Revista médica de Chile
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Revista médica de Chile · Aug 2007
Historical Article[A journey to the foundations of classical medicine].
The author narrates his trips, between 1951 and 2006, to the main historical sites of antique medicine, where physicians of pre-Columbian cultures of Mexico and Peru, Egypt, Greco Latin culture and Islamic civilizations, lived. The trip ends with a visit to medieval European medicine before Renaissance. A description of the main historical sites and the features of these medical and sanitary cultures is made. ⋯ The Islamic civilization allowed the transmission of Greco Latin culture to medieval Europe. This permitted the renaissance of European creativity and the foundation of modern scientific medicine in the sixteenth century. The author highlights the main virtues of classical Greco Latin medicine, that are the foundations of humanistic thoughts that will restrin the technological revolution of modern medicine.
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Revista médica de Chile · Aug 2007
[C reactive protein and procalcitonin levels for the diagnosis of invasive bacterial infections in allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients].
The main causes of complications of allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are infections and graft versus host disease. ⋯ A CRP > or = 90 mg/L or a PCT > or = 0.7 ng/ml had a high specificity and negative predictive value but low sensitivity for the diagnosis of invasive bacterial infections in recipients of allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
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In large series, nearly 60% of admissions for suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) had a non-coronary etiology of the pain. However, short term mortality of non recognized ACS patients, mistakenly discharged from the emergency room is at least twice greater than the expected if they would had been admitted. The concept of a chest pain unit (CPU) is a methodological approach developed to address these issues. ⋯ Structured risk evaluation approach in a CPU improves the management of acute chest pain, identifying high probability patients for fast admission and start of treatment in a CU and allowing safe discharge of low probability ones.
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Revista médica de Chile · Jun 2007
[Clinical characteristics of children and adolescent hospitalized in a university psychiatric clinic].
Five percent of children and adolescents consults in mental health services in one year. Approximately one every ten children has a mental health problem. ⋯ Affective disorders and suicidal behavior are the main psychiatric diagnoses at discharge in children and adolescents admitted to a psychiatric impatient service.
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Revista médica de Chile · May 2007
Review[Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and do not resuscitate orders].
In medical practice, the different scenarios in which cardio respiratory resuscitation (CPR) may be applied must be taken into account. CPR is crucial in subjects that arrive in emergency rooms or suffer a cardiac arrest in public places or at their homes. It is also critical in hospitalized patients with potentially reversible diseases, who suffer cardiac arrest as an unexpected event during their evolution. ⋯ DNR orders must be renewed and reconsidered on a daily basis. It does not mean that other treatment should be discontinued and by no means should the patient be abandoned. DNR and previous directives, DNR and quality of life and DNR communication are also commented in the present article.