25-Hydroxyvitamin D level is associated with mortality in patients with critical COVID-19: a prospective observational study in Mexico City

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES@#Considering the high number of deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Latin American countries, together with multiple factors that increase the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, we aimed to determine 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels and its association with mortality in patients with critical COVID-19. @*SUBJECTS/METHODS@#This was a prospective observational study including adult patients with critical COVID-19. Data, including clinical characteristics and 25(OH)D levels measured at the time of intensive care unit admission, were collected. All patients were followed until hospital discharge or in-hospital death. The patients were divided into those surviving and deceased patient groups, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine independent predictors of in hospital mortality. @*RESULTS@#The entire cohort comprised 94 patients with critical COVID-19 (males, 59.6%;median age, 61.5 years). The median 25(OH)D level was 12.7 ng/mL, and 15 (16%) and 79 (84%) patients had vitamin D insufficiency and vitamin D deficiency, respectively. The median serum 25(OH)D level was significantly lower in deceased patients compared with surviving (12.1 vs. 18.7 ng/mL, P < 0.001). Vitamin D deficiency was present in 100% of the deceased patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age, body mass index, other risk factors, and 25(OH)D level were independent predictors of mortality. @*CONCLUSIONS@#Vitamin D deficiency was present in 84% of critical COVID-19 patients. Serum 25(OH)D was independently associated with mortality in critical patients with COVID-19.

Williams–Beuren syndrome in Mexican patients confirmed by FISH and assessed by aCGH

Williams–Beuren syndrome (WBS) has a prevalence of 1/7500–20000 live births and results principally from a de novo deletion in 7q11.23 with a length of 1.5 Mb or 1.8 Mb. This study aimed to determine the frequency of 7q11.23 deletion, size of the segment lost, and involved genes in 47 patients with a clinical diagnosis of WBS and analysed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH); among them, 31 had the expected deletion. Micro-array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) confirmed the loss in all 18 positive-patients tested: 14 patients had a 1.5 Mb deletion with the same breakpoints at 7q11.23 (hg19: 72726578–74139390) and comprising 24 coding genes from TRIM50 to GTF2I. Four patients showed an atypical deletion: two had a 1.6Mb loss encompassing 27 coding genes, from NSUN5 to GTF2IRD2; another had a 1.7 Mb deletion involving 27 coding genes, from POM121 to GTF2I; the remaining patient presented a deletion of 1.2 Mb that included 21 coding genes from POM121 to LIMK1. aCGH confirmed the lack of deletion in 5/16 negative-patients by FISH. All 47 patients had the characteristic facial phenotype of WBS and 45 of 47 had the typical behavioural and developmental abnormalities. Our observations further confirm that patients with a classical deletion present a typical WBS phenotype, whereas those with a high (criteria of the American Association of Pediatrics, APP) clinical scorebut lacking the expected deletion may harbour an ELN point mutation. Overall, the concomitant CNVs appeared to be incidental findings.

Incidence and etiology of surgical site infections in appendectomies: a 3-year prospective study

Objectives: Surgical site infections [SSIs] constitute a threat, especially in complicated appendicitis, and are commonly due to gram-negative organisms. We sought to describe the incidence of SSIs in appendectomies performed during a three-year period [January 2013 to December 2015] in a community hospital in Qatar, and compare this with external benchmarks

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study at The Cuban Hospital, Qatar. We used the standardized surveillance criteria to define SSI developed by the Centers for Disease Control. Information about age, sex, smoking habits, diabetes mellitus status, body mass index, and the result of bacteriologic studies were collected

Results: Of a total 603 patients, 22 [3.6%] cases of SSI were reported, with an infection rate of 13.6%, 4.5%, and 1.0% in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively. SSIs were observed more frequently in patients with contaminated/dirty wounds [6.6%]. About 65% of isolates from the surgical site were multidrug-resistant organisms [Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp.]

Conclusions: This study describes the incidence of SSI in appendectomy, which could be used as a benchmark for the facility improvement program. The high frequency of multidrug-resistant organisms in SSIs requires additional studies focused on evaluating the effectiveness of the current preventive practices with a particular reference to antimicrobial prophylaxis

De Novo San Luis Valley Syndrome-like der(8) Chromosome With a Concomitant dup(8p22) in a Mexican Girl

No abstract available.

Cálculo del poder de la lente intraocular mediante biometría ultrasónica / Intraocular lens power calculation through ultrasound biometrics

Objetivo: caracterizar el comportamiento del cálculo de la lente intraocular mediante biometría ultrasónica. Métodos: se realizó un estudio descriptivo y prospectivo, con un grupo de pacientes atendidos por el Servicio de Catarata del Centro Oftalmológico Enrique Cabrera, que recibieron tratamiento quirúrgico por catarata con implante de lente intraocular, mediante técnica de Blumenthal. La muestra se conformó con 160 ojos y se estudiaron las variables: sorpresa refractiva, edad, longitud axial y promedio queratométrico según resultado refractivo, poder dióptrico de la lente y componente esférico según edad. Resultados: como resultados más sobresalientes, se obtuvo que el 78,7 por ciento no presentó error en el cálculo de la lente, la mayoría de los pacientes tenían 60 años y más, predominó el rango de longitud axial entre 22 y 24,4 (67,5 por ciento), el promedio queratométrico de 43 a 44,99 (64,3 por ciento), el poder dióptrico del lente de + 20 a + 23 dioptrías (48,2 por ciento) y el componente esférico entre 0,00 y +/-1,00 dioptrías (78,8 por ciento). Conclusiones: se considera que la biometría ultrasónica resulta adecuada para el cálculo correcto del lente

Objective: to characterize the behavior of the intraocular lens calculation through ultrasound biometrics. Methods: a prospective and descriptive study was conducted in a group of patients whose cataract was surgically treated with intraocular lens implantation by means of Blumental technique at the cataract service of Enrique Cabrera ophthalmological center. The sample was made up of 160 eyes. The studied variables included refractive surprise, age, axial length and keratometric average according to refractive result, dioptric power of the lens and spheral component by age. Results: the main results were 78.7 percent of patients did not present lens power calculation errors, most of them were 60 years-old and over, the axial length range of 22 to 24.4(67.5 percent) prevailed, the keratometric average was 43 to 44.9 (64.3 percent), the dioptric power of the lens ranged +20 to +23 dioptries (48.2 percent) and the spheral component yielded 0.00 and+/ - 1.00 dioptries (78.8 percent). Conclusions: it is considered that ultrasound biometrics is suitable for a correct lens calculation

OFTATLAS. Atlas cubano de Oftalmología / OPHTATLAS. Ophtalmological cuban atlas

El desarrollo de la tecnología de la computación ha permitido la introducción, en la práctica docente, de nuevos medios de enseñanza que han revolucionado la docencia médica. La utilización del software educativo como medio que facilite el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje en las diferentes carreras de las Ciencias Médicas es hoy una realidad en nuestras universidades. Este trabajo consiste en un software educativo como material complementario para la enseñanza de la oftalmología en Cuba, tanto para pregrado como para postgrado e incluye materiales audiovisuales para el aprendizaje no solo de la oftalmología clínica sino también quirúrgica. Se utilizó la herramienta de Crheasoft para la realización del producto final, con una combinación de elementos visuales y auditivos. Teniendo en cuenta el antiguo proverbio más vale ver una vez que oír cien veces, se confeccionó este atlas interactivo que tiene como finalidad proporcionar un material educativo didáctico de consulta y de apoyo a la docencia, útil para el desarrollo de una metodología de enseñanza más adaptable a las características individuales de cada usuario. El software cuenta con una interfaz que permite la fácil navegación, posibilitando la interacción y el intercambio de información entre el usuario y la aplicación(AU)

Computer technology developments have allowed the introduction of new methods for teaching in the Cuban medicine schools. Educative software used as an instrument to make the knowledge process easier among medical specialities is nowadays a fact in our university. This project consists in an educative software complementary to the teaching of ophthalmology for both medicine students and ophthalmology resident, which includes audio-visual materials, for clinical and surgical ophthalmology. Crheasoft tool is used for the final product achieving a combination of audio and visual elements. Taking into account the ancient proverb: It's more important to see once than to hear a hundred times, this interactive atlas provides a support and consultation educative material that could be useful for a more individual teaching. The software has a friendly interface that permits an easier navigation allowing information interchange and interaction between the users and the application(AU)