Infections in patients with adverse reactions to the use of unknown modeling substances for soft tissue enhancement in Cali, Colombia.

The infiltration of foreign materials not approved for medical purposes or of modeling substances used in soft tissue to modify the anatomical appearance for aesthetic purposes represents a serious health problem. These procedures lead to the development of delayed complications, including infections. The objective of this study was to characterize infections in patients with adverse reactions to the use of modeling substances in Cali, Colombia. A cross-sectional and descriptive study was used to determine the frequency of bacterial and fungal infections associated with complications from and adverse reactions to the use of modeling substances in 113 patients. We identified microorganisms in 22 patients and a frequency of 68.1% monomicrobial infections and 31.8% polymicrobial infections. The microorganisms identified in our study included Bacillus cereus, Mycobacterium fortuitum, and Pseudomonas stutzeri, among other microorganisms. The presence of adverse effects derived from the use of illegal modeling substances has been demonstrated; among these effects, infections occur with high frequency and place the health of the patient at risk and increase problems in health care.

Infarto de miocardio y trombosis subaguda intra-stent en un paciente con resistencia a la aspirina / Myocardial infartion and subacute intrastent thrombosis in a patient with aspirin resistance

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Prevalence of aspirin resistance measured by PFA-100.

BACKGROUND: Aspirin protects from cardiovascular events. However, a number of patients who take this drug suffer events, probably due to aspirin resistance. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of aspirin resistance in patients taking this drug and to test if resistance is related to different variables. METHODS: Platelet function was studied in 113 patients (90 men) aged 63+/-9 (80 with stable ischaemic heart disease) who took aspirin (100 to 300 mg/day). By a platelet function analyzer, called PFA-100, the epinephrine closure time was studied. We also analysed the possible relationship between epinephrine closure time and the following variables: total cholesterol, LDL, HDL cholesterol, total/HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, lipoprotein(a), and C reactive protein. The possible association between aspirin resistance (epinephrine closure time <161 s) and different variables was also analyzed with the SPSS statistical package. Results are expressed in median (interquartile range). RESULTS: Aspirin resistance was found in 32% of cases. Ischaemic heart disease, smoking habit, and treatment with statins were associated with a significantly greater percent of resistance (p=0.049, 0.009, and 0.043, respectively). Patients with aspirin resistance had higher levels of total/HDL cholesterol: 4.46 (3.76-5.55) vs. 3.97 (3.20-4.75) (p = 0.023); and lipoprotein(a): 57.2 (24.8-85.0) mg/dl vs. 13.1 (3.7-38.0) mg/dl (p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Aspirin resistance is frequent and easily detected by PFA-100. It occurs more frequently in smokers. A mild association is found with ischaemic heart disease, some lipids, and treatment with statins. Our results support the applicability of this method to clinical practice.