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JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS:

There was a high frequency of sleep apnea in this group of morbidly obese patients, for whom it was very important to request polysomnography, thus enabling therapeutic management and prognostication.

Background: Obese subjects are at increased risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). However, the individual role of local (i.e., upper airway-related) and general (clinical and whole-body anthropometric) characteristics in determining OSAS in obese patients is still controversial. Objectives: To contrast the clinical, anthropometric and upper airway anatomical features of obese subjects presenting or not presenting with OSAS. Methods: Thirty-seven obese (BMI ≧30 kg/m²) males with OSAS and 14 age- and gender-matched obese controls underwent clinical and anthropometric (BMI, waist-to-hip ratio and neck circumference) evaluation. In a subgroup of subjects (18 and 11 subjects, respectively), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during wakefulness was used to study the upper airway anatomy. Results: OSAS patients showed significantly higher BMI, waist-to-hip ratio and neck circumference as compared to controls (p < 0.05). They also referred to nonrepairing sleep, impaired attention, and previous car accidents more frequently (p < 0.05). The transversal diameter of the airways (TDAW) at the retroglossal level by MRI was found to be an independent predictor of the presence and severity of OSAS (p < 0.05). Parapharyngeal fat increase, however, was not related to OSAS. A TDAW >12 mm was especially useful to rule out severe OSAS (apnea-hypopnea index >30, negative predictive value = 88.9%, likelihood ratio for a negative test result = 0.19). Conclusions: MRI of the upper airway can be used in association with clinical and anthropometric data to identify obese males at increased risk of OSAS.

Obese patients had elevated OSA and NAFLD frequencies. OSA was associated with insulin resistance but not with the severity of NASH.

-Objective: To evaluate the frequency of anxiety and depression disorders in patients with chronic pain. Method: Patients receiving care at the pain clinic of the Federal University of Bahia between February 2003 and November 2006. The MINI PLUS -Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to evaluate the patients and establish psychiatric diagnoses. Results: 400 patients were evaluated mean age was 45.6±11.37 years; 82.8% were female, 17.3% male; 48.5% were married; 55.1% were Catholics; and 40.5% had only high school education. Of these 29.9% reported intense pain and 70.8% reported suffering pain daily. The most frequent medical diagnosis was herniated disc (24.5%), and 48.5% of patients had been undergoing treatment at the pain clinic for less than 3 months. Comorbidities found were depressive episodes (42%), dysthymia (54%), social phobia (36.5%), agoraphobia (8.5%) and panic disorder (7.3%). Conclusion: Psychiatric comorbidities are prevalent in patients suffering chronic pain. Pain has been one of the major concerns of human beings since the beginning of humanity; however, the interpretation of pain varies from one culture to another 1 . Chronic pain is defined in the literature as pain that persists beyond the time required to cure the lesion; pain that is continuous and recurrent. It is generally characterized as vague, ill-defined and aggravated by environmental or psychopathological stress factors 2 .Chronic pain plays a significant role in incapacitating the individual, making it impossible for him/her to perform the physical or mental activities previously carried out normally. As a result, changes develop in the individual's quality of life in general and disorders and symptoms of anxiety and depression become evident 3 . Studies have shown that patients with chronic diseases and women have a much higher risk of developing psychiatric comorbidities compared to the general population 4 .Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency of disorders of anxiety and depression in patients with chronic pain.

BackgroundDiabetes mellitus (DM) has been associated with increased risk for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in endemic settings but it is unknown whether PTB risk is also increased by pre-DM. Here, we prospectively examined the association between glucose metabolism disorder (GMD) and PTB in patients with respiratory symptoms at a tuberculosis primary care reference center in Brazil.MethodsOral glucose tolerance test was performed and levels of fasting plasma glucose and glycohemoglobin (HbA1c) were measured in a cohort of 892 individuals presenting with respiratory symptoms of more than two weeks duration. Patients were also tested for PTB with sputum cultures. Prevalence of pre-DM and DM (based on HbA1c) was estimated and tested for association with incident PTB. Other TB risk factors including smoking history were analyzed.ResultsThe majority of the study population (63.1%) exhibited GMD based on HbA1c ≥5.7%. Patients with GMD had higher prevalence of PTB compared to normoglycemic patients. Individuals with DM exhibited increased frequency of TB-related symptoms and detection of acid-fast bacilli in sputum smears. Among patients with previous DM diagnosis, sustained hyperglycemia (HbA1c ≥7.0%) was associated with increased TB prevalence. Smoking history alone was not significantly associated with TB in our study population but the combination of smoking and HbA1c ≥7.0% was associated with 6 times higher odds for PTB.ConclusionsSustained hyperglycemia and pre-DM are independently associated with active PTB. This evidence raises the question whether improving glycemic control in diabetic TB patients would reduce the risk of TB transmission and simultaneously reduce the clinical burden of disease. A better understanding of mechanisms underlying these associations, especially those suggesting that pre-DM may be a factor driving susceptibility to TB is warranted.

Chronic pain causes functional incapacity and compromises an individual's affective, social, and economic life. OBJECTIVE: To study the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) effectiveness in a group of patients with chronic pain. METHODS: A randomized clinical trial with two parallel groups comprising 93 patients with chronic pain was carried out. Forty-eight patients were submitted to CBT and 45 continued the standard treatment. The visual analogue, hospital anxiety and depression, and quality of life SF-36 scales were applied. Patients were evaluated before and after ten weeks of treatment. RESULTS: When the Control Group and CBT were compared, the latter presented reduction of depressive symptoms (p=0.031) and improvement in the domains 'physical limitations' (p=0.012), 'general state of health' (p=0.045), and 'limitations by emotional aspects' (p=0.025). CONCLUSIONS: The CBT was effective and it has caused an improvement in more domains of quality of life when compared to the Control Group, after ten weeks of treatment.