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Biomedical subjects

J G Ruiz

Publications and source records attributed to J G Ruiz.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Predictional need for supplementing breastfeeding in preterm infants under Kangaroo Mother Care.

UNLABELLED: It has been estimated that 95% of low-birthweight infants are born in developing countries. Nevertheless, most of the globally available resources are invested in developed countries, both for sophisticated, expensive technological care and for research focused on solving problems in scenarios in which access to expensive resources is available. Very little research on scientifically sound, economically accessible interventions reaches internationally recognized scientific journals. For instance, one accepted scientific dogma is that all premature infants must receive breast-milk fortifiers. Thus, healthcare workers consider that not offering fortification or supplementation to all preterm infants under 2000 g is unethical, as it denies them the proven benefits of this intervention. This approach oversimplifies the problem by assuming that infants under 2000 g are a homogeneous population, with similar needs and risks. The largest proportion of preterm survivors in developing countries comprises infants weighing > 1200 g, and their nutritional needs differ from those weighing < 1200 g, who represent a significantly smaller proportion. In developing countries, fortification of breast milk is seldom a feasible option. Even supplementing breast milk with formula implies an expense that cannot always be covered. In addition, many preterm infants (particularly those weighing > 1200 g) can grow properly on exclusive breastfeeding. In our experience, about 45% of infants under ambulatory Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) thrive properly. The choice between giving and withholding supplementation for all preterm infants is not an ethical issue, because there is no choice. This was the justification for conducting the study reported here, which attempts to answer the question of how to identify, as early as possible, those premature infants who survive the early neonatal period and have no obvious risk factors for inadequate growth other than prematurity, but who are less likely to thrive with exclusive breastfeeding. CONCLUSION: The answer to this question will allow us to use our meagre resources in the most reasonable way, as supplementing breast milk involves not only the direct cost of the formula but also that of training the mothers in techniques for feeding their infants without compromising breastfeeding or increasing the risk of infectious diseases.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed2000

Clinical epidemiological principles in bedside teaching.

Medical education emphasises the transmission of large amounts of short-lived medical information. Strategies must be developed to generate in the students, attitudes towards the independent search for and critical appraisal of evidences. Two complementary strategies are particularly well suited to promote these types of attitudes: clinical epidemiology and evidence-based clinical practice. Clinical epidemiology (CE) has been defined as "the science of making predictions about individual patients by counting clinical events in similar patients, using strong methods for studies of groups of patients to ensure that the predictions are accurate. The purpose of CE is to develop and apply methods of clinical observation that will lead to valid conclusions by avoiding being misled by systematic error and chance". On the other hand, evidence based practice has been defined as "an approach to the practice of medicine in which the clinician is aware not only of the evidences which support clinical practice, but the strength and soundness of such evidences". The paper discusses the usefulness of clinical epidemiology and evidence-based health practice for rational decision making at the bedside, and also as tools for clinical teaching. An example involving evidence-based strategies for the management of a patient with bronchiolitis in the emergency room is discussed.

Child↗
PubMed2000

Reading a journal article.

Journal reading is an important continuing educational activity in terms of physician preference, frequency of use amount of time devoted to it and impact in changing practice. Clinicians trying to obtain information from journals face several tasks, including the need to assess both the quality and the applicability of the information found in published articles. This article describes the general principles for reading, critically, scientific papers that report clinical research results, which include establishing the kind of question that the authors were trying to answer, the type of study done, if the research design was appropriate for the question, and if it was conducted correctly. According to several available guidelines, once the reader has a clear idea of the study question it is necessary to assess the methods described by the authors in order to evaluate whether the research strategy used is likely to have errors resulting from bias and chance (random) variation. If the paper methodology seems to be adequate, the reader should proceed to determine the results of the article and their potential clinical impact. Finally, the reader must establish the extent to which the results are helpful in caring for his or her own patients, which means assessing the external validity and other related issues. The use of these strategies will improve the efficiency of readers for incorporating research results to their practice.

Education, Medical, Continuing↗
PubMed2000

Alkaloids from Delphinium staphisagria.

Three new diterpenoid alkaloids, isoazitine (1), 19-oxodihydroatisine (2), and 22-O-acetyl-19-oxodihydroatisine (3), and eight known alkaloids-azitine (4), dihydroatisine (5), delphinine, neoline, bullatine C (14-acetylneoline), chasmanine, 14-acetylchasmanine, and the quaternary base atisinium chloride (7)-were isolated from the aerial parts of Delphinium staphisagria. Structures of the new alkaloids were established mainly by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, including (1)H COSY, HMQC, HMBC, and ROESY. The (1)H and (13)C NMR data for alkaloids 4 and 5 are also reported.

Alkaloids↗
PubMed1994

Clinical predictors of acute radiological pneumonia and hypoxaemia at high altitude.

Fast breathing has been recommended as a predictor of childhood pneumonia. Children living at high altitude, however, may breathe faster in response to the lower oxygen partial pressure, which may change the accuracy of prediction of a high respiratory rate. To assess the usefulness of clinical manifestations in the diagnosis of radiological pneumonia or hypoxaemia, or both, at high altitude (2640 m above sea level), 200 children aged 7 days to 36 months presenting to an urban emergency room with cough lasting less than seven days were studied. Parents were interviewed and the children evaluated using standard forms. The results of chest radiographs and pulse oximetry obtained after clinical examination were interpreted blind. Radiological pneumonia and haemoglobin oxygen saturation < 88% were used as 'gold standards'. One hundred and thirty (65%) and 125 (63%) children had radiological pneumonia and hypoxaemia respectively. Crepitations and decreased breath sounds were statistically associated with pneumonia, and rapid breathing as perceived by the child's mother, chest retractions, nasal flaring, and crepitations with hypoxaemia. The best single predictor of the presence of pneumonia is a high respiratory rate, although the results are not as good as those reported by other studies. A respiratory rate > or = 50/minute had good sensitivity (76%) and specificity (71%) for hypoxaemia in infants. Hypoxaemia had a good sensitivity and specificity for pneumonia mainly in infants (83% and 73%, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that decreased or increased respiratory sounds and crepitations were associated with pneumonia, and that hypoxaemia is the best predictor when auscultatory findings are excluded. These results suggest that some clinical predictors appear to be less accurate in Bogota than in places at lower altitude, and that pulse oximetry can be used for predicting pneumonia.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

Acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia with an intensive regimen including teniposide.

Some cases of conversion from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) to acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL) at relapse have been reported recently. We report three cases initially diagnosed as having ALL and showing morphological, cytochemical, and immunophenotypic features of ANLL at relapse (lineage switch). Conversion was observed among 14 patients who developed bone marrow relapse while undergoing intensive treatment with our ALL protocol, which includes teniposide, and that had been administered to 62 patients. The three cases converted at first relapse, with a mean time of 20 months (13-29 months). Clinical and immunologic characteristics of T-cell leukemia were present in one patient. Changes documented in cytogenetic studies are discussed. The underlying mechanisms for the lineage switch remain unclear as does its relation with mixed lineage leukemias, but we believe that drugs employed in our therapy protocol could have had an influence on this conversion.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1990

Hepatosplenic candidiasis in children with acute leukemia.

Three children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia developed disseminated fungal disease predominantly involving the liver and spleen. The three patients were undergoing induction chemotherapy and had neutropenia when they presented prolonged fever not responsive to antibiotics. Once neutropenia was recovered, hepatosplenomegaly leukocytosis, elevated serum alkaline phosphatase, and hypoechoic areas in the spleen and liver ultrasound were observed. All fungal blood cultures were negative, with the diagnosis being confirmed by histologic study. One of the patients died without achieving control of the candidiasis. The other two patients received prolonged antifungal treatment concurrently with chemotherapy and both are alive, one of them cured and in complete remission. The increasing frequency of this infection in recent years and the importance of a prompt and prolonged administration of antifungal therapy to obtain the cure are discussed.

Antifungal Agents↗