[Complete response in a patient with a metastatic cutaneous melanoma]. / Respuesta completa tras tratamiento con bioquimioterapia en un caso de melanoma cutáneo diseminado.

BACKGROUND: The management of patients with disseminated disease is a difficult problem. There is currently no consensus on the standard first-line treatment for metastatic melanoma. We present a case because of his exceptional evolution. RESULTS: A 43 year old male diagnosed in 1999 with malignant melanoma stage IIA. In May 2000 hepatic and splenic metastases were detected. He received 6 cycles of biochemotherapy (cisplatin and DTIC, plus interleukin-2 and interferon-α) and another 6 cycles with single immunotherapy (interleukin-2 and interferon-α). Today, the patient is still alive and without evidence of disease. CONCLUSION: Metastatic cutaneous melanoma, sometimes presents an unusual, favourable evolution. In the near future, the methods of detection of molecular markers are expected to identify factors involved in this type of response. Furthermore, new targeted therapies may become essential to maintain this positive trend.

Cancer surveillance based on imaging techniques in carriers of BRCA1/2 gene mutations: a systematic review.

We have systematically reviewed the literature focusing on the performance of surveillance programmes and imaging techniques for the early diagnosis of breast and ovarian cancer in women carrying mutations in BRCA1/2 genes. A search for relevant articles published between 1996 and 2005 (inclusive) was run on Medline, Embase and other databases. Of the 749 articles retrieved, only 13 met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 12 provided information on breast cancer surveillance, 1 on ovarian cancer surveillance and a further study addressed both cancer types. A critical appraisal of the studies was performed using a tool for the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS). The synthesis of results is qualitative. All studies on imaging techniques for the diagnosis of breast cancer indicated that screening MRI had the highest sensitivity (between 77% and 100%). Breast cancer surveillance programmes, including MRI, achieved the highest diagnostic performance (between 83% and 95%) for all women. However, it must be taken into account that biases that may affect the validity of the outcomes were seen in the evaluated studies. Also, MRI is an expensive test with a low positive predictive value and, to date, MRI screening has not been proven to reduce mortality rates in women carrying BRCA1/2 gene mutations. As a result of the scant information and low quality of the papers reviewed, no definitive conclusion could be drawn on the performance of ovarian cancer surveillance in women carrying BRCA1/2 mutations.

[Differences in sociodemographic, clinical, psychosocial and health care characteristics between men and women diagnosed with fibromyalgia]. / Diferencias en características sociodemográficas, clínicas y psicológicas entre hombres y mujeres diagnosticados de fibromialgia.

INTRODUCTION: Health differences between men and women are determined by biological differences although health services often contribute to gender inequalities. Very few studies that analyze gender differences have been made up to date in these patients. This study aims to analyze sociodemographic, clinical and psychosocial differences between men and women diagnosed with FM and to examine the differential impact of their symptoms on their usual activities, including work environment, and the response these patients obtain from the health care system. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out with all the patients diagnosed with FM in 2003 in three clinics rheumatology units of a university hospital in Spain. RESULTS: The sociodemographic characteristics were very similar in men and women. However, there was a greater proportion of men diagnosed with FM on sick leave, compared to women with the same diagnosis. Men had a worse perception of their health, a higher percentage of psychiatric history and current mental illness and more impact of the disease. DISCUSSION: This is one of the first studies in Spain examining the differences between men and women diagnosed with FM. The results obtained in this study corroborate that, as in other diseases, there are gender differences in the clinical and psychosocial characteristics of men and women diagnosed with FM.

Effectiveness of preventive interventions in BRCA1/2 gene mutation carriers: a systematic review.

A systematic review of the literature was conducted to assess the outcomes of preventive interventions (prophylactic surgery, intensive cancer screening, and chemoprevention) in women who carry mutations in BRCA1/2 genes, in terms of reducing breast and gynaecological cancer incidence and/or mortality. A search for relevant articles published between 1996 and 2005 (inclusive) was run on Medline, Embase and other databases. From the 749 journal articles retrieved from this search strategy, 18 studies were eligible for this review (2 systematic reviews, 10 cohort studies and 6 case-control studies). The critical appraisal of the studies was performed by two independent reviewers with a list of ad hoc selected criteria. The synthesis of results was qualitative. Mastectomy and prophylactic gynaecological surgery (oophorectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy) reduced breast and gynaecological cancer incidence in carriers of BRCA mutations, by comparison to surveillance. However, all the studies presented flaws in internal and external validity, none of these preventive interventions is risk-free, and protection against breast and gynaecological cancer, as well as other cancers linked to BRCA mutations, is incomplete. No studies comparing surveillance programmes of varying intensity were found. Exposure to drugs (tamoxifen, and oral contraceptives) in women carrying BRCA mutations was assessed through a limited number of papers. All of these were case-control studies with prevalent cases and presented major methodological flaws.

Infección quirúrgica en cirugía maxilofacial / Cross Infection in maxillofacial surgery

Objetivos. Determinar la incidencia de infección del lecho quirúrgico en un Servicio de Cirugía Maxilofacial que atiende a una población de 818.959 habitantes y analizar los factores de riesgo implicados en la misma. Método. Estudio de cohorte prospectivo (septiembre 1999noviembre 2000). Se incluyeron a todos los pacientes intervenidos quirúrgicamente por patología maxilofacial en este Servicio excepto aquellos ingresados por cuadros de celulitis odontógena y los sometidos a extracciones dentarias. Población total de estudio = 382. Seguimiento hasta treinta días posteriores a la intervención o un año si se requirió osteosíntesis.Diagnóstico de infección según criterios CDC. Análisis estadístico. bivariante, (Chi cuadrado, t-Student y regresión logística simple) y análisis multivariante (regresión logística múltiple). Paquete estadístico SPSS 10.0.Resultados. La incidencia total de infección quirúrgica fue del 9,4 por ciento. En cirugía traumatológica fue del 1.8 por ciento, en no traumatológica del 15,5 por ciento. Dentro de esta última, en procesos benignos, la incidencia de infección fue del 2,9 por ciento y en procesos malignos 20,9 por ciento. En el análisis multivariable resultaron como factores predictores de infección el tiempo de intervención superior a dos horas (OR=7, IC95 por ciento: 3,01-16,25), el grado de contaminación de la herida (OR=7,20, IC95 por ciento:1,25-26,52) y la reintervención quirúrgica (OR=6,29, IC95 por ciento:2,64-14,94). La incidencia de infección aumenta escalonadamente para cada unidad de incremento del índice NISS (Nacional Nosocomial Infection Surveillance) (OR=3,61, IC95 por ciento:2,38-5,60). Conclusiones. La incidencia de infección del sitio quirúrgico en cirugía traumatológica maxilofacial es baja, mientras que en cirugía no traumatológica es similar a la aportada por otros estudios. Los factores que de manera independiente se asocian a la infección son el tiempo de intervención, el grado de contaminación de la herida y la reintervención quirúrgica.La incidencia de infección aumenta a mayor puntuación del índice NISS. (AU)