Revista medica de Chile最新文献

1) Empirical psychiatric research has failed to validate or verify the causes of depressive disorder. 2) Historically, psychiatry has been looking for many causes and is currently favoring a model of multi-causality, acting at various levels of interaction with diffuse limits. 3) Purely scientific psychiatry is based on the concept that a person is an "entity in itself" that presently suffers from a disorder caused by modifications in the impulses of the neurons in its brain. 4) The question that remains is whether depression is a real entity independent of human activities, a pragmatic entity employed for reasons of utility, or an entity constructed by the prevailing social forces in Western civilization. 5) The rationale for depression can be answered if we understand a human being as a being-in-the-world that a] is projected into the future to enact its existence, b] is placed in a condition that determines him and hinders his self-determination and c] lives among others that impel him to submit to the rules valid for "common people.

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a primary hepatic tumor, frequently found in patients with liver cirrhosis and biliary tract diseases. Its varieties include isolated CCA or "combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma" (cHCC-CCA). The latter is uncommon, with poorly defined diagnostic criteria and natural history.

Aim: To characterize patients with cirrhosis with a pathological diagnosis of CCA and cHCC-CCA.

Material and methods: Forty-nine liver biopsies with a pathological diagnosis of CCA were reviewed. The clinical records of patients were reviewed to fetch demographic variables, etiology of cirrhosis and clinical presentation.

Results: Eight of the 49 patients had cirrhosis (16% of CCA biopsies reviewed). Their median age was 64 (27-71) years and five were females. Four patients had CCA, three patients cHCC-CCA and one had a bifocal tumor. Patients in the CCA group were more commonly symptomatic. Alpha-fetoprotein and CA 19-9 levels were elevated in one of eight and four of six patients, respectively. Within 12 months from diagnosis, five of eight patients died.

Conclusions: In most of these cases, the diagnosis of cHCC-CCA and CCA was made in the liver explant study without previous imaging diagnosis. This reinforces the usefulness of the histological study, in specific cases, prior to liver transplantation and emphasizes the importance of systematic explant exploration in these cases.

The mission of the University of Chile Clinical Hospital is to be the main University Hospital in the country. Along with training of health professionals in clinical practice and research, the Hospital provides comprehensive health solutions to the community. Since its foundation, it played an important role in the training of health professionals and specialists. To fulfill this mission, it is important to have outstanding academics and a system that allows their renewal and replacement. From January 25, 2001, the University of Chile approved the regulations that rule the Residents Program Fellowship, aimed to train the new generations of clinical academics. These regulations allow the financing of training programs in basic or primary specialties (such as internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, among others) or in specialties derived from them (such as cardiology, gastroenterology and reproductive medicine, among others.) The different clinical departments and the Hospital Direction define each year how many places will be offered and in which specialties. The Faculty of Medicine Graduate School carries out the formal selection of the applicants. This article reviews the results of this program between 2013 and 2021, analyzing in detail the traceability of each graduate over the years.

Background: The assessment of health systems efficiency determines how they use their supplies to produce results of health value.

Aim: To determine the efficiency of the health services in Chile, managing their budget to improve the health of the population in 2016.

Material and methods: Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used. The relationship or efficiency with external factors was determined ussing a multivariate analysis. As an input, the operating expense accrued per member of the public health system (National Health Fund, FONASA) was obtained. The years of life potentially lost were used as output.

Results: The health services of Chile had an efficiency of 68.8% for constant return and 81.3% for variable return. Sixteen percent of their inefficiency was related to the size of the health service. The most efficient health service was the Metropolitano Sur-Oriente and the least efficient was the Araucanía Norte. Urban health services had more uniform and higher efficiency than their rural counterparts. The external factors that were associated with a greater efficiency were having lower proportion of rural population, a lower proportion of beneficiaries of the National Health Fund (FONASA), fewer hospital discharges, fewer hospital beds, less poverty calculated by income, and a higher access to drinking water.

Conclusions: Numerous factors influence the efficiency of the Chilean health system and delving into them would allow a better use of public resources for the benefit of the population.

Background: COVID-19 patients may experience Long-lasting symptoms from weeks to even months.

Aim: To evaluate long-term cognitive impairment based on the severity of symptoms of COVID-19 infection in a primary health system setting.

Material and methods: From a database of 363 patients, 83 cases aged 47 ± 15 years, (58% females) were selected from June to August 2020. In patients who survived the virus, 24 infection-related symptoms were collected to create three severity clusters (mild, moderate, and severe). The follow-up time was at least seven months. Comparing the first two clusters with the severe cluster, the existence of brain fog and risk factors (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung disease, and hypothyroidism) were analyzed.

Results: Thirty-one patients (37%) had persistent symptoms lasting up to 240 days. Fifty-one patients (61%) experienced brain fog. Concentration was affected by symptom severity (odds ratio [OR] 3.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26-10.46, p = 0.02). Short- or long-term memory loss was not affected. Moreover, symptom severity was related to brain fog (OR 3.16, 95% CI 1.05-9.51, p = 0.04). Patients with persistent symptoms had a concentration impairment associated with severity patterns (OR 24.3, 95% CI 1.73-340.11, p = 0.03).

Conclusions: Brain fog is associated with symptom severity in COVID-19 survivors and lasts for more than eight months.

Chronic coronary syndromes are usually considered uncommon in young women, related to slower progression of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, have atypical clinical presentations, and experience less diagnostic investigation. Non-atherosclerotic causes of coronary artery disease should be considered in young women experiencing angina. We report a 25-year-old woman who consulted for five months of moderate exertion angina. Physical examination revealed a right carotid bruit and asymmetrical upper extremity peripheral pulses. Initial work-up and imaging allowed to diagnose aortitis with bilateral coronary ostial stenosis secondary to Takayasu's arteritis. The patient experienced an apparent clinical response to initial medical therapy. However, follow-up evaluation revealed persistence of significant ischemia and requirement for myocardial revascularization. A percutaneous coronary intervention was performed.

Background: An informed consent is mandatory to obtain any clinical audiovisual material from patients. Although there are some documents created for this purpose, there are some barriers for their application, such as the context in which they were created, the language and download availability.

Aim: To create a proposal for an informed consent form (ICF) for the capture and different uses for audiovisual material from patients.

Material and methods: A bibliographic search was carried out to obtain different ICFs in Spanish and English, which were subjected to a process of translation, counter-translation and fragmentation. Subsequently, a panel of experts was formed by members of the Chilean Society of Plastic Surgery with extensive experience in social networks. Delphi methodology was applied to reach a consensus about the definitive content of the ICF based on the previously selected fragments.

Results: ICFs available for download were identified. The panel was made up of seven Plastic Surgeons and two Delphi rounds were carried out through electronic surveys. At the end of the process, an ICF proposal was obtained for therapeutic, academic or scientific purposes and another for dissemination or education in the mass media.

Conclusions: The proposed ICFs were liberated for their use among health care professionals in Chile, who could use them, provided that they are approved by the local healthcare ethics committees.

Background: Fibrous Dysplasia/McCune-Albright Syndrome (FD/MAS) is characterized by a spectrum of manifestations that may include fibrous dysplasia of bone and multiple endocrinopathies.

Aim: To describe the clinical spectrum, the study and follow-up of patients with FD/MAS cared at our institution.

Material and methods: Review of medical records of 12 pediatric and adult patients (11 women) who met the clinical and genetic diagnostic criteria for FD/ MAS.

Results: The patients' mean age at diagnosis was 4.9 ± 5.5 years. The most common initial clinical manifestation was peripheral precocious puberty (PPP) in 67% of patients and 75% had café-au-lait spots. Fibrous dysplasia was present in 75% of patients and the mean age at diagnosis was 7.9 ± 4.7 years. Ten patients had a bone scintigraphy, with an age at the first examination that varied between 2 and 38 years of age. The most frequent location of dysplasia was craniofacial and appendicular. No patient had a recorded history of cholestasis, hepatitis, or pancreatitis. In four patients, a genetic study was performed that was positive for the pathogenic variant of guanine nucleotide binding protein, alpha stimulating (GNAS).

Conclusions: These patients demonstrate the variable nature of the clinical presentation and study of FD/MAS. It is essential to increase the index of diagnostic suspicion and adherence to international recommendations.