Insuflación rectal con ozono en infecciones intestinales / Rectal Insufflation with Ozone in Intestinal Infections

Introducción: Las infecciones intestinales se relacionan con trastornos del sistema inmune y de la microbiota intestinal. Pueden ser recurrentes y producir otras alteraciones intestinales y sistémicas, que empeoran con la terapia antimicrobiana. La ozonoterapia ha sido usada en el tratamiento de infecciones intestinales. Objetivos: Recopilar información sobre los efectos biológicos, terapéuticos y la seguridad de la administración del ozono por insuflación rectal en el tratamiento de las infecciones intestinales. Métodos: Para la búsqueda de información se empleó el motor de búsqueda Google Académico. Se consultaron artículos en las bases de datos PubMed y SciELO de la Biblioteca Virtual de Salud. Además, se realizó una búsqueda general en los idiomas español e inglés, a partir de los artículos más relevantes acerca del estudio. Se utilizaron como palabras clave: infecciones, insuflación, microbioma gastrointestinal, ozono como términos más concretos. En el estudio no se aplicó ninguna restricción acerca del ámbito geográfico ni de la edad. Conclusiones: La aplicación rectal de ozono es segura, tiene acciones biológicas y terapéuticas útiles para tratar las infecciones intestinales. Actúa como inmunomodulador y protector de la microbiota intestinal, lo que permite enfrentar esta problemática de salud desde el punto de vista preventivo, curativo y de rehabilitación de los daños causados, tanto por los gérmenes como por los efectos de los antibióticos(AU)

Introduction: Intestinal infections are related to disorders of the immune system and intestinal microbiota. They can be recurrent and produce other intestinal and systemic alterations, which worsen with antimicrobial therapy. Ozone therapy has been used in the treatment of intestinal infections. Objectives: To compile information on the biological, therapeutic effects and safety of the administration of ozone by rectal insufflation in the treatment of intestinal infections. Methods: Google Scholar search engine was used for searching information. Articles were consulted in PubMed and SciELO databases of the Virtual Health Library. In addition, a general search was carried out in Spanish and English, based on the most relevant articles about the study. The keywords used were infections, insufflation, gastrointestinal microbiome, ozone as more specific terms. No restrictions on geographic area or age were applied in the study. Conclusions: The rectal application of ozone is safe, it has useful biological and therapeutic actions to treat intestinal infections, acting as an immunomodulator and protector of the intestinal microbiota, which allows us to face this health problem from a preventive, curative and rehabilitation point of view of the damage caused, both by germs and by the effects of antibiotics(AU)

Ozonoterapia en el dolor crónico osteoarticular

Introducción: El dolor crónico es una de las causas más frecuentes de consulta médica en el mundo, las de causa osteomioarticular son las más frecuentes. Esto genera un gran consumo de medicamentos, muchos de los cuales producen efectos adversos que comprometen la calidad de vida de los pacientes. Objetivos: Obtener información sobre la efectividad de la ozonoterapia en el dolor crónico osteoarticular. Método: Se realizó una revisión bibliográfica de los artículos publicados en los últimos 15 años sobre esta temática. A través del buscador Google Académico, se revisaron documentos de carácter académico como artículos, tesis, libros, patentes, documentos relativos a congresos y resúmenes de diferentes bases de datos, como son Web of Science, MEDLINE, SciELO, pubmed, todas ellas ajustadas al ámbito biomédico. En primer lugar, se realizó una búsqueda general, y en función de lo que se vio que era más relevante con respecto al tema, se realizaron posteriormente nuevas búsquedas con términos más concretos, en los idiomas español e inglés. No se aplicó ninguna restricción de ámbito geográfico, edad, ni campo de investigación. Se encontraron 750 resultados iniciales, de los cuales se seleccionaron un total de 36. Conclusiones: Se concluye que hay artículos sobre la ozonoterapia, que respaldan su uso como una herramienta terapéutica efectiva y económica en el tratamiento del dolor crónico osteomioarticular, con mayor evidencia en el tratamiento del dolor por enfermedades del disco intervertebral.

Introduction: Chronic pain is one of the most frequent causes of medical consultation in the world, those osteoarticular causes are the most frequent. This generates a large consumption of drugs, many of which produce adverse effects that compromise the quality of life of patients. Objectives: To obtain information on the effectiveness of ozone therapy in chronic osteoarticular pain. Method: A bibliographic review of the articles published in the last 15 years on this subject was carried out. Using the Google Scholar search engine, academic documents such as articles, theses, books, patents, conference papers and abstracts from different databases, such as Web of Science, MEDLINE, SciELO, PubMed, all of them adjusted to the biomedical field, were reviewed. First, a general search was carried out, and depending on what was seen to be most relevant to the topic, new searches were subsequently carried out with more specific terms, in Spanish and English. No restriction of geographic scope, age, or field of research was applied. A total of 750 initial results were found, of which a total of 36 were selected. Conclusions: It is concluded that there are articles on ozone therapy, which support its use as an effective and economical therapeutic tool in the treatment of chronic osteoarticular pain, with greater evidence in the treatment of pain due to intervertebral disc disease.

Caracterización de los derrames pleurales y ascíticos mediante la concentración de proteínas, comparación con los criterios actuales / Characterization of pleural and ascites effusions using concentration of their proteins and their comparison with current criteria

Introducción: Los líquidos serosos se clasifican tradicionalmente en exudados/trasudados según la concentración de proteínas y otros criterios que presentan un gran margen de error. Posteriormente se ensayan criterios por separado: en 1972 Light y otros para los líquidos pleurales y en 1992 el criterio de Runyon para los líquidos ascíticos, con sensibilidades respectivas del 98 % y 97 %. Hoy se sigue aplicando el criterio primario con un error hasta del 40 %. Objetivo: Identificar el margen de error en la clasificación de los líquidos pleurales y ascíticos cuando se emplea el criterio clásico (Starling), respecto a los criterios actuales de Light y Runyon utilizando reactivos de producción nacional. Métodos: Se estudiaron 185 muestras de líquidos (121 pleurales y 64 ascíticos) en el periodo de los años 2017-2022 en el Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico Docente Miguel Enríquez de La Habana. Resultados: Se encontraron discordancias en la clasificación de exudados/trasudados de los líquidos empleando los diferentes métodos de diferenciación, importantes en la clínica. Empleando el criterio clásico de las proteínas de Starling, el 9,1 % y el 17,2 % de los derrames pleurales y ascíticos, respectivamente, tuvo errores en su clasificación como exudado o trasudado. Conclusión: El margen de error en la clasificación de los líquidos pleurales y ascíticos osciló entre un 9-17 % cuando se emplea el criterio clásico de las proteínas (Starling), respecto a los criterios actuales de Light y Runyon.

Introduction: Serous fluids are classified as exudates/ transudates based on protein concentration and other criteria that have a large margin of error. Subsequently, criteria were tested separately for pleural fluids in 1972 by Light et al and for ascitic fluids in 1992 the Runyon criteria with respective sensitivities of 98 % for the first and 97 % for the second. Currently, the primary criterion continues to be applied with an error of up to 40 %. Objective: To identify the margin of error in the classification of pleural and ascitic fluids when using the classical criteria (Starling) with respect to the current criteria of Light and Runyon using nationally produced reagents. Methods: 185 fluid samples were studied - 121 pleural and 64 ascitic - in the period 2017/2022 at the Miguel Enriquez Clinical Surgical Teaching Hospital in Havana. Results: Discordances were found in the classification of exudates / transudates of liquids using the different differentiation methods, important in the clinical diagnosis, concluding that using the classic criterion of Starling proteins, 9,1 % and 17,2 % of the pleural and ascitic effusions had errors in their classification as exudate and/or transudate. Conclusion: The margin of error in the classification of pleural and ascitic fluids ranged from 9-17% when the classical criteria of proteins (Starling) is used with respect to the current criteria of Light and Runyon.

Lymphocyte Subsets in Defense Against New Pathogens in Patients with Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Immunity in cancer patients is modified both by the cancer itself and by oncospecific treatments. Whether a patient's adaptive immunity is impaired depends on their levels of naive lymphocytes and other cell populations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer patients are at greater risk of progressing to severe forms of the disease and have higher mortality rates than individuals without cancer, particularly while they are receiving cancer-specific therapies. An individual's protection against infection, their response to vaccines, and even the tests that determine the humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2, depend on lymphocyte populations, meriting their study. OBJECTIVE: Estimate blood concentrations of lymphocytes involved in the immune response to new pathogens in cancer patients. METHODS: We carried out an analytical study of 218 cancer patients; 124 women and 94 men, 26-93 years of age, who were treated at the National Oncology and Radiobiology Institute in Havana, Cuba, March-June, 2020. Patients were divided into five groups: (1) those with controlled disease who were not undergoing cancer-specific treatment; (2) those undergoing debulking surgery; (3) patients undergoing chemotherapy; (4) patients undergoing radiation therapy and (5) patients currently battling infection. We evaluated the following peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations via flow cytometry: B lymphocytes (total, naive, transitional, memory, plasmablasts and plasma cells); T lymphocytes (total, helper, cytotoxic and their respective naive, activated, central memory and effector memory subsets); and total, secretory and cytotoxic natural killer cells and T natural killer cells. We also estimated neutrophil/lymphocyte ratios. Lymphocyte concentrations were associated with controlled disease and standard cancer therapy. For variables that did not fall within a normal distribution, ranges were set by medians and 2.5-97.5 percentiles. The two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test was used to measure the effect of sex and to compare lymphocyte populations. We calculated odds ratios to estimate lymphopenia risk. RESULTS: All cancer patients had lower values of naive helper and cytotoxic T lymphocyte populations, naive B lymphocytes, and natural killer cells than normal reference medians. Naive helper T cells were the most affected subpopulation. Memory B cells, plasmablasts, plasma cells, activated T helper cells, and cytotoxic central memory T cells were increased. Patients undergoing treatment had lower levels of naive lymphocytes than untreated patients, particularly during radiation therapy. The risk of B lymphopenia was higher in patients in treatment. The odds ratio for B lymphopenia was 8.0 in patients who underwent surgery, 12.9 in those undergoing chemotherapy, and 13.9 in patients in radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer and conventional cancer therapies significantly affect peripheral blood B lymphocyte levels, particularly transitional T helper lymphocytes, reducing the immune system's ability to trigger primary immune responses against new antigens.

Caso clínico: Paciente doble heterocigoto para Hemoglobina New York (HB Kaohsiung) y Alfa Talasemia (­α3.7/αα) / Double heterozygous patient for New York Hemoglobin (HB Kaohsiung) and Alpha Thalassemia (­α3.7/αα)

Resumen Se reporta el caso de una paciente adulta, asintomática, sin historial familiar de anemia o enfermedades crónicas, atendida en el Laboratorio Clínico del Área de Salud de Aserrí que acude a control salud por seguimiento a tratamiento de anemia. Se revisa el histórico del expediente médico del propositus, donde se evidencia que el VCM por debajo del límite de referencia normal, hace incurrir al médico tratante en el error de asociar microcitosis con anemia ferropriva. Sin embargo, el Laboratorio Clínico de Aserrí cuenta con un algoritmo de donde se deriva que los índices y la morfología obtenidos en este hemograma son sugestivos de Talasemia, por lo que se envía la muestra al Laboratorio de Estudios Especializados e Investigación del Hospital Nacional de Niños Dr. Carlos Sáenz Herrera para realizar una electroforesis de hemoglobina. En este análisis se detecta una variante de hemoglobina. A nuestro buen saber, no se ha descrito anteriomente un caso de doble heterocigota como el aquí mencionado, por lo que se reporta el primer caso en Costa Rica de un doble heterocigota hemoglobina New York/-3.7 Alfa Talasemia.

Abstract An asymptomatic adult female, with no previous family history of anemia or chronic diseases, goes to consultation at Aserrí ´s Clínic for anemia follow up. A history review of the medical record shows that MCV is below the lower reference range. This MCV value induces the physician to treat the patient for iron deficiency anemia. Using the algorithm of the Clinical Laboratory in Aserrí, such erythrocytic indices are suggestive of Thalassemia. For these reason a blood sample is sent for hemoglobin electrophoresis and molecular analysis at the specialized hematology laboratory at the National Children´s Hospital. A variant hemoglobin is detected. To our knowledge, this is the first case of compound heterozygous for Hemoglobin New York/-3.7 Alfa Thalassemia in Costa Rica.

Technical Note: An alternative approach to verify 6FFF beam dosimetry for Ethos and MR Linac without using a 3D water tank.

PURPOSE: The current approach to Linac beam dosimetry verification is typically performed utilizing a three-dimensional (3D) water tank system. The 3D beam scanning process is cumbersome, labor intensive, error-prone, and costly. This is especially challenging for the new Ethos system and MR Linacs with a ring gantry. This work proposes an alternative approach to verify 6FFF beam dosimetry for Ethos, ViewRay MRIdian® Linac, and other Linacs with 6FFF beam quality using two-dimensional (2D) ion chamber arrays. METHODS: Percentage depth dose (PDD) and profiles of an Ethos, an MRIdian® Linac, and several Linacs with 6FFF beams were measured at the nominal beam current. The beam energy was detuned by changing the bending magnet current on one TrueBeam. PDDs and profiles were measured for detuned beam energies. The peak shape of the 6FFF profile was defined by a "slope" parameter and unflatness. Correlations between peak slope and unflatness metrics vs PDDs were used to evaluate the sensitivity of beam energy to beam profile changes at different field sizes and depths. RESULTS: Strong correlations were found between peak slope and PDDs for all Linacs with 6FFF beam. The R-squared values in the linear regression fitting between PDD and peak slope and unflatness were 0.99 and 0.84, respectively. Both profile slope and unflatness were proportional to PDD at the 10 cm depth and the peak slope was 4.3 times more sensitive than PDD. We have identified that measurements with a shallow depth are preferred to quantify the beam energy consistency. CONCLUSIONS: Our work shows the feasibility of verifying 6FFF beam quality of Ethos, MR Linac, and other Linacs by defining a profile slope measured from 2D ionization chambers array devices. This new approach provides a simplified method for performing a routine beam quality check without using a 3D water tank system while maximizing cost effectiveness and efficiency.

Ozono como método de desinfección del ambiente hospitalario / Ozone a method of disinfection of the environment of hospitals

Resumen Justificación y objetivo: Las infecciones asociadas a la asistencia sanitaria elevan los costos, prolongan la estadía hospitalaria e incrementan la mortalidad, por lo que se hace necesaria la desinfección ambiental como método de disminuir este problema. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar el impacto del uso del ozono para la desinfección ambiental, en áreas de alto riesgo hospitalario. Métodos: Se realizó una intervención para la desinfección de ambiente con el empleo de equipos de ozono en áreas de alto riesgo del Instituto de Neurología y Neurocirugía de Cuba, y se evaluó el resultado mediante las siguientes variables: estado microbiológico ambiental, número de fallecidos en general, por sepsis, y consumo de antibióticos durante enero - junio de 2019. Resultados: De las 12 áreas evaluadas, previo a la aplicación de ozono ambiente, teniendo en cuenta la cantidad de unidades formadoras de colonias por m3, 2 se clasificaron como ambiente no aceptable, 3 como ambiente aceptable, 7 como ambiente limpio. Posterior a la aplicación de ozono, se obtuvo en las 12, resultados correspondientes a ambiente muy limpio. El consumo de antibióticos disminuyó a un tercio en las áreas expuestas evaluadas y se elevó en las no expuestas. Hubo menor número de fallecidos que en similar periodo del año anterior a la intervención. Conclusiones: La desinfección ambiental con ozono en áreas hospitalarias de alto riesgo fue útil para generar ambientes limpios, y favorecer la disminución del consumo de antibióticos, la estadía hospitalaria y la mortalidad por infecciones asociadas a la asistencia sanitaria.

Summary Background and aim: Health care-associated infections raise costs, prolong hospital stays and increase mortality, making environmental disinfection necessary as a method of reducing this problem. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the use of ozone for environmental disinfection in areas of high hospital risk. Methods: An intervention was carried out to disinfect the environment with the use of ozone equipment in high-risk areas of the Cuban Institute of Neurology an Neurosurgery and the result was evaluated using the following variables: environmental microbiological status, number of deaths in general and for sepsis, and consumption of antibiotics from January to June 2019. Results: Of the 12 areas evaluated, prior to the application of ozone, taking into account the number of colony forming units per m3, 2 were classified as unacceptable, 3 as an acceptable environment and 7 as a clean environment . After the ozone application, the results of the 12 areas showed a very clean environment. Antibiotic use decreased to a third in the exposed areas evaluated and rose in the unexposed areas. There were fewer deaths than in a similar period of the year prior to the intervention. Conclusions: Environmental disinfection with ozone in high-risk hospital areas is useful to generate clean environments, and favor the decrease in antibiotic consumption and mortality due to infections associated with healthcare.

Propuesta de asesoramiento genético para leucemia aguda infantil

La leucemia aguda es el cáncer más frecuente de la edad pediátrica. Como toda enfermedad con etiología multifactorial, su manejo integral impone la identificación, evaluación y modificación de factores de riesgos genéticos y ambientales, por lo que se requiere de la adecuada proyección del asesoramiento genético. El objetivo que nos proponemos es presentar una propuesta de asesoramiento genético para pacientes, familiares e individuos con riesgo de leucemia aguda infantil en Pinar del Río que tiene como base un esquema, que pueda utilizarse como guía para asesores, basado en los resultados de estudios epidemiológicos y de interacción genoma-ambiente desarrollados en el territorio, teniendo en cuenta el enfoque preventivo-comunitario. La propuesta tiene en cuenta los componentes prácticos, éticos y psicológicos que sostienen todo proceso de asesoramiento genético. Se fundamenta en los principios básicos de diagnóstico, estimación de riesgo y comunicación y orienta las acciones de prevención primaria, secundaria y terciarias a las particularidades de cada grupo poblacional. Sugiere la necesaria participación de un equipo multidisciplinario y como toda propuesta puede adecuarse a las modificaciones requeridas según las condiciones de cada caso. Finalmente, deja claro la urgente necesidad de incorporar el asesoramiento genético al tratamiento de la leucemia aguda infantil, con el fin de que este sea cada vez más completo e individualizado, lo que contribuye al desarrollo de la medicina personalizada.

Acute leukemia is the most common cancer in childhood. It is a disease with multifactorial etiology and its complete management includes the identification, evaluation and modification of genetic and environmental risk factors. For this reason, is very important a genetic counseling with correct projection. The purpose was to offer a genetic counseling scheme for patients, relatives and other persons with risk of childhood acute leukemia in Pinar del Río province, that has as a base an scheme which can be used as a guide for advisors, based in the results of epidemiologic and interaction genoma-enviroment studies conducted in the territory and taking into account the preventive-community approach. The proposal focus on diagnostic, risk estimation and communication components and it directs the primary, secondary and tertiary actions to the particularities of every population group. It also suggests the necessary participation of multidisciplinary teams and like any proposal it can be adapted to the modifications needed according to the conditions of every case. Finally, the strategy clarifies the urgent need to incorporate the genetic counseling into the managing of the acute infantile leukemia in order that this one will be increasingly complete and individualized, which contributes to the development of personalized medicine.

Synthetic CT reconstruction using a deep spatial pyramid convolutional framework for MR-only breast radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: The superior soft-tissue contrast achieved using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared to x-ray computed tomography (CT) has led to the popularization of MRI-guided radiation therapy (MR-IGRT), especially in recent years with the advent of first and second generation MRI-based therapy delivery systems for MR-IGRT. The expanding use of these systems is driving interest in MRI-only RT workflows in which MRI is the sole imaging modality used for treatment planning and dose calculations. To enable such a workflow, synthetic CT (sCT) data must be generated based on a patient's MRI data so that dose calculations may be performed using the electron density information derived from CT images. In this study, we propose a novel deep spatial pyramid convolutional framework for the MRI-to-CT image-to-image translation task and compare its performance to the well established U-Net architecture in a generative adversarial network (GAN) framework. METHODS: Our proposed framework utilizes atrous convolution in a method named atrous spatial pyramid pooling (ASPP) to significantly reduce the total number of parameters required to describe the model while effectively capturing rich, multi-scale structural information in a manner that is not possible in the conventional framework. The proposed framework consists of a generative model composed of stacked encoders and decoders separated by the ASPP module, where atrous convolution is applied at increasing rates in parallel to encode large-scale features. The performance of the proposed method is compared to that of the conventional GAN framework in terms of the time required to train the model and the image quality of the generated sCT as measured by the root mean square error (RMSE), structural similarity index (SSIM), and peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) depending on the size of the training data set. Dose calculations based on sCT data generated using the proposed architecture are also compared to clinical plans to evaluate the dosimetric accuracy of the method. RESULTS: Significant reductions in training time and improvements in image quality are observed at every training data set size when the proposed framework is adopted instead of the conventional framework. Over 1042 test images, values of 17.7 ± 4.3 HU, 0.9995 ± 0.0003, and 71.7 ± 2.3 are observed for the RMSE, SSIM, and PSNR metrics, respectively. Dose distributions calculated based on sCT data generated using the proposed framework demonstrate passing rates equal to or greater than 98% using the 3D gamma index with a 2%/2 mm criterion. CONCLUSIONS: The deep spatial pyramid convolutional framework proposed here demonstrates improved performance compared to the conventional GAN framework that has been applied to the image-to-image translation task of sCT generation. Adopting the method is a first step toward an MRI-only RT workflow that enables widespread clinical applications for MR-IGRT including online adaptive therapy.

Sticks and bones: Traumatic phaeohyphomycosis presenting as an epidural scalp abscess and cranial osteomyelitis.

The pigmented molds can cause soft tissue and invasive disease (phaeohyphomycosis) in immunocompetent patients. We describe a 76-year-old male patient who developed a Cladophialophora bantiatum posterior scalp abscess and cranial osteomyelitis following an incidental scalp exposure with a tree branch. Management requires extensive surgical debridement followed by prolonged antifungal therapy.

Trending on Pinterest: an examination of pins about skin tanning.

Rates of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers are on the rise in the USA with data revealing disproportionate increase in female young adults. The popularity of intentional skin tanning among U.S. adolescents is attributed to several factors, including prioritization of physical appearance, media images of tanned celebrities, ease of availability of artificial tanning facilities, and more recently, the prevalence and celebration of tanned skin on social media. Pinterest, as the third most popular social media platform, was searched for "pins" about skin tanning. The resultant "pins" were examined to understand the extent and characteristics of skin tanning portrayed on Pinterest. We analyzed pins on Pinterest about skin tanning (n = 501) through a quantitative content analysis. Overall, results indicated an overwhelmingly protanning characteristic of pins about skin tanning on Pinterest, with over 85% of pins promoting tanning behavior. The pins were generally characterized by the portrayal of a female subject (61%) and provided positive reinforcement for tanning (49%). Use of tanning for enhancing appearance was the main positive outcome expectancy portrayed in the pins (35%), and nudity or exposure of skin on arms (32%) and legs (31%) was evident in about a third of pins. With overwhelmingly positive pins promoting tanning, use of female subjects, exhibiting nudity, and appearance enhancement, there seems be to a consistent targeting of female users to accept tanning as a socially acceptable and popular behavior. The findings indicate a need for developing sun protection messages and the leveraging of social media for dissemination of skin cancer prevention and detection messages.

Resultados del Programa de Alfafetoproteína en suero materno, municipio Pinar del Río, 2008 - 2012 / Results of the program Alpha-Fetoprotein in Maternal Serum, Pinar del Río municipality, 2008 - 2012

RESUMEN Introducción: con la determinación de la alfafetoproteína en suero materno, el programa tiene el propósito de diagnosticar defectos del tubo neural y otros defectos abiertos que constituyen las malformaciones congénitas más frecuentes en muchos países y en cuba lo que hace necesario conocer los resultados del mismo para trazar estrategias de trabajo que mejoren indicadores de salud, así como la eficiencia de este. Objetivo: evaluar el programa de pesquisaje de alfafetoproteína en suero materno en el municipio Pinar del Río en el periodo de 2008 al 2012. Método: un estudio observacional descriptivo y retrospectivo, con un universo de 10 007 gestantes captadas en el servicio de genética municipal. Se estudiaron variables como cobertura, positividad del estudio, valor predictivo positivo Resultados: el 98,6 % de las gestantes captadas se realizó el estudio, el índice de positividad en el 2008 fue de 8,95 %. La amenaza de aborto en un 27 % fue la causa de mayor relación con niveles elevados de alfa-fetoproteína, el 9,09 % de valor predictivo positivo se alcanzó en el 2012; el total de mujeres diagnosticadas con defectos decidió terminar con el embarazo; 62,4 % de los defectos fueron del cierre del tubo neural y de la pared anterior Conclusiones: la cuantificación de alfafetoproteína en suero materno constituye una herramienta eficaz en el diagnóstico prenatal de defectos congénitos; se logra influir en la disminución de la mortalidad infantil con la interrupción de la gestación en aquellos fetos con defectos congénitos graves

ABSTRACT Introduction: with the screening of alpha-fetoprotein levels in maternal serum, the program has the purpose to diagnose neural tube defects and other open defects that constitute the most frequent congenital malformations in many countries and in Cuba, which makes it necessary to know its results aimed at suggesting strategies to improve health indicators, as well as its efficiency. Objective: to evaluate the alpha-fetoprotein screening program in maternal serum in Pinar del Río municipality from 2008 to 2012. Method: a descriptive and retrospective-observational study that included 10 007 pregnant women who attended the municipal genetics service was conducted. Variables such as coverage, study of positivity and positive predictive values were included. Results: 98,6 % of pregnant women underwent the study; the positivity index in 2008 was 8,95 %. The threat of abortion in 27 % was the cause of greater relation with high levels of alpha-fetoprotein, 9,09 % of positive predictive value was reached in 2012; the total of women diagnosed having fetuses with congenital defects decided to end pregnancy; 62,4 % of the congenital defects were in the closure of the neural tube and the anterior wall. Conclusions: the maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein quantification is an effective tool in the prenatal diagnosis of congenital defects; it is possible to influence the decrease in infant mortality with the interruption of gestation of fetuses with serious congenital defects.

Corrigendum to 'Cave Diving for a Diagnosis: Disseminated Histoplasmosis in the Immunocompromised' [IDCases 12 (2018) 92-94].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.idcr.2018.03.020.].