In the August 2005 Issue of Clinics

Abstract

EDITORIALWe are happy to announce that we closed the year of 2004, the last of Rev. Hosp. Clin. Fac. Med. S. Paulo, with the highest estimated impact factor ever, 0.394. The credit goes to Pedro Puech-Leão for his excellent job as Chief Editor during the period in question.In this issue of Clinics we highlight an investigation by Mazza et al. into the problem of oxygen consumption in septic states, with important bearings on the treatment of these very serious conditions. A well controlled protocol shows that improving the oxygen carrying capacity of circulating blood of SIRS/septic patients does not improve important indirect indicators of oxygen consumption. The problem thus lies not in the oxygen delivery side of the issue, but within the cell itself.Araújo et al. retrospectively analyzed the results of surgical treatment of paracolostomy hernias in 22 patients who underwent surgery during the past 15 years, with or without biological mesh, and conclude that the biological prosthesis may be preferable since muscle-aponeurotic weakness is frequently observed when the biological mesh was not used. Bertevello et al. described an immunohistochemical assessment of the mucosal cytokine profile in acetic acid experimental colitis in rats, an extensively used model for intestinal inflammatory disease. INF-g and IL-6 were increased 4 hr and 24 hr after the insult, IL-1 only at 4 hr and IL-6 only at 24 hr, thereby illustrating the usefulness of the model. Quilici et al. evaluated the stress provoked by taking the ATLS practical exam (on an "intelligent" mannequin) and compared it to that observed during actual clinical examination of comparably sick patients at an emergency trauma care unit. Subjects were 18 male surgery residents.