14+CD16+ monocytes in the PB. Based on these results, we proposed an immunophenotyping score based on which PB samples from patients with LR-MDS could be distinguished from normal PB samples with a sensitivity 93% and a specificity of 100%. In addition, we used this score to construct the MDS Thermometer, a screening tool for detection and monitoring of MDS in the PB in clinical practice. Conclusions: Peripheral blood neutrophil and monocyte immunophenotyping provide useful information for the diagnosis of LR-MDS, as a complement to cytomorphology. If validated by subsequent studies in larger series of MDS patients and extended to non-MDS patients with cytopenias, our findings may improve the diagnostic assessment and avoid invasive procedures in selected groups of MDS patients.
- Interstitial lung disease and pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension in neurofibromatosis type 1Publication . Rodrigues, D.; Oliveira, H.; Andrade, C.; Carvalho, L.; Guimarães, S.; Moura, C.; Vaz, A.Although previously reported, the existence of a neurofibromatosis (NF)-associated diffuse lung disease (DLD) still lacks solid evidence. We report a case of a 68-year-old non-smoking female with NF1, pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) and an interstitial lung pattern. Initial findings included progressive dyspnea, hypoxemia and sparse centrilobular ground-glass micronodules on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Further study demonstrated a severe defect in diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO), macrophages on bronchoalveolar lavage and pre-capillary PH on right cardiac catheterization. Surgical biopsy revealed macrophage accumulation along bronchovascular bundles and alveolar spaces and type II pneumocytes hyperplasia. Given the absence of environmental exposure or new drugs, a NF-DLD was hypothesized. Pre-capillary PH was disproportionate to interstitial findings, so it was attributed to a NF1-vasculopathy. Treatment with triple sequential combined therapy was unsuccessful culminating in death 18 months later. This case adds HRCT and anatomopathological data suggesting NF-DLD as a distinct manifestation of the disease.
- Health-Related Quality of Life in Pulmonary Hypertension and Its Clinical Correlates: A Cross-Sectional StudyPublication . Reis, A.; Santos, M.; Vicente, M.; Furtado, I.; Cruz, C.; Melo, A.; Carvalho, L.; Gonçalves, F.; Sa-Couto, P.; Almeida, L.BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) impairment is common in pulmonary hypertension (PH), but its clinical predictors are not well established. This study aims to characterize the HRQoL of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and other precapillary forms of PH (pcPH) and to explore its clinical correlates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, observational study of patients with documented PAH and other forms of pcPH. Patients completed two patient-reported outcome measures (PROM): Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review (CAMPHOR) and Nottingham Health Profile (NHP). Clinical characteristics were retrieved from electronic medical records. RESULTS: Mean CAMPHOR and NHP scores for the study population were indicative of a moderate HRQoL impairment. Patients in World Health Organisation Functional Classes (WHO FC) III/IV showed significantly worse HRQoL. The main clinical correlates of HRQoL were WHO FC, 6-minute walking distance (6MWD), and Borg dyspnoea index. Overall quality of life (QoL), assessed through CAMPHOR's QoL domain, showed patterns comparable to HRQoL measured by both instruments. CONCLUSIONS: HRQoL, measured by two different PROMs, is impaired in Portuguese patients with PAH and other forms of pcPH, particularly in patients with increased disease severity. WHO FC, 6MWD, and Borg dyspnoea index are highly correlated with HRQoL and QoL.
- Portal Vein Aneurysm Mimicking a Liver NodulePublication . Maia, L.; Castro-Poças, F.; Pedroto, I.