The Pediatrician at a Crossroads. The Care of Extremely Small Newborn Babies: Ethical Problems in the Delivery Room

Ethical dilemmas are not new in perinatology. Even with the new advances in the care of pregnant women, pediatricians find themselves facing extremely small babies at the limit of survival. With parents informed of the risks of sequelae in these babies and with their decision to assist them or not, ethical decisions are transferred to the delivery room. There, the pediatrician, along with the parents, must make decisions according to the best evidence available, and the ethical approach that is established regarding those relations, rather than stressing autonomy, to a large extent favors compassion with regard to the human beings in the center of the action

Protección de datos de salud: el reto de la armonización legislativa en América Latina

The protection of personal data in health systems requires special measures and procedures to ensure that the privacy of the information is not violated. Advances in digital technology and access to real-time transmission of personal, family, clinical, and laboratory data of patients and/or study subjects may compromise the protection of this information. The privacy of personal data in health in times of pandemic has meant a greater challenge, that is why this unique contribution is presented, whose objective is to identify the ethical and regulatory safeguards in terms of data protection to guarantee full respect for the privacy rights of people and the confidentiality of their data, under the context of health care, especially in conditions of health crisis, such as the one experienced during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. It also proposes a legislative harmonization in Latin America, on privacy and protection of personal data.La protección de datos personales en los sistemas de salud requiere de medidas y procedimientos especiales para asegurar que la privacidad de la información no sea vulnerada.  Los avances en la tecnología digital y el acceso a la transmisión en tiempo real de datos personales, familiares, clínicos y de laboratorio de los pacientes y/o sujetos de estudio, puede comprometer la protección de esta información. La privacidad de los datos personales en salud en tiempos de pandemia ha significado un reto mayor, es por ello que se presenta esta contribución especial que tiene por objetivo, identificar los resguardos éticos y normativos en materia de protección de datos, para garantizar el pleno respeto de los derechos de privacidad de las personas y la confidencialidad de sus datos, bajo el contexto de la atención en salud, sobre todo en condiciones de crisis sanitaria; como la vivida durante la pandemia de SARS-CoV-2. Se propone además una armonización legislativa en América Latina, sobre la privacidad y la protección de datos personales

Humanization: A Conceptual and Attitudinal Problem

The exercise of medicine has changed since its beginnings up to the present day. Technological advances and changes in the management of the health service caused a distance between the patient and the doctor. On the other hand, professionals prefer to not have their own patients, but rather to strictly adhere to the diagnosis or treatment (specialists) without involving or committing themselves. A fragmentation of the attention that does not benefit the patient can thus be observed. The humanization in medical attention is characterized by a group of practices that are orientated at achieving better attention and greater care. The humanization process of the endeavor contributes so that this is welcomed by the other party, to improve the relationship, the patient’s safety and to prevent medical errors

Artificial intelligence within the interplay between natural and artificial computation:Advances in data science, trends and applications

Artificial intelligence and all its supporting tools, e.g. machine and deep learning in computational intelligence-based systems, are rebuilding our society (economy, education, life-style, etc.) and promising a new era for the social welfare state. In this paper we summarize recent advances in data science and artificial intelligence within the interplay between natural and artificial computation. A review of recent works published in the latter field and the state the art are summarized in a comprehensive and self-contained way to provide a baseline framework for the international community in artificial intelligence. Moreover, this paper aims to provide a complete analysis and some relevant discussions of the current trends and insights within several theoretical and application fields covered in the essay, from theoretical models in artificial intelligence and machine learning to the most prospective applications in robotics, neuroscience, brain computer interfaces, medicine and society, in general.BMS - Pfizer(U01 AG024904). Spanish Ministry of Science, projects: TIN2017-85827-P, RTI2018-098913-B-I00, PSI2015-65848-R, PGC2018-098813-B-C31, PGC2018-098813-B-C32, RTI2018-101114-B-I, TIN2017-90135-R, RTI2018-098743-B-I00 and RTI2018-094645-B-I00; the FPU program (FPU15/06512, FPU17/04154) and Juan de la Cierva (FJCI-2017–33022). Autonomous Government of Andalusia (Spain) projects: UMA18-FEDERJA-084. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria of Galicia: ED431C2017/12, accreditation 2016–2019, ED431G/08, ED431C2018/29, Comunidad de Madrid, Y2018/EMT-5062 and grant ED431F2018/02. PPMI – a public – private partnership – is funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and funding partners, including Abbott, Biogen Idec, F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., GE Healthcare, Genentech and Pfizer Inc

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Placental Chorioangioma as the Cause of Non-Immunologic Hydrops Fetalis; a Case Report

Background: Chorioangiomas are the most common benign tumors of the placenta originating from primitive angioblastic tissues. It comprises near 1 percent of placental tumors. Clinical manifestations in the newborn are rare and usually associated with tumors greater than 5 cm in diameter and consist of polyhydramnios, fetal anemia, massive edema with pleural effusion, ascites and intrauterine growth retardation. We present a case with large chorioangioma as the cause of non-immunologic hydrops fetalis with a successful outcome. Case Presentation: The patient was a female newborn with history of polyhydramnios, symptoms of congestive heart failure and associated anemia, thrombocytopenia and coagulopathy. The pathophysiology and management of the complications of hydrops fetalis with chorioangioma are discussed Conclusion: Chorioangioma of the placenta has potentially serious perinatal risks and so the pregnancy needs to have regular surveillance. The chance of developing complications is directly related with the tumor size

Early treatment of congenital syngnathia. A case report

Congenital syngnathia is a rare malformation. The synechia or synostosis of the maxilla and the mandible may be partial or complete and also be associated with other malformations. The syngnathia can be developed between the upper and lower alveolar ridges with a wide spectrum and range of severity documented in case reports. The authors report a newborn with complete syngnathia and discuss the management during the first days of life. Our goal is to help attending physicians understand anatomic and functional implications of syngnathia, and become familiar with strategies used in the early caring of a newborn with congenital syngnathia. Literature reveals results of different patients with poorly documented follow-up and different management. The priority is a safe airway and early nutrition with human milk to avoid the risk of aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, and poor growth

Entre Huxley y Orwell: Big Data y salud

When in 1966 the United Nations stated in its International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the ideal of a free human being with respect to his privacy through the prohibition of arbitrary interference in his private life, it was not possible to imagine the impact of global unlimited connectivity, autonomy of new information technologies, the development of huge interconnected databases, the independent and unrestricted circulation of data, which have led to ethical and legal questions arising from this to treat personal and health data.Cuando en el año 1966 Naciones Unidas planteaba en su Declaración Internacional de los Derechos Civiles y Políticos, el ideal de un ser humano libre con respeto a su intimidad a través de la prohibición de injerencias arbitrarias en su vida privada, no era posible imaginar el impacto global que tendría la irrupción de una conectividad casi ilimitada, la autonomía de las nuevas tecnologías de la información, el desarrollo de enormes bases de datos interconectadas, la circulación independiente e irrestricta de datos, que han generado interrogantes éticos y jurídicos derivados de esta forma de tratar los datos personales y de salud

The Social Impact of Communication during Epidemics: Bioethical and Public Health Perspectives

Public health communication and, especially during a crisis scenario such as an epidemics, is mediated by ethical conflicts ranging from values to deontology. In an intercommunicated world, the social support during outbreaks and epidemics becomes global and the state presence is a key to social protection. This should also be translated into timely, urgent and effective communication strategies from the public health perspective as well as efforts to prevent and avoid fake news or skewed information from any sources. Scenarios with lack of connection and obstacles in mass communication in public health major threats are described