[Revista Médica de Chile in the year 2012]. / La Revista Médica de Chile en el año 2012.

During the year 2012, 539 manuscripts were submitted to this journal, following an increasing trend in the recent decade. Rejection rate was 33%. This higher number of submissions demanded a larger number and wider scope of external reviews, retarding the editorial process. The mean time lapse from reception to acceptance (or rejection) was 6.3 months (range 2-14) and from acceptance to publication 5.3 months (range 3-7). Research articles were 43.9% of published manuscripts and the remaining articles were Reviews, Special Articles, Case Reports, articles on Medical Ethics, Medical Education, Evidence Based Medicine, Public Health, History of Medicine, Letters to the Editor and others. Thirty seven published manuscripts (14.6%) came from foreign countries and 9 of them were published with full text in English. The 2012 Impact Factor was 0.360, showing little variation from previous years, locating the journal in the upper part of quartil 4 in the ISI-JCR category "Medicine, General and Internal", while the SCImago Journal & Country Rank locates the Revista in quartil 2 of its category "Medicine (miscellaneous)". In contrast with the low citation rate, the number of visits to the open access electronic version in www.scielo.cl averages over 3 million visits per year, illustrating that the interest among readers outnumbers the country's expectable readership. Only 22% of articles declared to have received financial help from entities external to the institution where the work was performed, coming mainly from Chilean Governmental competitive funds. The aim of Revista Médica de Chile is to provide readers and authors a valuable source of information about current relevant topics in general and internal medicine, progress in related specialties and updates in basic sciences, rendering them available to Health professionals in Chile and worldwide, following international standards of ethical and scientific quality in medical publications.

[The 140th anniversary of Revista Médica de Chile]. / El aniversario 140 de la Revista Médica de Chile.

Revista Médica de Chile was founded in 1872 and thus is one of the oldest medical journals being published since the 19th Century. The sponsoring institution--"Sociedad Médica de Santiago", founded in 1869--initially was the only scientific society in Chile, gathering medical doctors from every existing specialty. With the splitting of independent organizations representing specific specialties, including subspecial-ties of internal medicine, Sociedad Médica de Santiago focused its scope of action to become the "Chilean Society of Internal Medicine". Its official journal -Revista Médica de Chile--is currently a general and internal medicine journal that also publishes articles on scientific and technological advances in many fields of medicine and health sciences. While initially all authors were Chilean, the journal is now open to submissions from abroad and since the year 2000 articles are published in English when the local language of authors is not Spanish. The number of articles received determines an increasing administrative and editorial burden and, together with the high cost of publishing, will require changes in publication policies. The journal will participate in continuing medical education programs as soon as reaccreditation of medical specialties becomes officially organized in Chile.

[Tradition and progress (1872-2012)]. / Tradición y Progreso (1872-2012).

The first issue of Revista Médica de Chile appeared in July, 1872. Since then it has been published monthly and thus it became one of the oldest medical journals being printed since the 19th Century. The opening Editorial in the first issue, labeled as "Prospecto"and written by the first editor, Germán Schneider, M.D., is reproduced. The current Editors comment the main statements found in that document establishing the purpose and scope of this journal. There are good reasons to sustain that through its 140 years of life, Revista Médica de Chile has fully accomplished the expectations of its founders and the owning institution: Sociedad Médica de Santiago-Chilean Society of Internal Medicine. The journal is serving well the medical community as a forum to present and discuss clinical experience, topics in scientific and technological advances related to medicine, medical education, medical ethics, and public health.

[The relevance and fate of abstracts presented in scientific meetings]. / La importancia y el destino de los resúmenes presentados en reuniones científicas.

Abstracts presented in scientific meetings are indispensable tools to diffuse the latest research in the field. They provide the authors with an opportunity to receive feedback from a critical audience so they can prepare a final manuscript to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. However, several studies in a wide range of medical specialties and other related sciences showed that no more than 50% of abstracts presented in annual meetings of learned societies are published in a 5-year follow up after the meeting. Therefore, abstracts are considered "preliminary publications" and it is recommended not to include them as bibliographic references unless they have been published recently (less than 3 years) in peer-reviewed journals (regular issues or supplements) or in their official websites. Databases dependent on the National Library of Medicine (USA) or SciELO do not index individual abstracts from a meeting. Authors and reviewers should be reminded that manuscripts that have shaped current knowledge probably had also been presented as abstracts in scientific meetings, sometime before their final publication.

Evaluation of oral sugar test response for detection of equine metabolic syndrome in obese Crioulo horses.

Owing to the high prevalence of obesity in Crioulo horses, information allowing early diagnosis of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) and prevention of the associated laminitis is of great value. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of EMS and the response to an oral sugar test (OST) in obese Crioulo horses. Twenty-two Crioulo horses were allocated into 3 groups according to their body condition score (BCS out of 9) and presence or absence of laminitis as follows: CON (6/22), BCS < 7; OB (8/22), BCS ≥ 7; and LAM (8/22), BCS ≥7 with clinical and/or radiographic signs of laminitis. A complete clinical history was obtained, followed by a physical examination, morphometric measurements, radiographic evaluation of front feet, and ultrasonography measurements of subcutaneous body fat. For the OST, animals were fasted overnight, and blood samples were collected for glucose and insulin concentration before and after sugar administration. Morphometric and metabolic differences (P < 0.05) were observed between CON animals and obese ones, with horses from the LAM group presenting the highest morphometric measurements and insulin plasma concentrations. A delayed peak glucose response for OST was observed in the majority of obese animals, indicating that sampling between 60 and 90 min after sugar administration without glycemic curve follow-up, as previously used for hyperinsulinism detection, can be inadequate. The observed delay in the return to glucose baseline levels, combined with high insulin levels, supports the diagnosis of insulin dysregulation. These results indicate that there are clear obesity-related differences in the glucose and insulin responses of Crioulo horses to an OST.

Assessment of microalga biofilms for simultaneous remediation and biofuel generation in mine tailings water.

Microalgae crops can generate a biochemical profile of high energy density and may be used for remediation of contaminated waste waters. This manuscript presents a laboratory-scale investigation into the potential for growing endemic microalgae biofilms in phosphorus-enriched nickel refinery tailings water, with an emphasis on product potential and the remediation of heavy metals. The dominant species of the consortia was a Chlorella-like microalga. The growth was monitored over time, with a productivity (0.77±0.07gAFDW.m-2.day-1) showing promising potential. The biochemical profile of biomass had a high total carbohydrate yield (40.0%), and a potential for increased lipid yields (6.7-19.5%). Biofilms showed a significant potential for the removal of heavy metals (Ni, Co, Mn, Sr) from the waste water with 24.8%, 10.5%, 24.8% and 26.4% reduction in Ni, Co, Mn and Sr, respectively. Results highlight significant potential for large-scale biofilm biomass production using metal-laden nickel refinery waste waters.

A new surgical approach for treating dilated cardiomyopathy with mitral regurgitation.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the early outcome of mitral valve prostheses implantation and left ventricular remodeling in 23 patients with end-stage cardiomyopathy and secondary mitral regurgitation (NYHA class III and IV). METHODS: Mitral valvular prosthesis implantation with preservation of papillary muscles and chordae tendinae, and plasty of anteriun cuspid for remodeling of the left ventricle. RESULTS: The surgery was performed in 23 patients, preoperative ejection fraction (echocardiography) varied from 13% to 44% (median: 30%). In 13 patients associated procedures were performed: myocardial revascularization (9), left ventricle plicature repair (3) and aortic prosthesis implantation (1). Early deaths (2) occurred on the 4th PO day (cardiogenic shock) and on the 20th PO day (upper gastrointestinal bleeding), and a late death in the second month PO (ventricular arrhythmia). Improvement occurred in NYHA class in 82. 6% of the patients (P<0.0001), with a survival rate of 86.9% (mean of 8.9 months of follow-up). CONCLUSION: This technique offers a promising therapeutic alternative for the treatment of patients in refractory heart failure with cardiomyopathy and secondary mitral regurgitation.

[Comparative study of transthoracic Doppler echocardiogram, computed tomography and aortography in the diagnosis of thoracic aortic dissection]. / Estudo comparativo do ecocardiograma Dopller transtorácico, tomografia computadorizada e aortografia no diagnóstico de dissecção da aorta torácica.

PURPOSE: Comparative and prospective evaluation of three methods (transthoracic echo-Doppler (TTE), computerized tomography (CT) and aortography (AORT) utilized for aortic dissection diagnosis. METHODS: The 39 patients with confirmed aortic dissection (surgery or autopsy) underwent, within a few hours of each other, all three methods scrutinized. There were 19 cases of type A and 20 of type B dissection. RESULTS: In type A dissection the methods were equivalent (TTE = 73.7%, CT = 84.2%, AORT = 73.7% p = NS) but for type B, TTE was significantly inferior to the other two methods (TTE = 60%, TC 90%, AORT = 80%, p < 0.05 for TTE, for TC and AORT p = NS). In three occasions, even though all three methods were performed, the diagnosis was not obtained. CONCLUSION: The methods which were evaluated make the diagnosis in the majority of cases. In type A all methods are similar, however, in type B, TC and AORT are superior to TTE. Even performing all three methods in each patient, in three instances the diagnosis was not made.

[Karyotyping of fetal cells in the prenatal diagnosis in Costa Rica]. / Cariotipo de células fetales en el diagnóstico prenatal en Costa Rica.

The results of 182 genetic amniocenteses between 14 and 37 weeks gestation, from 1986 to 1992, and of two cordocenteses in 1992, are reported. There were two main reasons for referral: maternal age 35 years and older and abnormal ultrasound assessment. Fetal cells were closed cultured and mass harvested. In 3.7% of cases fetal chromosomes were defective. Turn around time was about three weeks up to and including 1991 and two weeks in 1992, culture failure rate was 7% that year. No cytogenetic misdiagnosis and no complication or sequelae related to the amniocenteses were detected. We conclude this is a safe and reliable procedure to obtain fetal karyotypes and to improve obstetric management of high-risk pregnancies.

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of quercetin in functional and morphological alterations in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

The aim of this study was to investigate functional and morphological alterations caused by oxidative stress in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats and to evaluate the antioxidant effect of quercetin (QUE) in this disease. One hundred and thirty male Wistar rats, it were randomly distributed in 10 different experimental groups, with ten animals per group: Control Saline (CS), Control Ethanol (CE), Control QUE 5mg/kg (CQ5), Control QUE 25mg/kg (CQ25), Control QUE 50mg/kg (CQ50), Diabetic Saline (DS), Diabetic Ethanol (DE), Diabetic QUE 5mg/kg (DQ5), Diabetic QUE25 mg/kg (DQ25), Diabetic QUE 50mg/kg (DQ50). Therefore, hyperglycemia is directly involved in oxidative stress production, as well as in functional and morphological alterations caused by the excess of free radicals. QUE, specially at the dosage of 50mg/kg, can act as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, becoming a promising adjuvant in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.

Aportes sobre el correlato neuroanatómico de la personalidad / Contributions on neuroanatomical correlate of personality

Concept of personality is refers to stable and relevant attributes of a person, that explain consistent behavior patterns. Many researchers have different brain areas involved in controlling personality. Several highlighted the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in the ability to reverse the association between stimulus and reinforcement, others associated it later with the prediction ofsensory events subsequent results. The medial frontal cortex has been involved with functions as the control of actions, monitoring results as punishments and rewards, personal perception of stimuli and social cognition. Others include the lateral prefrontal cortex in complex issues of valuation. Finally, the anterior temporal region is considered to be related with facial recognition and social knowledge. In this paper we review evidence available in today’s literature about the neuroanatomical substrate ofpersonality, and its application to the study of two disorders: psychopathy and borderline personality disorder. Understanding this substrate could mean a contribution for treatment.

La personalidad corresponde a aquellos atributos estables y relevantes de una persona, que explican patrones consistentes de comportamiento. Muchos investigadores han implicado distintas áreas cerebrales en el control de la personalidad. Varios destacaron el papel de la corteza orbitofrontal en la capacidad de revertir la asociación estímulo refuerzo y posteriormente en la predicción de resultados posteriores a eventos sensoriales. Se ha involucrado a la corteza medial frontal en funciones como el control de las acciones, el monitoreo de resultados como castigos y recompensas, la percepción personal de estímulos y la cognición social. Otros incluyen a la corteza prefrontal lateral en aspectos complejos de la valoración. Por último, se considera a la región temporal anterior en el reconocimiento facial y también en el conocimiento social. En la presente revisión se expone parte de la evidencia disponible en la actualidad en la literatura, acerca del sustrato neuroanatómico de la personalidad y su aplicación al estudio de dos patologías: la psicopatía y el trastorno limítrofe. La comprensión de este sustrato puede significar un aporte para el tratamiento.

[Revista Médica de Chile in the year 2009]. / La Revista Médica de Chile en el año 2009.

During the first semester of 2009 Revista Médica de Chile has received an increasing number of manuscripts. Close to 30% were rejected while most other are in the process of being improved by the authors after receiving criticisms by external peer reviewers and the editors. The time lag between acceptance and publication of manuscripts is on an average six months. During 2008, 10% of articles published were submitted by authors from countries other than Chile and most of them were printed in English. Impact factor and other indexes provided by the ISI Web of Knowledge showed a promising improvement in 2008. The International Advisory Committee and the National Editorial Committee were renewed, a new Section on Laboratory Medicine was incorporated and several minor changes were done in design and format, in the title page and the issues' content. The main problems to be faced relate to the increasing cost of editing and printing, with a reduction in commercial advertising historically contributed by the pharmaceutical industry. Another major concern is to stimulate governmental agencies, scientific societies and universities to establish a national independent registry of clinical trials, that should become a mandatory requisite for every manuscript submitted to Chilean medical journals, reporting clinical trials performed in the country; foreign manuscripts should document the satisfaction of an identical requisite in their original source.

La Revista Médica de Chile en el año 2012 / Revista Médica de Chile in the year 2012

During the year 2012, 539 manuscripts were submitted to this journal, following an increasing trend in the recent decade. Rejection rate was 33%. This higher number of submissions demanded a larger number and wider scope of external reviews, retarding the editorial process. The mean time lapse from reception to acceptance (or rejection) was 6.3 months (range 2-14) and from acceptance to publication 5.3 months (range 3-7). Research articles were 43.9% of published manuscripts and the remaining articles were Reviews, Special Articles, Case Reports, articles on Medical Ethics, Medical Education, Evidence Based Medicine, Public Health, History of Medicine, Letters to the Editor and others. Thirty seven published manuscripts (14.6%) came from foreign countries and 9 of them were published with full text in English. The 2012 Impact Factor was 0.360, showing little variation from previous years, locating the journal in the upper part of quartil 4 in the ISI-JCR category "Medicine, General and Internal", while the SCImago Journal & Country Rank locates the Revista in quartil 2 of its category "Medicine (miscellaneous)". In contrast with the low citation rate, the number of visits to the open access electronic version in www.scielo.cl averages over 3 million visits per year, illustrating that the interest among readers outnumbers the country’s expectable readership. Only 22% of articles declared to have received financial help from entities external to the institution where the work was performed, coming mainly from Chilean Governmental competitive funds. The aim of Revista Médica de Chile is to provide readers and authors a valuable source of information about current relevant topics in general and internal medicine, progress in related specialties and updates in basic sciences, rendering them available to Health professionals in Chile and worldwide, following international standards of ethical and scientific quality in medical publications.

[Adult celiac disease]. / Enfermedad celíaca del adulto.

Celiac disease is a chronic enteropathy caused by intolerance to gluten. The true prevalence of this condition is much greater than previously recognized, with more silent cases being diagnosed and a greater proportion of cases diagnosed later in adulthood. It presents with a spectrum of clinical manifestations and histological abnormalities. Duodenal biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis of celiac disease, even though there are new serologic tests that are very specific. Correlation of clinical, serologic, and histological features are essential for a definitive diagnosis of celiac disease. The pathogenesis consists in an interaction between genetic, immunologic and environmental factors, which interact with HLA molecules to activate an immunologic response in the small bowel mucosa causing tissue damage. The main treatment is a free gluten diet. Health risks for untreated celiac disease appear to be greater compared with those patients who adhere to this treatment.

El aniversario 140 de la Revista Médica de Chile / The 140th Anniversary of Revista Médica de Chile

Revista Médica de Chile was founded in 1872 and thus is one of the oldest medical journals being published since the 19th Century. The sponsoring institution -"Sociedad Médica de Santiago", founded in 1869- initially was the only scientific society in Chile, gathering medical doctors from every existing specialty. With the splitting of independent organizations representing specific specialties, including subspecial-ties of internal medicine, Sociedad Médica de Santiago focused its scope of action to become the "Chilean Society of Internal Medicine". Its official journal -Revista Médica de Chile- is currently a general and internal medicine journal that also publishes articles on scientific and technological advances in many fields of medicine and health sciences. While initially all authors were Chilean, the journal is now open to submissions from abroad and since the year 2000 articles are published in English when the local language of authors is not Spanish. The number of articles received determines an increasing administrative and editorial burden and, together with the high cost of publishing, will require changes in publication policies. The journal will participate in continuing medical education programs as soon as reaccreditation of medical specialties becomes officially organized in Chile.

Tradición y Progreso (1872-2012) / Tradition and Progress (1872-2012)

Background:The first issue of Revista Médica de Chile appeared in July, 1872. Since then it has been published monthly and thus it became one of the oldest medical journals being printed since the 19th Century. The opening Editorial in the first issue, labeled as "Prospecto"and written by the first editor, Germán Schneider, M.D., is reproduced. The current Editors comment the main statements found in that document establishing the purpose and scope of this journal. There are good reasons to sustain that through its 140 years of life, Revista Médica de Chile has fully accomplished the expectations of its founders and the owning institution: Sociedad Médica de Santiago-Chilean Society of Internal Medicine. The journal is serving well the medical community as a forum to present and discuss clinical experience, topics in scientific and technological advances related to medicine, medical education, medical ethics, and public health.

[What determines the time-lag for publications in Revista Médica de Chile?]. / Por qué demoran en publicarse los manuscritos en la Revista Médica de Chile?

The number of manuscripts submitted for publication in Revista Médica de Chile has increased steadily. Consequently, the number of external experts that generously contribute in the peer review process has also been enlarged. When the manuscripts return to the authors with specific requests to be improved, according to the criticisms raised by their reviewers or the editors, more time is added until a corrected version is received and accepted. After acceptance, the manuscripts are programmed by the editors to be included in future monthly issues of the Revista. The number of manuscripts that can be included in an issue is limited by the number of pages accorded between the publishers and the owner institution. Therefore, an additional time-lag occurs: research articles and case reports may be published 6-8 months after they were finally accepted, while reviews and special articles have to wait even more. As experienced in prestigious journals worldwide, a computational program to handle the editorial process through the Internet is needed, but it is not yet available in Spanish language. Although it should fasten communications and facilitate the authors a rapid insight in the stages of the editorial process where their manuscripts are, the increasing number of submissions, the current acceptance rate and the limitation in space will still retard the publications once they are accepted.

[The growing challenge of the editorial process in Revista Médica de Chile]. / El creciente desafio del proceso editorial en la Revista Médica de Chile.

During the recent 6 years, a growing number of manuscripts have been submitted annually to Revista Médica de Chile. In 2005 this number was 60% greater than in the year 2000. This determined an increased workload in the editorial handling of manuscripts and in the number of external peer reviewers, who were over 400 participants during 2004, each one reviewing from one to five manuscripts in that year. An increasing use of the electronic mail helps to communicate editors with reviewers and authors. However, there is yet no availability of a software in Spanish to handle all communications in the editorial process in this language. The number of pages per issue has been increased and authors have been requested to limit the extension of their manuscripts, in order to allow more accepted manuscripts to appear in a shorter period of time. At the present, an average of 8.9 months separates the date of submission to the date of publication, in those manuscripts that were accepted in revised version after external peer review. The increasing number of submissions and the fact that this journal ranks high among Chilean journals, in the number of visits to full-text articles in the web page www.scielo.cl, testify that in spite of the aforementioned limitations Revista Médica de Chile is well considered among authors and readers in Chile and other Spanish-speaking countries.