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Objective: To describe incidence patterns and trends in children (0-14 years) and adolescents (15-19 age-range) with solid tumours, except those of central nervous system (CNS), in Spain., Methods: Cases were drawn from eleven Spanish population-based cancer registries. Incidence was estimated for the period 1983-2007 and trends were evaluated using Joinpoint regression analysis., Results: The studied tumour groups accounted for 36% of total childhood cancers and 47.6% of those diagnosed in adolescence with annual rates per million of 53.5 and 89.3 respectively. In children 0 to 14 years of age, Neuroblastoma (NB) was the commonest (7.8%) followed by Soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) (6.3%), bone tumours (BT) (6.2%) and renal tumours (RT) (4.5%). NB was the most frequently diagnosed tumour before the 5th birthday, while STS and BT were the commonest at 5-9 years of age, and BT and Carcinoma and other epithelial tumours (COET) at 10-14. COET presented the highest incidence in adolescents, followed by germ-cell tumours (GCT), BT and STS. These four diagnostic groups accounted for 94% of total non-CNS solid tumours, in adolescents. Overall incidence rates increased significantly in children up to 1996 with an annual percentage change (APC) of 2.6% (95%CI: 1.7; 3.6). NB and COET showed significant time trend (APCs: 1.4% and 3.8% respectively) while other tumour groups such as RT, STS, BT or GCT had no significant changes over time. A significant increase was present in NB under the age of 5 and in BT and STS in children aged 10-14 years. In adolescents there were significant increases for all tumours combined (APC=2.7; 95%CI: 1.8-3.6) and for STS, GCT and COET (APCs: 3.2%, 4.4% and 3.5% respectively), while other tumour groups such as hepatic tumours, BT or thyroid carcinomas showed a decreasing trend or no increase., Conclusions: Overall, the incidence of the studied cancers in children increased along the period 1983-1996 with no posterior significant rise, while the incidence in adolescents increased significantly over the whole period 1983-2007. Several specific tumour groups showed significant rises or decrements in childhood or adolescence, although the small number of cases precludes showing significant trends or inflexion points.

Objectives: 1) To determine the degree of health information patients infected by Hepatitis B or C have regarding their illness. 2) To ascertain if relatives of these patients are also infected by Hepatitis B or C., Method: This was an observational cross study which analyzed the data obtained from 100 questionnaires filled out by patients infected by Hepatitis B or C under the control of the Digestive Pathologies Dispensary at the Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona. The questionnaire was designed in order to evaluate the degree of information patients have concerning: A) means of transmission, B) preventative measures and their use, C) home/family environment., Results: 85 patients indicate they had received information; of these, 73% consider their information to be satisfactory and of these, only 24% were familiar with the means of transmission this disease has. Finally, only 11 stated they correctly followed preventative measures., Conclusions: 1) The vast majority of the patients affected by Hepatitis B or C have a deficient level of information concerning the means of transmission and of prophylactic measures. 2) The prevalence of intrafamily infection cases studied is high. 3) We conclude that patients infected by Hepatitis B have significantly more information regarding the means of infection than do those patients infected by Hepatitis C. 4) The majority of the patients studied do not recognize the educational role nurses have concerning their health.

Transforming growth factor-alpha immunoreactivity is examined in the developing and adult brain of cats and rats, and in the adult human brain in cryostat sections immediately processed free-floating with a well-characterized monoclonal antibody which does not cross-react with epidermal growth factor. Transforming growth factor-alpha immunoreactivity is observed in neurons of the cerebral neocortex, subiculum, hippocampus, striatum, thalamus, amygdala, basal forebrain, mesencephalon, cerebellar cortex, dentate nucleus and brainstem during development and in adulthood. The intensity of the immunoreaction directly correlates with the size of the cytoplasm. Diffuse transforming growth factor-alpha immunoreactivity also occurs in the white matter of the cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem in the kitten, but not in the adult cat. In addition to neurons, numbers of glial cells in the cerebellar white matter, brainstem and cerebral hemispheres during development, and a few glial cells in the cerebellar cortex, diencephalon, cerebral cortex and white matter in adults are strongly transforming growth factor-alpha immunoreactive. These results support the concept that transforming growth factor-alpha is widely distributed in the brain of mammals, localizes in both neurons and glial cells, and is development dependent. These findings also suggest that transforming growth factor-alpha may play a role in the developing and adult central nervous system.

The prognostic value of tinnitus about the occurrence of hypoacusia in a patient undergoing an ototoxic treatment is not know. Ninety-five patients treated with cisplatinum, a cocleotoxic drug, have been studied to evaluate the percentage of patients with tinnitus, to assess the characteristics of these tinnitus and to know if there is a relationship between its occurrence and the degree of hearing loss that appears after treatment. Thirty-six patients (37.9%) had tinnitus, and there was not a statistically significant relationship between this symptom and the hearing loss. Therefore, tinnitus cannot be used as a prognostic factor for hypoacusia in patients undergoing treatment with cisplatinum.

The AA. intend to find a significant relationship between the subjective intensity of the tinnitus experienced by 47 patients, as assessed by themselves from a 7-point scale, and the objective intensity evaluated by audiometric matching of the noise. The relationship among the subjective intensity, the frequency of tinnitus and the hearing loss at the same frequency of the tinnitus aurium has also been studied. A statistically significative relationship between these parameters could not be possible find out. So they think necessary to find some others means to assess the intensity of the tinnitus.

It is possible that, when the labyrinth is opened in stapedectomy, some form of alteration may occur within it, even if it is not detected postoperatively by routine audiometry. Injuries against the inner ear usually impair the hearing at the highest frequencies. We can assess bone-conduction hearing up to 20 kHz by means of a high-frequency audiometer. Twenty-five patients were examined with conventional and high-frequency audiometry (HFA) before and after successful stapedectomy. Conventional audiometry showed a good postoperative improvement in the low and middle frequencies. HFA showed a lowering of the auditory thresholds above 8 kHz in 20 patients (83.4%), which was not evident with conventional audiometry because it occurred above its upper frequency limit. HFA is a very valuable means of assessing the results of ear surgery, and can be used to compare different surgical techniques.