Conocimiento de médicos de un Hospital Universitario de Buenos Aires respecto de las recomendaciones de vigilancia colonoscópica luego del hallazgo de un pólipo colónico: estudio de corte transversal / Knowledge of physician that work in a University Hospital of Buenos Aires about the recommendations of colonoscopic surveillance after the discovery of a colonic polyp: cross sectional study

Antecedentes: los pacientes con pólipos colónicos suelen ser sobre vigilados, lo que los expone a riesgos innecesarios y aumenta las dificultades para satisfacer las demandas genuinas de dicha prestación. Objetivo: documentar el conocimiento sobre recomendaciones de vigilancia colonoscópica en un Hospital Universitario Privado de Buenos Aires. Material y métodos: estudio de corte transversal a través de un cuestionario autoadministrado con varios escenarios clínicos. Fueron invitados todos los profesionales con alta carga de atención programada y todos los residentes de medicina familiar y comunitaria (n=94; tasa de respuesta75,5%).Resultados: predominó el error por sobre vigilancia (20% para pólipos hiperplásicos; 47% para adenomas tubulares de 6mm sin displasia y56% para un adenoma tubular de 12 mm con un foco de displasia de alto grado).Conclusiones: las respuestas fueron mejores que las reportadas por la bibliografía, con predominio del error por sobre vigilancia.

Background: Patients with colonic polyps usually oversurveilled over-monitored, which exposes them to unnecessary risks and increases the difficulties to meet the genuine demands of colonoscopyt. Objective: To document the knowledge about current recommendations of colonoscopic surveillance in a University Associated Private Hospital in Buenos Aires. Methods: cross-sectional study through a self-administered questionnaire with several clinical scenarios. All professionals with a high burden of scheduled care and all family medicine residents were invited (n = 94, response rate: 75.5%). Results: over-surveillance error predominated (20% for hyperplastic polyps, 47% for a 6mm tubular adenomas without dysplasia and 56% for a 12 mm tubular adenoma with a focus of high-grade dysplasia). Conclusions: The responses were better than those reported in the literature. Over-surveillance error was the most frecuently documentated.

Evaluation of Internet websites about floaters and light flashes in patient education

PURPOSE: Flashes of light and floaters are most commonly caused by posterior vitreous separation but may be associated with sight-threatening disorders. Prevention of severe sequelae requires prompt dilated eye examination. Thus, information dissemination is crucial. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of information about floaters and light flashes available for patients on the Internet. METHODS: Cross-sectional study. In July 2005 we evaluated information available on the Internet regarding floaters and light flashes, using two search engines (MetaCrawler and MSN) and three key terms ("floaters", "dark spots eye", and "light flashes eye"). The quality of each website was evaluated using a score system. The sites were classified as academic, organizational or commercial. Readability, general quality of the website (based on: ownership, purpose, authorship, author qualification, attribution, interactivity, and currency) and quality of the specific content (definition, causes, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis) were analyzed. RESULTS: Of 145 websites evaluated, 49 were included. Four sites (8.2 percent) were academic, 9 (18.4 percent) organizational, and 36 (73.4 percent) commercial. In the majority of the sites (53.0 percent) information was poor and quality was not correlated with website classification. CONCLUSIONS: Information about floaters and light flashes available on the Internet is poor.

OBJETIVOS: Fotopsias e miopsias são geralmente causadas pelo descolamento do vítreo posterior, mas podem estar associadas a doenças oculares. A prevenção de seqüelas importantes requer o exame rápido e apropriado do paciente. Portanto, o conhecimento pelo paciente é crucial. Este estudo objetivou avaliar a qualidade da informação sobre miopsias e fotopsias disponíveis para acesso dos pacientes na Internet. MÉTODOS: Estudo de corte transversal. Em julho de 2005, avaliamos as informações disponíveis na Internet sobre miopsias e fotopsias, usando duas ferramentas de busca (MSN e MetaCrawler) e três palavras-chave ("floaters", "dark spots eye", "light flashes eye"). A qualidade de cada site foi avaliada por uma escala de pontos. Os sites foram classificados como acadêmicos, organizacionais ou comerciais. Avaliamos a confiabilidade, a qualidade do site (baseada no autor, propósito, qualificação do autor, interatividade, atualizações) e qualidade do conteúdo (definição, causas, epidemiologia, diagnóstico, tratamento e prognóstico). RESULTADOS: Dos 145 sites avaliados, 49 foram incluídos no estudo. Quatro sites (8,2 por cento) foram acadêmicos, 9 (18,4 por cento) organizacionais e 36 (73,4 por cento) foram comerciais. Em sua grande maioria (53 por cento), as informações contidas nos sites foram consideradas como pobres e a qualidade não estava correlacionada com a classificação do site. CONCLUSÃO: As informações disponíveis na Internet sobre miopsias e fotopsias são insuficientes.

Risk factors for predicting mortality in a surgical intensive care unit in the year 2000.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the mortality and risk factors of mortality in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU), King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. DESIGN: Review of retrospective data. SETTING: a SICU of a tertiary-care academic medical center. PATIENTS: Out of a total of 546 patients admitted to SICU during a one year period (January 1, 2000 - December 31, 2000), 458 (83.9%) had complete medical data which were analyzed. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: One hundred and ninety-three variables of 6 categories of patients' characteristics, chronic disease, acute illness, physiologic variables, therapy and miscellaneous were studied. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used. The SICU and hospital mortality was 8.1 and 14.6 per cent, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified seven variables as independent risk factors for mortality (p < 0.05): chronic renal failure (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 7.5; 95% CI, 3.0 to 19.0; p = 0.000), coma (AOR, 11.7; 95% CI, 2.4 to 57.4; p = 0.002), Staphylococcus aureus infection (AOR, 15.4; 95% CI, 1.6 to 147.6; p = 0.018), diagnosis of systemic inflammatory response (AOR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.2 to 7.1; p = 0.017), mechanical ventilation (AOR, 11.2; 95% CI, 2.0 to 61.4; p = 0.005), having received adrenaline (AOR, 7.1; 95% CI, 2.3 to 22.2; p = 0.001) and diuretic (AOR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.4 to 8.1; p = 0.008). Besides weight (AOR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.9 to 1.0; p = 0.002) and having received H2-blocker (AOR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1 to 0.5; p = 0.001) were two independent protective factors for mortality. CONCLUSION: Knowing the risk factors of SICU mortality will help physicians to improve patient care, educate patients and their families, optimize ICU resource planning and may decrease health care costs.