Caracterización de pacientes diabéticos de tipo 2 con complicaciones vasculares y riesgo de ateroesclerosis / Characterization of diabetic patients type 2 with vascular complications and atherosclerosis risk

Se realizó un estudio observacional, descriptivo y prospectivo para caracterizar a 200 pacientes diabéticos de tipo 2, diagnosticados con complicaciones vasculares y riesgo de ateroesclerosis, los cuales fueron ingresados en el Servicio de Medicina Interna del Hospital General Docente Dr Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso de Santiago de Cuba, desde junio del 2010 hasta igual mes del 2011. Entre las complicaciones más frecuentes figuraron: enfermedades cardiovasculares (29,5 por ciento), neuropatía (21,5 por ciento) y retinopatía (19,5 por ciento). Prevalecieron los afectados con 3 complicaciones (40,5 por ciento), los que tenían un tiempo de evolución de la enfermedad de 11-15 años (38,0 por ciento); además de la hiperlipidemia (35,0 por ciento), la hipertensión arterial (32,0 por ciento) y el tabaquismo (26,5 por ciento) como factores de riesgo. Se concluye que con un enfoque multidisciplinario en el tratamiento y control de esta enfermedad se logra mejorar el pronóstico de los afectados(AU)

An observational, descriptive and prospective study was carried out to characterize 200 diabetic patients type 2, diagnosed with vascular complications and atherosclerosis risk, who were admitted in the Internal Medicine Service of Dr Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso Teaching General Hospital in Santiago de Cuba from June, 2010 to the same month of 2011. Among the most frequent complications there were: cardiovascular (29.5 percent), neuropathy (21.5 percent) and retinopathy (19.5 percent). The affected patients with 3 complications prevailed (40.5 percent), those who had a clinical course of 11-15 years (38.0 percent); besides the hyperlipidemia (35.0 percent), hypertension (32.0 percent) and tabaquism (26.5 percent) as risk factors. It is concluded that with a multidisciplinary approach in the treatment and control of this disease, it is possible to improve the prognosis of the affected patients(AU)

Caracterización de pacientes diabéticos de tipo 2 con complicaciones vasculares y riesgo de ateroesclerosi / Characterization of diabetic patients type 2 with vascular complications and atherosclerosis risk

Se realizó un estudio observacional, descriptivo y prospectivo para caracterizar a 200 pacientes diabéticos de tipo 2, diagnosticados con complicaciones vasculares y riesgo de ateroesclerosis, los cuales fueron ingresados en el Servicio de Medicina Interna del Hospital General Docente "Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso" de Santiago de Cuba, desde junio del 2010 hasta igual mes del 2011. Entre las complicaciones más frecuentes figuraron: enfermedades cardiovasculares (29,5 %), neuropatía (21,5 %) y retinopatía (19,5 %). Prevalecieron los afectados con 3 complicaciones (40,5 %), los que tenían un tiempo de evolución de la enfermedad de 11-15 años (38,0 %); además de la hiperlipidemia (35,0 %), la hipertensión arterial (32,0 %) y el tabaquismo (26,5 %) como factores de riesgo. Se concluye que con un enfoque multidisciplinario en el tratamiento y control de esta enfermedad se logra mejorar el pronóstico de los afectados.

An observational, descriptive and prospective study was carried out to characterize 200 diabetic patients type 2, diagnosed with vascular complications and atherosclerosis risk, who were admitted in the Internal Medicine Service of "Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso" Teaching General Hospital in Santiago de Cuba from June, 2010 to the same month of 2011. Among the most frequent complications there were: cardiovascular (29.5%), neuropathy (21.5%) and retinopathy (19.5%). The affected patients with 3 complications prevailed (40.5%), those who had a clinical course of 11-15 years (38.0%); besides the hyperlipidemia (35.0%), hypertension (32.0%) and tabaquism (26.5%) as risk factors. It is concluded that with a multidisciplinary approach in the treatment and control of this disease, it is possible to improve the prognosis of the affected patients.

Hepatitis C virus core antigen: analytical performances, correlation with viremia and potential applications of a quantitative, automated immunoassay.

BACKGROUND: Testing for hepatitis C virus core antigen (HCV Ag) may represent a complementary tool to anti-HCV and HCV-RNA in the diagnosis and monitoring of HCV infection. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance characteristics of the automated Abbott ARCHITECT HCV Ag assay. STUDY DESIGN: Five sites analyzed over 3000 routine serum samples from populations at different risk, comparing HCV Ag results with anti-HCV screening and supplemental assay results and with HCV-RNA. RESULTS: The HCV Ag assay showed a specificity of 100%, a good precision (CV<10%) and excellent dilution linearity (r>0.999). The sensitivity (3 fmol/L) corresponds to 700-1100 IU/mL of HCV-RNA. A non-linear correlation with HCV-RNA was found: r=0.713 vs. Siemens bDNA (523 specimens), r=0.736 vs. Roche Cobas TaqMan (356 specimens) and r=0.870 vs. Abbott Real-Time PCR (273 specimens). HCV Ag quantitation was equally effective on different HCV genoypes (239 for genotype 1/1a/1b/1c, 108 for genotype 2/2a/2c, 86 for genotype 3/3a, 50 for genotype 4/4a/4c/4d). Testing of subjects at high risk for HCV and with potential or actual impairment of the immune system identified 2 cases negative for anti-HCV and positive for HCV Ag on 361 hemodialyzed (0.6%) and 7 cases on 97 (7.2%) among transplant recipients. HCV Ag positivity anticipated anti-HCV seroconversion in all three cases of acute hepatitis C. CONCLUSIONS: HCV Ag may be used as reflex testing on anti-HCV positive individuals to confirm or exclude an active infection, and on subjects with acute hepatitis or belonging to high risk groups.