A Virtual Community of Practice: An International Educational Series in Pediatric Neurocritical Care.

Pediatric neurocritical care (PNCC) is a rapidly growing field. Challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on trainee exposure to educational opportunities involving direct patient care led to the creative solutions for virtual education supported by guiding organizations such as the Pediatric Neurocritical Care Research Group (PNCRG). Our objective is to describe the creation of an international, peer-reviewed, online PNCC educational series targeting medical trainees and faculty. More than 1600 members of departments such as pediatrics, pediatric critical care, and child neurology hailing from 75 countries across six continents have participated in this series over a 10-month period. We created an online educational channel in PNCC with over 2500 views to date and over 130 followers. This framework could serve as a roadmap for other institutions and specialties seeking to address the ongoing problems of textbook obsolescence relating to the rapid acceleration in knowledge acquisition, as well as those seeking to create new educational content that offers opportunities for an interactive, global audience. Through the creation of a virtual community of practice, we have created an international forum for pediatric healthcare providers to share and learn specialized expertise and best practices to advance global pediatric health.

Extramedullary plasmacytoma with colonic involvement: experience in a tertiary hospital.

A 71-year-old woman diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus with severe iron deficiency anemia and positive fecal occult blood. Colonoscopy was performed, showing a soft mass in the ascending colon, with biopsies compatible with plasmacytoma and restriction for Kappa light chains. After bone marrow aspiration, associated IgG multiple myeloma was detected, so chemotherapy with VMP (bortezomib, melphalan and prednisone) was started. Colonoscopy six months later showed that the ulcerated lesion had a reduction in tumor size of up to 80%. A 27-year-old male with a history of kidney transplantation and symptoms of chronic diarrhea, colonoscopy was indicated with the finding of a large exophytic and ulcerated lesion in the cecum. Pathology revealed plasmacytoma with restriction of lambda light chains. After ruling out lesions in other locations, the patient was treated with immunochemotherapy according to the Bortezomib-Rituximab-Dexamethasone scheme, with subsequent complete clinical and endoscopic remission. Plasmacytoma accounts for < 4 % of plasma cell tumours. It may appear isolated or associated with another plasma cell neoplasm, mainly multiple myeloma. Its presence in the gastrointestinal tract is rare, being infrequent in the stomach or small intestine, and even rarer in the colonic tract (incidence 1/10,000,000). The clinical manifestations are similar to those of other colon neoplasms, while the treatment or prognosis may differ from those of other neoplasms. In patients with clinical suspicion, it is important to perform an early endoscopic study, especially in patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

Simulation Use in Outreach Setting: A Novel Approach to Building Sustainability.

SUMMARY STATEMENT: Simulation is a well-studied teaching tool for multidisciplinary teamwork, crisis resource management, and communication skills. These attributes are essential for successful international medical missions, which include healthcare providers with different familiarities with the outreach environment and each team member's role. However, immersive simulation remains underused in similar settings. Our team designed a simulation-based curriculum that focuses on multidisciplinary teamwork and crisis resource management skills. In this commentary, we describe its implementation during high-risk cleft care outreach missions conducted by the Global Smile Foundation. We discuss the importance of a simple, feasible, and flexible platform to successfully overcome the limitations of time and resources inherent to outreach mission work while addressing the clinical and geographic needs specific to each site. We highlight challenges, including unpredictability of the outreach environment, a language barrier, and the short duration of missions. Finally, we offer a roadmap for groups involved in similar global health efforts.

Características clínicas de pacientes con pancreatitis aguda atendidos en un hospital de alta complejidad en Cali / Clinical characteristics of patients with acute pancreatitis treated in a tertiary referral hospital in Cali

Resumen Introducción: la pancreatitis aguda (PA) es una enfermedad de alta complejidad clínica y, de acuerdo con su gravedad, puede tener una elevada morbimortalidad con altos costos para el sistema de salud, especialmente a nivel intrahospitalario. Materiales y métodos: se desarrolló un estudio descriptivo basado en historias clínicas de un hospital universitario de alta complejidad. Se revisaron las historias con diagnóstico CIE 10 de pancreatitis aguda entre enero de 2011 y diciembre de 2018. Se incluyeron todos los pacientes mayores de 18 años, de ambos sexos, con diagnóstico de PA por cumplimiento de al menos 2 de los criterios de Atlanta de 2012. Resultados: se revisaron 1353 historias clínicas, de las cuales 386 cumplieron criterios para PA. Entre ellas se identificaron 205 mujeres (53 %) y 181 hombres (47 %), y la prevalencia de comorbilidades fue inferior al 10 %. El 38 % de los casos de pancreatitis ocurrieron en personas entre los 50 y 70 años de edad. Con respecto a la etiología de la PA, el origen biliar fue el de mayor frecuencia, con 200 casos del total (52 %); seguido de idiopático (19,7 %) y poscolangiopancreatografía retrógrada endoscópica (CPRE), que ocurrió en 33 pacientes (8,5 %). Conclusiones: la PA es una entidad frecuente que afecta a adultos de todas las edades y genera una cantidad importante de consultas en urgencias. En Colombia, los datos previos apuntaban a pacientes con pancreatitis graves y no se tenía conocimiento del comportamiento sociodemográfico y clínico de las pancreatitis agudas en urgencias.

Abstract Introduction: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a disease with a high degree of clinical complexity, and depending on its severity, it can have high morbidity and mortality rates, resulting in substantial health-care costs, particularly at the hospital level. Materials and methods: A descriptive study was developed based on the medical records of a tertiary referral university hospital. The records that included an ICD 10 diagnosis of acute pancreatitis between January 2011 and December 2018 were reviewed. All patients over the age of 18, of both sexes, with an AP diagnosis who met at least two of the 2012 Atlanta criteria were included in the study. Results: 1 353 records were reviewed, of which 386 met the criteria for AP. There were 205 women (53%) and 181 males (47%) among them, and comorbidities were found in less than 10% of the participants. 38% of cases of pancreatitis occurred in people between 50 and 70 years of age. Regarding the etiology of AP, biliary origin was the most frequent with 200 cases (52%), followed by idiopathic (19.7%) and post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in 33 patients (8.5%). Conclusions: AP is a common condition that affects adults of all ages and results in a high number of emergency room visits. Previous data in Colombia was only available for individuals with severe pancreatitis, and nothing was known about the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of acute pancreatitis in the emergency room.

Efficiency of Machine Learning Algorithms for the Determination of Macrovesicular Steatosis in Frozen Sections Stained with Sudan to Evaluate the Quality of the Graft in Liver Transplantation.

Liver transplantation is the only curative treatment option in patients diagnosed with end-stage liver disease. The low availability of organs demands an accurate selection procedure based on histological analysis, in order to evaluate the allograft. This assessment, traditionally carried out by a pathologist, is not exempt from subjectivity. In this sense, new tools based on machine learning and artificial vision are continuously being developed for the analysis of medical images of different typologies. Accordingly, in this work, we develop a computer vision-based application for the fast and automatic objective quantification of macrovesicular steatosis in histopathological liver section slides stained with Sudan stain. For this purpose, digital microscopy images were used to obtain thousands of feature vectors based on the RGB and CIE L*a*b* pixel values. These vectors, under a supervised process, were labelled as fat vacuole or non-fat vacuole, and a set of classifiers based on different algorithms were trained, accordingly. The results obtained showed an overall high accuracy for all classifiers (>0.99) with a sensitivity between 0.844 and 1, together with a specificity >0.99. In relation to their speed when classifying images, KNN and Naïve Bayes were substantially faster than other classification algorithms. Sudan stain is a convenient technique for evaluating ME in pre-transplant liver biopsies, providing reliable contrast and facilitating fast and accurate quantification through the machine learning algorithms tested.

Sarcoma pulmonar mixoide primario asociado a traslocación EWSR1-CREB1 con micrometástasis locorregional / Primary pulmonary myxoid sarcoma associated with translocation EWSR1-CREB1 and locorregional micrometastases

El sarcoma pulmonar mixoide primario es una entidad poco frecuente con un crecimiento endobronquial, del cual debe realizarse un diagnóstico diferencial con otros sarcomas pero aun así suele presentar buen pronóstico. Presentamos el caso de una paciente de 51 años con un tumor mesenquimal en el pulmón derecho, que corresponde a un sarcoma pulmonar mixoide primario que mostró una tinción positiva para EMA, vimentina y un Ki67 menor del 5% y por método FISH presentó la traslocación EWSR1-CREB1

Primary myxoid pulmonary sarcoma is a rare entity with an endobronchial growth. Although it should be included in the differential diagnosis of other sarcomas, its prognosis is usually favorable. We present the case of a 51-year-old patient with a mesenchymal tumor in the right lung, diagnosed as a primary pulmonary myxoid sarcoma, positive for EMA, vimentine and with a Ki-67 less than 5%; FISH revealed a EWSR1-CREB1 translocation

[Primary pulmonary myxoid sarcoma associated with translocation EWSR1-CREB1 and locorregional micrometastases]. / Sarcoma pulmonar mixoide primario asociado a traslocación EWSR1-CREB1 con micrometástasis locorregional.

Primary myxoid pulmonary sarcoma is a rare entity with an endobronchial growth. Although it should be included in the differential diagnosis of other sarcomas, its prognosis is usually favorable. We present the case of a 51-year-old patient with a mesenchymal tumor in the right lung, diagnosed as a primary pulmonary myxoid sarcoma, positive for EMA, vimentine and with a Ki-67 less than 5%; FISH revealed a EWSR1-CREB1 translocation.

Engineering Crack Formation in Carbon Nanotube-Silver Nanoparticle Composite Films for Sensitive and Durable Piezoresistive Sensors.

We report highly sensitive and reliable strain sensors based on silver nanoparticle (AgNP) and carbon nanotube (CNT) composite thin films. The CNT/AgNP was prepared by a screen printing process using a mixture of a CNT paste and an AgNP ink. It is discovered that the sensitivity of such sensors are highly dependent on the crack formation in the composites. By altering the substrate use and the relative ratios of AgNPs and CNTs, the formation and propagation of cracks can be properly engineered, leading to piezoresistive strain sensors with enhanced sensitivity and robustness.

Land register of contaminated sites in an industrial Chilean region: identification and evaluation of suspected sites.

This work introduces the outcomes of the first process for the identification and evaluation of sites potentially contaminated in the Region of the Bio Bio, Chile. The methodology combined qualitative and quantitative elements from Austrian and German risk assessment procedures, calibrated and adapted to the Chilean reality. The developed process consists of collecting historical and current registers on soil use, effects of materials handling on the population's health, and the description of the site conditions. The first analytical step corresponds to an image algebra analysis, through which the most vulnerable areas of the region are established. The sites identified inside the most vulnerable areas are classified into five priority classes, giving an approximate degree of endangerment from these sites. Through the experience, from a total of 507 sites identified as suspicious of contamination, five sites were classified under the highest priority. The results of this analysis have allowed Chilean authorities to focus their resources on the detailed investigations to be carried out in the five priority locations, whilst planning the future strategy to follow for the practical management of all sites found as currently posing a risk to the environment and to the society.

Lesiones subclínical de la mama: manejo quirúrgico-Radiológico-patológico / Subclinical lesion of mama: surgical-radiological-pathologic-management

Doce pacientes femeninas fueron operadas en la Clínica Atías de Caracas, entre enero de 1993 y junio de 1997, por lesiones mamográficas no palpables, sospechosas o dudosas para malignidad. La edad promedio fue de 50 años. En el 66,6 por ciento de las pacientes, la mamografía fue indicada para pesquisa. La indicación quirúrgica fue: microcalcificaciones sospechosas en 75 por ciento y lesión densa espiculada en 25 por ciento. El método de localización fue planimetría en 4 casos, ultrasonido y azul de metileno en 4 casos, aguja tipo Kopans por mamografía en 2 casos, aguja por ultrasonido en 1 caso y estereotaxia y ultrasonido en 1 caso. En todos los casos se realizó confirmación radiológica del espécimen quirúrgico. Se realizó biopsia por congelación en la mitad de los casos. En 4 pacientes (33,33 por ciento) del total se diagnóstico cáncer. Dos resultaron carcinoma in situ (biopsia definitiva) y dos carcinomas infiltrantes (biopsia por congelación), de 11 y 7 mm respectivamente. En éstos dos ultimos se realizó la cirugía definitiva en el mismo acto operatorio

Enfermidades fibroquísticas de la mama: diagnóstico y tratamiento / Fibrocystic disease of the breast: diagnosis and treatment

Los autores presentan el estudio de ochenta y cinco pacientes con enfermedad fibroquística de la mama tratadas en el Hospital Universitario de Caracas, en el lapso comprendido entre enero de 1978 y diciembre de 1982. Se utilizaron como medios auxiliares de la exploración clínica la mamografía, la neumocistografía, la punción-aspiración y la citología del líquido del quiste y de la secreción por el pezón. Setenta y cuatro pacientes (87,06%) recibieron tratamiento médico y once (12,94%) tratamiento quirúrgico. En los casos operados pudimos observar las diferentes variantes histopatológicas de la enfermedad