In the june 2005 issue of CLINICS

EDITORIAL

In the june 2005 issue of CLINICS

Mauricio Rocha-e-Silva, Editor

Hospital das Clínicas, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo – São Paulo/SP, Brazil. E-mail: [e-mail]

In this third issue of CLINICS, we highlight a study on the epidemiology of AIDS, with special interest in the prevention of vertical transmission during pregnancy. Brazil has become a trend setter for the control of AIDS in a developing country and we believe that the highlighted paper is further contribution to this issue.

Our electronic editing is now operational and we strongly invite future contributors to register and submit their articles online (www.mdview.com.br/clinics) since this has enhanced the speed of publication. In this third issue our office time, from acceptance to the physical appearance of an article is consistently stable at 4 months. Eight articles on original research are published.

Beitune et al. studied the effect of antiretroviral drugs on the CD₄ lymphocyte counts and HIV-1 RNA levels of 45 HIV positive pregnant women and on the anthropometric parameters of their neonates. Mothers were divided into 2 groups, (i) moderately HIV-infected mothers taking zidovudine, and (ii) heavily HIV infected mothers taking zidovudine + lamivudine + nelfinavir (triple therapy). Triple therapy reduced HIV-1 RNA levels and enhanced CD₄ lymphocyte counts. None of the newborns tested positive for HIV. Compared to a matched normal Control Group, neonates from the HIV infected mothers exhibited normal anthropometric measurements.

Morais et al. correlated nutritional status (total body fat, measured by bioimpedance) and food intake in 44 hemodialysis patients. Malnutrition was very common in spite of acceptable values for body mass index and serum albumin. Protein, carbohydrate, and lipid input positively correlated with triceps skin fold, but lipid ingestion was the only marker associated with arm circumference, body mass index, and total body fat. Despite its shortcomings, dietary recall was useful in the assessment of hemodialysis patients.

Wolosker et al. studied the results obtained with endovascular treatment of 62 (out of 1380) patients with intermittent claudication who did not experience clinical improvement with conservative treatment and underwent endovascular treatment and were followed for up to 120 months. Endovascular treatment brought about a lasting regression of the ischemic conditions in a significant number of patients, with excellent patency rates and should be considered as a good alternative for selected patients.

Mattei et al. retrospectively evaluated 55 meningioma patients to correlate peritumoral edema through computer tomography and magnetic resonance with the histological WHO classification. The degree of edema as revealed by CT and MRI was found to be an important predictive factor for histological grade of the meningioma.

Cunha et al. propose a model of warm ischemia reperfusion in the lower limb of rats to study the effect agents and actions on the limb viability previously submitted to prolonged ischemia, a vital issue regarding success of replantations. Streptokinase, allopurinol, or a combination thereof tested following 6 hours of ischemia significantly improved viability, with no differences between the agents, and no potentiation of their effects. The proposed experimental model is simple, has a low rate of complications and mortality and is reliable and suitable for studying ischemia, reperfusion, and the no-reflow phenomenon with an all-or-nothing response.

Deheinzelin et al. compared 56 cancer patients and 85 matching controls through The Beck Depression Inventory, for diagnosis of depressive mood and clinical depression, and the Fagerström Test Questionnaire, a questionnaire used to determine the degree of dependence on nicotine. The Fagerström Questionnaire score was ³ 7 in 73.2% of the cancer cases versus 43.5% of the controls Depressed patients were 37.5% in the cancer group vs. 17.6% in controls. A Fagerström Questionnaire score > 7 was identified as a risk factor for cancer in smokers with equivalent tobacco consumption.

Rocha e Silva et al. compared the short term clinical evolution of elective vs. emergency surgery of coronary revascularization in 47 patients using the left internal thoracic artery and radial artery. All patients had coronary stenosis e"70% in all target vessels. Elective and emergency patients were adequately paired for mean number of RA grafts, intensive care unit and postoperative stay The 30-day mortality was 0, with no postoperative cardiogenic shock; the was 1 acute myocardial infarction in the elective vs. 5 in the emergency group. Complete revascularization can be performed with left internal thoracic artery and radial artery in emergency patients with results similar to those for elective patients.

Stabenow et al. examined angiogenesis as an indicator of metastasis potential in papillary thyroid carcinoma and suggest that angiogenesis is more intense among metastatic tumors in the classic and the tall cell variants, indicating that microvessel count can be an indicator of the potential for metastasis in these subtypes of papillary thyroid carcinoma.

We also publish 2 reviews, by Scalco et al. on Hypertension and depression and by Vasconcelos e Silva et al. on identification and surveillance of high-risk families for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  13 June 2005
• Date of issue
  June 2005