Experiencia de educación continua en línea en gastroenterología para médicos no especialistas / Experience of continuing online education in gastroenterology for non specialist medical doctors

Background: Continuing education is essential for health professions and online courses can be a good way for professional development. Aim: To describe the experience with online courses for continuing education in hepatology and gastroenterology and to analyze their educational impact. Material and Methods: A three years' experience in courses on liver diseases and digestive tract is described. Their curricular design, methodology, and the educational impact was analyzed using the four levels of the Kirkpatrick's model. Results: On average, there were 321 students per course (2015-2017). 94% were Chilean and 6% from abroad (20 countries). In the educational impact analysis, in level 1 "reaction": 93% said that the course fulfilled their expectations and 92% would recommend it. In level 2 "learning": 42% approved the courses. Level 3 "behavior" was not evaluated and level 4 "organizational change" highlighted that the traditional face-to-face continuing education model of Chilean Gastroenterology Society (SChG) changed to full distance model in these three courses, with 1284 students from South America, Asia and Europe, in a 3-years-period. Additionally, these programs were included in the Medical Society of Santiago (SMS) continuing education agenda. Conclusions: The alliance between the SMS and the SChG generated on line courses that meet the educational needs of physicians and medical students, with excellent results and student perception.

Evaluación comparativa entre MELD y Child-Pugh como escalas pronósticas de sobrevida en pacientes con cirrosis hepática en Chile / Comparative evaluation of survival prognosis using MELD or Child-Pugh scores in patients with liver cirrhosis in Chile

Background: Currently, most liver units use the Child-Pugh (CP) or the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores to establish survival prognosis among patients with liver cirrhosis. Which classification is superior, is not well defined. Aim: To compare CP and MELD classification scores to predict survival among adult patients with liver cirrhosis in Chile. Material and Methods: Follow-up of 137 consecutive adult patients with liver cirrhosis aged 59 ± 12 years (55% women). The diagnosis was reached by clinical, laboratory and image studies at three different centers of Santiago. Patients were staged with CP and MELD classification scores at baseline and followed over a period of 12 months. The predictive capacity of the scores for survival was analyzed using a multivariate statistical analysis (Kaplan-Meier curves). Results: The most common etiology was alcohol (37.9%). The actuarial survival rate was 79.6% at 12 months of follow-up. When comparing groups with areas under curve of receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC), there was no statistically significant difference in survival between less severe and advanced disease, assessed with both survival scales. The AUROC for MELD and CP were 0.80 and 0.81, respectively. Conclusions: This clinical study did not find a statistically significant difference between the two classifications for the prediction of 12 months survival in patients with cirrhosis.

Trasplante hepático en Chile: Aspectos generales, indicaciones y contraindicaciones (Documento de consenso) / General considerations, indications and contraindications for liver transplantation in Chile: A multicenter consensus development document

Liver transplantation is an excellent therapeutic option for terminal liver disease. During the last decades the results of liver transplantation have improved significantly with a patient survival rate of nearly 90 percent at one year and 80 percent at 5 years of follow-up. The main indications for liver transplantation include: end-stage liver disease associated to cirrhosis, acute liver failure, and hepatic tumors (mainly hepatocarcinoma). The absolute contraindications for a transplant are less frequent than in the past, and include: severe co-morbidity (cardiac or pulmonary), sepsis, advanced HIV disease and extra-hepatic malignancy. This document presents a Consensus of the main groups performing liver transplantation in Chile, about its indications and contraindications. It also reviews general aspects of liver transplantation, including the selection and referral of liver transplant candidates, allocation of organs and the evaluation of severity of liver disease.