Serum uric acid shows a J-shaped trend with coronary mortality in non-insulin-dependent diabetic elderly people. The CArdiovascular STudy in the ELderly (CASTEL).

The relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality remains controversial, particularly in diabetic subjects. The aim of the present study is to evaluate whether SUA independently predicts CHD mortality in non-insulin-dependent elderly people from the general population and to investigate the interactions between SUA and other risk factors. Five hundred and eighty-one subjects aged >/=65 years with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were prospectively studied in the frame of the CArdiovascular STudy in the ELderly (CASTEL). Historical and clinical data, blood tests and 12-year fatal events were recorded. SUA as a continuous item was divided into tertiles and, for each tertile, adjusted relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was derived from multivariate Cox analysis. CHD mortality was predicted by SUA in a J-shaped manner. Mortality rate was 7.9% (RR 1.28, CI 1.05-1.72), 6.0% (reference tertile) and 12.1% (RR 1.76, CI 1.18-2.27) in the increasing tertiles of SUA, respectively, without any difference between genders. In diabetic elderly subjects, SUA independently predicts the risk of CHD mortality in a J-shaped manner.

[Integral intravenous feeding in pediatric surgery]. / Alimentación endovenosa integral en cirugia pediátrica

Forty newborns bearing several gastrointestinal conditions (congenital malformations, intestinal bypass, postinflammatory obstruction, malabsorption and enteritis) were treated with long-term integral parenteral nutrition. A solution made up of synthetic aminoacids, emulsion of lipids, glucose, electrolytes, vitamins, plasma and whole blood was perfused through a catheter introduced into central or peripheral veins. Temporal glucosuria and anemia were observed in some cases. In all but three cases urinary alpha amino nitrogen was normal. In some infected patients leucocytosis or leucopenia was found. After treatment, all patients showed adequate nutritional conditions, manifested by increase in body weight and healing of damaged tissues.