Ice air caloric test in chronic peripheral vestibular dysfunction with spontaneous nystagmus

PURPOSE: to analyze the effect of air caloric stimulation at 10ºC on the post-caloric responses in patients with chronic peripheral dysfunction who presented spontaneous nystagmus with the eyes closed. METHODS: 61 patients with spontaneous nystagmus with closed eyes were submitted to air caloric stimulation under the following temperatures: 42, 18 and 10ºC. RESULTS: in 42 patients (69.8%), abnormal values of directional preponderance and / or unilateral hypoexcitability were observed following the 42ºC and 18ºC stimulations. For the 10ºC stimulations an asymmetry within normal limits was seen in 52.5% of the patients, while abnormal values were seen in 16.4% (p=0.012). Unilateral hypoexcitability was confirmed in 11.5% of the cases. In 8.2% of the patients there were abnormal findings not evidenced under 42ºC and 18ºC stimulations. CONCLUSION: in patients with chronic peripheral labyrinthine disorders who show spontaneous nystagmus with closed eyes, the 10ºC caloric test makes it possible to remove the influence of the spontaneous nystagmus on the post-caloric responses.OBJETIVO: analisar o efeito da estimulação gelada com ar a 10ºC sobre o nistagmo pós-calórico em pacientes com vestibulopatias periféricas crônicas que apresentam nistagmo espontâneo com olhos fechados. MÉTODOS: 61 pacientes foram submetidos às estimulações com ar a 42, 18 e 10ºC. RESULTADOS: em 42 casos (69,8%) foram encontrados valores anormais de preponderância direcional e/ou de predomínio labiríntico a 42 e 18ºC. A prova a 10ºC apresentou valores de assimetria dentro dos padrões de normalidade em 52,5% dos casos e valores anormais de assimetria em 16,4% (p=0,012), confirmou hiporreflexia unilateral em 11,5% e identificou anormalidades não evidenciadas a 42 e 18ºC em 8,2%. CONCLUSÃO: a estimulação gelada com ar a 10ºC possibilitou retirar a influência do nistagmo espontâneo de olhos fechados sobre o nistagmo pós-calórico em pacientes com vestibulopatias periféricas crônicas.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Distúrbios da Comunicação HumanaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de FonoaudiologiaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeça e Pescoço Departamento de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeça e PescoçoUniban Porograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Reabilitação Neuro-MotoraUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UnibanUNIFESP, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Distúrbios da Comunicação HumanaUNIFESP, Depto. de FonoaudiologiaUNIFESP, Depto. de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeça e Pescoço Depto. de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeça e PescoçoUNIFESPSciEL

Differential Diagnosis of Entamoeba

Amoebiasis, a disease caused by Entamoeba histolytica, is usually diagnosed by microscopic examination, which does not differentiate the morphologically identical species of the E. histolytica/E. dispar complex. Furthermore, morphologically similar species such as Entamoeba hartmanni contribute to misidentification. Therefore, there is a need for more sensitive and specific methods. This study standardized a multiplex real-time PCR system for E. histolytica and E. dispar and a single real-time PCR for E. hartmanni. The multiplex protocol detected up to 0.0143 pg of E. histolytica DNA and 0.5156 pg of E. dispar DNA, and the average melting temperature (Tm) was 73°C and 70°C, respectively. For E. hartmanni, the Tm was 73°C and the amplification was successful down to 0.03 fg of plasmid DNA. Negative controls and other intestinal parasites presented no amplification. Among the 48 samples tested, E. dispar DNA was detected in 37; none exhibited E. histolytica DNA and 11 were negative in the multiplex protocol. In 4 of these 11 samples, however, E. hartmanni DNA was amplified. SYBR Green is demonstrated to be an interesting option and these combined PCR reactions can improve laboratory diagnosis of amoebiasis in developing countries

Differential Diagnosis of Entamoeba spp. in Clinical Stool Samples Using SYBR Green Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Amoebiasis, a disease caused by Entamoeba histolytica, is usually diagnosed by microscopic examination, which does not differentiate the morphologically identical species of the E. histolytica/E. dispar complex. Furthermore, morphologically similar species such as Entamoeba hartmanni contribute to misidentification. Therefore, there is a need for more sensitive and specific methods. This study standardized a multiplex real-time PCR system for E. histolytica and E. dispar and a single real-time PCR for E. hartmanni. The multiplex protocol detected up to 0.0143 pg of E. histolytica DNA and 0.5156 pg of E. dispar DNA, and the average melting temperature ( ) was 73 ∘ C and 70 ∘ C, respectively. For E. hartmanni, the was 73 ∘ C and the amplification was successful down to 0.03 fg of plasmid DNA. Negative controls and other intestinal parasites presented no amplification. Among the 48 samples tested, E. dispar DNA was detected in 37; none exhibited E. histolytica DNA and 11 were negative in the multiplex protocol. In 4 of these 11 samples, however, E. hartmanni DNA was amplified. SYBR Green is demonstrated to be an interesting option and these combined PCR reactions can improve laboratory diagnosis of amoebiasis in developing countries

Importância do uso profilático de Ferro e Vitamina D em lactentes

Introdução: O aleitamento materno é a fonte primordial de nutrição para os recém-nascidos. Todavia, o leite materno possui um teor reduzido de vitaminas e sais minerais, sendo necessário a realização de suplementação. Objetivo: Compreender a importância do uso preventivo de ferro e vitamina D em lactentes externalizando os benefícios dessa prática. Método: Revisão bibliográfica da literatura realizada em janeiro de 2023 nas bases de dados BVS, MEDLINE, LILACS e Google Scholar através dos seguintes DeCS: “Suplementos Nutricionais”, “Fatores de Risco” e “Lactentes” combinados entre si pelo operador booleano AND. Foram encontrados 98 estudos e após aplicar os critérios de inclusão e exclusão, foram selecionados 8 estudos para compor a revisão. Utilizou-se como pergunta norteadora:“Qual a importância do uso preventivo de Ferro e Vitamina D em lactentes?” Resultados: É notório os benefícios da suplementação de ferro e de vitamina D não apenas para os lactentes, mas em diversas fases da vida, essa intervenção pontual pode trazer diversos benefícios para a saúde em geral. Visto que a falta de ferro durante a gravidez estabelece uma ameaça para o desenvolvimento saudável do feto, principalmente em relação ao cérebro. Além disso, compreende-se que a hipovitaminose é considerada uma problemática de saúde pública mundial. Conclusão: As deficiências ocasionadas pela falta de ferro e vitamina D ocorrem com frequência, principalmente nos lactentes que apresentam fatores de risco dietéticos e não necessariamente nutricionais, os quais geralmente ocasionam desfechos clínicos adversos que afetam em sua maioria o desenvolvimento neurológico, impactando consideravelmente a qualidade de vida

Assessment of risk scores to predict mortality of COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit

ObjectivesTo assess the ABC2-SPH score in predicting COVID-19 in-hospital mortality, during intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and to compare its performance with other scores (SOFA, SAPS-3, NEWS2, 4C Mortality Score, SOARS, CURB-65, modified CHA2DS2-VASc, and a novel severity score).Materials and methodsConsecutive patients (≥ 18 years) with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 admitted to ICUs of 25 hospitals, located in 17 Brazilian cities, from October 2020 to March 2022, were included. Overall performance of the scores was evaluated using the Brier score. ABC2-SPH was used as the reference score, and comparisons between ABC2-SPH and the other scores were performed by using the Bonferroni method of correction. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality.ResultsABC2-SPH had an area under the curve of 0.716 (95% CI 0.693–0.738), significantly higher than CURB-65, SOFA, NEWS2, SOARS, and modified CHA2DS2-VASc scores. There was no statistically significant difference between ABC2-SPH and SAPS-3, 4C Mortality Score, and the novel severity score.ConclusionABC2-SPH was superior to other risk scores, but it still did not demonstrate an excellent predictive ability for mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Our results indicate the need to develop a new score, for this subset of patients

Fatores que influenciam a qualidade de vida de pessoas com epilepsia

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that impairs life quality (LQ) and interferes in emotional, personal, social and family relationship aspects. This study evaluated 165 people with epilepsy diagnosis, ranging from 18 to 75 years old (M=41,28; SD= 13,26), by means of the QQV-65 (Life Quality Questionnaire with 65 questions) and investigated the association between the questionnaire scores and the disease features, comparing patients who showed refrectory seizures with patients with partially controled seizures. There was no difference in relation to the two groups regarding the LQ factor. The QQV-65 emotional factor was the most affected in both groups, since the estimated mean z-escore was 51,0±14,4 for Group I and 49,9±14,7 for Group II. Regarding the type of crisis, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that Health was the only factor in QQV-65 that showed a statistically significant difference between the z-scores (P = 0.024). However, for the frequency of epileptic seizures, except Health (P = 0.185), other factors QQV-65 proved to be related in a statistically significant way (P> 0.05). The research demonstrated that seizure control perception is quite important in the evaluation of life quality in all its aspects (health, body, society, emotion, locus of control, self-concept and cognition).A epilepsia é uma desordem crônica que prejudica a qualidade de vida (QV) e interfere em aspectos emocionais, pessoais, sociais e de relacionamento familiar. Este estudo avaliou a QV de 165 pessoas com diagnóstico de epilepsia, com idade entre 18 e 75 anos (M=41,28; DP= 13,26), por meio do QQV-65. Os escores do questionário foram comparados com características clínicas da doença e entre aqueles pacientes que possuíam refratariedade das crises e com pacientes com crises controladas parcialmente. Não houve diferença em relação às duas populações no fator QV. O fator Emocional foi o mais afetado em ambos os grupos, uma vez que o z-escore médio estimado foi de 51,0±14,4 para o Grupo I e 49,9±14,7 para o Grupo II. Quanto ao tipo de crise, a análise de variância (ANOVA) revelou que Saúde foi o único fator do QQV-65 que apresentou diferença estatisticamente significante entre os z-escores (P=0,024). Entretanto, para a freqüência das crises epiléticas, exceto Saúde (P=0,185), os demais fatores do QQV-65 mostraram-se relacionados de forma estatisticamente significante (P>0,05). O estudo demonstrou que a percepção de controle de crises é muito importante na avaliação da QV em todos os seus aspectos (saúde, físico, social, emocional, lócus de controle, auto-conceito e cognitivo)

Subtle Cognitive Deficits in Adults With a Previous History of Sydenham's Chorea During Childhood

Objective. To evaluate the neuropsychological profile and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of adults who had rheumatic fever (RF) during childhood with and without Sydenham's chorea (SC).Methods. Three groups of patients were assessed: adults who had RF with SC during childhood (SC group), adults who had RF without SC during childhood (RF group), and controls (CT group). A range of neuropsychological tests looked at several cognitive domains. HRQOL was measured through a Brazilian version of the Short Form 36 (SF-36) health survey.Results. Twenty patients were included in the SC group, 23 patients in the RF group, and 19 patients in the CT group. the 3 groups were homogeneous regarding sex (P = 0.078), age (P = 0.799), schooling (P = 0.600), socioeconomic status (P = 0.138), intelligence quotient (P = 0.329), and scores for anxiety (P = 0.156) and depression (P = 0.076). the SC group demonstrated inferior performance in tests that assessed attention (Digit Span Forward [ P = 0.005], Corsi Block Forward [ P = 0.014]), speeded information processing (Trail Making A [ P = 0.009], Symbol Search [ P = 0.042]), and executive functions and working memory (Corsi Block Backward [ P = 0.028]), and higher scores for attention deficit scale (P = 0.030) when compared with the RF and CT groups. They also showed a tendency toward lower scores in the physical aspects, vitality, emotional aspects, and mental health domains of the SF-36. the RF group had a lower score for the general health domain than the CT group (P = 0.030).Conclusion. Patients who had SC during childhood can exhibit inferior performance in tasks that evaluate attention, speeded information processing, executive functions, and working memory in adult life. Therefore, there is indirect evidence of the persistence of dysfunction in cerebral circuits involved with the basal ganglia. They also presented a worse self-evaluation in HRQOL that was not related to cognitive impairments.Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Pediat, BR-04025002 São Paulo, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Pediat, BR-04025002 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc