Biomedical subjects
J Fariña
Publications and source records attributed to J Fariña.
[Abdominal pain, hypovolemic shock and comorbidity].
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Immunohistochemical prognostic index for breast cancer in young women.
AIMS: Women under 35 years of age comprise a small proportion of patients with breast cancer, but determining their prognosis can be difficult. This prospective, multivariate study looked at several factors with the aim of obtaining a useful index to evaluate the prognosis of these women. METHODS: In total, 108 patients below 35 years of age affected by invasive ductal carcinoma without distant metastasis were studied. The mean duration of the follow up period was six years. Histopathological (tumour size, histological grade, and lymph node stage) and immunohistochemical (c-erbB-2, p53, oestrogen receptor, and progesterone receptor) factors were measured in all patients, and the Nottingham prognostic index (NPI) was then calculated. An immunohistochemical prognostic index (IHPI) was created using the arithmetic sum of the four individual immunohistochemical factors. RESULTS: In univariate assessment of survival, all the studied factors yielded a significant association with either overall survival or disease free survival, except for c-erbB-2 and p53 with disease free survival. In univariate calculation of risk, all the factors gave significant results; however, in multivariate analysis only tumour size, histological grade, and progesterone receptor were significant. Both NPI and IHPI correlated significantly with prognosis. In multivariate regression analysis, IHPI correlated with tumour size and there was a significant interaction between both variables. CONCLUSION: IHPI is very useful in determining the prognosis of tumours < or = 2 cm and of moderate use for tumours > 2, although it has no use in tumours > 5 cm.
Local differences in the Archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain) in relation to the consanguinity structure, 1900-1979.
The microgeographic variability of consanguinity in the Archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia) between 1900 and 1979 was studied. This Archbishopric covers 106 local councils integrated by 964 parishes, of which 677 (70.23%) were analyzed. Of the 307,094 marriages counted within this period, 15,739 corresponded to weddings between biologically related couples. Within the Archbishopric, eight geographical regions were considered: six coastal regions (Golfo Artabro, Bergantiños, Fisterra, Xallas, Santiago Oeste, and Rías Baixas) and two inland regions (Santiago Este and Terra de Montes). In order to evaluate the differences and similarities among them, the frequencies of all types of marriages (consanguineous and nonconsanguineous) were considered. First, a hierarchical grouping of the regions based on their chi-squared distances was performed. Then, in order to analyze relationships that are exclusively due to the structure of consanguinity, a correspondence analysis was performed and only the frequency of the different types of consanguineous marriages was taken into account. The results from both statistical analyses indicate special features of the Xallas region, both in the level of inbreeding (8.75%, the highest in the Archbishopric) and in the structure of consanguinity, for which a high proportion of uncle-niece marriages was found (6.22% of all consanguineous marriages). In all cases the structure of consanguinity provides informative nuances on the differences and similarities among population groups.
Development of two high-performance liquid chromatographic methods for the analysis and characterization of insulin and its degradation products in pharmaceutical preparations.
Two high-performance liquid chromatography methods either in reversed-phase or as size exclusion separation mode were developed and validated for the analysis of insulin and its degradation products in pharmaceutical preparations. The results show the reliability of the analytical methods for the intended used. The static and dynamic light scattering were used to characterize the insulin and its derivatives. The absolute molecular weight of human insulin monomer and dimer were 5800 and 12400 Da respectively whereas its z-average root mean square radius were 21.6+/-0.4 and 40.5+/-0.7 nm, respectively. In contrast, the hydrodynamic diameter varied between 2.69 and 5.50 nm, depending of the association behavior of insulin.
Statistical assessment of between batch stability equivalence.
A statistical method for testing the equivalence between batches regarding their stability is proposed. This method is based on the statistical linear model making use of a set of dummy variables to code the different batches. The method gives us the point estimates of the slope and zero intercept of one batch, and the differences and the corresponding confidence intervals with the remaining batches. In a second step, zero intercepts and slopes are estimated for all the batches. Stability equivalence assessment is based on the comparison of the confidence intervals for the differences between batches with the maximum difference allowable. The main advantages of this method are the possibility to compare several batches, to disclose the equivalence stability criteria from the statistical hypothesis about the equality between slopes, and the joint estimated of the residual variance whatever the decision to pool or not the data from different batches. This method is illustrated with two data set; the first one, previously published by other authors, involved six batches; the second data set include two batches and arose in a stability study of a commercial human insulin conducted in our laboratory.
[The cost effectiveness of echography biopsy].
Ecopsy is a postmortem technique which, by means of echography-guided puncture and/or aspiration obtains material for histological analysis. This study compared cost and time employed in 100 ecopsies and 100 classic necropsies and confirmed that cost of materials in ecopsy is 65% lower than that in necropsy. Physicians, necropsy technicians, laboratory technicians and secretary team personnel spent 33%, 54%, 19% and 32% less time than in necropsy. The clinical report of ecopsy was finished within nine days even with the brain study included.
Evolution of consanguinity in the Archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) during 1900-1979.
We present a study of the frequencies of the different types of consanguineous marriages, up to the level of second cousins, using as a source the ecclesiastical dispensations given from 1900 to 1979 in the Archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain). We also report the rate of consanguinity, the average coefficient of inbreeding, and its evolution. From 1900 to 1979, 15,739 consanguineous marriages were registered, corresponding to 25 different categories of relationship. The rate of consanguinity of the total number of consanguineous marriages is 5.13% and the average coefficient of inbreeding is 1.94 x 10(-3), values that are within the wide range of variability found in other Spanish populations. Spain is characterized, with regard to the rest of Western Europe, by a high level of inbreeding with a late and rapid decrease in this factor. The most relevant aspect of the structure of consanguinity lies in the high frequency of marriages between close relatives: 0.16% uncle-niece or aunt-nephew marriages and 1.62% marriages between first cousins, both values with respect to the total number of marriages. This phenomenon appears to be generalized throughout northern Spain. The evolution of the total consanguinity lends itself to a polynomial curve model. The fitted curve of the evolution of the average coefficient of inbreeding has an ascending branch and a descending branch, with the inflection point situated in the year 1918; the regression lines, for both the ascending and the descending branches, have regression coefficients significantly different from 0 (p < 0.001).
Pulmonary toxicity of cadmium in rats: a histologic and ultrasound study.
Several studies have shown a carcinogenic effect of inhaled or injected cadmium in rats. This carcinogenity has not yet been confirmed in humans. We have performed a study with 48 Wistar male rats, to which we have administered either cadmium sulphide (0.2 mg/Kg/day) or the same doses of placebo for four or eight days. 24 hours after the last administration, the rats were euthanised and an autopsy was performed. The histologic changes in the lung of the cadmium-exposed group were diffuse areas of alveolar collapse due to narrowing of the bronchioles secondary to the alteration of the surrounding connective tissue, with compensating alveolar emphysema near these foci and also at the periphery of the lung. There was also an increased number of intra-alveolar macrophages. We also noticed small foci of dysplasia in the alveolar epithelium. Ultrastructural changes were inspecific but suggested a toxic effect of cadmium on the epithelium. These findings, absent in the control group, confirm that intrathoracic injection of cadmium is associated with an increased tendency to the development of pulmonary emphysema and with dysplastic changes in the alveolar epithelium (peribronchiolar alveolar dysplasia).
Nodular fibrosis of the lung in diabetes mellitus.
The target organs in diabetes mellitus include the kidneys, the eyes and the small vessels. In these organs some specific histopathological changes have been described but there are few reports of histopathoogical changes in the lung in diabetic patients. Several reports describe abnormal pulmonary function in diabetic patients and consider these abnormalities to be due to histopahtological changes found in the pulmonary vessels. We have studied the histopathological changes in the diabetic lung comparing the findings in the autopsies of 61 diabetic and 50 non-diabetic patients. Statistically significant differences in the incidence of chronic obstructive lung disease and pulmonary haemorrhage exist. There are no differences in the incidence of fibrosis of the alveolar walls or intimal and medial thickening of small vessels, changes associated with diabetes according to the literature. We have found a specific type of nodular fibrosis not previously reported which we believe to be typical of diabetes.
Histological diagnosis of cytomegalovirus hepatitis in liver allografts.
AIMS--To determine the incidence of histologically documented cytomegalovirus (CMV) hepatitis following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and to assess the effectiveness of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridisation (ISH) in detecting CMV. To describe the histological pattern most frequently associated with CMV hepatitis in order to select the biopsy group in which these modern techniques are most effective. METHODS--A prospective histological study was carried out on 853 biopsy specimens, obtained from 191 liver allografts (160 patients). Specimens were stained with haematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemically (avidin-biotin complex) using monoclonal antibodies directed against early and late CMV antigens. A retrospective selection was made of 23 specimens with viral inclusion bodies in cytomegalic cells (group A) to characterise the most frequently associated histological pattern, and of 34 other specimens without viral inclusion bodies (group B) but with the same microscopic features as group A. Re-cuts from both specimen groups were studied using immunohistochemistry and ISH with a CMV specific complementary DNA probe. RESULTS--CMV infection was confirmed in 35 specimens (29 by immunohistochemistry, 23 by presence of inclusion bodies in haematoxylin and eosin stained sections, 16 by ISH) from 27 patients (incidence 16.9%). CMV hepatitis was diagnosed within 46 +/- 19 (range 21-114) days posttransplant. Twenty on (91.3%) of the 23 biopsy specimens with inclusion bodies (group A) displayed heterogeneous inflammatory foci disseminated throughout the hepatic lobule. Nineteen specimens (82.6%) were positive by immunohistochemistry and 14 (60.9%) by ISH. In eight (23.5%) of the 34 group B specimens CMV infection was confirmed by immunohistochemistry (n = 6) or ISH (n = 2). Another 12 (35.3%) of the group B specimens negative on staining with haematoxylin and eosin, immunohistochemistry and ISH came from allografts in which previous or subsequent biopsy specimens were CMV positive. CONCLUSIONS--Demonstration of cytomegalic inclusion bodies in haematoxylin and eosin sections is sufficient for a diagnosis of CMV hepatitis. The routine use of immunohistochemistry in all allograft biopsy specimens in more sensitive than demonstration of inclusion bodies by staining with haematoxylin and eosin but may yield false negative results because of the focal distribution of positive cells. ISH was less sensitive than staining with haematoxylin and eosin and/or immunohistochemistry. A histological picture of "disseminated focal hepatitis" without viral inclusion bodies selects a group of allograft biopsy specimens in which immunohistochemistry and/or ISH may improve detection of CMV.
Lethal cardiac toxicity after cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy. Report of a case with necropsy study.
This article presents a patient affected with epidermoid carcinoma of the soft palate who developed a dilated myocardiopathy with aortic embolism and fatal left cardiac failure after treatment with cisplatin (100 mg/m2, day 1) and 5-fluorouracil (1 g/m2/day i.v. days 2-6). The postmortem necropsy study showed diffuse interstitial edema and intracytoplasmic vacuolization of myocytes, without inflammatory changes. These findings were interpreted as acute toxic myocardiopathy, probably due to 5-fluorouracil treatment. Although the patient also received cisplatin, metoclopramide, allopurinol, thiethylperazine, and amitriptyline, before the onset of clinical symptoms, these drugs were not considered to play an important role in the production of this cardiopathy because of the dosage, necropsy findings, and lack of previous report.
Restrain-induced stress ulcer. II. Biochemical and ultrastructural studies of gastric mucosa.
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[Morphological study of cardiovascular lesions of Marfan's syndrome].
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[Hypoplasia of the infrarenal abdominal aorta].
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Evolution of consanguinity in the Bishopric of Lugo (Spain) from 1900 to 1979.
BACKGROUND: The levels of consanguinity in human populations are known to be influenced by demographic and geographical factors, and by socio-cultural customs that govern spouse choice. Within the general model applicable to the populations of Western Europe, Galicia (north-west Spain) is a region that is especially interesting, due to its geographical and historical peculiarities that could have conditioned its behaviour pattern with respect to consanguinity. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: The object of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the consanguinity structure levels in the rural population of the Bishopric of Lugo (Galicia) during the period 1900-1979. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study covers a total of 752 parishes included in 52 municipalities of the rural area of the Bishopric of Lugo. Of a total of 117,583 marriages in the period studied, 6701 were between biologically related individuals up to the level of second cousins. The percentage of the different types of consanguineous marriages, the consanguinity rates, and the average coefficient of inbreeding of the population was calculated. Also, for the analysis of the temporal variation of consanguinity, version 3.01 of Jandel Scientific's Table Curve program was used. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The consanguinity rate for the whole of the period is 5.70% and the average coefficient of inbreeding is 2.2477 x 10(-3), values which fall within the observed range for Spanish populations. As for the consanguinity structure, the most frequent types of consanguineous marriages are between second cousins (2.65% of all marriages), but the high proportion of marriages between uncles/nieces or aunts/nephews (0.16%) and first cousins (2.12%) with regard to the total number of marriages should be emphasized. The average value of the M22/M33 ratio is 0.80, and throughout the study period it was above the 0.25 expected in conditions of panmixia. Regarding the evolution of the average coefficient of inbreeding, its annual values fit a polynomial regression curve with one ascending and one descending branch and an inflection point in the year 1919. CONCLUSIONS: As in other rural areas of Galicia, the structure of consanguinity in the Bishopric of Lugo is characterized by the high proportion of marriages between uncles/nieces or aunts/nephews and first cousins, a phenomenon which appears to be generalized in the rural populations of northern Spain. It is suggested that the high proportion of uncle/niece marriages that have been found in the population studied are very probably due to the important migratory phenomenon which took place in this region at the end of the 19th century and in the first third of the 20th century.
Consanguinity in the Bishopric of Ourense (Galicia, Spain) from 1900 to 1979.
BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the levels of inbreeding in the human population is interesting because it is one of the characteristics that conditions its genetic structure and has important genetic-medical repercussions in the descendants of marriages between close relatives. Galicia (north-west Spain) is a region with very special geographic, historic and social characteristics that makes it particularly interesting for consanguinity studies. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: The object of this investigation is the study of the levels of inbreeding and the structure of consanguinity in rural area of the Dioceses of Ourense (Galicia) during the period 1900-1979. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In the study, data corresponding to 437 parishes, integrated in 80 municipalities of the rural area of the Dioceses of Ourense were analysed. In the period studied, of a total of 110 128 marriages, 9010 took place between biologically related individuals up to the level of second cousins. The rate of consanguinity and the average coefficient of inbreeding of the population, as well as the percentage of the different types of consanguineous marriages, were calculated. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The rate of consanguinity for the period 1900-1979 is 8.18% and the average coefficient of inbreeding is 3.0662 x 10(-3). The most frequent type of consanguineous marriage is between second cousins (4.00% of all marriages). There is a notably high frequency of marriages of multiple relationships (0.52%) and the frequency of uncle-niece or aunt-nephew marriages is 0.16%. The average value of the M22/M33 ratio is 0.66 and during the 80 years studied, with regard to the temporal variation of the average coefficient of inbreeding, the annual values followed a polynomial curve with an inflection point in 1921. CONCLUSIONS: The highest values of consanguinity detected in Galicia, for the same period, were registered in the Dioceses of Ourense and the high rate of uncle-niece or aunt-nephew marriages habitual in this region was confirmed. The latter is explained by the important incidence in the Galician population of the migration to America at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. However, when the relative frequency of this type of marriage with respect to the total number of consanguineous marriages is calculated, it has relatively low values due to the high proportion of marriages between second cousins and marriages of multiple relationships, the highest in Galicia for an equal period of time. The rate of marriages between first cousins is also the highest in Galicia, confirming a phenomenon that appears to be common in the rural areas of the northern area of the Iberian Peninsula.
[Heterologous pericardial substitutes: a call for attention].
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