[Manufacturing a double-lumen tube with simple and inexpensive materials]. / Fabricación de sonda de doble luz con materiales simples y baratos.

Twin-channel enteral feeding catheters allow the administration of early enteral nutrition in various pathologies while avoiding the use of total parenteral nutrition. We describe how to manufacture one simply using cheap and easy-to-find materials whenever a commercial catheter of this type is unavailable.

Fabricación de sonda de doble luz con materiales simples y baratos / Manufacture of a twin-channel catheter with cheap, simple elements

Las sondas de alimentación enteral con doble luz permiten administrar nutrición enteral precoz en distintas patologías evitando el uso de nutrición parenteral total. Describimos cómo poder fabricar una fácilmente con materiales baratos y de fácil adquisición cuando no se disponga de una de estas sondas ya comercializadas (AU)

Twin-channel enteral feeding catheters allow the ad-ministration of early enteral nutrition in various pathologies while avoiding the use of total parenteral nutrition. We describe how to manufacture one simply using cheap and easy-to-find materials whenever a commercial catheter of this type is unavailable (AU)

[Formulating a non-fat diet to induce essential fatty acid deficiency in rats]. / Formulación de una dieta sin grasa para producir deficiencia de ácidos grasos esenciales en ratas.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the manufacture of an experimental diet to cause essential fatty acids deficiencies in rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Rats. We used Wistar rats that were given a diet consisting of skimmed milk, starch, and dextrino maltose. The fatty acids were measured by means of gas chromatography. RESULTS: The prepared diet is considerably cheaper than laboratory animal feed and it is effective in causing a fatty acid deficiency.

[A catalogue of fatty acids]. / Un catálogo de ácidos grasos.

Fatty acids structure and function is an area of renewed interest because of its effects on plasma lipids, biosynthesis of prostaglandins, leucotrienes and thromboxanes, and the obligatory demands of some fatty acids, especially for the newborn. Fatty acids are identified in three different ways: by the classical nomenclature, by its trivial name, and by the new methods also known as the omega system. These three different methods have created some confusion. The aim of this article is to revise fatty acids chemical structure and to compile a list of nutritional important fatty acids with the three different terminologies.

[Naso-intestinal intubation with weighted tubes. A new modification of an old technique]. / Intubación nasointestinal con sondas lastradas. Una modificación nueva a una técnica antigua.

We have studied the spontaneous transpyloric passage of 25 weighted nasointestinal tubes using a modified technique slightly different from the standard one. Instead of introducing the entire tube in the stomach in the very first moment, we have only introduced at the beginning approximately 70 cm and afterwards, with the patient in the right lateral decubitus position, each 15 minutes we continued introducing 15 cm each time for a total period of one hour. X-ray controls were done 3, 24 and 48 hours after the first introduction. Fifteen tubes (60%) had passed to the small intestine in the first 3 hours, 21 (84%) had reached it before 24 hours and 23 (92%) had passed the pylorus before 48 hours. The others two tubes did not pass the pylorus in 48 hours nor did they pass after the administration of metoclopramide. We thus conclude that this technique simplifies the intubation of the small intestine. We recommend to control the position of the tube by X-ray film 24 hours after the positioning. If after this period the tube is still in the stomach, it should be repositioned using radiological or endoscopic assistance in those cases that the delivery of an intestinal solution is desired.

[Fever of unknown origin. A study of 100 cases (author's transl)]. / Fiebre de origen desconocido. Análisis de 100 casos.

This report concerns the analysis of 100 cases of fever of unknown origin, defined according to the criteria of Petersdorf and Beeson. An etiological diagnosis could be reached in 77 cases, distributed as follows: infections, 32 cases; tumors, 14 cases; collagen diseases, 13 cases; various etiologies, 18 cases; and idiopathic, 23 cases of whom 20 had selflimited fever. There were 51 male and 49 female. The incidence of infectious diseases was significantly higher below age 40 when compared with the group of collagen diseases. Recurrent fever was common (43 cases) while continuous fever was unusual (3 cases). Recurrent fever was most frequent in neoplastic diseases, the difference in relation to the other groups being statistically significant (p less than 0.05). Chills, diffuse perspiration and myalgia were more frequent in infectious diseases (p less than 0.01) than in the other groups. Collagen diseases had significantly higher (p less than 0.05) white blood cell counts than neoplastic diseases, while the latter had significantly higher (p less than 0.01) serum lactic-dehydrogenase and alpha 2 globulin levels than infectious and collagen diseases. Hepatosplenomegaly was present more frequently in neoplastic than in infectious diseases. When evaluating diagnostic procedures it was noted that invasive techniques (arteriography, biopsy, laparoscopy, laparotomy) were essential to arrive to the final diagnosis in 47 cases, while noninvasive procedures (serological and immunological tests, bacteriology, conventional radiology, clinical course, and response to therapy) were sufficient in 22 cases. In eight cases the etiology of the fever could only be determined by post-mortem examination.