Cited Brazilian papers in general surgery between 1970 and 2009

OBJECTIVES: To identify the most cited articles in general surgery published by Brazilian authors. INTRODUCTION: There are several ways for the international community to recognize the quality of a scientific article. Although controversial, the most widely used and reliable methodology to identify the importance of an article is citation analysis. METHODS: A search using the Institute for Scientific Information citation database (Science Citation Index Expanded) was performed to identify highly cited Brazilian papers published in twenty-six highly cited general surgery journals, selected based on their elevated impact factors, from 1970 to 2009. Further analysis was done on the 65 most-cited papers. RESULTS: We identified 1,713 Brazilian articles, from which nine papers emerged as classics (more than 100 citations received). For the Brazilian contributions, a total increase of about 21-fold was evident between 1970 and 2009. Although several topics were covered, articles covering trauma, oncology and organ transplantation were the most cited. The majority of classic studies were done with international cooperation. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified the most influential Brazilian articles published in internationally renowned general surgery journals.

Frequencia de realizaçäo e acurácia do auto-exame das mamas na detecçäo de nódulos em mulheres submetidas à mamografia / Frequency of performance and accuracy of breast self-examination in the detection breast lumps in women who underwent mammographic examination

Realizamos um estudo transversal prospectivo cujo objetivo foi avaliar a acurácia do auto-exame de mamas (AEM) na detecçao de nódulos mamários palpáveis e a relaçao com sua freqüência. Foram entrevistadas 2672 mulheres que realizaram mamografia na Regiao do Vale dos Sinos/RS no período de janeiro de 94 a julho de 97, questionando-se quanto à freqüência da realizaçao de AEM. As mulheres foram divididas em dois grupos: grupo I (mensalmente), grupo II (quase nunca). As mulheres que relataram realizar o AEM ocasionalmente foram excluídas da análise principal. Foi perguntado à pacicente se ela ou seu médico haviam palpado alguma lesao mamária. Comparou-se os achados de palpaçao da paciente com os do médico (relatados pela paciente). A sensibilidade do AEM foi maior no grupo I comparado ao II (57,4 por cento versus 33,3 por cento; P<0,05). Concluímos que existe uma associaçao entre a realizaçao mensal de AEM e uma maior sensibilidade na detecçao de nódulos mamários palpáveis.