Moderate-High Blood Eosinophilia Is Associated with Increased Hospitalization and Other Asthma Comorbidities.

(1) Background: Eosinophilia has traditionally been linked to eosinophilic asthma, for which it is the gold-standard prognostic biomarker. However, the association between eosinophilia and the presence of other diseases and comorbidities is yet unclear. (2) Methods: For this retrospective study, we reviewed the electronic medical records of 49,909 subjects with blood eosinophilia to gather data on the presence of asthma, COPD, sleep apnea, tuberculosis, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and other cardiovascular diseases and severe CRSwNP among these subjects. Demographic features including age, sex, and smoking habits were collected, as well as the number of hospitalizations and emergency department visits. T-tests, ANOVA, Fisher test, and logistic regression models were used. (3) Results: For all age groups studied, eosinophilia was significantly more prevalent among asthmatic subjects than nonasthmatics, especially in patients also presenting CRSwNP, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. The likelihood of developing asthma, COPD, and CRSwNP, and hospitalization, was increased when BEC was above 600 eosinophils/µL. The association between asthma, CRSwNP, and BEC was corroborated by multiple logistic regressions models. (4) Conclusions: We demonstrated the association of having over 600 blood eosinophils/µL with a higher number of hospitalizations and comorbidities (CRSwNP and COPD), which proves that BEC is a highly useful parameter to consider in subjects who present blood eosinophilia.

Chagas Disease in Pregnant Women from Endemic Regions Attending the Hospital General de Mexico, Mexico City.

Trypanosoma cruzi infection leads to Chagas disease (CD), a neglected tropical infection of significant public health importance in South and Central America and other, non-endemic, countries. Pregnant women and their children are of particular importance to screen as T. cruzi can be transmitted vertically. The objective of this study was to screen for T. cruzi infection among pregnant women from endemic areas seen at the Hospital General de Mexico for prenatal care, so that they and their children may be quickly connected to CD treatment. Pregnant women were recruited through the hospital prenatal clinic and screened for T. cruzi infection using a series of serological and molecular tests. Of 150 screened patients, mean age 26.8 (SD 6.4), 30 (20.0%) were positive by at least one diagnostic test. Of these, only nine (6%) were positive as determined by PCR. Diagnosis of chronic CD is difficult in endemic places like Mexico due to the limitations of current commercially available diagnostic tests. Further evaluation of diagnostic performance of various assays could improve current CD diagnostic algorithms and proper care management in these regions. Genetic variability in the parasite may also play a role in the differing assay performances seen in this study, and this may be a valuable avenue of further research.

Calidad de vida en mujeres perimenopáusicas / Quality of life in perimenopausal women

OBJETIVOS: evaluar la calidad de vida en las mujeres perimenopáusicas, así como valorar la relación de distintas características de las mujeres sobre la misma. MÉTODO: estudio descriptivo transversal realizado entre 2013 y 2015, en un hospital de tercer nivel de Madrid. Se estudiaron a 163 mujeres perimenopáusicas con edades comprendidas entre los 48 y los 58 años. Las participantes cumplimentaron la Escala Cervantes y un cuestionario con variables sociodemográficas y clínicas. Se llevó a cabo un análisis descriptivo global de todas las variables, así como un análisis estratificado de la puntuación en los distintos dominios de la Escala Cervantes en función de las variables estudiadas. RESULTADOS: se estudiaron un total de 162 mujeres con una media de edad de 53 años (DE: 3,1). Las mujeres del estudio obtuvieron una puntuación global media de calidad de vida de 52,9 (24,3) sobre 155. Se observó que las mujeres con pareja estable presentaron mejores puntuaciones en el dominio global de la Escala Cervantes que las mujeres sin pareja (51,8 vs. 66,3; p= 0,05). También se apreció que las mujeres con estudios primarios tuvieron mejores puntuaciones en el dominio salud (diferencia de 3 puntos; p= 0,047) que las mujeres con estudios secundarios. Atendiendo a las mujeres con hijos se comprobó que las que aún seguían viviendo con algún hijo en casa presentaron peor puntuación en el dominio psíquico (p= 0,05). Por último, una mayor edad de la mujer se relacionó con peores puntuaciones en el dominio de envejecimiento (p= 0,05). En el resto de variables no hubo diferencias significativas en las puntuaciones de los dominios. CONCLUSIONES: las mujeres estudiadas presentaron un buen nivel de calidad de vida global. Se apreciaron peores puntuaciones en la calidad de vida, con diferencias estadísticamente significativas, a mayor edad de la mujer, en las mujeres sin pareja estable, en las mujeres con estudios secundarios, y en aquellas que ya no convivían con sus hijos en el domicilio familia

OBJECTIVES: to evaluate quality of life in perimenopausal women, as well as to evaluate its association with different women characteristics. METHOD: a descriptive transversal study conducted between 2013 and 2015, at a third level hospital in Madrid. The study included 163 perimenopausal women between 48 and 58 years of age. The participants completed the Cervantes Score and a questionnaire with sociodemographical and clinical variables. An overall descriptive analysis was conducted for all variables, as well as a stratified analysis of the score in the different domains of the Cervantes Score, based on the variables studied. RESULTS: in total, 162 women were studied, with a mean age of 53 years (SD: 3.1). The women in the study obtained a mean overall quality of life score of 52.9 (24.3) over 155. It was observed that women with a stable partner presented better scores in the overall domain of the Cervantes Score than women without a partner (51.8 vs. 66.3; p= 0.05). It was also observed that women with Primary Education had better scores in the Health Domain (a 3 point difference; p= 0.047) than women with Secondary Education. Regarding women with children, it was proven that those who still had a child living at home presented a worse score in the Psychological Score (p= 0.05). Finally, a more advanced age was associated with worse scores in the Ageing Domain (p= 0.05). In the rest of the variables, there were no significant differences in the domain scores. CONCLUSIONS: the women studied presented a good overall quality of life. A worse quality of life was observed, with statistically significant differences, at a more advanced age, in women without a stable partner, in women with secondary education, and in those who did not have any child still living in the family home