Diagnostic Performance of 2D Shear Wave (2D-SWE) for Liver Fibrosis in Adults Undergoing Bariatric Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Among the most recent methods to diagnose liver fibrosis is 2D shear wave elastography (2D-SWE). However, the evidence in the Latin population is limited, and there is no consensus on the cutoff points for each stage of fibrosis. AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of 2D-SWE for liver fibrosis in adults with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery (BS). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study on patients with obesity who underwent BS between 2020 and 2021. Liver stiffness measurement was reported as the mean of valid measurements in kilopascals made with the 2D-SWE. The outcome was biopsy-proven liver fibrosis. ROC curves were constructed for significant fibrosis (F≥2) and advanced fibrosis (F≥3), with their respective area under the curve (AUC). To obtain the best cutoff point for each scenario, we used the Youden index. The 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for each cutoff point were estimated by bootstrap with 1000 replications. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 227 patients. The mean age was 37.8 ± 11.1 years and 65.2% were women. Overall, the AUC for significant and advanced fibrosis was 0.54 (95% CI: 0.47-0.62) and 0.73 (95% CI: 0.60-0.87), respectively. For advanced fibrosis, higher AUCs were found among women (AUC: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.59-1.00) and among patients with morbid obesity (AUC: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.61-0.99). CONCLUSION: The 2D-SWE appears to be a valuable tool for screening advanced liver fibrosis in candidates for BS, mainly in the female population and in adults with morbid obesity.

Entrenamiento vascular intensivo para el cirujano no vascular.

INTRODUCCIÓN: En la mayoría de los servicios de emergencia del Perú no se cuenta con un cirujano vascular, teniendo que resolver los problemas vasculares el cirujano general. Es necesario que los cirujanos generales estén entrenados en el manejo vascular, sobre todo de aquellas condiciones que pueden comprometer la vida. OBJETIVO: Compartir los resultados del primer curso de cirugía vascular para el cirujano no vascular y el nivel de satisfacción de los alumnos participantes. MÉTODO: El curso de entrenamiento utilizó cinco modelos de simulación distribuidos en cinco sesiones prácticas. Al final del curso se evaluó a los alumnos usando la escala OSATS (Objetive Structured Assesment of Technical Skills) y se midió el tiempo de anastomosis arterial; adicionalmente se evaluó el nivel de satisfacción del curso. RESULTADOS: Participaron 12 alumnos, de los cuales ocho cumplieron los criterios de inclusión. La edad media fue de 39.9 años. La calificación OSATS fue de 19 (± 2.1). El tiempo de anastomosis fue de 17.6 (± 7.9) minutos. El nivel de satisfacción global de curso fue de 31.05; no hubo diferencias significativas entre la satisfacción de las diferentes sesiones prácticas (p = 0.85). El alfa de Cronbach de la encuesta fue de 0,96 (excelente). CONCLUSIONES: El curso intensivo de entrenamiento vascular combina diferentes escenarios quirúrgicos basados en la simulación. El nivel de satisfacción del curso y la fiabilidad de la encuesta para «percepción de las prácticas de simulación¼ fueron excelentes. INTRODUCTION: In most emergency services in Peru there is no vascular surgeon, the general surgeon having to solve the vascular problems. General surgeons need to be trained in vascular management, especially those life-threatening conditions. OBJECTIVE: To share the results of the first course of vascular surgery for the non-vascular surgeon and the level of satisfaction of the participating students. METHOD: The training course used five simulation models distributed in five practical sessions. At the end of the course, the students were evaluated using the OSATS (Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills) scale and the arterial anastomosis time was measured; Additionally, the level of satisfaction of the course was evaluated. RESULTS: 12 students participated, 8 met the inclusion criteria, the mean age was 39.9 years, the OSATS score was 19 (± 2.1) and the anastomosis time 17.6 (± 7.9) minutes. The level of overall course satisfaction was 31.05, there were no significant differences between the satisfaction of the different practical sessions (p = 0.85). The Cronbach's alpha for the survey was 0.96 (Excellent). CONCLUSIONS: The intensive vascular training course combines different surgical scenarios based on simulation. The level of satisfaction of the course and the reliability of the survey "perception of simulation practices" were excellent.

Latin American Research on Bariatric Surgery: a Bibliometric Study.

We performed a bibliometric analysis of Latin American documents published between 1984 to 2019 in Scopus-indexed journals. A total of 1856 documents were analyzed. The annual scientific production was 64 documents per year, with an annual increase rate of 15.9%. The countries with the highest scientific production on BS were Brazil (64.7%) and Chile (14.5%). Most of the publications were original (76.6%) and review articles (11.9%). The journal with the highest publication record was "Obesity Surgery" (25.8%). The extra-regional collaboration was mainly with the USA. In conclusion, Latin American scientific production on BS has shown a significant increase in recent years. However, more participation is needed, fostering intra-regional collaboration and involving universities and health institutions in BS research.