Influences of sex and age on biological rhythms of serum lipids and lipoproteins.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have evaluated seasonal variations of biochemical parameters routinely analyzed in clinical laboratories. Rhythmic patterns for lipids and lipoproteins have been demonstrated and have been the object of research, mainly because of their demonstrated association with coronary artery disease. This study evaluated the occurrence of biological rhythms on serum lipids and lipoproteins and the effects of sex and age on the rhythms in a Brazilian hospital outpatient population. METHODS: Retrospective laboratory study was carried out to evaluate the results of total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG), from individuals registered at a university referral hospital over 8 years. The studied population was composed of individuals of both sexes and all ages totaling 38,579 participants and 301,934 measurements. Statistical analyses were carried out using the SAS program and the temporal analysis used the Cosinor method. RESULTS: TG rhythm was present only in females. All other parameters were equally rhythmic in both sexes. Regarding age, HDL-C presented rhythms in all age groups, but TC and LDL-C showed seasonality only for those > 13 years, TG did not present rhythms in all age groups. CONCLUSION: Effects of sex and age on biological rhythms detected in TC, LDL-C and HDL-C should be considered a significant cause of pre-analytical variation in these laboratory tests.

The use of a hospital laboratory cohort to estimate the prevalence of dyslipidemia in an adult Brazilian population.

BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia is diagnosed through the determination of plasma lipid profiles. This study is aimed at establishing the prevalence of dyslipidemia in a Brazilian out-patient population by using a hospital laboratory cohort. METHODS: Lipid profiles of 22,542 individuals from both sexes, aged 20 to 124 years, and registered at the University Hospital of the State University of Campinas, a standard of reference for hospital treatment in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, were retrospectively analyzed from 2000 to 2003. The cut-off values for cholesterol (C), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were determined as recommended by the National Cholesterol Education Program. Statistical analyses were carried out using the SPSS program. RESULTS: Altered C, LDL-C and TG were found in 44%, 38% and 37% of adults and in 55%, 48% and 41% of the elderly, respectively; 35% of adults and 32% of the elderly presented undesirable low HDL-C. Combined dyslipidemia was very prevalent. CONCLUSION: Dyslipidemia was a serious public health problem in the studied population, especially among women and the elderly. The mixed phenotype of hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia was the most prevalent. The results of this study were validated by their agreement with previously studied non-hospital Brazilian populations.

Estudo dos fatores de risco das infecçöes pós-operatorias em cirurgia de cabeça e pescoço / Study of risk factors of the post operative infections in head and neck surgery

Os fatores de risco das infecçöes pós-operatórias podem estar relacionados ao paciente, tipo de cirurgia, ambiente hospitalar e ao cirurgiäo. O presente trabalho teve por objetivos: verificar o índice de infecçäo na enfermaria de Cirurgia de Cabeça e Pescoço do Hospital e Maternidade Celso Pierro (HMCP), da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, Säo Paulo; correlacionar os fatores de risco com os encontrados na literatura e analisar o impacto dos mesmos no tempo de internaçäo e na morbimortalidade. Analisamos, retrospectivamente, os procedimentos no Serviço de Cirurgia de Cabeça e pescoço, entre janeiro e dezembro de 1995, para a coleta de dados pessoais, clínicos e cirúrgicos. O estadiamento clínico seguiu as normas do UICC de 1992, a avaliaçäo nutricional foi realizada pelo Serviço de Nutriçäo do HMCP, os pacientes foram considerados infectados após avaliaçäo do Departamento de Moléstias Infecciosas do Hospital e o método estatístico utilizado foi a frequência porcentual. Doze dos 111 procedimentos resultaram em infecçöes pós-operatórias (10,8por cento). Todos os infectados eram homens e tabagistas; dez (83,3por cento) tinham 50 anos ou mais; onze (91,7por cento) eram etilistas; e sete (58,3por cento), desnutridos. Doze (100por cento) das cirurgias expuseram cavidade orofaríngea e dez (83,3por cento) tiveram duraçäo de 5 horas ou mais. Concluímos que o índice de infecçäo encontrado é considerado aceitável, que os fatores de risco descritos na literatura estavam presentes nos pacientes por nós analisados e que houve piora no prognóstico daqueles que desenvolveram Infecçöes pós-operatória. Portanto, cabe ao cirurgiäo de cabeça e pescoço avaliar os possíveis fatores de risco no pré-operatório, melhorando as condiçöes do paciente para a cirurgia