Fungal infections in immunocompromised critically ill patients.

Diverse pathogenic fungi can produce severe infections in immunocompromised patients, thereby justifying intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. In some cases, the infections can develop in immunocompromised patients who were previously admitted to the ICU. Aspergillus spp., Pneumocystis jirovecii, Candida spp., and Mucorales are the fungi that are most frequently involved in these infections. Diagnosis continues to be challenging because symptoms and signs are unspecific. Herein, we provide an in-depth review about the diagnosis, with emphasis on recent advances, and treatment of these invasive fungal infections in the ICU setting.

Development and characterization of a cell donor registry for virus-specific T cell manufacture in a blood bank.

Adoptive cell therapy using virus-specific T cells (VST) is a strategy for treating common opportunistic viral infections after transplantation, particularly when these infections do not resolve through antiviral drug therapy. The availability of third-party healthy donors allows for the immediate use of cells for allogeneic therapy in cases where patients lack an appropriate donor. Here, we present the creation of a cell donor registry of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-typed blood donors, REDOCEL, a strategic initiative to ensure the availability of compatible cells for donation when needed. Currently, the registry consists of 597 healthy donors with a median age of 29 years, 54% of whom are women. The most represented blood groups were A positive and O positive, with 36.52% and 34.51%, respectively. Also, donors were screened for cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Almost 65% of donors were CMV-seropositive, while less than 5% were EBV-seronegative. Of the CMV-seropositive donors, 98% were also EBV-seropositive. High-resolution HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1 and -DQB1 allele and haplotype frequencies were determined in the registry. Prevalent HLA alleles and haplotypes were well represented to ensure donor-recipient HLA-matching, including alleles reported to present viral immunodominant epitopes. Since the functional establishment of REDOCEL, in May 2019, 87 effective donations have been collected, and the effective availability of donors with the first call has been greater than 75%. Thus, almost 89% of patients receiving an effective donation had available at least 5/10 HLA-matched cell donors (HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1). To summarize, based on our experience, a cell donor registry from previously HLA-typed blood donors is a useful tool for facilitating access to VST therapy.

Women's subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters.

While it is commonly assumed that farmers have higher, and foragers lower, fertility compared to populations practicing other forms of subsistence, robust supportive evidence is lacking. We tested whether subsistence activities-incorporating market integration-are associated with fertility in 10,250 women from 27 small-scale societies and found considerable variation in fertility. This variation did not align with group-level subsistence typologies. Societies labeled as "farmers" did not have higher fertility than others, while "foragers" did not have lower fertility. However, at the individual level, we found strong evidence that fertility was positively associated with farming and moderate evidence of a negative relationship between foraging and fertility. Markers of market integration were strongly negatively correlated with fertility. Despite strong cross-cultural evidence, these relationships were not consistent in all populations, highlighting the importance of the socioecological context, which likely influences the diverse mechanisms driving the relationship between fertility and subsistence.

Alteraciones metabólicas tras cirugía de la obesidad mórbida mediante la técnica del cruce duodenal. Seguimiento a largo plazo / Metabolic changes after morbid obesity surgery using the duodenal switch technique. Long term follow-up

Introducción La técnica del cruce duodenal (CD) es considerada una cirugía compleja y con serias complicaciones metabólicas por su carácter malabsortivo, lo que hace que su uso no se haya extendido entre los cirujanos bariátricos. A pesar de ello la consideramos una técnica adecuada en superobesos. Pacientes y métodos Estudio prospectivo de 110 pacientes con obesidad mórbida intervenidos consecutivamente con la técnica del CD y seguidos durante un período mínimo de cuatro años tras la cirugía. Hemos evaluado la pérdida de peso, evolución de las comorbilidades y las complicaciones metabólicas. Resultados La pérdida del exceso de peso fue superior al 50% en el 75% de los pacientes después de 12 meses de seguimiento. Un total de 68 pacientes (75,5%) experimentaron completa corrección de las comorbilidades que presentaban. Las alteraciones metabólicas más frecuentes fueron el déficit de hierro y la elevación de la PTH. Conclusiones El CD es una técnica segura y eficaz para el tratamiento de la obesidad mórbida, con buenos resultados ponderales, elevado porcentaje de remisión de las comorbilidades, morbimortalidad similar a otras técnicas y con alteraciones nutricionales corregibles y por tanto asumibles (AU)

Introduction The duodenal switch (DS) technique is considered to be complex surgery with a series of metabolic complications due to its malabsorptive character. For these reasons, it has not been extensively used by bariatric surgeons. Despite this, we consider it to be a suitable technique for the grossly obese. Patients and methods A retrospective study was performed on 110 patients with morbid obesity operated on using the DS technique and who were followed up for a minimum period of four years after surgery. We evaluated the weight loss, the outcomes of the comorbidities, and the metabolic complications. Results The loss of excess weight was greater than 50% in 75% of the patients after 12 months follow up. The comorbidities suffered by 68 patients (75.5%) were completely resolved. The most frequent metabolic complications were iron (Fe) deficiency and an increased parathyroid hormone (PTH).Conclusions DS is a safe and effective technique for the treatment of morbid obesity, with good weight loss results, a high percentage of remission of the comorbidities, a similar morbidity and mortality to other techniques, and with correctable nutritional changes, and thus acceptable (AU)

El infarto renal. A propósito de dos casos / Renal infarction. A propos of two cases

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Hemoperitoneo por divertículo solitario de sigma / Hemoperitoneum due to solitary sigmoid diverticulum

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