Neonatal and Infant Reference Intervals for FSH, LH, Testosterone, Estradiol, Cortisol and DHEA-S by Electrochemiluminescence in Argentina.

BACKGROUND: Gonadotropin and steroid concentrations obtained in various laboratories cannot often be compared because of methodological differences. AIMS: to determine reference intervals for FSH, LH, T, E2, F and DHEA-S according to age and sex during the first year of life. METHODS: 1236 healthy infants (1-365 days of age) were recruited at Hospital de Niños in Córdoba, Argentina. Serum samples were analyzed using electrochemiluminescence, Cobas e601 analyzer. Reference Intervals and their confidence limits were estimated. RESULTS: Female FSH levels were higher than in males. LH and T levels were higher in males. E2 levels showed a difference between sexes after 60 days of age. F levels showed a wide variation, without differences between sexes. DHEA-S levels were higher at birth and decreased during the first year. CONCLUSION: These reference intervals may help to increase the diagnostic power for the assessment of endocrine disorders during the first year of life.

EuroFlow Lymphoid Screening Tube (LST) data base for automated identification of blood lymphocyte subsets.

In recent years the volume and complexity of flow cytometry data has increased substantially. This has led to a greater number of identifiable cell populations in a single measurement. Consequently, new gating strategies and new approaches for cell population definition are required. Here we describe how the EuroFlow Lymphoid Screening Tube (LST) reference data base for peripheral blood (PB) samples was designed, constructed and validated for automated gating of the distinct lymphoid (and myeloid) subsets in PB of patients with chronic lymphoproliferative disorders (CLPD). A total of 46 healthy/reactive PB samples which fulfilled pre-defined technical requirements, were used to construct the LST-PB reference data base. In addition, another set of 92 PB samples (corresponding to 10 healthy subjects, 51 B-cell CLPD and 31 T/NK-cell CLPD patients), were used to validate the automated gating and cell-population labeling tools with the Infinicyt software. An overall high performance of the LST-PB data base was observed with a median percentage of alarmed cellular events of 0.8% in 10 healthy donor samples and of 44.4% in CLPD data files containing 49.8% (range: 1.3-96%) tumor cells. The higher percent of alarmed cellular events in every CLPD sample was due to aberrant phenotypes (75.6% cases) and/or to abnormally increased cell counts (86.6% samples). All 18 (22%) data files that only displayed numerical alterations, corresponded to T/NK-cell CLPD cases which showed a lower incidence of aberrant phenotypes (41%) vs B-cell CLPD cases (100%). Comparison between automated vs expert-bases manual classification of normal (r2 = 0.96) and tumor cell populations (rho = 0.99) showed a high degree of correlation. In summary, our results show that automated gating of cell populations based on the EuroFlow LST-PB data base provides an innovative, reliable and reproducible tool for fast and simplified identification of normal vs pathological B and T/NK lymphocytes in PB of CLPD patients.

Presentación de un paciente con cromomicosis / Presentation of a Patient with Chromomycosis

La cromomicosis es una micosis subcutánea o profunda, de curso crónico, causada por un grupo de hongos, se caracteriza por la formación de nódulos cutáneos verrucosos, localizados comúnmente en miembros inferiores, de evolución crónica y difícil curación total. Se presentó un paciente de 34 años de edad, que hace cinco años le salieron placas (de tres a cuatro) dispuestas de forma lineal, aspecto papuloverrucoso en dorso del brazo izquierdo. Se indicó examen micológico, donde se informó la presencia Fonsecaea pedrosoi, para lo cual recibió tratamiento con fluconazol; por elevación de las transaminasas se interrumpió el tratamiento, luego se aplicó crioterapia y por último recibió tratamiento quirúrgico.

Chromomycosis is a subcutaneous or deep mycosis of chronic course, caused by a group of fungi; it is characterized by the formation of coetaneous verrucous nodules, commonly located in lower limbs, of chronic evolution and total difficult cure. A 34- year-old patient that 5 years ago presented plaques (three-four) of lineal form, papulo verrucous in dorsum of the left arm, mycosis exam was indicated, and the diagnosis of Fonsecaea pedrosoiwas confirmed, treatment with fluconazol was given that was interrupted due to transaminase increase, thus cryotherapy was given and later surgical treatment.

Caracterización clínico epidemiológica de las dermatosis precancerosas / Epidemiological Clinical Characterization of Precancerous Dermatoses

Introducción: el concepto de precancerosis denomina los procesos morbosos que después de un tiempo más o menos largo se transforman de forma segura o probable en un tumor maligno. Objetivo: determinar el comportamiento de algunas variables clínico-epidemiológicas en pacientes con diagnóstico de lesiones precancerosas. Métodos: se realizó estudio descriptivo transversal en pacientes con dermatosis precancerosas atendidos en el periodo 2010-2011 en la Consulta de Dermatología del Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico Lucía Íñiguez Landín de Holguín. El universo estuvo constituido por los 3 584 pacientes remitidos a la consulta desde las áreas de salud de la provincia Holguín con diagnóstico clínico de lesiones precancerosas. La muestra se conformó con 721 pacientes mayores de 20 años que dieron su consentimiento informado; se excluyeron pacientes con diagnóstico de precancerosis obligadas. Los factores de riesgo estudiados fueron exposición solar, hábito de fumar, piel actínica, fotoenvejecimiento y dermatosis asociadas. Resultados: las dermatosis precancerosas predominantes fueron la queratosis actínica (41,7%) y la atrofia senil (44,9%). Las áreas fotoexpuestas fueron las localizaciones más frecuentes. Las enfermedades asociadas más frecuente fueron otras dermatosis y enfermedades crónicas no trasmisibles. Se distinguieron entre los factores de riesgo la exposición solar (70,3%), la piel actínica (41,3%) y el fotoenvejecimiento (38,6%). Conclusiones: los tipos de dermatosis más frecuentes encontradas fueron la atrofia senil y la queratosis actínica; así como los fototipos I y II de la piel, asociada con factores de riesgo como la exposición prolongada al sol, la piel actínica y el fotoenvejecimiento.

Introduction: the concept of precancerosis included the disease processes that after a longer or shorter period could probably become in a malignancy Objective: to determine the behavior of some clinical and epidemiological variables in patients with precancerous lesions. Methods: a cross-sectional descriptive study of patients with precancerous dermatoses treated from January 2010 to December 2011 in the Dermatology Consultation of Lucia Iñiguez Landin Surgical Hospital of Holguin was carried out. The universe comprised 3 584 patients referred for consultation from health areas of Holguín province with a clinical diagnosis of precancerous lesions. The sample consisted of 721 patients older than 20 years who gave informed consent; patients with a diagnosis of required precancerosis were excluded. The risk factors studied were sun exposure, smoking, actinic skin, photo aging and associated dermatoses. Results: the predominant precancerous dermatoses were actinic keratosis (41.7%) and senile atrophy (44.9%). The exposed areas were the most frequent. The most frequent associated diseases were other dermatoses and non-communicable chronic diseases. The outstanding risk factors were sun exposure (70.3%), actinic skin (41.3%) and photo aging (38.6%). Conclusions: the most common types of skin diseases found were senile atrophy and actinic keratosis as well as the types I and II of the skin, associated with the following risk factors: prolonged sun exposure, actinic skin and photo aging.

Relación demanda-oferta de enfermería en sectores de internación / Relation demand-supply of nursing in hospitalization areas

En esta investigación exploratoria, los autores pretenden aplicar una metodología de análisis de datos que permita obtener información respecto de las características de la demanda y la oferta de atención de enfermería en servicios de internación de dependencia pública y privada. Se utilizan para ello indicadores que permiten ver la utilización y el rendimiento de las camas, la complejidad de los usuarios, las actividades de enfermería en términos de tiempo de atención, así como la cuanticalificación de la oferta mediante la disponibilidad y el nivel de formación del personal. La importancia de este estudio es que problematiza la relación oferta/demanda en términos de situaciones de compensación y descompesación de la misma

Rendimiento académico de los alumnos en la asignatura "Administración en enfermería comunitaria y hospitalaria" de la carrera Licenciatura en Enfermería / Academic performance of nursing students in the subjet \"Administration in community and hospital nursing\" of the Master in nursing

Los autores evalúan el rendimiento académico de alumnos de la Licenciatura en Enfermería de la Cátedra de Administración de Enfermería Comunitaria y Hospitalaria en función de: el lugar del dictado, la experiencia académica anterior, la continuidad de los hábitos de estudio y la experiencia laboral del alumno