In this issue of CLINICS, we highlight a landmark: CLINICS is now a PUBMEDCENTRAL journal, which means it now complies with the policies of funding agencies, such as, the Wellcome Trust and the Research Councils (United Kingdom), the National Institutes of Health (United States), and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Germany) which request or require deposition of the published articles that they fund into such publicly available databases. We also wish to highlight a intriguing piece of basic research, in which Rocha-Filho et al. designed a study to evaluate the effects of the vasopressin analogue terlipressin versus various fluid resuscitation regimens on hemodynamics, metabolic parameters, blood loss and short-term survival in hemorrhagic shock; however, a result which was not apriori sought for called their attention, namely that the high plasma potassium levels which accompanies hemorrhagic shock appears to be the best correlate with mortality. They conclude that this high potassium level, in addition to providing an early sign of the acute ischemic insult severity, may also be the causal factor responsible for the cardiac arrest related to hemorrhagic shock.
We additionally publish 9 clinical studies and 5 other non-clinical studies.
Cerci et al. prospectively investigated the efficacy of positron emission tomography with 2-[18f]-Fluoro-2-Deoxy-d-Glucose for initial staging of hodgkin lymphoma in 82 patients with newly diagnosed HL and concluded that it is superior to computerized tomography for the detection of nodal and extra-nodal HL. They recommend that changes in stages based on this method should be confirmed by biopsy.
Garrido et al. examined endobronchial ultrasound for diagnosis of tracheobronchial tree invasion by esophageal cancer in 14 patients and found that the procedure showed signs of tracheobronchial invasion not observed by conventional bronchoscopy, adding information to staging in most of the cases when compared with computerized tomography and endoscopic ultrasound.
Accorsi-Neto et al. prospectively evaluated the effects of isoflavones-rich concentrated soy extract on the skin of 23 postmenopausal women and found that its application, examining epidermal thickness, the papillary index (wrinkling), and the amount of dermal elastic and collagen fibers during six consecutive months, caused significant increases in epithelial thickness, the number of elastic and collagen fibers, as well as the blood vessels
Fossaluza et al. describe and discuss a minimization procedure specifically designed for a clinical trial that evaluates treatment efficacy for Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients and found that the random arrival order of patients determines different assignments and therefore maintains the unpredictability of the allocation method. They conclude that the proposed procedure allows for the use of a large number of prognostic factors in a given allocation decision.
Pêgo-Fernandes et al. retrospectively compared spirometry data between 39 patients who underwent single-lung or double-lung transplantation over the first year after transplantation and found a clear tendency to greater improvement in FVC and FEV1 in the bilateral transplant group. Among our subjects, double-lung transplantation improved lung function.
Barbosa et al. compared measurements obtained with three different perineometers in 20 nulliparous women with no anatomical alterations and/or dysfunction of the pelvic floor and found that the concordance of the measurements of the intra-vaginal pressure ranged from poor to moderate, suggesting that perineometers of different brands generate different results.
Younes et al. determined clinical, pathological, and treatment-relevant variables associated with long-term (90-month) overall survival in 529 patients admitted with lung metastases, and who underwent thoracotomy for resection after treatment of a primary tumor and confirm that lung metastasectomy is a safe and potentially curative procedure for patients with treated primary tumors. A select group of patients can achieve long-term survival after resection.
Zhang et al. retrospectively studied long-term surgical outcomes of primary congenital glaucoma in 48 patients who underwent primary trabeculectomy, trabeculotomy, or combined trabeculotomy and trabeculectomy in China and conclude, in contrast to most reports, that trabeculectomy and the combined procedure achieved higher long-term success rates than trabeculotomy. The patients with successful surgical results had better vision. They also suggest that compliance with a routine of regular follow-up may increase the chances of a successful surgical outcome.
Nicolau et al. analyzed the role of invasive therapies in 1588 elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction who had been prospectively included in a databank and followed for up to 7.5 years and found that the invasive therapies during the in-hospital phase was at least as effective in elderly patients as in younger patients.
Mailankot et al. evaluated the effects of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation from GSM (0.9/1.8ghz) mobile phones on oxidative stress and sperm motility in rats and found that a 1-hour a day exposure for 28 days resulted in a significant increase in lipid peroxidation and low GSH content in the testis and epididymis.
İnan et al. examined the effects of the histamine h2 receptor antagonist famotidine on the healing of colonic anastomosis in rats and found that it exerts detrimental effects on the anastomotic bursting pressure and hydroxyproline content of perianastomotic tissues in the colon of rats.
Tess et al. evaluated the scientific research productivity of the Heart Institute of São Paulo, Brazil and found 604 original articles and reviews, 246 articles published in national journals (221 with free online access through Sci-ELO) and 348 published in international journals (333 with controlled online access). The average impact of each article for InCor was 2.224 in the period studied.
Oliveira et al. analyzed cutaneous remodeling in the early stage of a scleroderma model (induced through immunization with type V collagen, followed by a challenge with type V collagen plus incomplete Freund’s adjuvant) in female New Zealand rabbits and found that Immunized rabbits presented a significant increase in collagen in skin collected seven days after the first immunization. They conclude that the results from this experimental model may be important to a better understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms involved in the beginning of human scleroderma.
Lucato et al. evaluated and compared the efficacy of humidification in available heat and moisture exchanger models under conditions of varying tidal volume, respiratory rate, and flow rate and found that heat and moisture exchangers are more efficient when used with low tidal volume ventilation. The roles of flow and respiratory rate were less important, suggesting that their adjustment has a less significant effect on the performance of heat and moisture exchangers.
We also publish three case reports.