Embarazo en la adolescencia y su relación con la deserción escolar / The relationship between teenage pregnancy and school desertion

Background: In Chile, the prevalence of teenage pregnancy is 17 percent. Aim: To assess relationship between adolescent pregnancy and school desertion. Patients and methods: At the Hospital Guillermo Grant Benavente's Departament of Obstetrics and Gynecology, in Concepción, Chile, 2001 a comparative, cross sectional and correlational study was conducted. The study group were pregnant adolescents who deserted from school system, divided in two subgroups: 86 adolescents who deserted before pregnancy and 130 who deserted during pregnancy. Results: Twenty percent of teenagers that deserted from school before pregnancy belonged to a sublevel of poverty, compared with 5 percent of those who deserted during pregnancy. Flunk was frequent in both but higher in girls that deserted before pregnancy (46.5 and 36.9 percent respectively, (p <0.001). Economic problems were the main cause of desertion before pregnancy (27.6 percent). Shame (41.6 percent) and obstetric complications (31.7 percent) were the main reasons for deserting during pregnancy. Seventy percent of adolescents who deserted before pregnancy had no educational, working or recreational activities. The parental educational level of both groups was low. Conclusions: There is a relationship between teenage pregnancy and school desertion. Adolescents who deserted from school before pregnancy are more vulnerable (Rev Méd Chile 2004; 132: 65-70).

Actividad de tirosina-proteina-quinasas en cáncer de mama: comparación con la actividad obtenida en patologías benognas y en tejidos normales / Tyrosina-protein-kinase activity in breath cancer: comparison between benign pathologies and normal tissues activity

Tyrosine protein kinase (TPK) activity is associated to malignant cellular transformation. This work compares TPK activity in 27 surgical biopsy samples of mammary carcinoma, 10 samples of normal mammary tissue. TPK activity was determined in tissue homogenates using (Val5) angiotensin II as exogenous substrate. In samples of mammary carcinoma, TPK activity was 33.86 ñ 31.98 pmol P32/mg protein/30 min. This value was significantly higher that those observed in fibrocystic disease (3.92 ñ 2.35), fibroadenomas (13.86 ñ 10.9) and normal tissue (3.56 ñ 3.02)

Visibilidad radiológica de los fibroadenomas mamarios / Radiological visibility of mammary fibroadenomas

From a clinical point of view, all mammary fibroadenomas are similar. However some of them are not visible in mammograms, phenomenom probably related to glandular density. Aiming to elucidate whether the lack of visibility is caused by the glandular density or by tumor itself, a 3 stage study was performed. In 201 cases the mammographic visibility of fibroadenomas was determined and correlated with patients' age, the presence of fibrocystic disease and tumor histological type; after surgical excision, 18 fibroadenomas were sliced into 5 mm thick samples and X rayed to determine their visibility; finally 2 visible and 2 non visible tumors were calcinated at 550ºC and their ashes subjected to X-ray diffraction analysis. Twenty two percent of fibroadenomas were not vosible on mammography, this percentage was higher for intracanicular tumors, in younger women and in the presence of fibrocystic disease. Sixteen percent of excised and sliced tumors were not visible on X rays. Also, differences were found in X-ray diffraction studies between visible and invisible tumors, probably related to NaCl and KCl tumor content

Utilidad de la termografía como predictor de pronóstico en cáncer de mama / Thermography utility as a predictor of breast cancer prognosis

Aunque existe acuerdo en que el rendimiento de la termografía como método de diagnóstico en el cáncer de mama es muy escaso, los estudios de la asociación entre ciertos cambios termográficos y el pronóstico de la paciente han obtenido resultados discrepantes. En un grupo de 436 pacientes portadoras de cáncer de mama, en diferentes estadios, estudiadas en un período de 10 años y con una mediana de seguimiento de 34 meses, se analizó la relación de una termografía con signos de crecimiento acelerado (PEV + termográfico) con la sobrevida. Se encontró que aquellas pacientes sin signos termográficos de crecimiento acelerado tenían una sobrevida a 3 años de 84,5% y a 5 años de 72%, lo que resulta significativamente mejor que la sobrevida de aquellas con termografía con signos de crecimiento acelerado en que se encontró una sobrevida a 3 años de 36,7% y a 5 años de 24,5%. Se concluye que la termografía manifestó en esta serie una poderosa capacidad de pronóstico, identificando a aquellas pacientes en que el cáncer se comportaría de manera agresiva