[Pulmonary tuberculosis: interval between the first symptoms and the initiation of therapy (author's transl)].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Soto.
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The electrocardiograms of 146 patients with metastatic carcinoma of the breast were reviewed before, during, and after the patients received Adriamycin (Doxorubicin) chemotherapy (AD). The most significant electrocardiographic change occurred in the amplitude of the QRS voltage. Seven patients developed cardiomyopathy after AD and showed a significant decrease in QRS voltage. This decrease, however, was more severe at the onset of congestive heart failure that at conclusion of Adriamycin. In 35 patients with pleural effusion, there was an inverse relation between the extent of the effusion and the amplitude of QRS voltage in the absence of congestive heart failure. These results indicate that 1) the sudden and relatively severe decrease in QRS voltage with the onset of CHF limits the value of this ECG criterion for predicting early Adriamycin toxicity, and 2) caution should be exercised in the interpretation of QRS voltage changes in patients with significant pleural effusion.
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A 47-year-old male with histiocytic lymphoma and no previous history of heart disease developed significant fluctuations of blood pressure, electrocardiographic evidence of myocardial ischemia, and life-threatening arrhythmia after the first dose of BACOP (bleomycin, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, Oncovin, and prednisone) chemotherapy. The presence of pheochromocytoma was suspected, and it was demonstrated by elevated urinary metanephrines, catecholamines, and vanillylmandelic acid, and finally confirmed on autopsy. The possible role of chemotherapeutic agents in stimulating excessive catecholamine release, thus causing transient cardiac injury, is suggested.
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The cattle tick Boophilus microplus has remained a latent problem to the cattle industry. The recombinant vaccine GAVAC against the cattle tick has proved its efficacy and, conveniently, combined with the use of chemicals could be the solution to this problem. As this vaccine is based in the recombinant concealed antigen Bm86, it has to be given periodically to the animal to maintain an adequate level of antibodies. Some other commercially available vaccines for cattle also have to be given periodically, which creates the possibility of combining vaccines for cattle. In an attempt to evaluate the possible interactions of the Bm86 with other vaccine antigens, a potent stimulatory effect was demonstrated of the recombinant Bm86 on the humoral immune response to the recombinant Hepatitis B surface antigen in mice, and to the inactivated Infectious Bovine Rhinothraqueitis virus in cattle. These results make the Bm86 antigen expressed in Pichia pastoris a good candidate for combining vaccines for cattle because of its dual role, immunogen and adjuvant.
The discovery of the adipocyte-produced hormone leptin has changed the field of obesity research and our understanding of energy homeostasis. It is now accepted that leptin is the afferent loop informing the hypothalamus about the states of fat stores, with hypothalamic efferents regulating appetite and energy expenditure. I addition, leptin has a role as a metabolic adaptator in overweight and fasting states. New and previously unsuspected neuroendocrine roles have emerged for leptin. Leptin participates in the expression of CRH in the hypothalamus, interacts at the adrenal level with ACTH, and is regulated by glucocorticoids. Since leptin and cortisol show an inverse circadian rhythm, it has suggested that a regulatory feedback is present. However glucocorticoids appears to play a modulatory, but not essential roles in generating leptin diurnal rhythm. Glucocortiocids act directly on the adipose tissue and increase leptin synthesis and secretion in humans. Leptin levels are markedly increased in Cushing's syndrome patients and in other pseudo-Cushing's syndrome states. Glucocorticoids appears to act as a key modulator of body weight and food intake, promoting leptin secretion by adipocytes, limiting central leptin induced effects and favoring those of the NPY. Furthermore the modulatory role of glucocorticoids could be altered in obesity, but the precise mode of action remains to be established. The relevance of this finding merits further studies.
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INTRODUCTION: Cerebrovascular diseases are the third most important cause of death in Cuba. Among the programmes given priority by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), hemorrhagic disorders are the most lethal . OBJECTIVE: To determine the behaviour of hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease in the central region of Cuba. PATIENTS AND METHODS: . An exploratory, descriptive, retrospective study in which 1,401 clinical histories were reviewed. The variables being investigated were then processed using the computer data processor EPINFO 6.0 to determine the mean, standard deviation and chi squared. RESULTS: An annual incidence rate of 84.03 per 100,000 persons was seen for hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease; 54.16 and 29.86 per 100,000 persons respectively for intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage; and total mortality of 68.95%. The disorder was associated with possible meteorological factors and the highest percentage was due to intracerebral hemorrhage with 64.45%. Arterial hypertension was the most intensely studied risk marker (p< 0.01). Most cases were elderly (p< 0.001). Surgical treatment was given to 81 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage, with a predominance of malformations of the middle and anterior cerebral arteries. Treatment was based on depletion using Manitol and calcium antagonists. A considerable number of patients required mechanical ventilation and vaso active drug support. Most were attended in Intermediate Polyvalent Treatment Units and the main complication was sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high mortality from hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease in the central region of Cuba, and once the diagnosis has been made the prognosis is usually poor. The patients included in the programme of attention for subarachnoid haemorrhage showed promising results.
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We report the case of a patient exhibiting subacute bacterial endocarditis (SEB) associated with vasculitis and signs of nephritis. C-ANCA were present at high titer. This observation suggests that ANCA may be associated with vascular injury in SEB.
OBJECTIVE: The degree of aggregation is determined for the whole population and for different age-specific strata and is used for assessing the reinfection rate after a mass antihelminthic chemotherapeutic intervention. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The degree of aggregation of Ascaris lumbricoides is derived from prevalence and intensity of infection date obtained from an epidemiological study of ascariasis carried out in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, México by means of maximum likelihood estimation of the negative binomial distribution. RESULTS: The results show that the distribution of the parasite for the whole population differs from the distribution of the parasite within each age-specific stratum; the reinfection rate is not uniform, the dynamics of the host-parasite association exhibits a clear destabilization of its endemic equilibrium after a first round of mass treatment. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that the aggregation among the different age-groups is highly variable and hence the infection and reinfection rates are heterogeneous with regard to age; these states of the host-parasite system are transient. Given the heterogeneity of the infection, the selective treatment seems to be the most adequate strategy to diminish helminth infection rates.
Amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of Trypanosoma cruzi kinetoplastic DNA was used to enhance sensitivity in the detection of the parasite in blood, with the ultimate goal of improving the parasitological diagnosis of Chagas' disease in 0-10 year-old infected children. Twenty eight children were evaluated by using xenodiagnosis (XD) and PCR. Whereas XD detected 75.0% of the cases PCR was positive in 96.8%. The usefulness of the PCR was further investigated in the 28 children who have received specific treatment with nifurtimox. Negativation of XD after three and six months post treatment was observed in all the cases, but only 21.4% and 35.8% negativation of the PCR after three and six months post treatment respectively. These observations suggest that PCR is the most sensitive and quick technique available for direct detection of T. cruzi in chagasic children and that it can be a very useful tool for the follow-up of infected subjects after specific chemotherapeutical treatment.