Resumo em Inglês:

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the adherence of newly diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma patients to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer system treatment guidelines and to examine the impact of adherence on the survival of patients in different stages of the disease. METHODS: This study included all patients referred for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma between 2010 and 2012. Patients (n=364) were classified according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer guidelines. Deviations from the recommended guidelines were discussed, and treatment was determined by a multidisciplinary team. The overall survival curves were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method and were compared using the log-rank test. RESULTS: The overall rate of adherence to the guidelines was 52%. The rate of adherence of patients in each scoring group varied as follows: stage 0, 33%; stage A, 45%; stage B, 78%; stage C, 35%; and stage D, 67%. In stage 0/A, adherent patients had a significantly better overall survival than non-adherent patients (hazard ratio=0.19, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.09-0.42; p<0.001). Among the stage D patients, the overall survival rate was worse in adherent patients than in non-adherent patients (hazard ratio=4.0, 95% CI: 1.67-9.88; p<0.001), whereas no differences were observed in patients in stages B or C. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of adherence to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system in clinical practice varies according to clinical disease stage. Adherence to the recommended guidelines positively impacts survival, especially in patients with early-stage disease.

Resumo em Inglês:

OBJECTIVES: Trauma is an important public health issue and associated with substantial socioeconomic impacts and major adverse clinical outcomes. No single study has previously investigated the predictors of mortality across all stages of care (pre-hospital, emergency room, surgical center and intensive care unit) in a general trauma population. This study was designed to identify early predictors of mortality in severely injured polytrauma patients across all stages of care to provide a better understanding of the physiologic changes and mechanisms by which to improve care in this population. METHODS: A longitudinal, prospective, observational study was conducted between 2010 and 2013 in São Paulo, Brazil. Patients submitted to high-energy trauma were included. Exclusion criteria were as follows: injury severity score <16, <18 years old or insufficient data. Clinical and laboratory data were collected at four time points: pre-hospital, emergency room, and 3 and 24 hours after hospital admission. The primary outcome assessed was mortality within 30 days. Data were analyzed using tests of association as appropriate, nonparametric analysis of variance and generalized estimating equation analysis (p<0.05). ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01669577. RESULTS: Two hundred patients were included. Independent early predictors of mortality were as follows: arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation (p<0.001), diastolic blood pressure (p<0.001), lactate level (p<0.001), Glasgow Coma Scale score (p<0.001), infused crystalloid volume (p<0.015) and presence of traumatic brain injury (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation, diastolic blood pressure, lactate level, Glasgow Coma Scale, infused crystalloid volume and presence of traumatic brain injury are independent early mortality predictors.

Resumo em Inglês:

OBJECTIVE: This study compared the results of the caloric test with those of the video head impulse test obtained during the same session and evaluated whether the former can be used to screen for non-acute vestibular dysfunction. METHODS: A total of 157 participants complaining of dizziness with vestibular characteristics of varying durations and clinical courses completed the caloric test and video head impulse test. RESULTS: Significantly more caloric test results than video head impulse test results were abnormal. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the caloric test and video head impulse test are distinct but complement each other. Within our sample, the caloric test was more sensitive for vestibular dysfunction. Therefore, the video head impulse test is not a suitable screening tool of the vestibular system in patients with chronic complaints.

Resumo em Inglês:

OBJECTIVE: Using magnetic resonance imaging, we aimed to assess the presence of silent brain vascular lesions in a sample of apparently healthy elderly individuals who were recruited from an economically disadvantaged urban region (São Paulo, Brazil). We also wished to investigate whether the findings were associated with worse cognitive performance. METHODS: A sample of 250 elderly subjects (66-75 years) without dementia or neuropsychiatric disorders were recruited from predefined census sectors of an economically disadvantaged area of Sao Paulo and received structural magnetic resonance imaging scans and cognitive testing. A high proportion of individuals had very low levels of education (4 years or less, n=185; 21 with no formal education). RESULTS: The prevalence of at least one silent vascular-related cortical or subcortical lesion was 22.8% (95% confidence interval, 17.7-28.5), and the basal ganglia was the most frequently affected site (63.14% of cases). The subgroup with brain infarcts presented significantly lower levels of education than the subgroup with no brain lesions as well as significantly worse current performance in cognitive test domains, including memory and attention (p<0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Silent brain infarcts were present at a substantially high frequency in our elderly sample from an economically disadvantaged urban region and were significantly more prevalent in subjects with lower levels of education. Covert cerebrovascular disease significantly contributes to cognitive deficits, and in the absence of magnetic resonance imaging data, this cognitive impairment may be considered simply related to ageing. Emphatic attention should be paid to potentially deleterious effects of vascular brain lesions in poorly educated elderly individuals from economically disadvantaged environments.

Resumo em Inglês:

OBJECTIVES: Spinopelvic alignment has been associated with improved quality of life in patients with vertebral deformities, and it helps to compensate for imbalances in gait. Although surgical treatment of scoliosis in patients with neuromuscular spinal deformities promotes correction of coronal scoliotic deformities, it remains poorly established whether this results in large changes in sagittal balance parameters in this specific population. The objective of this study is to compare these parameters before and after the current procedure under the hypothesis is that there is no significant modification. METHODS: Sampling included all records of patients with neuromuscular scoliosis with adequate radiographic records treated at Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology of Clinics Hospital of University of São Paulo (IOT-HCFMUSP) from January 2009 to December 2013. Parameters analyzed were incidence, sacral inclination, pelvic tilt, lumbar lordosis, thoracic kyphosis, spinosacral angle, spinal inclination and spinopelvic inclination obtained using the iSite-Philips digital display system with Surgimap and a validated method for digital measurements of scoliosis radiographs. Comparison between the pre- and post-operative conditions involved means and standard deviations and the t-test. RESULTS: Based on 101 medical records only, 16 patients met the inclusion criteria for this study, including 7 males and 9 females, with an age range of 9-20 and a mean age of 12.9±3.06; 14 were diagnosed with cerebral palsy. No significant differences were found between pre and postoperative parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Despite correction of coronal scoliotic deformity in patients with neuromuscular deformities, there were no changes in spinopelvic alignment parameters in the group studied.

Resumo em Inglês:

OBJECTIVE: Underfunding of the surgical treatment of complex spinal deformities has been an important reason for the steadily growing waiting lists in publicly funded healthcare systems. The aim of this study is to characterize the management of the treatment of spinal deformities in the public healthcare system. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 60 patients with complex pediatric spinal deformities waiting for treatment in December 2013 was performed. The evaluated parameters were place of origin, waiting time until first assessment at a specialized spine care center, waiting time for the surgical treatment, and need for implants not reimbursed by the healthcare system. RESULTS: Ninety-one percent of the patients lived in São Paulo State (33% from Ribeirão Preto - DRS XIII). Patients waited for 0.5 to 48.0 months for referral, and the waiting times for surgery ranged from 2 to 117 months. Forty-five percent of the patients required implants for the surgical procedure that were not available. CONCLUSION: The current management of patients with spinal deformities in the public healthcare system does not provide adequate treatment for these patients in our region. They experience long waiting periods for referral and prolonged waiting times to receive surgical treatment; additionally, many of the necessary procedures are not reimbursed by the public healthcare system.

Resumo em Inglês:

OBJECTIVE: The free radical theory of aging suggests that cellular oxidative damage caused by free radicals is a leading cause of aging. In the present study, we examined the effects of a well-known anti-oxidant amino acid derivative, selenocysteine, in response to environmental stress and aging using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system. METHOD: The response to oxidative stress induced by H2O2 or ultraviolet irradiation was compared between the untreated control and selenocysteine-treated groups. The effect of selenocysteine on lifespan and fertility was then determined. To examine the effect of selenocysteine on muscle aging, we monitored the change in motility with aging in both the untreated control and selenocysteine-treated groups. RESULTS: Dietary supplementation with selenocysteine significantly increased resistance to oxidative stress. Survival after ultraviolet irradiation was also increased by supplementation with selenocysteine. Treatment with selenocysteine confers a longevity phenotype without an accompanying reduction in fertility, which is frequently observed in lifespan-extending interventions as a trade-off in C. elegans. In addition, the age-related decline in motility was significantly delayed by supplementation of selenocysteine. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that dietary supplementation of selenocysteine can modulate response to stressors and lead to lifespan extension, thus supporting the free radical theory of aging.

Resumo em Inglês:

The aim of this study is to identify and characterize the health economic evaluations (HEEs) of diagnostic tests conducted in Brazil, in terms of their adherence to international guidelines for reporting economic studies and specific questions in test accuracy reports. We systematically searched multiple databases, selecting partial and full HEEs of diagnostic tests, published between 1980 and 2013. Two independent reviewers screened articles for relevance and extracted the data. We performed a qualitative narrative synthesis. Forty-three articles were reviewed. The most frequently studied diagnostic tests were laboratory tests (37.2%) and imaging tests (32.6%). Most were non-invasive tests (51.2%) and were performed in the adult population (48.8%). The intended purposes of the technologies evaluated were mostly diagnostic (69.8%), but diagnosis and treatment and screening, diagnosis, and treatment accounted for 25.6% and 4.7%, respectively. Of the reviewed studies, 12.5% described the methods used to estimate the quantities of resources, 33.3% reported the discount rate applied, and 29.2% listed the type of sensitivity analysis performed. Among the 12 cost-effectiveness analyses, only two studies (17%) referred to the application of formal methods to check the quality of the accuracy studies that provided support for the economic model. The existing Brazilian literature on the HEEs of diagnostic tests exhibited reasonably good performance. However, the following points still require improvement: 1) the methods used to estimate resource quantities and unit costs, 2) the discount rate, 3) descriptions of sensitivity analysis methods, 4) reporting of conflicts of interest, 5) evaluations of the quality of the accuracy studies considered in the cost-effectiveness models, and 6) the incorporation of accuracy measures into sensitivity analyses.

Resumo em Inglês:

OBJECTIVES: Polycystic ovary syndrome is a heterogeneous endocrine disorder that affects reproductive-age women. The mechanisms underlying the endocrine heterogeneity and neuroendocrinology of polycystic ovary syndrome are still unclear. In this study, we investigated the expression of the kisspeptin system and gonadotropin-releasing hormone pulse regulators in the hypothalamus as well as factors related to luteinizing hormone secretion in the pituitary of polycystic ovary syndrome rat models induced by testosterone or estradiol. METHODS: A single injection of testosterone propionate (1.25 mg) (n=10) or estradiol benzoate (0.5 mg) (n=10) was administered to female rats at 2 days of age to induce experimental polycystic ovary syndrome. Controls were injected with a vehicle (n=10). Animals were euthanized at 90-94 days of age, and the hypothalamus and pituitary gland were used for gene expression analysis. RESULTS: Rats exposed to testosterone exhibited increased transcriptional expression of the androgen receptor and estrogen receptor-β and reduced expression of kisspeptin in the hypothalamus. However, rats exposed to estradiol did not show any significant changes in hormone levels relative to controls but exhibited hypothalamic downregulation of kisspeptin, tachykinin 3 and estrogen receptor-α genes and upregulation of the gene that encodes the kisspeptin receptor. CONCLUSIONS: Testosterone- and estradiol-exposed rats with different endocrine phenotypes showed differential transcriptional expression of members of the kisspeptin system and sex steroid receptors in the hypothalamus. These differences might account for the different endocrine phenotypes found in testosterone- and estradiol-induced polycystic ovary syndrome rats.