Lung transplantation waiting list in State of São Paulo: patients’ characteristics and predictors of death

Introdução: Atualmente, a alocação de pulmões no Brasil baseia-se, sobretudo,no tempo de espera em lista (Li) para transplante pulmonar (TxP). Objetivos: (1) Determinar operfi l dos pacientes em Li, e (2) Identifi car preditores de mortalidade em lista (PMLi). Casuísticae métodos: Analisamos os prontuários de 164 pacientes inscritos na Li por nosso serviço,de 2001 até 2008. Os PMLi foram obtidos por uma análise de riscos proporcionais de Cox.Resultados: Os pacientes foram inclusos na Li com 40,9 ± 15,7 anos, sobretudo por enfi sema(24,5%). Diagnóstico de enfi sema ou bronquiectasias (risco relativo [RR]=0,15; p=0,002), tempode tromboplastina parcial ativada > 30 segundos (RR=3,28; p=0,002), albumina plasmática >3,5 g/dl (RR=0,41; p=0,033) e saturação da hemoglobina > 85% (RR=0,44; p=0,031) foramidentifi cados como PMLi. Conclusões: (1) Algumas variáveis podem predizer o risco de morteem Li para TxP; (2) Conhecer as características dos receptores de TxP é essencial para futurasmedidas de aprimoramento dos critérios de alocação de TxP.Introduction: Nowadays, lung allocation in Brazil is based mainly on waitingtime while on list (Li) for lung transplantation (LTx). Objectives: (1) To determine the profi leof the patients on Li; (2) To identify predictors of death on list (PDLi). Casuistic and methods:We analysed medical records of 164 patients inscribed on Li by our service, from 2001 to2008. The PDLi were obtained through Cox proportional hazards analyses. Results: Patientswere included onto Li with mean age of 40,9 ± 15,7 years, maily due to emphysema (24,5%).Diagnosis of emphysema or bronquiectasis (relative risk [RR]=0,15; p=0,002), activated partialthromboplastin time > 30 seconds (RR=3,28; p=0,002), plasma albumin (RR=0,44; p=0,033)and hemoglobin saturation > 85% (RR=0,44; p=0,031) were identifi ed as PDLi. Conclusions: (1)Some variables can predict probability of death on Li; (2) To know LTx recipients’ characteristicsis essential for future actions driven at improving LTx allocation criteria

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and Lung Transplantation: Initial Experience at a Single Brazilian Center

OBJECTIVE: To report initial experience from the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients who received lung transplantation. METHODS: Retrospective study of a single tertiary center in the Brazilian state of Sa˜o Paulo, a national reference in lung transplantation, based on the prospective collection of data from electronic medical records. The period analyzed extended from January 2009 (beginning of the program) until December 2018. RESULTS: A total of 75 lung transplants were performed, with ECMO used in 8 (10.7%) cases. Of the patients, 4 (50%) were female. The mean age was 46.4±14.3 years. The causes of the end-stage lung disease that led to transplantation were pulmonary arterial hypertension in 3 (37.5%) patients, bronchiectasis in 2 (25%) patients, pulmonary fibrosis in 2 (25%) patients, and pulmonary emphysema in 1 (12.5%) patient. In our series, 7 (87.5%) cases were sequential bilateral transplantations. Prioritization was necessary in 4 (50%) patients, and in 1 patient, ECMO was used as a bridge to transplantation. The ECMO route was central in 4 (50%), peripheral venovenous in 2 (25%) and peripheral venoarterial in 2 (25%) patients. The mean length of the intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 14±7.5 days and of the hospital stay was 34.1±34.2 days. The mean ECMO duration was 9.3±6.6 days with a 50% decannulation rate. Three patients were discharged (37.5%). CONCLUSION: Lung transplantation requires complex treatment, and ECMO has allowed extending the indications for transplantation and provided adjuvant support in the clinical management of these patients

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Os aspectos semiológicos do acidente vascular encefálico: uma abordagem neurológica

O Acidente Vascular Encefálico (AVC) é um evento neurológico súbito, com um foco de isquemia ou hemorragia. Ambos, qualificados pelo déficit neurológico focal abrupto. Ressaltando, que estes déficits podem ocorrer, sendo a ocorrência espontânea, perduração de 15 minutos, autoresolutiva é denominada como Ataque Isquêmico Transitório (AIT), no entanto, toda insuficiência neural que não melhorar pós esse período deve ser manejado como AVC. O artigo objetivou descrever os principais aspectos clínicos do AVC. O AVC é uma emergência para a saúde pública, em razão de ser um potencial em gerar morbimortalidades para os portadores e prejuízos para os sistemas de saúde. O AVC do tipo isquêmico representa a maioria das ocorrências, o quadro clínico do paciente é correspondente ao tecido neural afetado, inicialmente a tomografia computadorizada sem contraste é o primeiro exame, por ser crucial para descartar a etiologia hemorrágica, a condução terapêutica se baseia em medidas neuroprotetoras através da estabilização da glicemia, temperatura e sódio, adequar os níveis pressóricos, mediante o prazo estipulado impor terapia antitrombótica. A manifestação hemorrágica, pode ocorrer por torção de aneurisma sacular originando o sangramento subaracnóideo ou por hipertensão gerando o sangramento intraparenquimatoso. A partir da análise das informações coletadas, elucida-se que o diagnóstico precoce e o período transcorrido até o manejo terapêutico são cruciais para o desfecho clínico do portador, ou seja, é possível a normalização ou ocorrer sequelas neurais e óbito

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications

Climate seasonality limits leaf carbon assimilation and wood productivity in tropical forests

The seasonal climate drivers of the carbon cycle in tropical forests remain poorly known, although these forests account for more carbon assimilation and storage than any other terrestrial ecosystem. Based on a unique combination of seasonal pan-tropical data sets from 89 experimental sites (68 include aboveground wood productivity measurements and 35 litter productivity measurements), their associated canopy photosynthetic capacity (enhanced vegetation index, EVI) and climate, we ask how carbon assimilation and aboveground allocation are related to climate seasonality in tropical forests and how they interact in the seasonal carbon cycle. We found that canopy photosynthetic capacity seasonality responds positively to precipitation when rainfall is  < 2000 mm yr⁻¹ (water-limited forests) and to radiation otherwise (light-limited forests). On the other hand, independent of climate limitations, wood productivity and litterfall are driven by seasonal variation in precipitation and evapotranspiration, respectively. Consequently, light-limited forests present an asynchronism between canopy photosynthetic capacity and wood productivity. First-order control by precipitation likely indicates a decrease in tropical forest productivity in a drier climate in water-limited forest, and in current light-limited forest with future rainfall  < 2000 mm yr⁻¹

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Assessment of regional ventilatory dynamics in lung transplantation, using electrical impedance tomography

INTRODUÇÃO: A monitorização da ventilação em transplante pulmonar depende de medidas estáticas e globais a partir de testes de função pulmonar e tomografia computadorizada, o que não é suficiente para detectar alterações regionais no parênquima pulmonar, que podem ser relevantes na avaliação de diferentes causas de comprometimento funcional. Tomografia de Impedância Elétrica (TIE) é uma técnica não-invasiva e livre de radiação com base na medição do potencial elétrico na superfície da parede torácica. O comportamento dinâmico e as informações quantitativas extraídas de imagens da TIE tornam possível avaliar as diferenças regionais na ventilação pulmonar. OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a ventilação regional com a TIE, em pacientes submetidos a transplante pulmonar unilateral ou bilateral e avaliar as variações ventilatórias em várias posições diferentes. MÉTODOS: A TIE foi realizada em 18 pacientes transplantados de pulmão (7 pacientes com transplante de pulmão bilateral, 6 pacientes com transplante unilateral por enfisema e 5 pacientes com transplante unilateral por fibrose), nas posições: sentada, supina, prona e decúbitos lateral direito e esquerdo. Os pacientes foram orientados a realizar 30 ciclos de ventilação espontânea e, em seguida, uma manobra de capacidade vital lenta. RESULTADOS: A comparação entre os grupos mostrou que houve diferença entre porcentagem de ventilação referente ao melhor pulmão (nos unilaterais o melhor pulmão era o transplantado e nos bilaterais o pulmão com maior ventilação na posição sentada). Na ventilação espontânea os transplantes unilaterais por enfisema e fibrose tinham 79% e 83% da ventilação gerada pelo pulmão transplantado, enquanto para os bilaterais o melhor pulmão contribuía com 57% da ventilação. Houve redução significativa na desproporção da ventilação quando comparada a ventilação espontânea com a capacidade vital (p = 0,001). Na ventilação espontânea houve variação da ventilação de acordo com a posição analisada, o que não aconteceu na capacidade vital. A medida do ângulo de fase foi próxima a zero para os bilaterais, negativa para os unilaterais por enfisema e positiva para os unilaterais por fibrose, mostrando que nos bilaterais havia sincronia entre o esvaziamento dos dois pulmões e nos grupos unilaterais havia dissincronia (diferentes constantes de tempo). CONCLUSÃO: A TIE pode ser uma ferramenta útil para o estudo pacientes transplantados de pulmão, evidenciando diferenças ocultas na dinâmica ventilatória entre os pulmões nativos e os de pulmões transplantados. Como esperado, os pacientes de transplante de pulmão unilateral exibiram uma ventilação muito mais heterogênea regionalmente. O decúbito lateral e a ventilação espontânea amplificam tais diferenças.INTRODUCTION: Ventilation monitoring in lung transplantation is still depending on static and global measurements from lung function testing and computed tomography, what is not enough to detect regional changes in lung parenchyma, which may be relevant in evaluating different causes of functional impairment. Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive and radiation-free technique based on the measurement of electric potentials at the chest wall surface. The dynamic behavior and the quantitative information extracted from EIT images make it possible to assess regional differences in lung ventilation. OBJECTIVES: To assess regional ventilation with EIT, in patients who underwent single or bilateral lung transplantation and to evaluate ventilatory variations in several different body positions. METHODS: We performed the EIT in 18 lung transplanted patients (7 bilateral lung transplantation patients, 6 single lung transplantation patients with emphysema and 5 single lung transplantation patients with fibrosis), in seated, supine, right, left and ventral positions. Patients were asked to perform 30 cycles of spontaneous ventilation and then a slow vital capacity maneuver. RESULTS: The comparison between groups showed that there was difference between the percentage of ventilation related to the best lung (the best lung in single lung patients was the transplanted lung and in the bilateral patients was the lung with best ventilation in the sitting position). The ventilation generated by the transplanted lung on spontaneous ventilation in single lung patients for emphysema and fibrosis were 79% and 83% respectively, whereas for the bilateral group better lung contributed with 57% of ventilation. Significant reduction in the disparity of ventilation occurred comparing the spontaneous ventilation and the vital capacity maneuver (p = 0.001). Ventilation changed in accordance with the position analyzed in spontaneous ventilation, what did not happen in vital capacity. The measurement of phase angle was close to zero for the bilateral, negative for single lung emphysema group and positive for single lung fibrosis group, showing that we had synchronicity between the emptying of both lungs in the bilateral group and disynchronicity in the single lung groups (different time constants). CONCLUSION: EIT can be a useful tool to study lung transplant patients, evidencing occult differences in lung dynamics between the native and the transplanted lung. As expected, single lung transplant patients exhibited a much more disturbed regional ventilation. The lateral decubitus and the spontaneous ventilation amplified such difference