RESUMEN

OBJECTIVE: To compare general and spinal anesthesia with respect to the short-term outcome of newborns born by elective cesarean deliveries. METHODS: Pregnant women admitted to our hospital from January 1999 to July 2000, for whom elective repeat cesareans were planned after 37 weeks gestation, were allocated randomly after their informed consent to spinal anesthesia or general anesthesia. Maternal age, gestational age, birth weight, Apgar's score, hospital stay duration, and duration of cesarean section time were all noted. The rate of the neonatal respiratory depression, perinatal asphyxia, and admittance to the neonatal intensive care unit of the infants were documented. We also studied arterial samples withdrawn from the cord for the pH, bicarbonate, PaO(2) (oxygen pressure, arterial), and PaCO(2) (carbon dioxide pressure, arterial). The serum levels of creatine kinase with myocardial-specific isoform, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and total cortisol levels of the newborns were measured and served in ruling out perinatal stress and in confirming the diagnosis of perinatal asphyxia (and of myocardial damage). Statistical analyses was performed with the use of an unpaired Student's t-test, Chi-square test, and a power calculation was done. RESULTS: From the randomly selected patients, we had 38 (45.2%) infants for general anesthesia and 46 (54.8%) for spinal anesthesia. None of our primary endpoints favored any of the study groups, and the clinical short-term outcome of the infants was similar in the neonates born both by spinal and general anesthesia (P>0.05). The biochemical assays did not rule out or confirm any differences in the occurrence of perinatal stress (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Anesthesia type does not seem to influence the short-term outcome of the newborn infants for the elective cesarean deliveries. We believe that both spinal and general anesthesia could be performed in elective term cesarean deliveries without any risk to the newborn infants.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Apitherapy or therapy with bee products as honey is an old tradition. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of 84 honey samples were investigated against 8 bacteria potential pathogens and 2 fungi. Honey samples were obtained from 10 different floral sources. The findings indicate that honey samples with thyme, thyme + acorn, pine + carob, pine + carob + anis and pine + chestnut are more effective than the other honey of floral sources. The results of the survey show that most of honey samples at 50% (w/v) can completely inhibit the growth of all of the tested bacteria. The fungi were less sensitive than the bacteria to the antimicrobial activity of honey. The sensitivity of microorganisms to sugar solutions with similar sugar contents as some honey samples which have high antimicrobial activity were also assayed. This sugar solutions inhibited a narrow range of bacteria and did not inhibit any of the fungi tested. In conclusion, these results encourage further studies to investigate possible benefits of the use of honey among therapies in the treatment of bacterial infections.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: There is still no cost-effective endometrial screening method for asymptomatic postmenopausal breast cancer patients using tamoxifen. We investigated the effectivity of transvaginal ultrasonography and endometrial sampling as a screening method for asymptomatic patients. Additionally the effect of tamoxifen on hypothalamus-pituitary axis and serum lipid profiles were investigated. METHODS: Sixty-seven gynecologically asymptomatic postmenopausal breast cancer patients were enrolled in this randomized crossover study. Endometrial thickness was determined by transvaginal ultrasonography, endometrial biopsy was obtained by Pipelle or fractional curettage, hormone and lipid profiles were compared in the two groups which consisted of forty-seven tamoxifen user (cases) and twenty nonuser (controls) patients. RESULTS: The mean endometrial thickness measured by transvaginal sonography was 7.8 mm (3-20 mm) versus 3.7 mm respectively. The difference was significant in tamoxifen users. The most common histopathologic finding was endometrial polyp, detected in five patients. In the control group there was no endometrial polyp. The positive histopathologic findings were present in twenty-two patients in the case group but there were only two patients with positive histopathologic findings in the control group. Ultrasound findings did not correlate with the presence of endometrial abnormalities on biopsy and no endometrial cancer or hyperplasia were detected. In tamoxifen users serum FSH and LH levels were significantly lower than in nonusers. Serum HDL levels were significantly higher in the case group. CONCLUSION: Ultrasonographic imaging of the endometrium in asymptomatic postmenopausal breast cancer patients using tamoxifen should be interpreted with caution. Other imaging techniques should be used for more specific information about the endometrium.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

ABSTRACT Propolis is collected by worker honey bees from the trees. The bees pack propolis on their hind legs, carry it to their colony, and use it as a sterilant in the hive. Propolis has also been used by humans since early times for various purposes and, especially, as a medicine because of its antimicrobial properties. In this study, antimicrobial effects of propolis samples on three Escherichia coli and two Staphylococcus aureus strains that are multiresistant to antibiotics and on Salmonella typhimurium, Bruceila abortus, Proteus mirabilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus cereus, Candida tropicalis, and Aspergillus niger were studied. Propolis extracts were prepared with acetone and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). At concentrations of 10 and 25 ml, propolis extracts affected all of the microorganisms in acetone and DMSO in concentrations of 10.0, 50.0, and 100.0 ppm. The results detected in this in vitro study provided evidence that propolis may be used as an antimicrobial agent against many microorganisms.

RESUMEN

In this article, we aimed to investigate the value of Pipelle endometrial sampling with and without sonographic measurement of endometrial thickness in the diagnosis of endometrial disease. We studied prospectively 78 patients scheduled for dilatation and curettage in order to evaluate abnormal uterine bleeding. Sonographic measurement of the endometrial thickness and endometrial sampling with the Pipelle were performed before the curettage. The accuracy of ultrasonography and the Pipelle sampling was measured against the final diagnosis. In 68 cases (87.1%), the endometrial histological results of curettage agreed with those of the Pipelle sampling. Pipelle endometrial sampling had a sensitivity of 73% and a specificity of 100% for endometrial disease. The use of ultrasonography increased the sensitivity of the Pipelle aspiration from 73% to 90%.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Retroperitoneal fibrosis is idiopathic in two thirds of cases and is found most commonly as an isolated fibrotic plaque centered over the lumbar spine and entrapping one or both ureters. It has been postulated that fibrosis in the idiopathic cases results from a hypersensitivity reaction to antigens leaking into the retroperitoneum from atheromatous plaques in the aorta or common iliac arteries. In the remaining one third of cases, causes include ergot-derivative drugs, retroperitoneal haemorrhage or urine extravasation, and a desmoplastic response to a variety of tumours.

Asunto(s)