RESUMO
Revista Médica de Chile was founded in 1872 by Sociedad Médica de Santiago (currently Chilean Society of Internal Medicine) and it is one out of twenty five medical journals founded during the XIX Century that still remain active. In monthly issues it presents clinical and biomedical research articles, as well as research and position papers dealing with medical education, public health or medical ethics. Special attention receive the impact on health care given by the emergence of new private medical schools in Chile, the relevance of methodologies to assess clinical competences in graduates, the certification of specialty programs and specialists, the appropiate use of simulators in clinical training, telemedicine, organ transplants, and current issues in medical ethics, such as abortions and euthanasia. Institutional and international collaboration in medical research is clearly reflected in recent years. Articles are subjected to external peer review and ICMJE Recommendations are carefully considered throughout the review process. Most articles are published in Spanish but English abstracts are mandatory and a growing number of articles are currently published in English. An Open Access electronic version is published by SciELO. Revista Médica de Chile is indexed in the most important international data bases and it is a member of the ICMJE ruling committee. The long life and prestige of this journal can be considered a testimony of the cultural heritage and progress in Chilean medicine.
Assuntos
Humanos , História do Século XIX , História do Século XX , História do Século XXI , Publicações Periódicas como Assunto/história , Aniversários e Eventos Especiais , Bibliometria , Chile , Educação Médica , Medicina Interna/históriaRESUMO
Alejandro Goic, M.D., son of Croatian immigrants, graduated as M.D. in 1955, studying at the Catholic University of Chile Medical School. After a residency in internal medicine, he followed post graduate studies in psychosomatic medicine at the University of Oklahoma and in gastroenterology at Harvard University. Upon his return to Chile he had a brilliant career as clinician and medical educator, becoming a leader and advisor in medical education, clinical ethics and public health. Elected Dean of the University of Chile School of Medicine (1986-1994), he promoted important changes in undergraduate studies as well as in Magister and PhD programs in Biomedical Sciences. During the difficult years of the military government intervention in Chilean universities, he was one of the leaders of critical opposition. In parallel he was chief editor of Revista Médica de Chile (1976-1996), improving the editorial process according to the recommendations of ICMJE and WAME. In 1989 he was elected member of the Chilean Academy of Medicine and became its President (2000-2010). He was awarded honors and membership in prominent national and foreign institutions. In 2006 he received the National Prize in Medicine, the highest medical distinction in Chile. His wise thinking and enthusiasm gave origin to several books that have become classics in Medicine and Medical Education, permeating our institutions.
Assuntos
Humanos , História do Século XX , Distinções e Prêmios , Educação Médica , Faculdades de Medicina , Universidades , Chile , Medicina InternaRESUMO
Medical journals are often at risk of difussinng research articles, reviews, position articles, editorials or letters ubose message has been influenced by a conflict of interest. The readers may then be induced to accept conclusions and recommendations based on bisaaed protocols or an unwarranted interpretation of the results. Financial support or professional links witb pharmaceutical companies or other supporting agencies are the most common sources of conflict of interests, often difficult to detect. Similarly, reviews of manuscripts can be biassed by personal relationsbips (good or bad) between reviewers and autbors, by academic competition or intellectual passion, becoming otber sources of conflict of interest. Even uben a potential conflict of interest exists, it may not necessarily bave influenced the manuscript or its review but in order to defend the transparency of the editorial process, from submission to publication, authors, reviewers and editors sbould declare any conflict of interest they may have and allou others to decide whether the action has been biassed or not. In the present issue of Revista Médica de Chile, and updated text of the Instructions to Authors establishes that all autbors should sign a statement of habing or not a conflict of interest, clarifying which aspects of the work might have been affected by it
Assuntos
Humanos , Conflito de Interesses , Publicação Periódica , Manuscrito MédicoRESUMO
In the year 2000, a previous Editorial in this journal reviewed the criteria for authorship as defined by experienced authors and editors, discussed in selected references from the biomedical literature. An emphasis was given to the definition of authorship stated in the available 1997 version of the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals". After that Editorial was published, an updated version of the "Uniform Requirements" established important changes in their criteria; eg. Participation of each author in the work should permit them to take public responsibility for "appropiate portions of the content"; and acquisition of data was added as an acceptable alternative in the first requisite for authorship. These and other changes should be difussed to prospective authors, particularly in multicentric studies usually leading to multiauthorship. This new Editorial and a translation into Spanish of the authorship criteria contained in an updated (2001) version of the "Uniform Requirements" are included in this issue of Revista Médica de Chile with the purpose of stimulating authors and readers to think in their implications
Assuntos
Humanos , Autoria , Manuscrito Médico , Publicação Periódica/normasRESUMO
In August, 2001, the Editors of over 40 Chilean journals in biological, medical and health issues were gathered in Santiago, Chile, by the Chilean Association of Biomedical Journal Editors, together with guest librarians from Chile and Brazil, in a 2-day symposium. The main topics discussed were: the educational role of biomedical journals in Chile; how can Chilean journals become included in international databases; requisites for authorship in scientific articles; how to attract more and better manuscripts; advantages and limitations of the peer-review system; ethical problems and conflicts of interest in the editorial process; electronic tendencies in scientific publications. This was the fifth meeting on similar topics held in Chile, starting in 1972, and the interchange of experiences and opinions among editors, librarians and other experts was fruitful and stimulating
Assuntos
Humanos , Publicação Periódica/tendências , Congresso , Manuscrito MédicoRESUMO
The arrival of a new year stimulated the Editor to reflect on what has been recently accomplished in the Revista and on what is planned for its immediate future. In 2001 the electronic version at the website www.scielo.cl started to reproduce the full contents of most articles. Members of the International Advisory Committee submitted reviews and special articles by invitation. The input of manuscripts increased and most of them have been improved through the peer review process. A Symposium held in August stimulated the editors of a vast proportion of Chilean clinical and biomedical journals to interchange experiences. The 5 years tenure of the Editor in Chief was extended for a second period. For the year 2002, improvements will be made in the editorial process while the Revista commemorates 130 years of continuous publication, being among the 20 oldest medical journals in the world
Assuntos
Publicação Periódica/tendências , Revisão da Pesquisa por Pares , Internet , Jornalismo MédicoRESUMO
Bibliographic citations or "references" are an important component of all scientific manuscripts. The authors are responsible for their accuracy and they should follow the format and style requested by the journal where they are submitting their paper. Revista Médica de Chile adheres to the "Uniform Requirements" established by the Vancouver Group of Medical Editors. Equally important is a correct choice of references, including those original articles strictly connected to the content of the manuscript. The number of citations usually vary according to the specific character of the study: research article, or case reports, review article, etc. Common mistakes are due to an excessive number of repetitive or irrelevant citations, or the omission of important articles sometimes not found in bibliographic indexes, or an erroneous claim of priority in reporting an observation. Finally, in developing countries the authors should include previous reports appeared in their own local journals, therefore improving their opportunities of achieving international visibility
Assuntos
Humanos , Bibliografia Descritiva , Publicação Periódica/normas , Reconhecimento Automatizado de Padrão , Manuscrito MédicoRESUMO
Medical journals published in non-English languages face a handicap: their worldwide readership and citation are reduced in comparison to journals published in English. This handicap is worse for small journals edited in developing countries, regardless of whether they publish original research articles including abstracts in English. To facilitate the international diffusion of selected Chilean scientific journals, the "Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica" enforced the program "SciELO Chile" with a web site in Internet (www.scielo.cl) including the full text of articles published in recent issues. Revista Médica de Chile is the first Chilean medical journal that appears in this web site, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, Washington D.C. We expect that this web site will give a favorable input to authors of articles published in our journal
Assuntos
Humanos , Editoração/tendências , Publicação Periódica/tendências , Internet/tendênciasRESUMO
The Editors of Revista Médica de Chile are taking steps aimed to improve the "visibility" of this journal and to stimulate local and foreign authors to submit better original articles, appealing to a broader and international readership. Until now, the journal's editorial policy has been to stress its educational role, focused in Chilean readers and authors. In the recent years, an increasing number of research articles is being received, including manuscripts from North America, Europe and other Latinamerican countries. This is explainable, in part, by the fact that this journal is indexed in MEDLINE, ISI (Current Contents/Clinical Medicine) and several other major databases. The Revista is also one of the oldest medical journals in the world, published since 1872. In this issue of the Revista we welcome the new members of an "International Advisory Committee", with prominent physicians, scientists and teachers from the U.S.A. and Europe. They accepted to advise the Editors in their task, to submit review articles, state-of-the-art or position papers on topics of their own interest, and to help in the assessment of some manuscripts. We thank them warmly for their enthusiastic response to our invitation
Assuntos
Humanos , Publicação Periódica , Editoração , MEDLINE , Manuscrito MédicoRESUMO
On September 29th, 2000, The Chilean Association of Biomedical Journal Editors was founded, sponsored by the "Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT)" (the Governmental Agency promoting and funding scientific research and technological development in Chile) and the "Sociedad Médica de Santiago" (Chilean Society of Internal Medicine). The Association adopted the goals of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and therefore it will foster "cooperation and communication among Editors of Chilean biomedical journals; to improve editorial standards, to promote professionalism in medical editing through education, self-criticism and self-regulation; and to encourage research on the principles and practice of medical editing". Twenty nine journals covering a closely similar number of different biomedical sciences, medical specialties, veterinary, dentistry and nursing, became Founding Members of the Association. A Governing Board was elected: President: Humberto Reyes, M.D. (Editor, Revista Médica de Chile); Vice-President: Mariano del Sol, M.D. (Editor, Revista Chilena de Anatomía); Secretary: Anna María Prat (CONICYT); Councilors: Manuel Krauskopff, Ph.D. (Editor, Biological Research) and Maritza Rahal, M.D. (Editor, Revista de Otorrinolaringología y Cirugía de Cabeza y Cuello). The Association will organize a Symposium on Biomedical Journal Editing and will spread information stimulating Chilean biomedical journals to become indexed in international databases and in SciELO-Chile, the main Chilean scientific website (www.scielo.cl)
Assuntos
Humanos , Publicação Periódica , Editoração , Chile , Ética Profissional , Manuscrito MédicoRESUMO
A 66 year-old obese woman with arthrosis, self-medicated with oral nimesulide, 200 mg daily. After 6 weeks she developed nausea, jaundice and dark urine. Two weeks later she had recurrent hematemesis and was hospitalized. Besides obesity and anemia her physical examination was unremarkable. An upper GI endoscopy revealed 3 acute gastric ulcers and a 4th one in the pyloric channel. Abdominal ultrasonogram showed a slightly enlarged liver with diffuse reduction in ecogenicity; the gallbladder and biliary tract were normal. Blood tests demonstrated a conjugated hyperbilirubinemia (maximal total value: 18,4 mg/dl), ALAT 960 U/l, ASAT 850 U/l, GGT 420 U/l, alkaline phosphatases mildly elevated, pro-time 49 percent and albumin 2.7 mg/dl. Serum markers for hepatitis A, B and C viruses were negative. ANA, AMA, anti-SmA, were negative. Ceruloplasmin was normal. A liver biopsy showed bridging necrosis and other signs of acute toxic liver damage. Gastric ulcers healed after conventional treatment and hepatitis subsided after 2 months leaving no signs of chronic liver damage. The diagnosis of toxic hepatitis due to nimesulide was supported by the time-course of drug usage, sex, age, absence of other causes of liver disease, a compatible liver biopsy and the improvement after drug withdrawal. Peptic ulcers or toxic hepatitis have been previously described as independent adverse reactions in patients taking nimesulide or other NSAIDs but their simultaneous occurrence in a single patient is a unique event that deserves to be reported
Assuntos
Humanos , Feminino , Idoso , Anti-Inflamatórios não Esteroides/efeitos adversos , Doença Hepática Induzida por Substâncias e Drogas/complicações , Úlcera Gástrica/complicações , Úlcera Péptica Hemorrágica/induzido quimicamente , Anti-Inflamatórios não Esteroides/administração & dosagem , Artralgia/tratamento farmacológico , Doença Hepática Induzida por Substâncias e Drogas/diagnóstico , Automedicação/efeitos adversos , Úlcera Péptica Hemorrágica/diagnósticoRESUMO
Multiauthorship shows an increasing trend in biomedical and other scientific journals. A main concern for editors, reviewers and readers is to find out whether all individuals enlisted as authors actually fulfill criteria for authorship as defined in the document "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals". Revista MÄdica de Chile is addressing this relevant topic with a combined strategy: (1) A retrospective analysis of the manuscripts published in the recent decades in the Revista will quantify and illustrate the local trend in multiauthorship; (2) A "Statement of accountability": signed by all authors in manuscripts submitted to the Revista, is in use since 1997; and (3) A new form of this "Statement of accountability" requests all authors to identify their personal involvement in the work represented by the manuscript. This information will be available to every person participating in the editorial assessment of the manuscript (editors and external reviewers) but during a trial period of six months authors will be allowed to object the publication of this data, stating the reasons for this objection. After six months the editors will evaluate the information collected and the self-declared role of every author enlisted. The terms "Authors" and "Main author" will continue being used to designate participants because "contributor" (replacement alternative proposed by Rennie et al., currently in use by several leading general medical journals) has a different main meaning in Spanish than in English and it might have a negative effect
Assuntos
Humanos , Autoria , Publicação Periódica/normas , Responsabilidade Legal , PesquisaRESUMO
Background: Molecular biology is a new branch of biological sciences, with novel laboratory techniques that are being progressively applied into biomedical and clinical research and, furthermore, into medical practice. Aims: To evaluate the use of molecular biology techniques in Chilean biomedical and clinical research and its evolution in the recent decade. Methods: All papers published as research articles, clinical experiences or case reports, in Revista MÄdica de Chile, during two time periods: 1987-1989 and 1997-1999, were reviewed to find out whether molecular biology techniques had been used or not. This journal publishes roughly 40 percent of papers generated in Chile, in biomedical or clinical topics, while another 15 percent appears in foreign journals. Results: Among 341 papers published in 1987-1989, 57 (16.7 percent) had used one or more molecular biology techniques; in contrast, among 318 papers published in 1997-1999, 91 (28.8 percent) had used them (p<0.001). Most papers using molecular biology techniques were research articles. Immunology, genetics, endocrinology, hematology, hepatology and rheumatology were the specialties providing a greater number and proportion of papers using molecular biology techniques. Chilean universities were the main institutions sponsoring these articles and FONDECYT (the Chilean Government Research Granting Office) was the main source of funding. The University of Chile (State-owned) provided most centers where these publications had been generated, followed by the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Conclusions: Molecular biology techniques have been rapidly and progressively incorporated as research tools in biomedicine and clinical medicine, in Chile. At the present time, these techniques are predominantly used in research conducted in University settings and funded by Governmental research grants
Assuntos
Humanos , Biologia Molecular/estatística & dados numéricos , Publicação Periódica/estatística & dados numéricos , Apoio à Pesquisa como Assunto/estatística & dados numéricos , Pesquisa/métodos , Medicina Clínica/métodos , Técnicas GenéticasRESUMO
Since 1973, Revista Médica de Chile has classified biomedical and clinical prospective research papers in a Section named Research Articles, while purely clinical and retrospective studies were classified into another Section, named Clinical Experiences. This distinction seems no longer necessary, because both types of manuscripts are subjected to a uniform external peer-review system and their intrinsic quality is not a distinctive feature. Furthermore, the name of Sections where similar papers are classified by the major general clinical medicine journals is clearly non-uniform. Therefore, Research Articles and Clinical Experiences will from now on be included into a single Section: Research Articles
Assuntos
Humanos , Pesquisa , Publicação PeriódicaRESUMO
Background: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a disease of unknown cause characterized by pruritus and biochemical cholestasis in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Its pathogenesis may be due to the interaction of abnormalities in the metabolism of estrogens and progesterone, while still unknown environmental factor (s) modulate the expressivity of a genetic predisposing trait. Aims: To verify if thyroid function tests (TFT) are altered in ICP as in other hepatic diseases and whether a dietary iodine deficiency could be involved. Material and methods: From 1983 to 1986, 13 normal pregnancies (3rd trimester), 26 ICP patients (with 30 pregnancies) and 4 patients with acute non-A non-B hepatitis in pregnancy, were studied. Serum T3, rT3, T4, fT4 and TSH (before and after TRH) were measured by RIA; in ICP patients, measurements were repeated in puerperium. Urinary 24 h iodine excretion was measured in normal pregnancies and in 6 ICP patients. Results: In normal pregnancies, T3 (3.00ñ0.22 nmol/L) and rT3 (0.40ñ0.03 nmol/L) were higher than the values detected in non-pregnant women; other TFT were unchanged. Urinary iodine excretion was normal in all individuals tested. Patients with acute hepatitis in pregnancy or with ICP had lower T3 than normal pregnancies (1.82ñ0.19 nmol/L in hepatitis; 2.24ñ0.12 nmol/L in ICP; p<0.01) and higher rT3 (0.80ñ0.25 nmol/L in hepatitis; 0.54ñ0.05 nmol/L in ICP; p<0.05), while other TFT were unchanged. None of them had clinical signs of hypo or hyperthyroidism. A "euthyroid sick syndrome" was detected in 2 ICP patients and in 2 acute hepatitis in pregnancy. In puerperium of ICP patients, T3 and rT3 returned to levels in non-pregnant women. Conclusions: In ICP patients, TFT show similar trends than in more severe hepatic and non-hepatic diseases. Although thyroid binding-globulin was not measured in our patients, the pattern of TFT suggests that an impaired peripheral (hepatic?) deiodination of T4 is responsible for these changes. The influence of a dietary iodine deficiency can be ruled out