ABSTRACT
AIMS: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, risk factors and HCV genotypes in 140 HIV-1 infected individuals from northern Mexico was determined. METHODS: Hepatitis C infection was confirmed by the detection of anti-HCV antibodies and HCV-RNA in sera, and genotyping was performed by the InnoLiPA-HCV genotype assay. RESULTS: Seventeen (12.1%) out of 140 HIV-infected individuals were found to be HCV-positive. Coinfected individuals were more likely to be male (87%). The most frequent genotype was 1a (41%), followed by 1b (29.4%), 2a/c (17.6%), 2b (5.9%) and 3 (5.9%). Serum transaminase concentrations (AST and ALT) were higher in coinfected patients. Among the risk factors for coinfection: sexual transmission was the most frequently observed (men who have sex with men (MSM); 64.7% and bisexual behavior; 64.7%) followed by intravenous drug users (IVDU) (53%). There was no association of the HCV genotypes with the age and risk factors for HIV-1 and HCV infection observed in the studied patients. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the prevalence of HIV-1/HCV coinfection in Mexico is lower than in other American countries.
ABSTRACT
La aparición de la tomografía computarizada (TC) helicoidal en la década de los años noventa supuso el salto tecnológico para obtener imágenes en distintos planos del espacio. Esto se debió a la adquisición volumétrica, es decir, el tubo de rayos X mantenía la exposición mientras la mesa se movía de forma continua. La posibilidad de aumentar el número de detectores favorecía la rapidez al obtener varias imágenes (4, 16, 40 o 64) en cada giro del tubo. Así se estudia un volumen (tórax o abdomen) con mejor resolución espacial e imágenes muy finas: 0,5 mm. La resolución temporal, que es el tiempo para obtener una imagen, mejoró significativamente debido a la mayor velocidad en el giro del tubo. Sin embargo, en el estudio del corazón se precisa también la sincronización con el ciclo cardíaco para adquirir las imágenes en la zona telediastólica, lo que posibilita no sólo la visualización de las arterias coronarias, sino también la valoración de los bypass, stents, anomalías coronarias e incluso el estudio de la función ventricular (AU)
Helical computed tomography (CT) emerged during the 1990s and represented an advance in CT technology, allowing images to be visualized in different planes. This was due to volumetric acquisition, i.e. the X-ray tube is active while the table is moving into the gantry. The possibility of increasing the number of detectors allowed the procedure to be performed more rapidly as several images could be obtained in each tube rotation (4, 16, 40 or 64). Thus, volume (thorax or abdomen) could be studied with better spatial resolution and images of as little as 0.5mm of collimation. Temporal resolution, defined as the time required to obtain an image, markedly improved due to faster tube rotation. However, in cardiac evaluation, synchronization with the cardiac phase was required to acquire images in telediastole, allowing not only visualization of the coronary arteries but also evaluation of coronary artery bypass grafts, stents, coronary anomalies, and even ventricular function (AU)
