Rol de la tomografía computada de abdomen en la evaluación de gastrectomía en manga laparoscópica y sus complicaciones / Role of abdominal computed tomography in the evaluation of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy technique and its complications

Bariatric surgery has developed considerably over recent years due to the progressive increase in obesity worldwide. The laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is a new restrictive technique, with promising initial outcomes. CT images play an important role in postoperative evaluation as well as in complication management in patients undergoing this surgical technique. Here we review the role of abdominal computed tomography in the study of potential complications.

La cirugía bariátrica se ha desarrollado considerablemente en el último tiempo como consecuencia del aumento progresivo de la obesidad a nivel mundial. La gastrectomía en manga laparoscópica es una técnica restrictiva nueva, con resultados iniciales prometedores. Las imágenes juegan un rol importante en la evaluación postoperatoria por lo que es imprescindible conocer los cambios anatómicos normales y las principales complicaciones de esta técnica. En este trabajo revisamos el rol de la tomografía computada de abdomen en el estudio de posibles complicaciones.

Uraco: anomalias del desarrollo, caracteristicas anatomicas y presentacion de dos casos

Urachal anomalies are infrequent, especially in adult patients, nevertheless their presentation must be well known. We present two cases with complicated urachal anomalies: a vesicourachal diverticulum and a urachal cyst. We will discuss their embriologic and anatomic characteristics, as well as their complications.

Las anomalías uracales son poco frecuentes especialmente en adultos, sin embargo, su forma de manifestarse debe conocerse. Presentamos dos casos de anomalías uracales complicadas: un divertículo y un quiste uracal. Se discuten las características embriológicas, ana-tómicas y complicaciones.

Utilidad clínica de los hemocultivos en pacientes hospitalizados por neumonía adquirida en la comunidad / Clinical usefulness of blood cultures in hospitalized patients with community acquired pneumonia

Background: The clinical role of blood cultures (BC) in the management of hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is controversial. Aim: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of blood cultures in CAP. Material and methods: We prospectively studied 244 immunocompetent adults with two or more BC obtained at admission. The diagnostic yield of BC and its impact on antibiotic therapy were assessed. Results: Mean age (xñsd) of patients was 67ñ20 years, 80 percent had underlying diseases and 29 percent received antibiotics prior to admission. Hospital length of stay was 10.4ñ10 days and global mortality was 7 percent. The diagnostic yield of BC was only 8.2 percent (20 patients). Mortality was significantly higher in patients with positive BC (20 percent) than in those with negative BC (5.8 percent). In only one of the 20 patients with positive BC (0.4 percent of total study population), attending physicians changed empiric antimicrobial therapy based on these results. Conclusions: This study confirms that the diagnostic yield of BC in CAP hospitalized patients is low, that mortality in bacteremic patients is high and suggests that clinical usefulness of BC to guide changes on empiric antimicrobial therapy is limited, in part because attending physicians seldom use such information

Disección espontánea de la arteria mesentérica superior / Superior mesenteric artery spontaneous disection

La disección espontánea de la arteria mesentérica superior es una condición muy poco frecuente. Su etiopatogenia es aún desconocida. Se postula como causa entre otras necrosis quística de la túnica media, displasia fibromuscular, trauma abdominal cerrado, hipertensión arterial y ateroesclerosis. Su forma de presentación en la mayoría de los casos corresponde a dolor abdominal intenso o shock hipovolémico secundario a rotura de la arteria disecada. El método diagnóstico de mayor rendimiento es la angiografía, la que además permite efectuar procedimientos terapéuticos. En muchos casos, sin embargo se puede realizar un diagnóstico definitivo mediante tomografía computada (angio Tac), que permite obtener contraste adecuado a nivel de la arteria mesentérica superior. Se presenta un caso de un paciente de sexo masculino, 45 años, que ingresa al Servicio de Urgencia por un cuadro de dolor abdominal difuso. Se realiza una tomografía axial computada (TAC) demostrando este diagnóstico

Polimorfismo del gen de aldosa reductasa y velocidad de aparición de retinopatía en diabéticos no insulinodependientes / Aldose reductase gene polymorphism and rate of appearance of retinopathy in non insulin dependent diabetic patients

Background: Recent studies suggest that polymorphisms associated to the aldose reductase gene could be related to early retinopathy in noninsulin dependent diabetics (NIDDM). There is also new interest on the genetic modulation of coagulation factors in relation to this complication. Aim: To look for a possible relationship between the rate of appearance of retinopathy and the genotype of (AC)n polymorphic marker associated to aldose reductase gene. Patients and methods: A random sample of 27 NIDDM, aged 68.1 ñ 10.6 years, with a mean diabetes duration of 20.7 ñ 4.8 years and a mean glycosilated hemoglobin of 10.6 ñ 1.6 percent, was studied. The genotype of the (AC)n, polymorphic marker associated to the 5Õ end of the aldose reductase (ALR2) gene was determined by 32P-PCR plus sequenciation. Mutations of the factor XIII-A gene were studied by single stranded conformational polymorphism, sequenciation and restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: Four patients lacked the (AC)24 and had a higher rate of appearance of retinopathy than patients with the (AC)24 allele (0.0167 and 0.0907 score points per year respectively, p=0.047). Both groups had similar glycosilated hemoglobin (11.7 ñ 0.2 and 10.5 ñ 1.6 percent respectively). Factor XIII gene mutations were not related to the rate of appearance of retinopathy. Conclusions: Our data suggest that the absence of the (AC)24 allele of the (AC)n polymorphic marker associated to the 5Õ end of the aldose reductase gene, is associated to a five fold reduction of retinopathy appearance rate

Prevalencia de la deleción 185AG del gen BRCA1 en mujeres chilenas con cáncer de mama / Prevalence of BRCA1 gene 185AG deletion in Chilean women with breast cancer

Background: The most important identified pathogenic factor for breast cancer is the presence of mutations in BRCA1 gene. These are associated with familial breast cancer in up to 80 percent of cases. The most frequent mutation of BRCA1 gene in Caucasian populations is the exon 2 185AG deletion. Aim: To study the presence of 185AG deletion in Chilean women with sporadic or familial breast cancer. Patients and methods: We studied 15 women with familial breast cancer, in whom at least one close relative was affected, and 40 women with sporadic breast cancer. In genomic DNA obtained from a blood sample, an allele specific polymerase chain reaction was done. This reaction allows the identification of 185AG deletion and uses two pairs of primers. One for the native form that renders a 118 base pairs product and one for the deletion that renders a 170 base pairs product, both with a respective 280 base pairs internal control. Results: The diagnosis of breast cancer was done at 40ñ5 and 65ñ10 years old in women with familial and sporadic breast cancer, respectively. In none of the samples, the amplification of the 170 base pairs band that corresponds to 185AG deletion, was obtained. In both groups, the product of the amplification was the 118 base pairs band, that corresponds to the native form of BRCA1 gene. The polymerase chain reaction was optimized for a duration of 90 minutes. Conclusions: 185AG deletion of BRCA1 gene was not detected in this group of Chilean women with sporadic or familial breast cancer