Is entheses ultrasound reliable? A reading Latin American exercise.

The objective of this study is to evaluate inter-reader entheses ultrasound (US) reliability and the influence of the type of image or degree of sonographer experience on US reliability in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA). Eighteen Latin American ultrasonographers with different experience took part in an US reading exercise evaluating 60 entheseal images (50 % static images and 50 % videos) from healthy controls and SpA patients. The following sonographic lesions were assessed: structure, thickness, bone proliferation/tendon calcification, erosions, bursitis, and Doppler signal. Another group of three experts with significant experience in entheses US read all images too. Inter-reader reliability among participants and experts was calculated by the Cohen's kappa coefficient. Thresholds for kappa values were <0.2 poor, 0.21-0.4 fair, 0.41-0.6 moderate, 0.61-0.8 good, and 0.81-1 excellent. Furthermore, the results for the expert group were stratified based on the type of image. Kappa correlation coefficients among participants, showed variability depending on the type of lesion, being fair for structure and thickness, moderate for calcifications, erosions, and bursitis, and excellent for Doppler signal. Inter-reader reliability among experts was higher, being moderate for structure and thickness, good for calcifications and bursitis, and excellent for erosions and Doppler. Inter-reader reliability for assessing calcification and structure using static images was significantly higher than for videos. Overall inter-reader reliability for assessing entheses by US in SpA is moderate to excellent for most of the lesions. However, special training seems fundamental to achieve better inter-reader reliability. Moreover, the type of image influenced these results, where evaluation of entheses by videos was more difficult than by static images.

[Upper digestive hemorrhage in the inhabitants of high altitudes in Peru]. / Hemorragia digestivea alta en los habitantes de las grandes alturas del Perú.

One hundred cases of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage in peruvian highlanders were studied at a hospital in La Oroya (3850 meters above the sea level). On admission in all of them an esophagogastroduodenal fiberscope was performed to establish the diagnosis. Most of them were males (98%), between 30-39 years of age (38%) and presented at the same time hematemesis and melena (64%). After bleeding in 72% the hemoglobin was over 14 g%. As a whole the most frequent diagnosis were: gastric ulcer (33%). duodenal ulcer (23%) and erosive gastritis (23%). In those living between 3000-3500 m.a.s.l. duodenal ulcer had the highest incidence. At 3500 m.a.s.l. was gastric ulcer more frequent, followed by erosive gastritis. In 11% surgery was required and only in 27% it was necessary a blood transfusion. After bleeding 10% had an hemoglobin level over 20 g% and because of this they were considered as having Chronic Mountain Sickness, 4 of them with severe cardiorespiratory and consciousness disturbances required after the gastrointestinal hemorrhage, an immediate bleeding in order to compensate the patient, a completely unusual occurrence in general pathology but a peculiar treatment in these patients living at high altitudes of the peruvian Andes.