Revista medica de Chile最新文献

The essence of professional education not only involves transmitting knowledge, but also values and attitudes for a practice that allows us to face changing global and national scenarios. Physicians are currently facing new challenges derived from the impacts of the pandemic as well as the social crisis. Increased workload, limited access to health systems, economic uncertainty, and increased public scrutiny hamper physicians to fulfill their responsibilities to patients and society. Likewise, digital learning and few opportunities for face-to-face practice during the pandemic abruptly altered the training process for students and residents. In this essay, teaching of medical professionalism and its values is reviewed, considering the challenges posed by new social and healthcare contexts fort the future professional behavior. This commitment, however, requires not only ethical values but also humanism and social commitment. Medical professionalism acts as a stabilizing and morally protective social force. Thus, it is critical to fathom essential values of professionalism that characterize medical practice today. Indeed, the explicit incorporation of these values in undergraduate and postgraduate programs will undoubtedly allow the training of better professionals for the practice of medicine. (Rev Med Chile 2022; 150: 1248-1255).

Background: Gallbladder Cancer (GBC) prevalence varies among countries, associated with different geographical and genetic factors. The Mapuche ethnicity (Ethnia mostly located between the VIII and X Chilean regions) stands out in Chile due to its high GBC prevalence.

Aim: To estimate the GBC prevalence in patients undergoing cholecystectomy at a public hospital in the Northern region of Chile (Tarapaca), where other ethnical groups are common.

Material and methods: Pathological reports of 3270 patients (72% women) who underwent cholecystectomy between January 2016 and December 2019 were revised. Subsequently, the accreditation of ethnic belonging for each patient to one of the ten native communities in Chile was requested to the National Corporation for Native Communities Development (CONADI).

Results: According to the analysis of pathological reports, the global GBC prevalence was 0.3 %. The prevalence in Aymaras was 0.4% and 0% in Mapuches. The distribution of ethnic origins among analyzed patients was Aymara in 14.3, Mapuche in 2.7%, Diaguita in 1.7%, Quechua in 1.3%, Atacameña in 0.2%, and Colla in 0.2%. No specific ethnic origin was found in 79% of patients.

Conclusions: There was a low GBC prevalence rate in Northern Chile and among the Aymara population.

This work is a bibliographical review of the challenges of professionalism in medical training. Medicine practiced with narrative competence, called narrative medicine, is proposed as a model for humane and effective medical practice. By virtue of the changes in the practice of medicine during the last years, professionalism values emerge as qualities that should reshape medicine. Several medical associations are redefining professionalism and insist that this issue should be included in the training curriculum. Thus, several medical education institutions are pursuing strategies to teach and assess professionalism. Modeling is still relevant as a learning strategy, but it must be tutored and directed. Also, timely and formative feedback appears as the most frequently suggested evaluative action. Both processes incorporate a personal reflective practice. Several recent studies suggest that a reflective experience is relevant for the formation of a professional identity. Narrative Medicine methodology emerges as an innovative strategy to address this issue, as it seeks to deliver valuable learning experiences to the students through reflection and the search for a new paradigm for medical practice.

Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis is a multisystemic autosomal dominant genetic disorder characterized by progressive distal sensory-motor polyneuropathy or restrictive cardiomyopathy, secondary to amyloid deposits. Its pathogenesis lies in the TTR gene mutation, and the Val50Met mutation is the most frequent. Patients have significant differences in the onset and severity of clinical presentation according to their country of origin. The diagnosis of this pathology is complex, even more in countries where it is not considered endemic. However, early suspicion and management are essential to improve survival and avoid unnecessary diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. We report a 69-year-old woman who presented a sensory-motor polyneuropathy, predominantly sensory, associated with distal neuropathic pain and bilateral vitritis. The history of her Italian father with polyneuropathy of unspecified etiology stood out. A vitreous biopsy identified amyloid substance deposits (congo red positive). These were also confirmed on a superficial peroneal nerve biopsy. During the etiological study of her polyneuropathy, an increased Kappa/Lambda index of 2.55 mg/L stood out. Therefore, light chain amyloidosis was suspected, and chemotherapy treatment was indicated without favorable response. After 10 years of progressive neurological and ophthalmological involvement, a genetic study confirmed the first case of late-onset hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis Val50Met with polyneuropathy in Chile.

Background: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is the treatment of choice for a broad spectrum of patients with coronary disease.

Aim: To describe global survival and factors associated with lower long-term survival in patients operated with isolated CABG.

Material and methods: Analysis of a cohort of patients who underwent CABG between January 2006 and December 2008 at a public hospital. The database and operation records of 1.003 cardiac surgeries were reviewed. Of these, an isolated CABG was performed in 658 patients aged 62 ± 9 years including 516 male (78%). Survival data were obtained from the Chilean Civil Registry Office and a complete ten-year follow up was accomplished. Survival was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test and Cox regression.

Results: Operative mortality occurred in 13 patients (2%). Survival at 1, 3, 5 and 10 years was 97, 94, 91 and 76%, respectively. One, 3, 5 and 10-year free of cardiovascular death survival was 98, 97, 95 y 89%, respectively. Factors associated with long-term survival were chronic kidney disease in hemodialysis (Hazard ratio (HR) 7.9; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 4.6-13.6), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 2.3; 95% CI 1.4-3.7), chronic arterial occlusive disease (HR 2.2; 95% CI 1.4-3.4) and diabetes mellitus (HR 1.9; 95% CI 1.4-2.6). According to EuroSCORE, 10-year survival was 86, 75 and 62% (p < 0.01) in low, medium and high-risk patients, respectively.

Conclusions: These patients had a 10-year survival comparable to large international series. Groups associated with lower 10-year survival were identified.

Muscle strength can be measured through different methods and handgrip strength is one of the most used techniques in epidemiological studies. Given its easy application, high reliability, and low cost, it is considered an important health biomarker. Handgrip strength is associated with adverse health outcomes such as mortality and risk of developing chronic diseases, cardiovascular, respiratory, cancer and dementia. There is a paucity of evidence in Chile about the association of handgrip strength with these health outcomes limiting its visibility and implementation in clinical settings. Therefore, this narrative review summarizes the scientific evidence about the association of grip strength with non-communicable chronic diseases and mortality in middle age and older adults.

Background: The Human Right to Food is not incorporated in the Chilean Constitution.

Aim: To identify the legal, social, and nutritional elements for its incorporation into the new Constitution, and to draft a text proposal for the constituent discussion.

Material and methods: Descriptive and qualitative study on the perceptions of experts and key actors of the food chain in Chile. The sample was for convenience and included civil society, academia, international organizations, parliamentarians, food traders and producers, and national and local authorities (n = 26). The research team, previously trained and standardized, applied semi-structured online surveys, which were recorded and transcribed. Through an inductive approach, a thematic analysis was carried out using the Atlas.ti 9.0 software.

Results: Eighty-one percent of the interviewees were in favor of the Constitutional incorporation of the Right to Food. According to interviews, a constitutional text was proposed considering the characteristics of adequate, healthy, safe, and nutritious foods. Also, the food items must be available, physically and economically accessible, and culturally relevant. A guaranteed citizen participation, food sovereignty, food security, and environmental sustainability must be considered.

Conclusions: The high prevalence of malnutrition due to excess, poor diet, and food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a current Constitution that does not explicitly guarantee physical and economic access to food, establish a factual and normative background that justifies the incorporation of this right in a new Constitution.

Background: Physical environment can influence well-being, quality of life and health and population health in several ways. Exposure to green spaces improves the physical and mental health of individuals. Chile has privileged conditions for outdoor activities that could benefit millions of people. However, a small percentage of the Chilean population is exposed to green spaces in the recommended amounts to promote health.

Aim: To describe the benefits of green spaces on physical and mental health and their relationship with the practice of physical activity.

Material and methods: Review of the scientific literature in English in the Web of Science (WoS) electronic database published between 2006-2019.

Results: In addition to the direct benefits of green spaces, there are synergistic effects of performing physical activities in these environments such as feelings of good health, satisfaction with life and pleasure, increased physiological relaxation, positive emotions, mental well-being, restoration of attention, decreased perceived stress and a reduction negative affections.

Conclusions: This review supports strategies for improving access to green spaces in urban areas coupled with physical activity promotion in these settings. Health and urban planning stakeholders should consider these aspects in future programs.