Objectives: To analyze the epidemiological profile of patients undergoing surgery at a referral hospital in a small, country town. Methods: A retrospective study was carried out between February 2009 and May 2010, in a Regional Referral unit, with a total of 24 patients. The cases study included all patients undergoing surgery for spinal trauma during this period, with or without neurological deficits. The data analyzed were: sex, age, location and degree of the injury, and mechanism of the injury. Results: The medianage of the patients was 35.8 years, and 75% were male. The mechanisms of the injury were motorcycle accidents in 37.5%, falls in 33.3%, automobile accidents in 25%, and diving into shallow water in 4.2%. The vertebral level affected was the cervical spine in 44%, the thoracic spine in 36%, and the thoracolumbar level in 20%. The neurological damage, classified according ASIA (American Spinal Injury Association) was complete, or category A in 37.5%, incomplete, or category B in 4.2%, incomplete, or category C in 12.5%, incomplete, or category D in 8.3%, and incomplete, or category E in 37.5%. In terms of access route, 64% of the procedures were performed with posterior access and 36% with anterior access. Conclusion: The epidemiological profile maintains the trend towards a prevalence of injuries among young men, affecting the cervical level, with the presence of spinal cord lesion. However, accidents involving motorcycles and fallings from heights are factors that can be modified by safety measures on the roads and in the workplace, which can reverse the high prevalence of these accidents.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and is highly prevalent in old age. Unlike current drugs, medicinal plants can have preventive and protective effects with less side effects. Given the great number of bioactive substances, plants from the Zingiberaceae Family have medicinal potential and currently are widely studied regarding its anti-Alzheimer's disease effects. The objective of this study was to provide an overview of advances in phytochemical composition studies, in vitro and in vivo pharmacological studies, and toxicological effects of the Zingiberaceae Family on Alzheimer's disease. Information was obtained from relevant papers in electronic databases. Most of the studies of Zingiberaceae effects on Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis theory are related to cholinergic, β amyloid cascade, tau, inflammation, and oxidative stress hypothesis. Also, in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies on the effect of Alpinia, Curcuma, and Zingiber genera have been reported as harmless and safe, with potential for anti-Alzheimer treatment.

ResumoHematoma subperiosteal ou céfalo-hematoma, apesar de condição conhecida em neonatos, é rara em adultos e mesmo em crianças maiores, o que levanta a suspeita de uma diferente patogênese entre as duas situações. A cronificação e a ossificação do céfalo-hematoma são condições extremamente infrequentes, com escasso material bibliográfico, e sua presença no adulto é fato inusitado na literatura. Reportamos o caso de um hematoma subperiosteal crônico de grandes proporções, ossificado, com um ano de evolução, tratado cirurgicamente, em um menino de 12 anos de idade com síndrome epiléptica e déficit cognitivo prévios. A revisão e a discussão de sua patogênese e seu tratamento foram realizadas para exposição da condição.

The dopaminergic system is involved in a wide range of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. The lack of receptor subtype specificity is related to several pharmacological side effects that are observed during therapy among parkinsonian and schizophrenic patients. It is of paramount importance to search for new compounds that act on dopamine receptors with therapeutic potential, higher clinical effectiveness, and fewer adverse effects. In the present study, we performed a molecular docking study of D2, D3, and D4 receptor interactions with 92 metabolites from Curcuma longa using an in silico approach. We sought to identify compounds for possible drug development. A virtual library of compounds was built using molecules that were identified in the phytochemical characterization of C. longa. Protocols that were validated by redocking were applied to a virtual scan of this library using the Autodock-v4.2.3, Autodock Vina, and Molegro-v6.0 Virtual Docker programs, with four repetitions each. The three-dimensional structures of D2, D3, and D4 receptors in complex with risperidone, eticlopride, and nemonapride were obtained from the Protein Data Bank. Four compounds—stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, cholest-5-en-3-one, and cholestan-3-ol,2-methylene-(3β, 5α)—were the most likely to bind D2, D3, and D4 dopamine receptors, suggesting their potential for possible drug development.

No abstract

Introdução: A aplasia cútis congênita é uma doença rara que apresenta incidência de 1 a cada 10.000 nascimentos. Uma taxa de mortalidade de 20% tem sido relatada, principalmente devido a hemorragia ou meningite naqueles pacientes com envolvimento craniano. Objetivo: Relatar o caso de um pacientee realizar revisão de literatura sobre o assunto. Relato de caso: Paciente do sexo feminino nascida de parto cesáreo, com 37 semanas de gestação. A doença foi diagnosticada intra-útero por meio de exames de imagem (ultra-sonografia obstétrica e ressonância magnética fetal). Nas primeiras 48 horas de vida,a recém-nascida foi submetida a procedimento cirúrgico com o intuito de reparar a lesão. Evoluiu com complicações tardias, como fístula liquórica, meningite e convulsões. Aos dois anos de idade, foi a óbito em decorrência de sepse de foco pulmonar. Conclusão: Aplasia cútis congênita é uma doençarara, que pode atingir somente couro cabeludo, mas também apresentar-se com ausência de parte da calota craniana, o que aumenta a mortalidade devido ao maior risco de complicações como fístula liquórica, meningoencefalite e sangramento.