Home parenteral nutrition program and referral of potential candidates for intestinal and multivisceral transplantation in a single Brazilian center.

Intestinal failure is a multifaceted condition that may require high-complexity treatment and a multidisciplinary program, including home parenteral nutrition therapy (HPNT) and intestinal transplantation. In this article, we profile a Brazilian single-center experience with 128 cases of HTPN followed for the last 30 years and appraise the referral for potential intestinal and multivisceral transplantation.

Euglycemia and normolipidemia after anti-obesity gastric bypass.

UNLABELLED: Weight loss and resolution of comorbidities is well established after modern bariatric procedures, however chronology of glyco-lipidic biochemical response is still debated. OBJECTIVE: Aiming to analyze this variable as well as its correlation with food amount and composition, a prospective study was designed. METHODOLOGY: Eighty consecutive patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass were investigated every three months until one year after surgery. Females only were accepted and variables included general and nutritional course as well as glucose and lipid measurements. Energy intake was documented including percentage of macronutrients in the diet. RESULTS: Surgery was successful with about 71% excess body weight loss at the end of the first year. Mean energy intake on the 4 postoperative quarters was respectively 519.6 +/- 306.6, 836.0 +/- 407.9, 702.1 +/- 313.1 and 868.8 +/- 342.8 kcal/day (mean +/- SD). Fat intake was initially low but reached 34.1 +/- 7.9% of total calories at final measurement. Blood glucose and lipid fractions tended to be borderline or abnormal preoperatively, and favorably changed by 12 months. Consumption of glucose-and lipid-lowering medication significantly diminished, but each of these was still necessary in 6.3% of the group. Correlation between body mass index and also calorie intake versus glucose and lipid measurements was highly significant (P = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: 1) Energy intake after operation was very low; 2) Weight loss proceeded rapidly and correlated with meal pattern; 3) Improvement of glucose and lipid tests was adequate but took several quarters to normalize; 4) Decreased requirements for glucose- and lipid-lowering medication was significant but not absolute; 4) Fat percentage of total calories exceeded 30% at the end of the observation period, despite recommendations to the contrary.

Telomerase activity in the vaginal margins of radical hysterectomy in patients with carcinoma of the cervix: correlation with histology and human papillomavirus.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the telomerase activity both in the tumor and in the vaginal margins of radical hysterectomy in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix. Thirty-three patients with SCC of the cervix (study group) and 13 patients with uterine myoma (control group) were prospectively studied. Tissue samples were taken from the tumor or cervix, anterior vaginal margin (AVM), and posterior vaginal margin (PVM). The specimens were analyzed by histopathology, by a telomerase PCR-TRAP-ELISA kit, and by polymerase chain reaction using human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA. The telomerase activity was significantly higher in the tumor than in the benign cervix (P < 0.001). There was no difference in telomerase activity in the AVM and PVM in patients with cervical carcinoma compared to the control group. Telomerase activity was associated with the presence of histologic malignancy in the PVM of patients submitted to radical hysterectomy (P= 0.03). This association was not observed with the presence of HPV in AVM or PVM in the study group. Telomerase activity is a marker of histologic malignancy in patients with SCC of the cervix. There was no association between the telomerase activity and the presence of HPV in vaginal margins of patients submitted to radical hysterectomy.