[Attention and executive function tests components in attention deficit/hyperactivity children]. / Componentes de las pruebas de atención y función ejecutiva en niños con trastorno por déficit de atención/hiperactividad.

INTRODUCTION: It has been suggested that children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have problems in attention and executive functions. A factor analysis showed that ADHD children had a different factor structure of the executive functions when they were compared with controls. AIM. To determine the factor structure of attention and executive functions in a group of ADHD children compared with a group of controls. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 249 ADHD children and 372 controls of both genders, aged 6 to 11 years old, and from the different socio economic strata of Medellín city, were selected. Attention --Mental Control and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (ACPT)-- and executive functions --Phonologic and Semantic Verbal Fluency (FAS)--, and a shortened version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were assessed in both groups. Factor analyses were developed with principal components procedure were developed for each group and the total sample, using principal component procedure with orthogonal rotation. RESULTS: Stable factor structures were found for each group and for the total sample. The general factor structure was constituted by three independent factors: 1- Categorization, 2- Verbal fluency and verbal sustained attention, and 3- Cognitive flexibility. This factor structure explained 74.9% of the variance. CONCLUSION: The factor structures suggested that the components of attention and executive functions are similar for ADHD and control groups. The differences between groups would be quantitative.

[Surgical treatment of terminal heart failure]. / Tratamiento quirúrgico de la insuficiencia cardiaca terminal.

Terminal heart failure with no response to pharmacological treatment has been a challenge in medical practice: besides its deleterious effects on quality of life for all patients, it has a very high mortality rate. At present, surgical treatment of terminal heart failure consist basically in cardiac transplantation, which demands precise surgical indications, donor and receptor selection and adequate immunosuppression. Cardiac transplantation has contributed lower mortality rate and quality of life. Other surgical procedures that have been tried include cardiomyoplasty, partial left ventriculostomy (Batista's surgical procedure) and the use of several left ventricular mechanical devices.

Cyfra 21-1 marker in carcinoma of the cervix.

Cyfra 21-1 has been reported to be an effective tumor marker for epithelial carcinomas. The purpose of this investigation was to determine its value in evaluating response to treatment in patients with carcinoma of the cervix. Cyfra 21-1 levels were measured by immunoassay in the serum of 55 untreated patients with cervical cancer; a second sample was obtained in all of them after conventional treatment for association with clinical response. Pre-therapy levels were elevated in only 45% (25 of 55) of the patients, with a slight tendency to increase according to clinical stage: 33% (5/15) in stage I, 36% (8/22) in stage II and 67% (12/18) in stage III. In regards to association with response to therapy, and including patients with either normal or elevated pretreatment values, 46% (19/41) of women with a complete clinical response either persisted with or developed elevated levels after treatment completion. All 14 patients with persistent disease after therapy continued to have or developed elevated values. No patient with persistent disease had normal values after therapy, and all patients with negative values after treatment were truly complete clinical responders. The results of our study suggest that the test has a low sensitivity therefore and, despite our findings, a negative level after treatment may not be a safe indicator of disease-free status. On the other hand, an elevated post-treatment level is not a reliable indicator of persistence, proven by the fact that 46% of clinical responders fell in this category. Therefore, Cyfra 21-1 has a very limited role in correlating with response to treatment in carcinoma of the cervix.

[Comparison of the effect of amisulpride and viloxazine in the treatment of dysthymia]. / Comparación del efecto de la amisulprida y la viloxacina en el tratamiento de la distimia.

An evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of Amisulpride as compared with Viloxazine in a group of patients diagnosed as dysthymic, according to the DSM-III-R criteria is presented. Study was a double-blind, randomized controlled trial: Subjects were assessed during an initial examination with informed consent, then entering a 4-week treatment trial. The Hamilton Depression Scale, the Widlocher Psychomotor Retardation Scale, and the Andreasen Negative Symptoms Scale were used for evaluating cases. Both the efficacy and safety of drugs were assessed. An analysis of results suggests a better therapeutic response among the Amisulpride group subjects.

Comparación del efecto de la amisulprida y la viloxacina en el tratamiento de la distimia. / [Comparison of the effect of amisulpride and viloxazine in the treatment of dysthymia]

An evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of Amisulpride as compared with Viloxazine in a group of patients diagnosed as dysthymic, according to the DSM-III-R criteria is presented. Study was a double-blind, randomized controlled trial: Subjects were assessed during an initial examination with informed consent, then entering a 4-week treatment trial. The Hamilton Depression Scale, the Widlocher Psychomotor Retardation Scale, and the Andreasen Negative Symptoms Scale were used for evaluating cases. Both the efficacy and safety of drugs were assessed. An analysis of results suggests a better therapeutic response among the Amisulpride group subjects.

[Partial pericardial tamponade immediately after cardiac surgery]. / Taponamiento pericárdio parcial en el postoperatorio inmediato de cirugía cardíaca.

Partial pericardial tamponade is a critical situation frequently misdiagnosed. We describe five patients with this entity during an urgent surgical reintervention performed few hours after the initial one. We found clots compressing cardiac cavities in all, usually in the right atrium. In one of them we found also a clot compressing the left atrium. None of the patients studied had the classical clinical features of cardiac tamponade (Kussmaul's sign: pulsus paradoxus) and we found no difference in blood pressure, quantity of bleeding or pulmonary capillary pressure, considering the reinterventional moment in comparison to the values taken immediately after the initial surgery and the ones registered during the surgical reintervention. There was significative increase in the central venous pressure value, decreased urine output and drop in the cardiac index. Based on this observation, we believe it is possible to have a presumptive diagnosis of partial pericardial tamponade by bidimensional echocardiographic studies just before the surgical reintervention.

Aspectos serologicos de la relacion virus herpes y cancer cervico-uterino / Serological aspects of the relation herpes virus and cervico-uterine neoplasms

Se investiga la presencia, nivel y tipo de anticuerpos anti-virus herpes simples 1 y 2 (HSV-1 y HSV-2) en 112 mujeres portadoras de neoplasia cervical y 48 portadores de otros tipos de neoplasias.En ambos grupos se detecto una distribucion semejante de anticuerpos anti HSV-1 (98% de seropositivas). En cambio, frente al HSV-2 la distribucion de anticuerpos es claramente diferente: un 82,1% de las pacientes con cancer cervico-uterino presentan anticuerpos anti HSV-2 frente a 54,1% de seropositivas en el grupo de pacientes control. Al analizar el tipo serologico predominante en las pacientes estudiadas se detecta un predominio de anticuerpos anti HSV-2 en 47,3% de las portadoras de cancer cervical, y en 31,2% de enfermas con otras neoplasias