[Changing pattern and frequency of lung cancer in Mexico]. / Frecuencia y patrón cambiante del cáncer pulmonar en México.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency, histological type and the epidemiological pattern of lung cancer (LC), during a 40 year period, at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 1999. Data were abstracted from the INER's service reports for 1983-1996 and the surgical pathology archives for 1957-1996. Data from 1961 patients were analyzed, to obtain frequency measures on: the characteristics of INER LC patient admissions, age, sex, histological studies, specimens and diagnoses. RESULTS: Between 1983-1996, LC ranked eighth to second place in INER inpatient admissions. Results were grouped by decades. In the first two decades (1957-1976), 9% of patients were female; 32% in the third (1977-1986), and 38% in the last decade (1987-1996). Epidermoid cell carcinoma was more frequent in the two first decades (61%) and adenocarcinoma in the last two, (41% and 62%, respectively.) CONCLUSIONS: LC is currently more frequent in women, and adenocarcinoma is the most frequent neoplasia.

Technic and complications of percutaneous renal biopsy. / Técnica y complicaciones de la biopsia percutánea renal.

A detailed technique to carry out percutaneous renal biopsy is described, together with the complications found in 1,463 procedures. A total of 350 complications (24%) were found, but gross hematuria stood out as the most frequent. In most cases, hematuria was mild and disappeared spontaneously; only 3 patients required transfusion. Following biopsy, 57 cases showed arterial hypertension. One case developed perirenal abscess which was drained surgically. The most important complication was the development of renal pyogenic abscess in a case which ended up in nephrectomy. It is concluded that renal biopsy should be performed only in those cases where the benefit attained by the information surpasses the potential risk. Renal biopsy does not consist only in the taking of a specimen, but also in its adequate study by a specialist with knowledge in renal pathology.