[Persistent elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) due to the presence of macro-AST: Report of one case]. / Aumento aislado y sostenido de aspartato aminotransferasa por presencia de macroenzimas: Caso clínico.

We report an asymptomatic 23-year-old woman with an isolated and persistent increase in serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST). An extensive work up including laboratory and image testing revealed no abnormalities thus suggesting the presence of macro-AST. A polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation assay was performed and confirmed the presence of macro-AST.

[Evaluation of an automated streaking system of urine samples for urine cultures]. / Evaluación de un sistema automatizado de siembra de orinas para urocultivos.

INTRODUCTION: Automated systems have simplified laboratory workflow, improved standardization, traceability and diminished human errors and workload. Although microbiology laboratories have little automation, in recent years new tools for automating pre analytical steps have appeared. OBJECTIVES: To assess the performance of an automated streaking machine for urine cultures and its agreement with the conventional manual plating method for semi quantitative colony counts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 495 urine samples for urinary culture were inoculated in CPS® agar using our standard protocol and the PREVI™ Isola. Rates of positivity, negativity, polymicrobial growth, bacterial species, colony counts and re-isolation requirements were compared. RESULTS: Agreement was achieved in 98.97% of the positive/negative results, in 99.39% of the polymicrobial growth, 99.76% of bacterial species isolated and in 98.56 % of colony counts. The need for re-isolation of colonies decreased from 12.1% to 1.1% using the automated system. DISCUSSION: PREVI™ Isola's performance was as expected, time saving and improving bacterial isolation. It represents a helpful tool for laboratory automation.

Surveillance Web System and Mouthwash-Saliva qPCR for Labor Ambulatory SARS-CoV-2 Detection and Prevention.

This study provides a safe and low-cost in-house protocol for RT-qPCR-based detection of SARS-CoV-2 using mouthwash-saliva self-collected specimens to achieve clinical and epidemiological surveillance in a real-time web environment applied to ambulatory populations. The in-house protocol comprises a mouthwash-saliva self-collected specimen, heat virus inactivation, and primers to target virus N-gene region and the human RPP30-gene. Aligning with 209 SARS-CoV-2 sequences confirmed specificity including the Alpha variant from the UK. Development, validation, and statistical comparison with official nasopharyngeal swabbing RT-qPCR test were conducted with 115 specimens of ambulatory volunteers. A web-mobile application platform was developed to integrate a real-time epidemiological and clinical core baseline database with mouthwash-saliva RT-qPCR testing. Nine built-in algorithms were generated for decision-making on testing, confining, monitoring, and self-reports to family, social, and work environments. Epidemiological and clinical follow-up and SARS-CoV-2 testing generated a database of 37,351 entries allowing individual decision-making for prevention. Mouthwash-saliva had higher sensitivity than nasopharyngeal swabbing in detecting asymptomatic and mild symptomatic cases with 720 viral copy number (VCN)/mL as the detection limit (Ct = 37.6). Cycling threshold and viral loading were marginally different (p = 0.057) between asymptomatic (35 Ct ± 2.8; 21,767.7 VCN/mL, range 720-77,278) and symptomatic (31.3 Ct ± 4.5; 747,294.3 VCN/mL, range 1433.6-3.08 × 106). We provided proof-of-concept evidence of effective surveillance to target asymptomatic and moderate symptomatic ambulatory individuals based on integrating a bio-safety level II laboratory, self-collected, low-risk, low-cost detection protocol, and a real-time digital monitoring system. Mouthwash-saliva was effective for SARS-CoV-2 sampling for the first time at the community level.

Impacto de la anestesia intravenosa en cirugía robótica para paciente de alto riesgo sometido a cirugía oncológica de larga duración en el Centro Médico Naval / Impact of intravenous anesthesia in robotic surgery for high-risk patient undergoing long-term oncologic surgery at the Naval Medical Center

Resumen: La práctica de cirugía robótica es un proceso complejo que implica desarrollo y tecnología no sólo en el campo de la cirugía, sino también en el campo de la anestesiología. Implica un proceso multifactorial, ya que ha generado un cambio drástico multidisciplinario basado en tecnología de punta que pretende ofrecer mejores condiciones durante el manejo perioperatorio en cirugía robótica. La anestesia total intravenosa cumple objetivos específicos en relación a la posición del paciente, relajación cerebral, neuroprotección, hemodinamia, pérdida y recuperación de la conciencia, parálisis neuromuscular, parámetros ventilatorios, etc. Ofrece seguridad y calidad al paciente durante el procedimiento con una mínima interferencia con el monitoreo electrofisiológico y permite modular la profundidad anestésica desde una neurosedación hasta una anestesia general, de acuerdo a las diferentes etapas de la cirugía. Un factor atribuible a la anestesia moderna para el éxito de la cirugía robótica es usar diferentes agentes anestésicos que promuevan inducción, mantenimiento y emersión anestésica más rápida y suave, a fin de reducir el tiempo de recuperación del estado de conciencia, funciones básicas y psicomotoras como la anestesia general multimodal.

Abstract: The practice of robotic surgery is a complex process, involving development and technology; not only in the surgery field but also in the anesthesiology field. It implies a multifactorial process since it has generated a drastic multidisciplinary change based on state-of-the-art technology; which aims to offer better conditions during perioperative management in robotic surgery. Intravenous Total Anesthesia accomplishes specific objectives in relation to patient position, brain relaxation, neuroprotection, hemodynamics, loss and recovery of consciousness, neuromuscular paralysis, ventilatory parameters, providing safety and quality during the procedure; with minimal intervention during electrophysiological monitoring and enabling anesthetic depth to be modulated from neurosedation to general anesthesia, according to the different stages of the surgery. A factor attributable to modern anesthesia for robotic surgery success is to employ different anesthetic agents promoting induction, maintenance of general anesthesia, smother and faster anesthetic emersion, for the purpose of reducing recovery time of the state of consciousness), basic and psychomotor functions; as is the general multimodal anesthesia.

Aumento aislado y sostenido de aspartato aminotransferasa por presencia de macroenzimas: caso clínico / Persistent elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) due to the presence of macro-AST: report of one case

We report an asymptomatic 23-year-old woman with an isolated and persistent increase in serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST). An extensive work up including laboratory and image testing revealed no abnormalities thus suggesting the presence of macro-AST. A polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation assay was performed and confirmed the presence of macro-AST.

Evaluación de un sistema automatizado de siembra de orinas para urocultivos / Evaluation of an automated streaking system of urine samples for urine cultures

Introduction: Automated systems have simplified laboratory workflow, improved standardization, traceability and diminished human errors and workload. Although microbiology laboratories have little automation, in recent years new tools for automating pre analytical steps have appeared. Objectives: To assess the performance of an automated streaking machine for urine cultures and its agreement with the conventional manual plating method for semi quantitative colony counts. Materials and Methods: 495 urine samples for urinary culture were inoculated in CPS® agar using our standard protocol and the PREVI™ Isola. Rates of positivity, negativity, polymicrobial growth, bacterial species, colony counts and re-isolation requirements were compared. Results: Agreement was achieved in 98.97% of the positive/negative results, in 99.39% of the polymicrobial growth, 99.76% of bacterial species isolated and in 98.56 % of colony counts. The need for re-isolation of colonies decreased from 12.1% to 1.1% using the automated system. Discussion: PREVI™ Isola's performance was as expected, time saving and improving bacterial isolation. It represents a helpful tool for laboratory automation.

Introducción: Los sistemas automatizados han facilitado el flujo de trabajo, mejorado la estandarización, la trazabilidad, disminuido el error humano y la carga de trabajo en los laboratorios. A pesar de que la microbiología ha permanecido poco automatizada, en los últimos años han aparecido nuevas herramientas para la automatización de la etapa pre analítica. Objetivos: Evaluar el desempeño de un sistema automatizado de siembra de urocultivos y la concordancia con la siembra manual convencional en el recuento semicuantitativo de colonias. Materiales y Métodos: 495 muestras de orinas fueron sembradas según nuestro protocolo habitual y comparadas con las placas de CPS® obtenidas con PREVI™ Isola en cuanto a positividad/negatividad, muestras polimicrobianas, especies de bacterias aisladas, recuentos y necesidad de resembrar. Resultados: Hubo concordancia en 98,97% de los positivos y negativos, en 99,39% de las muestras polimicrobianas, en 99,76% de las especies aisladas y en 98,56% de los recuentos. La necesidad de resiembra disminuyo de 12,1% a un 1,1% usando este sistema automatizado. Discusión: El desempeño de PREVI™ Isola fue el esperado, mejorando el aislamiento bacteriano y el tiempo requerido y representa una buena herramienta para la automatización de laboratorios.