Moderate hypofractionated radiotherapy to the prostate bed with or without pelvic lymph nodes: a prospective trial.

Background: Hypofractionated radiotherapy in the treatment of prostate cancer has been widely studied. However, in the postoperative setting it has been less explored. The objective of this prospective study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of hypofractionated radiotherapy in postoperative prostate cancer. Materials and methods: A prospective study was designed to include patients with prostate cancer with an indication of postoperative radiotherapy as adjuvant or salvage. A hypofractionated radiotherapy scheme of 51 Gy in 17 fractions was performed with the possibility of treating the pelvis at a dose of 36 Gy in 12 fractions sequentially. Safety was evaluated based on acute and late toxicity [according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) scale and Common Terminology Criteria Adverse Events (CTCAE) v4.03], International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) over time, and quality of life. Results: From August 2020 to June 2022, 31 patients completed treatment and were included in this report. 35.5% of patients received elective treatment of the pelvic nodal areas. Most patients reported minimal or low acute toxicity, with an acute gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) grade 3 or greater toxicity of 3.2% and 0%, respectively. The evolution in time of the IPSS remained without significant differences (p = 0.42). With the exception of a significant improvement in the domains of hormonal and sexual symptoms of the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) questionnaire, the rest of the domains [EPIC, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Core quality of life questionnaire (C-30) and Prostate Cancer module (PR-25)] were maintained without significant differences over time. With a follow-up of 15.4 months, late GI and GU grade 2 toxicity was reported greater than 0% and 9.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Hypofractionated radiotherapy in postoperative prostate cancer appears to be safe with low reports of relevant acute or late toxicity. Further follow-up is required to confirm these results. Trial registration: The protocol was approved by the accredited Medical Ethical Committee of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. All participants accepted and wrote informed consent.

Multidisciplinary Management of Aneurysmal Bone Cyst in Paediatric Patients: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: The aneurysmal bone cyst is a benign neoplasm that tends to form the appearance of a mass with a bony septum that forms cavities with blood inside. It is estimated to represent 1% of bone tumours and has an incidence of 0.14 per 100,000 people worldwide. Current publications have not shown a multidisciplinary approach that can benefit patients, mainly in the functionality and quality of the management approach. OBJECTIVE: Describe the multidisciplinary approach and the benefits of quality of life and functionality in this diagnosis. CASE: A paediatric patient was diagnosed with an aneurysmal bone cyst located in the cervical spine, which initially manifested with muscle pain, enlargement of the posterior cervical region, and difficulty in performing arcs of movement. He was treated with multidisciplinary management with surgery, embolisation, radiation, and bisphosphonate support. CONCLUSION: The purpose of approaching multidisciplinary management helped to improve the accompanying symptoms that prevented our patient from having an active and quality life. However, more successful cases have not been reported to establish the best therapeutic protocol.

Identification of Radiomic Signatures in Brain MRI Sequences T1 and T2 That Differentiate Tumor Regions of Midline Gliomas with H3.3K27M Mutation.

BACKGROUND: Radiomics refers to the acquisition of traces of quantitative features that are usually non-perceptible to human vision and are obtained from different imaging techniques and subsequently transformed into high-dimensional data. Diffuse midline gliomas (DMG) represent approximately 20% of pediatric CNS tumors, with a median survival of less than one year after diagnosis. We aimed to identify which radiomics can discriminate DMG tumor regions (viable tumor and peritumoral edema) from equivalent midline normal tissue (EMNT) in patients with the positive H3.F3K27M mutation, which is associated with a worse prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study. From a database of 126 DMG patients (children, adolescents, and young adults), only 12 had H3.3K27M mutation and available brain magnetic resonance DICOM file. The MRI T1 post-gadolinium and T2 sequences were uploaded to LIFEx software to post-process and extract radiomic features. Statistical analysis included normal distribution tests and the Mann-Whitney U test performed using IBM SPSS® (Version 27.0.0.1, International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, NY, USA), considering a significant statistical p-value ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: EMNT vs. Tumor: From the T1 sequence 10 radiomics were identified, and 14 radiomics from the T2 sequence, but only one radiomic identified viable tumors in both sequences (p < 0.05) (DISCRETIZED_Q1). Peritumoral edema vs. EMNT: From the T1 sequence, five radiomics were identified, and four radiomics from the T2 sequence. However, four radiomics could discriminate peritumoral edema in both sequences (p < 0.05) (CONVENTIONAL_Kurtosis, CONVENTIONAL_ExcessKurtosis, DISCRETIZED_Kurtosis, and DISCRETIZED_ExcessKurtosis). There were no radiomics useful for distinguishing tumor tissue from peritumoral edema in both sequences. CONCLUSIONS: Less than 5% of the radiomic characteristics identified tumor regions of medical-clinical interest in T1 and T2 sequences of conventional magnetic resonance imaging. The first-order and second-order radiomic features suggest support to investigators and clinicians for careful evaluation for diagnosis, patient classification, and multimodality cancer treatment planning.

Estimation of the fundamental learning loss and learning poverty related to COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico.

There is evidence of learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is no related information for Mexico. The objective of the study is to estimate learning loss in reading and numeracy in Mexico. We compared the results of two household surveys conducted in 2019 and 2021. We interviewed 3161 children between 10 and 15 years. We estimated a learning loss according with SES in a range from 0.34-0.45 SD in reading and 0.62-0.82 SD in mathematics by COVID-19 pandemic, and an increase in learning poverty in a range of 25.7%-15.4% in reading and 29.8%-28.8% in numeracy. Gaps in fundamental learning by gender and SES increased. There is an urgent need develop a clear strategy to perform personalized diagnoses and implement remedial courses to address learning loss.

The clinical efficacy of low-dose whole-lung irradiation in moderate-to-severe COVID-19 pneumonia: RTMX-20 trial.

This is a paired prospective comparative cohort study with 58 patients, in order to analyze the clinical LD-WLI in patients with moderate or severe COVID19 pneumonia. The results of this study show that the Radiotherapy could be an option to improve the clinical response for patients with COVID-19.

Discovery of Benzopyrrolizidines as Promising Antigiardiasic Agents.

Current treatments for giardiasis include drugs with undesirable side effects, which increase the levels of therapeutic desertion and promote drug resistance in the parasites. Herein, we describe the antigiardiasic evaluation on Giardia lamblia trophozoites of a structurally diverse collection of 74 molecules. Among these scaffolds, we discovered a benzopyrrolizidine derivative with higher antigiardiasic activity (IC50 = 11 µM) and lower cytotoxicity in human cell cultures (IC50 = 130 µM) than those displayed by the current gold-standard drugs (metronidazole and tinidazole). Furthermore, this compound produced morphologic modifications of trophozoites, with occasional loss of one of the nuclei, among other changes not observed with standard giardicidal drugs, suggesting that it might act through a novel mechanism of action.

Cincha de prolene suburetral por vía trans obturatriz en pacientes obesas: experiencia del Hospital del Salvador / Transobturator prolene sling in obese patients: single center experience

La incontinencia urinaria de esfuerzo (IOE) ha sido asociada a obesidad en numerosos estudios. A pesar de que la baja de peso puede mejorar la IOE en estas pacientes, la cirugía como tratamiento definitivo permite obtener mejores resultados. La cincha suburetral por vía trans obturatriz (TOT), ha tenido excelentes resultados como cirugía inicial para el manejo de IOE, pero hay escasos reportes acerca de su uso en pacientes obesas. Objetivo: Evaluar el efecto de la obesidad en el éxito de TOT para el tratamiento de la IOE. Materiales y Métodos: Estudio de cohorte retrospectivo que identificó a 25 pares de pacientes sometidos a TOT en la Unidad de Urología del Hospital del Salvador entre enero de 2002 y mayo de 2005. Las pacientes obesas (definidas como un IMC > o = a 30 Kg/m2) fueron comparadas con pacientes no obesas (IMC < a 30 Kg/m2). Se comparó según edad (dentro de 5 años) y cirugía previa de incontinencia. El seguimiento fue realizado en forma objetiva con el test de estrés inducido por tos y subjetivamente a través de una encuesta telefónica que evaluaba mejoría. Cura fue definida como la ausencia de IOE después de la cirugía. El análisis estadístico fue realizado a través de regresión logística para cada control. Resultados: El seguimiento promedio varió entre 6 y 24 meses. Existieron 5 fallas, 3 en pacientesobesas y 2 en no obesas, resultando en una tasa de cura de 88,6 por ciento y 91,4 por ciento respectivamente. Esta diferencia no logró diferencia estadística (p>0,05). Existió una perforación de pared vaginal lateral en el grupo no obeso. Conclusión: Estos datos no demuestran una diferencia respecto al éxito de TOT en pacientes obesas v/s no obesas. Dadas las escasas complicaciones encontradas, este procedimiento podría ser el tratamiento quirúrgico ideal para el manejo de la IOE en pacientes obesas.

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) has classically been associated with numerous studies. Reducing body mass index (BMI) may benefit some patients; however complete remission of SUI is often obtained by surgical means. Transobturator sling (TOT) has become a standard practice with clear benefits; nevertheless series in obese patients are scarce. We evaluate the success of TOT in obese patients. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed in 25 patients that under went TOT between January 2002 and May 2005 at our institution. Obese patients (BMI > or = 30 Kg/m2) were compared with non obese patients. Patients were monitored with office control and by telephone. Cure was established in the absence of SUI. Logistic regression was performed for each case. Results: Follow up was between 6 and 24 months. TOT failed in 5 patients (3 obese). Cure was obtained in 88.6 percent and 91.4 percent for obese and non obese patients respectively; however this difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Vaginal wall perforation occurred in one case of the non obese group. Conclusion: There is no difference in TOT success rate between obese and non obese patients. Due to its low complication rate, we relieve TOT to be the ideal treatment of obese patients with SUI.

Cincha suburetral transobturatriz versus transabdominal: comparación de las complicaciones obstructivas / Obstructive complications of suburethral slings: comparison between transobturator and retropubic procedures

Últimamente las cinchas suburetrales transobturatrices (TO) se han hecho una alternativa popular a la cincha transabdominal (TA) en el tratamiento de la Incontinencia de Orina de Esfuerzo(IOE). Las ventajas de la vía transobturatriz incluyen una mejoría en la velocidad, calidad y en el riesgo de complicaciones obstructivas. Nosotros evaluamos los resultados de las cinchas TO y TA para compararla tasa de complicaciones obstructivas de estos procedimientos. Materiales y métodos: Se revisaron las características de 153 pacientes consecutivas a las cuales se les realizaron cinchas sub uretrales (TO 53 y TA 100) realizadas por 13 diferentes urólogos por IOE en la Unidad de Urología del Hospital del Salvador. Resultados: Las cinchas suburetrales TO y TA presentaron eficacia similar en eliminar la necesidad depaños (TO 85 por ciento, TA 84 por ciento, p=0.30). La técnica TO se asoció con una menor cantidad de complicacionesobstructivas (TO 9 por ciento, TA 15,2 por ciento, p < 0.05). Uretrolisis fue requerida en dos de las pacientes operadas por la vía TO y en 5 pacientes por la vía A. Conclusiones: A pesar de que las cinchas suburetrales TO y TA han demostrado resultados a corto plazo similares en cuanto a continencia de esfuerzo, la aproximación TO esta asociada con una tasa menor de complicaciones obstructivas.

In the last year TO slings has become an increasingly popular alternative to TA slings for the surgical treatment of SUL. Proposed advantages of the transobturator approach include improved speed, safety and the reduction of obstructive complications. We assessed outcomes of TO and TA slings in a large series of women treated at several institutions to compare the rate of obstructive complications from these procedures. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the charts of 153 consecutive women who had synthetic mid urethral sling procedures (53 TO or 100 TA) performed by 13 different urologists for SUI at the Hospital del Salvador. Results: While TO and TA sling procedures appeared to be similarly efficacious in eliminating the need for incontinence pad use (TO 85 percent, TA 84 percent, p = 0.30), the transobturator approach was associated with fewer obstructive complications (TO 9 percent, TA 15.2 percent, p <0.05). Urethrolysis was required in two of the TO cases. Conclusions: Although TO and TA sling procedures had similar short-term results for decreasing pad use in patients with stress urinary incontinence, the transobturator approach is associated with fewer obstructive voiding complications.

Correlación clínica-citológica e histopatológica del nódulo tiroideo / Clinical-cotologic and histopathologic correlation of the thyroid nodule

El hallazgo de un nódulo tiroideo es un problema respecto a la terapéutica, por la heterogeneidad etiopatogénica, pudiendo ser un proceso benigno o maligno. Entonces hay que valorar adecuadamente si la clínica y las técnicas diagnósticas pueden diferenciarlos. Se debe realizar varios exámenes empezando por la anamnesis y exploración clínica, luego la determinación de hormonas tiroideas, los estudios iconográficos, y la punción aspiración con aguja fina (PAAF), que en el momento actual es el procedimiento médico más importante para el diagnóstico del núdulo tiroideo. El tratamiento quirúrgico es la terapia de elección si el nódulo tiroideo resulta maligno y el control médico si es benigno. Histopatológicamente la patología más frecuente del nódulo tiroideo es el bocio coloide nodular. Siendo la patología benigna más frecuente que la maligna. Creemos que la correlación clínica-citológica e histopatológica en las muestras de nódulos tiroideos es elevada, siendo la patología más frecuente y causa de cirugía