Convulsiones febriles / Febrile seizures

Las crisis febriles son el evento convulsivo más frecuente en niños menores de 5 años. La etiología es desconocida, aunque existe una importante predisposición genética. En general, la clínica es suficiente para hacer el diagnóstico, sin necesidad de ninguna prueba complementaria. El tratamiento agudo de las crisis, la evaluación del síndrome febril y una cuidadosa información a los padres son los principales objetivos del tratamiento. La profilaxis con fármacos antiepilépticos no está indicada para la prevención de las recurrencias. La mayoría de los niños con convulsiones febriles tienen buen pronóstico a largo plazo (AU)

Febrile seizures are the most common convulsive event in children younger tan 5 years of age. The etiology is unknown but there is an important genetic predisposition. Usually clinical assessment is sufficient for diagnosis, without need of any complementary test. Acute seizure treatment, evaluation of febrile syndrome and careful parental counseling are the most important goals of treatment. Prophylaxis with antiepileptic drugs is not indicated to prevent recurrences. The majority of children with febrile seizures have a normal long-tem outcome (AU)

Lipoprotein(a) concentrations in healthy subjects in the Dominican Republic. Comparison with Japanese.

Previous studies have shown that serum concentrations of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] are markedly different among different ethnic groups. We examined the serum levels of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and Lp(a) in apparently healthy subjects aged 20-69 years in Japan (n = 865) and the Dominican Republic (n = 1,893). Dominicans had significantly lower levels of total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol than Japanese. The distribution of Lp(a) concentrations were markedly skewed towards low levels in both Japanese and Dominicans. However, the mean Lp(a) concentration in Dominicans was approximately 2 times higher than in Japanese (21.7 +/- 23.7 vs 12.3 +/- 15.9 mg/dl, p < 0.001). This is possibly because the majority of Dominicans are of mixed Negroid and European blood.

Food intake and food consumption patterns of hospital workers in the dominican republic.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death according to official mortality statistics in the Dominican Republic. The purpose of this study was to assess food intake and food consumption patterns of Dominicans and to discuss CHD risks related to nutrient intake. The subjects were 22 men and 81 women voluntarily recruited among 230 hospital workers in Santo Domingo. The mean nutrient intake and food consumption were estimated from a single 24-hour recall method administered by trained persons who elicited each subject's previous day's intake from midnight to midnight. The mean energy intake was 2030 kcal. The mean intake of total protein, total fat and carbohydrates were 66.3g, 89.1 g and 248g, respectively. Percentage of energy from total fat was 39.5%, which was higher than WHO recommendations. But, the percentage of animal fat per total fat was 46.8%. Especially, the value in the low income group was 31.7%. Moreover, we analyzed the food consumption structure in order to understand the Dominican dietary pattern, and three factors were found to explain the characteristics on the basis of factor analysis.The low percentage of animal fat was due to the diets rich in vegetable oil. Our results suggested that it was difficult to assume that CHD risks increased as a result of the Dominican dietary pattern. This was consistent with our previous findings that the average serum cholesterol level of Dominicans was generally low.

Prevalence of risk factors for coronary heart disease among Dominicans in the Dominican Republic: comparison with Japanese and Americans using existing data.

Risk factors of coronary heart disease (CHD) in Dominicans were compared with those of Japanese and Americans for the presumption of prevalence of CHD in about 2000 persons. Dominican adults aged 20 through 76 years were medically examined in 1993. Data of nationally representative Japanese and Americans which included serum lipid levels were compared. Total cholesterol levels(TCH) in Dominicans were lower than those in Americans. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in Dominicans were lower than those in Japanese and Americans. The prevalence of hypertension and current smoking rates in Dominicans were similar to that of Americans and lower than that of Japanese. TCH in Americans have substantially been declining and those in Japanese were inadequate for preventing CHD. The prevalence of CHD in Dominicans may be lower than that of Americans viewed from the recent levels of main risk factors. Community wide health programs have spread to people with hypertension a decrease in the incidence of CHD should occur.

[Effect of prosthesis type and size on the hemodynamic response of mitral valve prostheses to exertion]. / Influencia del tipo y tamaño de prótesis en la respuesta hemodinámica de las prótesis mitrales al esfuerzo.

BACKGROUND: Doppler echocardiography is current tool for hemodynamic evaluation of mitral prosthetic heart valves. It's accepted that the area and the gradients by Doppler echocardiography are not influenced at rest by valvular type and valvular size. We evaluated the influence of valvular type, mechanical-biological, and size on exercise hemodynamic of normally-functioning mitral prosthesis. Thirty-seven patients with mitral prosthesis, mean age 56 +/- 10 years, underwent exercise Doppler echocardiography. Peak and mean prosthetic gradient were obtained at rest, during and at maximal exercise with a nonimaging transducer. Mechanical prosthesis were 23 and biological valves 14. Valvular size was less than 26 mm in 7 patients and more than 28 mm in 20 patients. Exercise increased the heart rate from 80 +/- 14 to 143 +/- 22 (p < 0.001), peak gradient from 11.4 +/- 4 to 26.1 +/- 7 mm Hg (p < 0.001) and mean gradient from 4.8 +/- 1 to 13.7 +/- 5 mm Hg (p < 0.001). We found similar peak (11.4 +/- 3 & 11.3 +/- 4) and mean gradient (3.4 +/- 1 & 2.9 +/- 0.7) at rest between mechanical and biological valves; at maximum exercise, peak (26 +/- 7 & 26 +/- 6) and mean gradient (13.9 +/- 6 & 13.2 +/- 4) were also similar. Prosthesis with > 28-mm-size compared with prosthesis < 26-mm-size showed minor peak gradient at second step (21.3 +/- 4 & 26.4 +/- 6, p < 0.05) and at peak exercise (25.4 +/- 7 & 29.8 +/- 8, ns). Hemodynamics on exercise using Doppler echocardiography was not influenced by valvular type (mechanical-biological) in normal mitral prosthesis. However, mitral prosthesis of small size showed worse on hemodynamics exercise than bigger ones.

[The prescription of physical exercise in the individual with aortic prostheses. The role of Doppler exercise study]. / Prescripción de ejercicio físico en el individuo con prótesis aórticas. Papel del Doppler de esfuerzo.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Exercise Doppler echocardiography allows measure valvular gradient during exercise, that could be useful in the prescription of physical activity in patients with a prosthetic aortic valve. METHODS: Exercise Doppler echocardiography was performed in 50 patients (mean age 53 +/- 12 years) with normally-functioning aortic prosthesis. Maximal exercise was performed by supine bicycle ergometry in 35 and modified Bruce protocol in 15. Continuous wave Doppler examinations were obtained at rest, during and at maximal exercise with a nonimaging transducer. RESULTS: The mean value of workload was 6.9 +/- 2 METS and there were no complications. Gradients at peak exercise were available in 43/50 patients. Exercise induced a statistic significant increase in the heart rate (76 +/- 14 to 136 +/- 26), systolic blood pressure (128 +/- 19 to 182 +/- 19 mmHg), peak gradient (29 +/- 9 to 61 +/- 17 mmHg) and mean gradient (16 +/- 5 to 32 +/- 9 mmHg). The gradient was greater than 59 mmHg in 18/43 patients, greater than 69 mmHg in 12/43 and greater than 79 mmHg in 5/43. CONCLUSIONS: Prescription of exercise in patients with aortic prosthesis requires perform an exercise Doppler echocardiography to measure the increase of valvular gradient with the exercise in each patient, since the stress testing could be normal, it can advise a rate of physical activity that determine very high prosthetic gradients.

Cytogenetic and clinical findings in ten 45,X/46,XY patients.

We report ten cases with 45,X/46,XY karyotype. Cytogenetic and clinical findings have been compared. No constant relationship was found either between blood and gonadal karyotype, or between karyotype and gonadal morphology.