Revista médica de Chile
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Revista médica de Chile · Jun 1993
Comparative Study[Prevalence of mental disorders at emergency service].
Aiming to know the frequency of mental disorders among patients consulting a general hospital emergency ward, 2834 medical records of such patients were retrospectively reviewed. 8.4% of consultations were due to mental disorders. Sixty four percent of patients consulting for mental disorders were women. ⋯ A low percent of these patients were referred to psychiatry. The low frequency of psychiatric referrals and the importance of psychiatric advice in emergency rooms is discussed.
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Revista médica de Chile · May 1993
Comparative Study[HLA A, B, C and DR antigens in a urban population from Santiago of Chile].
HLA antigens vary in different ethnical groups and in Chile there are no reports on the frequency of these antigens in a normal representative population. The few existing studies are of indigenous populations and control groups, without including HLA-DR antigens. ⋯ The observed difference allow us to conclude that the population from Santiago has a distinct HLA antigen distribution. This fact must be bore in mind future studies in genetics, paternity or autoimmune diseases.
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The course of pregnancy in three patients with portal hypertension is described. The cause of portal hypertension was cirrhosis in one and portal vein obstruction in two (one of these had previous shunt surgery). The patient with cirrhosis had an episode of encephalopathy at week 27, the rest of the patients had an uneventful pregnancy. ⋯ There is agreement that the risk of preterm delivery increases and pregnancy does not influence maternal prognosis. Vaginal delivery can be anticipated in most women and cesarean section is reserved for obstetric indications. Pregnancy in these women should be managed in tertiary care centers with close collaboration between perinatologists, internists and surgeons.
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Revista médica de Chile · Jan 1993
Comparative Study[Mortality in an intensive care unit: predictive value of APACHE II severity score versus maximum APACHE].
Patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) experience constant changes in their general condition. Therefore, the determination of Apache score within the first 24 hours of admission may not be a reliable index of severity. The aim of this study was to measure daily Apache scores in ICU patients, and to determine if the maximum score (Maximum Apache) attained during hospitalization had a better prognostic value than that of admission. ⋯ Only 78.3% of patients attained their maximum apache score during the first 24 hours of admission, whereas 21.7% attained it during the rest of ICU hospitalization. Excluding subjects with less than one day of ICU stay, 33% of patients attained maximum Apache score after 24 hours of ICU admission. Statistical analysis showed that maximum Apache score was a better predictor of mortality than that of admission.
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Revista médica de Chile · Dec 1992
Case Reports[Acute non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema secondary to upper airway obstruction. Clinical case].
Noncardiogenic pulmonary edema is a well recognized complication of upper airway obstruction. We report the case of a previously healthy 18-year-old male who presented this complication following laryngospasm after anesthesia. ⋯ Pulmonary edema resolved within 24 hours. The clinical picture, etiology, differential diagnosis and prevention are also discussed.