Taller de sexualidad y afectividad como una alternativa de educacion sexual dirigida a adolescentes / Workshop on sexuality and its effectiveness as an alternative to sexual education directed to adolescents

We present the experience accumulated during 3 years of having performed 10 workshops related to the topics of Sexuality and Affection, offered to 175 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19 years, from public schools within the Panamá, City Metropolitan Area and who correspond to different socioeconomical strata. Analytical information provided from the results of two questionnaires related to knowledge about the two topics, applied prior to and after the workshops is also offered

Síndrome de hiperestimulación ovárica / Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome

The author discusses the etiology and pathophysiology of the Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHS) and its relationship with Polycystic Ovarian Disease, in which it occurs more frequently. He presents the clinical histories of five patients who, in a period of two years, developed this syndrome in three different degrees of severity, while undergoing therapy for ovulatory infertility. The clinical history of one patient, who developed the most severe manifestations of OHS, is discussed in detail. The author emphasizes the difficulties that can be faced in trying to prevent the OHS, particularly because of probably inherited characteristics which may explain why not all patients with the same risk factors develop the OHS

Historia de la planificación familiar en las mujeres que optan por la esterilización quirúrgica en la Caja de Seguro Social de Panamá / The history of family planning among women who opt for surgical sterilization in the Social Security Fund of Panama

In this study, the previous history of family planning and prior usage of contraceptive methods are analyzed, in a sample of 175 women who voluntarily opted for surgical sterilization as a permanent method of fertility regulation, in the Panamanian Social Security System. A questionnaire was applied during the second trimester of pregnancy, by which information would be gathered in regard to knowledge, usage and adverse effects of the contraceptive methods used prior to the intervention. Results showed that 99% of the sample had heard, on some occasion about oral contraceptives (OC) and, in lesser proportion to intrauterine devices (IUD), barrier methods and hormonal inyectables. The first contraceptive method used, and the one of longest usage, was the combined OC, of which 43% begun between 17 and 25 years of age. In contrast, 7.4% initiated contraception with IUD, from the age of 26 years. The health personnel constituted the major source of recommendation for contraceptive usage and, despite the fact that 37% of the sample did not use contraception prior to the last pregnancy, over half of the subjects responded that combined OC were considered as the most secure method

Cerclaje cervical / Cervical cerclage

The author studies the result of cervical cerclage carried out by him on seven multi-pregnant women (between 10-28 weeks gestation, of whom five had not borne any children) and on one woman who is pregnant for the first time (twins, at 12 weeks gestation) because of threatened abortion which usually would occur in the second trimester of the pregnancy, due to shortening and premature opening of the cervical os which leads to the protrusion of the membranes with interruption of the pregnancy. The author describes his patients' symptoms and signs, the week of pregnancy at which the operation was performed, vaginally, the urgent conditions which prompted the operation, the frequency of abortion and the condition of the child at the end of the pregnancy