[Influence of systemic corticosteroid administration in the prognosis of patients with community-acquired pneumonia]. / Influencia de la administración de corticoides sistémicos en el pronóstico de los pacientes con neumonía adquirida en la comunidad.

INTRODUCTION: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common and potentially serious disease. In recent years, control of the inflammatory response has begun to be taken into account as a new therapeutic target. This study has aimed to analyze the influence of the administration of systemic corticosteroids on mortality of patients admitted with CAP in the common clinical practice. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective observational study was carried out. The study included patients with CAP admitted to Internal Medicine and Pulmonology services of a tertiary hospital in 2007. Treatment given during admission was recorded and mortality during hospitalization and at 30 and 90 days after discharge was determined. RESULTS: A total of 257 patients, 179 men (69.6%) and 78 women (30.4%) were analyzed. Mean age was 72±15 years. Both in-hospital mortality as well as at 30 days of discharge was 10.2%, while overall mortality at 90 days was 14.8%. No relation was found between the use of corticosteroids and mortality. Use of corticosteroids also did not modify the length of hospital stay or readmission rate. CONCLUSIONS: It was observed in this study that treatment with corticosteroids in CAP is not associated with lower mortality and does not affect the rate of readmissions. It also does not change the length of hospital stay.

[Mantle cell lymphoma]. / Linfoma del manto.

Mantle cell lymphoma accounts for approximately 7% of adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas. It is a neoplasm of monomorphous small to medium-sized B cells with irregular nuclei. The tumor cells express strong IgM and IgD, and B-cell-associated antigens. Nuclear cyclin D1 protein is present in all cases and is the gold standard for the diagnosis. The t(11;14) (q13;q32) in the majority of the cases results in rearrangement of the BCL-1 locus and overexpression of the cyclin D1 gene. Most patients present with disseminated disease. Mantle cell lymphoma is an incurable neoplasm, but it may be treated with different chemotherapy regimen (R-Hyper-CVAD, R-CHOP, bortezomib) and young patients should be considered for high-dose therapy and autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

[Management of cancer pain]. / Manejo del dolor oncológico.

Pain is a very frequent problem in patients with cancer, with a prevalence of 90% in advanced disease. The management of cancer pain is complex, and a multidimensional approach is necessary for its optimal treatment. Three types of pain have been described based on the neurophysiology of pain pathways (somatic, visceral and neuropathic pain). Numerous guidelines for the management of cancer pain have been issued by various organizations and researchers. The WHO guideline is the most used in the management of pain cancer. The opioids analgesics, of which morphine is the prototype, are the most important drugs in the treatment of cancer pain. Adjuvant drugs are used in the treatment of cancer pain, in order to enhance opioid analgesia, and provide analgesia for certain specific types of pain (neuropathic pain, and bone pain).

[Waldemström s macroglobulinemia]. / Macroglobulinemia de Waldenström.

Waldenström s macroglobulinemia is an uncommon B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by bone marrow infiltration of luymphoplasmatic lymphoma, although sometimes there is a extramedullary lymphoma (nodal), with demonstration of an IgM monoclonal gammopathy. It must be distinguished from monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and IgM- related disorders. The median survival of patients with Waldenström s macroglobulinemia averages 5 years. Asymptomatic cases should not be treated. Symtomatic cases could be treated with alkylating agents, nucleoside analogues (fludarabine or cladribine), and the monoclonal antibody rituximab. For the management of hyperviscosity and neuropathies plasmapheresis could be used successfully.

[What is the opinion of Spanish internists on osteoporosis?]. / 'Qué opinan los internistas españoles de la osteoporosis?

OBJECTIVE: To conduct an opinion survey on osteoporosis in Spanish internists. METHOD: Survey sent by mail and by personal visit to members of the Spanish Internists Society. Collection of data on opinion on the disease, diagnostic and therapeutic attitude and means available (general laboratory analyses, conventional radiology, biochemical markers of bone remodeling, densitometry and ultrasounds) and preference when choosing a certain treatment. RESULTS: A total of 538 internists answered. More than 90% of those surveyed consider that osteoporosis is a disease that should be treated by internists. A total of 93% consider that osteoporosis is a prevalent disease. More than 80% have access to densitometry. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of Spanish internists consider that osteoporosis is a disease that should be treated by internists and that it is a disease that enters into their action scope. In general, they have the means necessary for its study and treatment. Bisphosphonates constitute the drug of choice and calcium and vitamin D supplements are indicated in almost all the cases.

[Histiocytic sarcoma: a case report and review of the literature]. / Sarcoma histiocítico: caso clínico y revisión de la literatura.

Histiocytic sarcoma is a rare neoplasm, and its aetiology is unknown. It is a malignant proliferation of neoplastic cells showing immunophenotypic and morphologic features similar to tissue histiocytes. The clinical course of histiocytic sarcoma is usually agressive. The signs and symptoms of histiocytic sarcoma are systemic symptoms (fever, weight loss), hepatosplenomegaly, adenopathies, intestinal obstruction, rash and pancytopenia. We present the case of a 75 years old woman, with fever, weight loss, anorexia, fatigue, splenomegaly and pancytopenia. Bone marrow examination showed the diagnosis of histiocytic sarcoma.

[Satellite manifestations of internal diseases]. / Manifestaciones satélites de las enfermedades internas.

AIMS: Define the concept of satellite manifestations (SM) and to determine the number and types of them that appear in the diseases of each one of the subspecialties of the Internal Medicine. METHODS: 290 diseases are reviewed in agreements of Internal Medicine and specialties books and in each one are described the types of SM that they present. RESULTS: The respiratory diseases are the group that more SM presents and the less one the neurological. The most frequent type of SM are dermatological. The diseases that have more variety of types of SM are the endocrinologicals. Analyzing the percentages of every type of SM in relation with the number of diseases of every group, the highest are the dermatological SM in cardiac diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The SM are a very frequent phenomenon in the current medical practice and express the holistic character of the disease. His knowledge is indispensable in the internal medicine and subspecialties, where they can suppose a help in the diagnoses, though a bad knowledge of his reality can mean the opposite.

[Neoplasms of unknown primary site]. / Neoplasias de origen desconocido.

Neoplasms of unknown primary site are tumor diseases, which are diagnosed by the pathologic studies of one of their metastases. The treatment of neoplasms of unknown primary site is not totally established, except in a few situations with specific therapeutical implications, and a better prognosis. The usual treatment of neoplasms of unknown primary site is the empirical chemotherapy with taxanes (paclitaxel or docetaxel) and platines (cisplatin or carboplatin)-based regimens, with different results in the trials.

[Psoas muscle abscess by Streptococcus agalactiae as a of presentation of fever of unknown origin]. / Absceso del músculo psoas-ilíaco por Streptococcus agalactiae como forma de presentación de fiebre de origen desconocido.

We present the case of a patient with precedents of endometrial carcinoma treated by surgery and radiotherapy, which presented a psoas abscess by Streptococcus agalactiae as cause of fever of unknown origin, which answered favorably to the antibiotherapy and surgical drainage.

[Technical project for the management and functioning of an Internal Medicine care unit]. / Proyecto técnico de gestión y funcionamiento de la unidad asistencial de Medicina Interna.

The Internal Medicine Services have a central role in the medical care in our hospital system both as to the volume of patients attended and their variety, reflecting of the preparation and multi-tasking ability of their professionals. The current norms for coverage of heads-of-service demands the presentation of a management project that must test our knowledge, skills and aptitudes for the clinical and medical management and in order to reflect them in a document of commitment with the management and with our fellows who are a part of the care unit. The person in charge of the service, as boss, agent or leader, is the one who must mark the strategic lines, to indicate the aims, to define the projects, to coordinate the tasks and to evaluate the results with other offers to obtain agreed-upon aims controlling the different points of view. Our professional and social commitment is: sharing clinical management with ethics, quality and welfare safety, to offer our patients (consumer or users) the best results (effectiveness), with useful measurements (efficacy) and with the minors drawbacks and costs (efficiency). The aim of this work is to offer the elements that are necessary for the accomplishment and introduction of a project of clinical management in a service of internal medicine, highlighting its methodology and the most important problems than can arise as well as the possible care alternatives.

[Case finding of iron overload in a university hospital]. / Búsqueda activa de casos de sobrecarga de hierro en un hospital universitario.

BACKGROUND: The epidemiologic importance of iron overload disorders and the clinical lack of its diagnosis led us to an active search of cases among the hospitalized patients in a general university hospital. This situation will make it possible to have a larger and earlier number of diagnosis together with a preventive intervention and an effective treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A transverse study was performed on patients admitted to a fifteen beds ward in the internal medicine department. They have all been applied, without exclusion criteria, the iron metabolism parameters survey. The transferrin saturation (TS), due to its sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value, has been considered appropriate for the phenotypic screening of the iron overload disorders. Subjects with fasting TS of 45% or more were considered as risk population. RESULTS: The study comprised 117 patients with an average age of 69.9 +/- 15.04. The high-risk population rate was 13.8% with an average age of 60.8 +/- 20.17, as compared to the low-risk population with an average age of 71.3 +/- 13.7 (p < 0.05). The most outstanding illnesses associated to the high-risk population are chronic hepatitis and diabetes mellitus (31.25%). An 18.7% of the cases show undernourishment. CONCLUSIONS: The iron overload is a prevalent illness whose early diagnosis requires a high clinical suspicion. The active search among the hospitalized patients, who have been made a TS, benefits the new cases detection. The TS is a screening technique with a high diagnostic profitability if you evaluate correctly the false positives. For that reason, we think the TS has to be included within the analytic requests which patients are made when admitted to hospital.

[Osteoporosis in patients admitted to an internal medicine service of a university general hospital]. / Osteoporosis en pacientes ingresados en un servicio de medicina interna de un hospital de tercer nivel.

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the incidence of osteoporosis and epidemiological factors in patients admitted to an Internal Medicine Service of a University General Hospital in Madrid, Spain. We also took into account the reasons for admission, associated diseases, and the preventive and therapeutic diagnostic implications. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The analytical, descriptive, retrospective and transversal study of one hundred patients over fifty years of age admitted to an internal medicine service during 1997, obtaining in addition to the clinical discharge report, epidemiological data with regard to the radiological diagnosis of osteoporosis, the reason for admission, past history, the prevention and treatment of the initial complaint as well as the osteoporosis previous diagnosis. RESULTS: 26% of those patients included in the survey had radiologic criteria of osteoporosis although only in 1 per cent of them had osteoporosis been diagnosed previously. The main risk factors, apart from the age and sex, are the associated illnesses which cause malnutrition and immobilization, and the use of drugs, especially heparin. CONCLUSIONS: Osteoporosis is a condition common in patients above 50 especially women, who are admitted to an Internal Medicine Service. A quarter of those patients admitted have osteoporosis. Very few are diagnosed and treated. In this group of patients apart from the habitual risk factors, are added those for the associated disease generally chronic, and the treatment they receive. During their stay in the hospital osteoporotic patients are three times more likely to receive heparin and other drugs which aggravate osteoporotic, than non osteoporotic patients. For that reason the risk of fractures is greater and the need for prospective diagnostic studies is even more necessary in this group of patients.