Medical residents' mental distress in the COVID-19 pandemic: An urgent need for mental health care.

PURPOSE: Medical residents' mental health is currently an issue of concern for medical educators worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the greatest concerns given the psychological effects of this scenario on medical residents on the frontlines of the pandemic. To assess the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on physicians in residency training, the collective symptoms of burnout, depression and anxiety are used to identify the residents' beliefs and clinical practices related to COVID-19 patients and their behaviors concerning disease prevention. METHOD: This observational study involved 3071 medical residents from all regions of Brazil. An online questionnaire assessed the presence of burnout using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, depressive symptoms using the Patient Health Questionaire-9, anxiety symptoms using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and COVID-19 Impact Questions to assess the residents' beliefs and clinical practices related to COVID-19 patients. Exploratory analyses, logistic regression and multinomial regression analysis were performed in this investigation. RESULTS: Moderate and severe depressive symptoms were the most common (67.7%) followed by anxiety symptoms (52.8%) and burnout (48.6%). The difference between residents with or without contact with COVID-19 patients was significant increased when analyzing different aspects of clinical practice, behavior, substance use and mental health. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest an increase in depression and anxiety symptoms among medical residents dealing with COVID-19, upstaging previous concerns about medical residents' mental health. The prevalence of burnout is similar to that of a nonpandemic scenario. Considering the severity of the pandemic scenario and the overburden of healthcare services, medical residents' mental health deserves special care.

Traumatic carotid-cavernous fistula at the anterior ascending segment of the internal carotid artery in a pediatric patient.

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF) in children is a rare condition. Early diagnosis and treatment is still a challenge, and it is associated with good neurological recovery. CASE SUMMARY: We present a rare case of a 10-year-old boy with mild head trauma, who developed a CCF at the anterior segment of the ascending internal carotid artery. The patient was treated with endovascular coil embolization and evolved with a favorable outcome. DISCUSSION: Most of reports in the literature address the traumatic CCF in adult patients, in which early treatment may prevent poor recovery or fatal outcomes. The diagnosis and management of this condition are discussed based on a literature review. CONCLUSION: It is important to keep a high degree of suspicion for CCF, especially in traumatic head injury associated with skull base fracture, since the early diagnosis and treatment may prevent potentially permanent neurological deficits.

Psychosurgery for schizophrenia: history and perspectives.

Following the early studies of Moniz and Lima, psychosurgery had considerable scientific credibility until the advent of modern antipsychotics in the mid 1950s. Thereafter, psychosurgery was almost abandoned in large medical centers as a common treatment for schizophrenia, although is still used for some affective and anxiety disorders. We reviewed relevant papers cited in the Medline/Index Medicus, Cochrane, and Scielo databases from 1930 to 2012. In our review of the literature, we show from recent studies that there are still many patients with schizophrenia who have serious deficits even after being treated with current noninvasive therapies. The value of psychosurgery remains controversial. There are no data available to support the use of stereotactic procedures for schizophrenia. Well designed controlled trials are needed to establish the effectiveness of psychosurgery in patients with schizophrenia.

The prognosis of the traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage: a prospective report of 121 patients.

Recent investigations have shown the significance of subarachnoid bleeding on computed tomography scans first taken after admission for head injuries. In our study, we describe a prospective follow-up of 121 patients with traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (tSAH). From January 2004 to January 2007 we collected data prospectively from 121 patients admitted with diagnosis of tSAH to our trauma intensive care unit, on the basis of admission with a computed tomography scan. The classification of tSAH was performed using the Fisher scale with modification, and the follow-up was performed using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). The minimum period for a follow-up was established 6 months after the injury. Traffic accident was the main cause of head injuries (72% in total; 48% involving cars and 24% involving motorcycles), followed by falls (23%) and aggression (5%). Twenty-eight percent of patients sustained major multiple injuries, with spinal injury as the main associated trauma. The outcome was favorable (GOS score 4 or 5) in 54 patients (45%) and unfavorable (GOS score 1, 2, or 3) in 67 patients (55%). The mortality rate was proportionally greater in patients who had cisternal clots >1 mm (P < 0.001), assessed by the Fisher scale with modification. When functional recovery was evaluated using the GOS, the recovery rate and the daily life activities were lower in patients with intraventricular bleeding (P = 0.001). Our results showed that patients with severe tSAH had the worst prognosis.