Revista médica de Chile
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Revista médica de Chile · Dec 1992
[Utility of high-resonance ultrasonography in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis].
The clinical records and the ultrasound findings of 48 patients studied because of a presumptive diagnosis of acute appendicitis in a one-year period were reviewed. Ultrasound examination was performed using graded compression and high resolution probes when acute appendicitis was suspected and the clinical history or physical examination was unclear. The ultrasound findings were correlated with the clinical course or surgical and pathological findings. ⋯ Predictive value for positive results was 95.7% and 84% for negative results. These figures agree with results previously communicated in the literature. It is concluded that high resolution ultrasonography is useful in the differential diagnosis of atypical acute appendicitis.
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Revista médica de Chile · Dec 1992
Historical Article["Revista Médica de Chile":120 years of continuous publication].
Revista Médica de Chile has been published monthly since its foundation in 1872. With the present issue, volume 120 is completed. It is the oldest medical journal in South America and the second in antiquity published in Spanish, after the Gaceta de México. ⋯ The multiple aspects of Chilean medicine development are present in its pages. Revista Médica de Chile has been able to adapt to changes in medicine, improving its printing and design, adopting international regulations for periodic medical publications and, above all, making a strict selection of submitted papers using expert peer reviewers. The continuity in management and editorial policies has favored its progress and enhanced its educational role.
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Revista médica de Chile · Dec 1992
[Dissection of the ascending aorta (type A): diagnostic aspects, surgical treatment and long-term follow-up].
Aortic replacement is the treatment of choice and improves the natural history of dissections involving the ascending aorta. Forty patients (23 male), aged 49.4 years, have been operated at the hospital Clínico de la Universidad Católica. Twenty six presented with acute dissections. ⋯ Long term follow up was achieved in 26 patients (89.6%). Actuarial 5 year survival without considering operative mortality was 87.9%. It is concluded that patients with acute dissections involving the ascending aorta should be operated as soon as the imaging diagnosis is complete and, since this is a palliative procedure, a close follow up is required for early detection of complications.
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Revista médica de Chile · Oct 1992
[Gonococcal urethritis in men: clinical experience in 1978-1988].
Nine hundred thirty four samples of urethral secretion proceeding from male subjects without previous treatment were analyzed with Gram stain. These subjects consulted in Santiago Western area, and belong to medium and low socioeconomical status. In 82.5% of samples, intracellular gram-negative diplococci were found, that made the presumptive diagnosis of gonococcal urethritis. The importance of direct examination of urethral secretion for the diagnosis and immediate treatment of gonococcal urethritis is emphasized.
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Revista médica de Chile · Aug 1992
[Frequency of platelet specific alloantigens HPA-1a (P1A1) and HPA-4a (Pen(a)) expression in Chilean population].
The phenotype frequency of platelet-specific alloantigens has been reported to vary with the ethnic composition of the population under study and the only two HPA-4a negative individuals found in the United States were of Hispanic origin; therefore, the aim of this work was to define the frequency of expression of these systems in the Chilean population. Using an ELISA with captured antigen by monoclonal antibodies, 604 blood donors were typed for the platelet-specific antigen systems HPA-1 and HPA-4. Eight samples typed negative for HPA-1a (1.32%) and 596 typed positive (98.68%). ⋯ Since these antigens are involved in thrombocytopenic disorders such as neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia and post-transfusion purpura, their frequency in a population is of clinical relevance. The gene frequency found for HPA-1a is higher than in Europeans (0.85) and lower than in Mapuche Indians (0.99), which is to be expected from the ethnic origin of our population. The absence of HPA-4a negatives in this study does not support our original hypothesis of a higher polymorphism of this system among hispanics.