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Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, several strategies were suggested for the management of the disease, including pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments such as convalescent plasma (CP). The use of CP was suggested due to the beneficial results shown in treating other viral diseases., Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of CP obtained from whole blood in patients with COVID-19., Methods: Pilot clinical trial in patients with COVID-19 from a general hospital. The subjects were separated into three groups that received the transfusion of 400ml of CP (n=23) or 400ml of standard plasma (SP) (n=19) and a non-transfused group (NT) (n=37). Patients also received the standard available medical treatment for COVID-19. Subjects were followed up daily from admission to day 21., Results: The CP did not improve the survival curve in moderate and severe variants of COVID-19, nor did it reduce the degree of severity of the disease evaluated with the COVID-19 WHO and SOFA clinical progression scale. No patient had a severe post-transfusion reaction to CP., Conclusions: Treatment with CP does not reduce the mortality of patients even when its administration has a high degree of safety., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of the risk of depression, major defining characteristics and factors associated with., Design: Sub-study of comprehensive geriatric assessment cross-study., Setting: Primary health center., Participants: For an estimated 14% prevalence we need a sample of 288 people. From 3854, 290 people ≥75 years were selected. Excluding terminals, chemotherapy, recent surgery, temporary residence, mental retardation, serious psychiatric illness, or under home care., Outcome: risk of depression (≥2 points on the Goldberg depression subscale., Dependent Variables: Sociodemographic and five study areas of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment: medical -comorbidity, polypharmacy, falls and hospital admissions-, functional -Up&Go Test, Lawton-Brody and Barthel Index-, nutritional -Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA)-, mental-affective -Pfeiffer Questionnaire and Goldberg scale-, and social. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression., Results: We obtained 290 interviews, with 102 (35.1%) male and mean age of 79.4 years (SD:3.2). The prevalence of the risk of depression was 37.2%, 26.5% in men and 43.1% in women (p=0.005). Association of risk of depression is observed with arterial hypertension (OR:3.87 95% CI:1.61-9.34), cancer (OR:4.12 95%, CI:1.58-10.76), lack of leisure activity (OR:2.75 95%, CI:1.33-5.67), increase of anxiety scale (OR:1.87 95%, CI:1.57-2.22) and decrease in MNA (OR:0.78 95%, CI:0.68-0.9)., Conclusions: The prevalence of risk of depression is higher than expected, although overestimated until being confirmed with a diagnostic test. We appreciate new associations of comorbidity variables with risk of depression and corroborate other known. The studied factors that were associated with the risk of depression should be included in future studies of geriatric depression., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To study the microsurgical anatomy of the superior petrosal venous complex (SPVC)., Material and Methods: We conducted a descriptive and prospective study. Six injected specimens were used (12 sides). The microsurgical anatomy of the SPVC was studied by means of an anterior, retrosigmoid and transpetrosal approach. Neurosurgical equipment, 0-degree rigid endoscopy and OPMI-1 surgical microscope with 6× to 20× magnification were all used in this study. The venous drainage pattern toward the superior petrosal sinus was analysed, as were the formation of tributary veins, the relationship with the trigeminal nerve and the anatomical variants of SPVC., Results: The SPVC was present in all cases. A tributary, cerebellopontine fissure vein was identified in 100% of cases. The venous drainage pattern of the SPVC was divided into medial, intermediate and lateral with respect to the suprameatal crest. The SPVC was simple in 8 sides and duplicate in 4 sides. A triangle formed by the tentorium, the SPVC and part of the tentorial and petrosal surface of the cerebellum was also observed in the study. This triangle was called the petrosal-tentorial triangle., Conclusions: It is important to understand the microsurgical anatomy of the SPVC. Therefore, we propose the petrosal-tentorial triangle as a neurosurgical route for the management of pathologies from the cerebellopontine angle to the superior petroclival region., (Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Neurocirugía. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Our objectives were to determine epidemiology, clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS) treated in our centre, to describe renal and extra-renal complications and the treatment required and to relate our findings with the existing bibliography., Methods: We performed a 33-year retrospective review. We included all patients diagnosed with HUS and monitored in our hospital from January 1974 to August 2007. Clinical histories and imaging studies were reviewed., Results: A total of 58 patients were included in our study, with a mean age of 2 years 11 months and most of them were admitted to hospital in summer. Familial hypocomplementaemia was present in one case. A total of 48 patients presented with typical HUS (with diarrhoea D+ HUS). Salmonella enteritidis and Escherichia coli O157:H7 were isolated from those patients. While 7 cases presented with atypical HUS (without diarrhoea, D- HUS), most of them associated with a respiratory tract infection due to Streptococcus. In one case platelet count was normal. Kidney biopsy was performed in 18 patients and 25 cases underwent peritoneal dialysis. As regards complications, one child with D+ HUS experienced renal cortical necrosis and required kidney transplant, while in the D-HUS group, the patient with familial hypocomplementaemia had severe hypertension., Conclusions: a) Incidence of HUS in our environment is low. b) HUS can be present even with a normal platelet count. c) We had one case of HUS in a patient with familial hypocomplementaemia who experienced severe hypertension. d) In our group of patients, the course of the disease was not influenced by the white blood cell counts, decreased diuresis or hypocomplementaemia.

Objective: To evaluate MR venography with bolus injection of intravenous contrast and elliptical filling of the K space, using three-dimensional fast spoiled gradient-echo (3D-FSPGR) sequences, and to compare it to the technique most frequently employed in the study of cerebral veins and dural sinuses, which is two-dimensional time-of-flight (2D-TOF) MR venography., Material and Methods: Source images, multiplanar reconstructions, and maximum intensity projections (MIP) were obtained using both 2D-TOF venography and contrasted-enhanced 3D-FSPGR venography in 20 healthy volunteers. Two radiologists independently evaluated both techniques for the visualization of twenty-one predefined venous structures, classifying the depiction as completely visible, partially visible, or not visible., Results: The predefined venous structures were completely visible in 795 of 840 (94.6%) of the evaluations of contrast-enhanced 3D-FSPGR images versus 682 of 840 (81.1%) evaluations of 2D-TOF venography images. In the major dural sinuses, visualization was complete in 99.4% of the readings of contrast-enhanced 3D-FSPGR images versus 81% in the readings of the 2D-TOF images., Conclusion: 3D-FSPGR with elliptical filling of the K space and bolus injection of contrast material provides higher quality images of the intracranial venous system than those obtained using 2D-TOF sequences.

Acoustic analysis was made of 154 voices of healthy non-smokers adults. A sustained vowel /a/ was recorded on a mini-disc. Acoustic analysis was carried out with Dr. Speech Science software. Fundamental frequency (F0), standard deviation of the fundamental frequency (SD F0), jitter PPQ (%), shimmer APQ (%), harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), and normalized noise energy (NNE) were estimated. Mean F0 was 201 Hz in women and 129 Hz in men. F0 increased with age in men. In women, changes in F0 with age were not statistically significant. Age, sex and F0 did not significantly influence jitter, shimmer or HNR. An acceptable normal threshold is 0.5% jitter. Three percent shimmer excludes 13% of healthy persons. Our HNR values were higher than those reported elsewhere (95th percentile: 18 dB). An NNE threshold of -10 dB is unacceptable because it excludes 38% of healthy persons. NNE differed with sex (mean difference: 3-5 dB). Methodology, sample characteristics and the vowel /a/ may account for some of the differences in results.

Objectives: To study the prevalence of alcohol-related disorders (ARDs), associated factors, the recording of alcohol consumption in the Clinical Notes and the performance of the Primary Care team (PCT) with young people attending for on-demand treatment., Design: Crossover descriptive study., Setting: Four Primary Care consultations., Participants: 306 people between 14 and 29 attending for on-demand treatment, over two and a half months and with a medical record opened at the centre., Interventions: Face-to-face interview. The team constructed a questionnaire, which including: the CAGE test, social and demographic characteristics, tobacco consumption, the recording of alcohol consumption in the clinical notes and action., Results: Average age 20.9 +/- 4.4 years, mainly female (57.4%). Prevalence of ARDs was 11.8%. In 55.9% of the clinical notes alcohol consumption had not been recorded; 78.4% had received no anti-alcohol counselling., Conclusions: The prevalence of ARDs among this population group of young people is similar to that described in other studies and is related to being male and smoking. PC professionals are not sufficiently aware of this problem.