[Evolution of treatment of syphilis through history]. / Evolución del tratamiento de la sífilis a lo largo de la historia.

In this article, we present a historical revision of syphilis treatment since the end of the XV century up until the current days. For centuries, it was understood that syphilis had been brought to Spain by Columbus after coming back from America. It became an epidemic soon after. Later on, it was spread all over Europe. The chronologic and geographic origin of this illness have been debated in recent years, however, there has been no agreement about it as yet. Mercury was the main used therapy for four and a half centuries, until the discovery of penicillin in 1943. This discovery changed the therapeutic approach to syphilis since then. Other remedies were used during this period. Guaiacum was one of them, but it was dismissed in the mid-sixteenth century. Iodides were also used, especially in the tertiary symptoms of the disease. The discovery of arsphenamine (Salvarsan) at the beginning of the XX century, used by itself at its onset and associated to mercury or bismuth later on, was a significant therapeutic contribution. Bismuth was in itself a great therapeutic asset. It displaced the use of mercury in an important way until 1943, when the appearance of penicillin became the treatment of choice.

Appropriateness of magnetic resonance imaging requested by primary care physicians for patients with knee pain.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the appropriateness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the knee requested by primary care physicians. DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. SETTING: Six primary care centres in the Elche Department of Health of the Valencian Community, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred patients with knee pain who were prescribed MRI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Data were collected from the electronic clinical history, which allowed us to assess the appropriateness and inappropriateness of the MRI requests for the knee based on the American College of Radiology (ACR) criteria. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with an inappropriate request. RESULTS: About 45% (41-49%) of knee MRI prescriptions were assessed as inappropriate. The frequency was higher in female patients (odds ratio, OR = 1.96; P = 0.03). A history of knee trauma and urgent use of MRI were associated with a lower frequency of inappropriate requests (OR = 0.14, P < 0.001 and OR = 0.32, P = 0.03, respectively). In 82% of cases, the request for MRI was deemed inappropriate because it was used as the initial imaging test. The availability of a previous radiograph of the knee significantly reduced the rate of inappropriate requests (OR = 0.05, P < 0.001); only 47% of the patients had a previous radiograph. CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of inappropriate knee MRI prescriptions is high. Protocols should be put in place to improve the appropriateness of MRI requests by promoting understanding of the appropriate use of MRI among primary care physicians.

[Assessment of quality as perceived by users of an outpatient pharmaceutical care unit]. / Evaluación de la calidad percibida por los usuarios de una unidad de atención farmacéutica a pacientes externos.

OBJECTIVE: To assess quality of care by an Outpatient Pharmaceutical Care Unit (OPCU) from patient satisfaction regarding the unit s premises and activities. METHOD: A transversal study performed at the OPCU using a patient survey. Patient opinions were obtained regarding structural aspects, pharmaceutical care, patient information, overall satisfaction, and preference for care in the OPCU or pharmacy office. The response variable was the presumed choice for the OPCU or traditional pharmacy office. A multivariate analysis using logistic regression was used to evaluate the independent effect of variables. RESULTS: In all, 256 surveys were administered, of which 195 were assessable. Response rate was 76%. Responses with highest scores included communication and interaction with professionals (4.8 points on average) and care received (4.5 points). Worst assessments included OPCU s timetable (3.8 points) and location (3.9 points); 98.4% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied with care received, and only 18.4% would switch to the pharmacy office if allowed to. The multivariate analysis suggested that variables associated with the pharmacy office choice included a negative rating of OPCU s location (OR 9.8, CI 1.3-76.8) and a negative rating of information delivered (OR 4.1, CI 1.7-9.8); p < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Information received and OPCU s location had the greatest impact on patient satisfaction. Patient remarks and suggestions were very useful to identify areas of improvement, and to introduce modification suiting their views.

[Tuberculosis outbreak at a public school]. / Brote epidémico de tuberculosis en un colegio público.

BACKGROUND: At school there are special circumstances of living together and a particular susceptibility, which favour the emergence of tuberculosis microepidemics. We report here the microepidemic occurred at a school among 9-year old children. METHODS: After ruling out a possible familiar source in a child with pulmonary tuberculosis, we detected a case with high bacillar shedding in a female teacher and conducted a tuberculin search among children and teachers, initially outlining the theoretical groups at risk. Tuberculin positive children underwent chest-X-ray and when abnormalities were found, children were derived to the pediatrician for chemotherapy. All converters received secondary chemoprophylaxis and all non-respondents primary chemoprophylaxis. RESULTS: The classroom where the teacher spent most of het time had a higher rate of converters (70%) than other classroom, where the index teacher spent only a partial time (40%; RR: 1.75; CI: 1.06-2.88) or the collective of teachers (45.4%; RR: 1.45; CI: 0.94-2.23). Three additional cases of secondary disease were detected, all of them children. The initial compliance with chemoprophylaxis was greater among (for) children (97.0%) than among teachers (41.6%). Among children there was one case of tuberculin conversion compared with three cases among teachers. No additional cases were detected; also, an abnormal rate of reactors outside the initially studied groups was also not detected. CONCLUSIONS: Our results somehow agree with those reported from other school outbreaks. To note the anergy and lack of symptoms in the index case and the suggestion to delineate the degree of spending hours together to identify groups with a higher theoretical risk of being infected. Thus, an unnecessary expense of resources and a social alarm would be avoided.

[The evolution and prediction of the incidence of breast cancer in Zaragoza, 1961-2000]. / Evolución y predicción de la incidencia de cáncer de mama en Zaragoza, 1961-2000.

BACKGROUND: Using the data available from the Cancer Registry of Zaragoza, the incidence of breast cancer in women from 1961 to 1985 was analyzed with future evolution being predicted up to the year 2000. METHODS: The age, period and birth cohort effects, in addition to the place of residence (capital/rest of province) were analyzed using both, graphic analysis techniques and multivariate models of incidence rates by the Poisson regression. Assuming a constant period effect, the age and cohort effects were used to predict incidence rates in a period of 15 years between 1986 and 2000. RESULTS: Age-standardized incidence rates increased from 17.1 cases per 100,000 women per year in 1961-1965 to 36.5 in 1981-1985. This increase was mainly observed in women above the age of 40 residing in an urban environment. In a graphic analysis of rates by birth cohorts, an age and cohort effects were observed, producing an anticipation of age to which the highest values in incidence rates were reached. In the prediction of incidence with multivariate models, and increase is foreseen up to the year 2000. CONCLUSIONS: An increase of breast cancer incidence in Zaragoza has been observed with a further increase foreseen up to the year 2000. This increasing incidence has been related to the age, the year of birth and the place of residence of cases. A relation with some other determinants of disease, and whether the results observed may be extrapolated to the rest of Spain are discussed.

[Geographic study of cancer of the stomach in Spain in relation to agricultural activities]. / Estudio geográfico del cáncer gástrico en España en relación con actividades agrarias.

The Spanish provinces with the highest risk of gastric cancer (CG) are in the Castilian meseta, where grain raising predominates. In other countries, high risk areas also correspond to inland, high altitude regions, and in some cases, like Chile, abundant fertilizer consumption. The present study attempts to relate the risk of this tumor in Spain to different types of agricultural activity. Pearson's linear correlation coefficient was calculated between the mortality rate due to gastric cancer in each of the 50 Spanish provinces and the different types of farming and cattle raising activities. The correlation with grain raising on nonirrigated land was positive and significant for mortality in both men (p less than 0.001) and women (p less than 0.01). The correlation between mortality from gastric cancer and cattle raising, particularly sheep, was also positive and significant in both sexes (p less than 0.001). The proportion of the irrigated and nonirrigated fields dedicated to fruit trees correlated negatively with mortality in both sexes, also with a significant difference (p less than 0.01). The authors suggest the need for further epidemiological investigation in Spain, particularly in areas of high risk of gastric cancer, to identify precisely the risk factors that could be related to agricultural activities.

[Epidemiology of brucellosis. Retrospective study of 246 hospital cases]. / Epidemiología de la brucelosis. Estudio retrospectivo de 246 casos hospitalarios.

246 cases of brucellosis registered by the Medicine Preventive Service of Miguel Servet Hospital for the period 1981-87 are retrospectively studied. It emphasizes the consumption of non controlled dairy products as the most frequent (54.5%) risk factor. A greater prevalence of professional and contact with cattle risk factors are observed in the male patients coming from rural areas.

[The role of cancer registries in the planning of primary care. A special reference to the Calatayud health area]. / El papel de los registros de cáncer en la planificación de la asistencia primaria. Referencia especial al sector de salud de Calatayud.

The present study is based on the analysis of records concerning 2,123 cases of cancer registered between 1973 and 1982 in the Health Sector of Calatayud. We pretend to find out what sort of role is played by the gathered cancer information registries on the Community Health Diagnosis elaboration and, therefore, on the Primary Care Planning. An important loss of cases (23% in men and 13% in women) and a clear influence of socioeconomic factors concerning Epidemiology and even Cancer Care are remarked. Delay times of diagnosis are higher than on the other series: breast (17.4 months), skin (39.9 months), larynx (7.7 months). A preferential care about the improvement of the Sanitary Education of population, their accessibility to Sanitary System and medical praxis of the Primary Care professionals are proposed.