Caracterización del perfil epidemiológico de las llamadas alCentro de Información Toxicológica de la Universidad Católica (CITUC), en el año 2010 / Characterization of the epidemiological profile of calls received at the Poison Information Center of the Catholic University (CITUC), in 2010

Objetivo: Describir y caracterizar el perfil epidemiológico de las llamadas recibidas en el año 2010 correspondiente a exposiciones, por el Centro de Información Toxicológica de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Método: Se realizó un estudio retrospectivo y descriptivo de las llamadas registradas por el CITUC durante el año 2010. Se analizaron los siguientes datos: número total de llamadas, lugar de la llamada, circunstancia de la exposición, tipo y número de los agentes involucrados, vías de exposición, tiempo desde la exposición, género y edad de los pacientes. Resultados: Se registraron 29.592 llamadas. 45,2 por ciento de las consultas provenían del hogar y 53,2 por ciento de instalaciones médicas. 69,3 por ciento fueron exposiciones accidentales y 27,6 por ciento intencionales. Los medicamentos se presentaron como agente causal de una exposición en 58,4 por ciento de las llamadas, seguidos por los productos de uso doméstico (18,7 por ciento) y plaguicidas (5,8 por ciento). La ingestión fue la vía de exposición que predominó en un 79,3 por ciento del total de casos. 41,0 por ciento del total de las llamadas, se realizaron dentro de la primera hora post-exposición. Las exposiciones en niños menores de 14 años correspondieron a 51,6 por ciento de las llamadas. Conclusiones: Los medicamentos constituyen el principal agente involucrado en intoxicaciones. La principal vía de exposición es la ingesta y el principal grupo de población afectado son los niños menores de 14 años,. Estos indicadores muestran la necesidad imperante de desarrollar campañas de prevención e información avaladas por el Ministerio de Salud, respecto al correcto uso de los medicamentos, como también la introducción del envase resistente ala manipulación de los niños y la educación de la población.

Objective: To describe and to characterize the epidemiologoc profile of the entering pone calls in 2010 belonging to exposures by the Centro de Información Toxicológica de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Method: A retrospective and descriptive study of pone calls registered by the CITUC has been made during 2010. The following has been analyzed: total pone calls number, place of the call, exposure circumstances, kind and number ofagents involved, exposure way, time from exposure, gender and age of the patients. Outcomes: 29.592 phone calls were registered. 45,2 percent of the questions came from home and 53,2 percent from medical institutions. 69,3 percent were non intented exposures and 27,6 percent were intented. The drugs were the causal agent of exposures in 58,4 percent of the phone calls, followed by cleaning use products (18,7 percent) and insecticides (5,8 percent). Swallowing was the predominant exposure way with 79,3 percent of the total. 41 percent of total of phone calls, were made in the first hour after exposure. The children under 14 years exposure cases, were were 51,6 percent of total phone calls. Conclusions: Medical drugs are the principal involved agent in intoxications. The main way of exposition is swallowing and the major population group involved is children under 14 years. These indicators shows the need of developing prevention and information campaigns supported by Secretary of Health, oriented to right use of drugs, as well as the use of safety drug boxes for children and population education.

Review of the American Heart Association's guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention in women.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death of women in the United States and most of the developed world. The latest available data from the World Health Organization indicate that 16.6 million people around the globe die of CVD each year. World deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) in 2002 totalled 7.2 million. One in seven women in Europe will die of CHD; in the United Kingdom > 1.2 million women are living with CHD. Despite advances in diagnosing and treating CHD, the disease accounts for the majority of CVD deaths in women in the United States, with more than 240,000 dying annually. Although coronary heart disease is the predominant cause of mortality for adult women in the United States, screening for coronary risk factors and coronary risk reduction interventions remains underused in women. In February of 2004, the American Heart Association published the first evidence-based guidelines for CVD prevention in women, consisting of a set of clinical recommendations tailored to a woman's individual level of risk.

Relationship of gated SPECT ventricular function parameters to angiographic measurements.

OBJECTIVES: Left ventricular volumes and ejection fractions constitute important information in the diagnosis of cardiac disease. This investigation examined the relations of functional parameters computed with a recently published scintigraphic gated tomographic method with those from angiography, analyzing discrepancies arising from differences involved in modeling the left ventricle. BACKGROUND: While left ventricular ejection fractions obtained from myocardial perfusion gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) have demonstrated accurate comparisons with other imaging modalities, validations of volumes have not been examined as extensively, and some recent studies have reported a wide range of angiographic correlation. It is important to know how volumes obtained by a new class of methods compare with those from older, well-established techniques in order to interpret individual patients' results, particularly when scintigraphic images are severely hypoperfused. METHODS AND RESULTS: Tc-99m sestamibi myocardial perfusion gated SPECT data were processed retrospectively for 58 patients studied by single-plane angiography. Endocardial borders were generated automatically on paired vertical and horizontal long-axis Tc-99m sestamibi gated tomograms for computing ventricular volume using a Simpson's rule summation of elliptical slices. Linear regression and paired t tests were used to compare SPECT with angiographic parameters for all patients and for groups identified on the basis of tomogram visual examination as hypoperfused, ischemic or nonischemic, with the latter category further subgrouped as to fixed defects or normal perfusion. Linear regression analysis demonstrated Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.87 for end-diastolic volumes, 0.91 for end-systolic volumes, and 0.86 for ejection fraction; paired t test analysis showed end-systolic volumes to be nearly identical (p > 0.99) to angiographic values. However, paired t tests also revealed gated SPECT end-diastolic volumes and ejection fractions were significantly lower (p < 10(-4)) than angiography. Correlations and trends were essentially the same for all subgroups except for the small sample (n = 10) of patients with normal perfusion. CONCLUSIONS: Gated SPECT provides ventricular volumes and ejection fractions that correlate well with angiography, even in hypoperfused and ischemic populations. However, gated SPECT end-diastolic volumes and ejection fractions are significantly lower than angiographic measurements, partly because of inclusion of greater outflow tract amounts in standard angiographic models. Because myocyte concentration decreases rapidly at the ventricular base, it is likely that most gated SPECT methods will produce endocardial borders encompassing less of the outflow tract than do angiographic outlines.

Onset during exercise of spontaneous coronary artery dissection and sudden death. Occurrence in a trained athlete: case report and review of prior cases.

This report describes a spontaneous coronary artery dissection occurring during exercise in a long-distance runner who otherwise had a normal coronary arteriogram. This syndrome has been reported before and the two previous cases are reviewed. Coronary dissection is a rare cause of death during exercise.