A descriptive study was carried out based on a questionnaire answered by 90 doctors working in the intensive care units of Teresina, Piaui, Brazil. The aim of the study was to evaluate intensive care knowledge on brain death and correlate it with time spent working in the medical profession, time spent working in intensive care units, type of unit in which the medical professional spent their Medical Residency course and whether the medical professional had the title of specialist in Intensive Care. The majority of participants demonstrated knowledge of the definition of brain death, and awareness was greater among those who had spent less time working in the medical profession. They demonstrated knowledge of the requirement for additional tests to diagnose brain death and described themselves as confident or very confident when explaining brain death to the relatives of patients. The doctors, in general, had difficulties in determining the legal time of death of patients with brain death who were classed as organ donors. Keywords: Brain death. Intensive care units. Physicians. Knowledge. Resumen Evaluación del conocimiento de los médicos intensivistas de Teresina respecto a la muerte cerebralEste es un estudio transversal y descriptivo, realizado a través de un cuestionario del que participaron 90 médicos que actúan en las unidades de terapia intensiva de Teresina. Se realizó con el objetivo de evaluar el conocimiento de los médicos intensivistas sobre la muerte cerebral y correlacionarlo con el tiempo de ejercicio de la profesión médica, tiempo de actuación en unidades de terapia intensiva, tipo de Unidad en la cual el profesional trabaja, carrera de Residencia Médica y posesión del título de especialidad en Terapia Intensiva. En general, los participantes demostraron conocer la definición de muerte cerebral, siendo este conocimiento mayor entre aquellos con menor tiempo de ejercicio de la profesión médica. Demostraron conocer la obligatoriedad de los exámenes complementarios para diagnosticar la muerte cerebral y se describieron a sí mismos como seguros o muy seguros al momento de explicar la muerte cerebral a los familiares de los pacientes. De un modo general, estos médicos presentaron dificultades para determinar el horario legal del óbito en pacientes con muerte cerebral cuando se trata de donantes de órganos. Palabras-clave: Muerte encefálica. Unidades de cuidados intensivos. Médicos. Conocimiento. Resumo Avaliação do conhecimento de médicos intensivistas de Teresina sobre morte encefálicaTrata-se de estudo transversal e descritivo, realizado a partir de questionário respondido por 90 médicos atuantes em unidades de terapia intensiva (UTI) de Teresina. Teve o objetivo de avaliar o conhecimento dos médicos intensivistas sobre morte encefálica e correlacionar esse dado com tempo de exercício da profissão, tempo de atuação em UTI, tipo de unidade em que o profissional trabalha, curso de residência médica e posse de título de especialista em terapia intensiva. Os participantes demonstraram, em sua ma...

Knowledge of genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) has clinical importance due to genotype 1 lower response to treatment compared with genotypes 2 and 3. The goal of this survey was to describe clinical and laboratorial profiles of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in the State of Piauí, as well as to expand the overall awareness of the distribution of HCV genotyping in Northeast of Brazil. A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out between April 1999 and August 2005. A total of 153 patients were included, 119 (77.8%) males and 34 (22.2%) females; mean age = 48.01 ± 9.11 years. We observed a homogeneous distribution between genotypes 1 (50.0%) and 3 (49.0%), while the most frequent subtype noticed was 3a (49.0%). The mean viral load among patients with subtype 1b (1,232,476 UI/mL) was significantly superior to the subtype 1a (391,204 UI/mL; p = 0.010) and to the subtype 3a (594,228 UI/mL; p = 0.047). The average levels of gamma-glutamiltransferase of genotype 1 (144 mg/dL) had statistical differences when compared to genotype 3 (74 mg/dL; p = 0.014). Most patients showed mild to moderate degrees of histopathological necroinflammatory activity and hepatic fibrosis (79.0% and 56.2%, respectively). We concluded that most candidates to treatment of CHC in the State of Piauí presented with clinically stable hepatic illness; the distribution of genotypes 1 and 3 was virtually homogeneous; and there was no significant demographic or clinical differences among genotypes or subtypes of HCV.

No abstract