Background. Ovarian dysplasia has been defined by histologic's' and morphometric studies3v4 focus... more Background. Ovarian dysplasia has been defined by histologic's' and morphometric studies3v4 focusing on architectural and nuclear profile changes. A new technique is used to enhance the accuracy of this diagnosis by a quantitative evaluation of the nuclear texture that represents the nuclear chromatin pattern on which conventional diagnoses of malignancy are usually made.
En el marco de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud II, en 1994 se realizó un estudio cualitativo sobre ... more En el marco de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud II, en 1994 se realizó un estudio cualitativo sobre las modalidades y determinantes microsociales que intervienen en la utilización de los servicios de salud; se llevó a cabo en ocho áreas urbanas del país, entre los estratos socioeconómicos medio y bajo. Se aplicaron 192 entrevistas individuales abiertas entre la población usuaria de los servicios, así como ocho grupos focales con usuarios de los servicios de salud en cuatro de esas ciudades. Asimismo, se realizaron 61 entrevistas a prestadores de servicios de salud, tanto de la Secretaría de Salud y de los servicios de seguridad social, como entre médicos privados. En este trabajo se presentan algunos de los resultados obtenidos, un resumen del diseño utilizado y los principales resultados concernientes al punto de vista de los utilizadores de servicios de salud. Entre los hallazgos se destaca que la población distingue entre "estar enfermo" y "caer enfermo"; la conducta preventiva en la población se presenta cuando se está enfermo, con miras a evitar caer enfermo. Otro hallazgo se refiere a la tendencia de la población a adicionar diversas lógicas curativas, lo que se contrapone al estilo de la medicina moderna que tiende a ser excluyente. Finalmente, una tercera serie de hallazgos se refiere a los dilemas que la utilización de los servicios implica para la población, por los costos económicos y de oportunidad que presentan, así como por la mala calidad del trato que, según su percepción, con frecuencia reciben. El trabajo concluye con una serie de recomendaciones para mejorar la respuesta institucional frente a las necesidades de salud de los individuos. PALABRAS CLAVE: servicios de salud/utilización; calidad de la atención de salud; México.
En el marco de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud II, en 1994 se realizó un estudio cualitativo sobre ... more En el marco de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud II, en 1994 se realizó un estudio cualitativo sobre las modalidades y determinantes microsociales que intervienen en la utilización de los servicios de salud; se llevó a cabo en ocho áreas urbanas del país, entre los estratos socioeconómicos medio y bajo. Se aplicaron 192 entrevistas individuales abiertas entre la población usuaria de los servicios, así como ocho grupos focales con usuarios de los servicios de salud en cuatro de esas ciudades. Asimismo, se realizaron 61 entrevistas a prestadores de servicios de salud, tanto de la Secretaría de Salud y de los servicios de seguridad social, como entre médicos privados. En este trabajo se presentan algunos de los resultados obtenidos, un resumen del diseño utilizado y los principales resultados concernientes al punto de vista de los utilizadores de servicios de salud. Entre los hallazgos se destaca que la población distingue entre "estar enfermo" y "caer enfermo"; la conducta preventiva en la población se presenta cuando se está enfermo, con miras a evitar caer enfermo. Otro hallazgo se refiere a la tendencia de la población a adicionar diversas lógicas curativas, lo que se contrapone al estilo de la medicina moderna que tiende a ser excluyente. Finalmente, una tercera serie de hallazgos se refiere a los dilemas que la utilización de los servicios implica para la población, por los costos económicos y de oportunidad que presentan, así como por la mala calidad del trato que, según su percepción, con frecuencia reciben. El trabajo concluye con una serie de recomendaciones para mejorar la respuesta institucional frente a las necesidades de salud de los individuos. PALABRAS CLAVE: servicios de salud/utilización; calidad de la atención de salud; México.
The Agusan River basin of eastern Mindanao, the Philippines, hosts several centres of artisanal g... more The Agusan River basin of eastern Mindanao, the Philippines, hosts several centres of artisanal gold mining, the most important of which, Diwalwal, is a significant gold producer in global terms. An investigation of the environmental impacts of artisanal mining in the Agusan system, with particular reference to mercury contamination, was initiated in 1995 following reports of several incidents of human Hg poisoning in the province of Davao del Norte. Results show drainage downstream of Diwalwal is characterised by extremely high levels of Hg both in Ž . Ž . solution maximum 2906 grl and in bottom sediments ) 20 mgrkg . Filtered surface water Hg levels exceed the WHO Drinking Water guideline and the US-EPA Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic Life for a downstream distance of more than 14 km, including channel sections utilised for fishing and potable water supply. The Environment Canada sediment quality Hg Toxic Effect Threshold for the Protection of Aquatic Life is exceeded for a downstream distance of 20 km. Hair Hg data indicate that ballmill and CIP plant operators processing Hg contaminated tailings at eastern Mindanao's principal gold beneficiation centre, Apokon, may be subject to enhanced occupational Hg exposure. It appears that the wider population of this area has not been affected. U Corresponding author. 0048-9697r99r$ -see front matter ᮊ 1999 NERC. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII: S 0 0 4 8 -9 6 9 7 9 9 0 0 0 1 6 -9 ( ) J.D. Appleton et al. r The Science of the Total En¨ironment 228 1999 95᎐109 96
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stent placement has been shown to increase the safety and effectiveness o... more BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stent placement has been shown to increase the safety and effectiveness of balloon angioplasty in cervical carotid disease. Here, the authors investigated the feasibility, safety, and short-term outcome of stent-assisted angioplasty for the treatment of intracranial stenoses.
With the recent development and refinement of endovascular stents, the significant potential for ... more With the recent development and refinement of endovascular stents, the significant potential for these devices in the treatment of wide-necked dissecting and fusiform aneurysms has become apparent. In this article the authors report on the use of stents and coils to treat dissecting and fusiform vertebral artery (VA) aneurysms. Eight consecutive patients harboring eight dissecting aneurysms and one fusiform aneurysm of the VA were succesfully treated using a procedure in which the authors inserted an intravascular stent and secondary endosaccular coils when needed. In all but one patient complete aneurysm occlusion was achieved, and in all cases there was no neurological complication. Follow-up angiography examinations were performed in all patients (mean duration of follow-up angiography review 13.1 months, range 3-42 months). The patients remained stable throughout the clinical follow-up period (mean 14.1 months, range 4-42 months). No rebleeding was recorded. At present this combined approach represents a reliable and safe alternative for the treatment of VA dissecting aneurysms, especially in patients who cannot tolerate occlusion tests.
The Pipeline embolization device (PED) (Chestnut Medical Technologies, Inc., Menlo Park, CA) is a... more The Pipeline embolization device (PED) (Chestnut Medical Technologies, Inc., Menlo Park, CA) is a new microcatheter-delivered endovascular construct designed to achieve the curative reconstruction of the parent arteries giving rise to wide-necked and fusiform intracranial aneurysms. We present our initial periprocedural experience with the PED and midterm follow-up results for a series of 53 patients. Patients harboring large and giant wide-necked, nonsaccular, and recurrent intracranial aneurysms were selected for treatment. All patients were pretreated with dual antiplatelet medications for at least 72 hours before surgery and continued taking both agents for at least 6 months after treatment. A control digital subtraction angiogram was typically performed at 3, 6, and 12 months. Fifty-three patients (age range, 11-77 years; average age, 55.2 years; 48 female) with 63 intracranial aneurysms were treated with the PED. Small (n = 33), large (n = 22), and giant (n = 8) wide-necked aneurysms were included. A total of 72 PEDs were used. Treatment was achieved with a single PED in 44 aneurysms, with 2 overlapping PEDs in 17 aneurysms, and with 3 overlapping PEDs in 2 aneurysms. The mean time between the treatment and last follow-up digital subtraction angiogram was 5.9 months (range, 1-22 months). Complete angiographic occlusion was achieved in 56%, 93%, and 95% of aneurysms at 3 (n = 42), 6 (n = 28), and 12 (n = 18) months, respectively. The only aneurysm that remained patent at the time of the 12-month follow-up examination had been treated previously with stent-supported coiling. The presence of a preexisting endoluminal stent may have limited the efficacy of the PED reconstruction in this aneurysm. No aneurysms demonstrated a deterioration of angiographic occlusion during the follow-up period (i.e., no recanalizations). No major complications (stroke or death) were encountered during the study period. Three patients (5%), all with giant aneurysms, experienced transient exacerbations of preexisting cranial neuropathies and headache after the PED treatment. All 3 were treated with corticosteroids, and these symptoms resolved within 1 month. Endovascular reconstruction with the PED represents a safe, durable, and curative treatment of selected wide-necked, large and giant cerebral aneurysms. The rate of complete occlusion at the time of the 12-month follow-up examination approached 100% in the present study. To date, no angiographic recurrences have been observed during serial angiographic follow-up.
The authors investigated the feasibility, safety, and short-term outcome of stent treatment for i... more The authors investigated the feasibility, safety, and short-term outcome of stent treatment for intracranial aneurysms, stenoses, and dissections. One hundred twenty-three consecutive patients with intracranial saccular, dissecting, and fusiform aneurysms, atherosclerotic lesions, and dissections were selected for intracranial stent implantation with or without adjunctive coil placement. One hundred eleven patients (mean age 47 years, range 3-73 years) underwent stent treatment; 12 patients (9.8%) were not treated. These 111 patients were divided into four groups: in Group 1 there were 62 patients with saccular aneurysms; Group 2 included nine patients (10 lesions) with dissecting or fusiform aneurysms; in Group 3 there were 36 patients with symptomatic intracranial atheromatous stenoses of more than 50%; and Group 4 included four patients with symptomatic intracranial dissections. All patients underwent computerized tomography scanning and/or magnetic resonance imaging and cerebral digital subtraction angiography preoperatively. Of the 72 aneurysms in Groups 1 and 2, 59 (82%) were treated with combined endovascular stent implantation and endosaccular coil placement. In 67 aneurysms (93%) we achieved complete or nearly complete obliteration. All patients with arterial narrowing achieved residual stenoses of less than 30% postangioplasty. One patient required repeated angioplasty. The morbidity rate in the series was 10.9% and the mortality rate was 6.3%. These findings indicate that stent treatment is feasible and seems to be an effective modality for arterial reconstruction. This versatile tool allows the treatment of a wide variety of challenging intracranial lesions.
The authors report their experience with the use of the Neuroform Microdelivery System for intrav... more The authors report their experience with the use of the Neuroform Microdelivery System for intravascular reconstruction. They assess the technical feasibility of the system, the efficacy of the combined application of stent and detachable coils, and the follow-up findings. Fifty patients found to harbor a complex wide-necked intracranial aneurysm were selected for the study. Different strategies were chosen and the performance and technical success of the device were evaluated. Stent placement was recorded as optimal or suboptimal with respect to the stent position. Clinical and angiographic follow-up examinations were obtained. Forty-six patients with 48 intracranial aneurysms were treated, leading to a technical success rate of 92%. Forty-two lesions were located in the anterior circulation. In every case the dome/neck ratio was less than 2 and the mean aneurysm size in these patients was 8.8 mm. The most frequent clinical presentation was subarachnoid hemorrhage in 48% of cases. Stent placement was optimal in 81.2% of cases and suboptimal in 18.8%. In 31% of cases, the investigators encountered difficulties in placing the Neuroform stent. Clinical follow up was recorded in all patients and angiographic follow up was obtained in 63%. There were no cases of repeated hemorrhage. In a single case in which only the stent was implanted progressive thrombosis was identified during the follow-up period. The procedure-related morbidity and mortality rates were 8.6 and 2.1%, respectively. On the basis of the results, the authors conclude that the Neuroform self-expanding stent is a flexible and useful device that can be readily and safely maneuvered through tortuous intracranial vessels, enabling the endovascular treatment of complex wide-necked aneurysms. Early in the authors' experience, stent delivery presented difficulties; however, a second generation of devices has resolved this limitation. Although the early results are promising, the long-term benefit of this technique has to be proved by angiographic and clinical follow-up examinations.
Background. Ovarian dysplasia has been defined by histologic's' and morphometric studies3v4 focus... more Background. Ovarian dysplasia has been defined by histologic's' and morphometric studies3v4 focusing on architectural and nuclear profile changes. A new technique is used to enhance the accuracy of this diagnosis by a quantitative evaluation of the nuclear texture that represents the nuclear chromatin pattern on which conventional diagnoses of malignancy are usually made.
En el marco de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud II, en 1994 se realizó un estudio cualitativo sobre ... more En el marco de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud II, en 1994 se realizó un estudio cualitativo sobre las modalidades y determinantes microsociales que intervienen en la utilización de los servicios de salud; se llevó a cabo en ocho áreas urbanas del país, entre los estratos socioeconómicos medio y bajo. Se aplicaron 192 entrevistas individuales abiertas entre la población usuaria de los servicios, así como ocho grupos focales con usuarios de los servicios de salud en cuatro de esas ciudades. Asimismo, se realizaron 61 entrevistas a prestadores de servicios de salud, tanto de la Secretaría de Salud y de los servicios de seguridad social, como entre médicos privados. En este trabajo se presentan algunos de los resultados obtenidos, un resumen del diseño utilizado y los principales resultados concernientes al punto de vista de los utilizadores de servicios de salud. Entre los hallazgos se destaca que la población distingue entre "estar enfermo" y "caer enfermo"; la conducta preventiva en la población se presenta cuando se está enfermo, con miras a evitar caer enfermo. Otro hallazgo se refiere a la tendencia de la población a adicionar diversas lógicas curativas, lo que se contrapone al estilo de la medicina moderna que tiende a ser excluyente. Finalmente, una tercera serie de hallazgos se refiere a los dilemas que la utilización de los servicios implica para la población, por los costos económicos y de oportunidad que presentan, así como por la mala calidad del trato que, según su percepción, con frecuencia reciben. El trabajo concluye con una serie de recomendaciones para mejorar la respuesta institucional frente a las necesidades de salud de los individuos. PALABRAS CLAVE: servicios de salud/utilización; calidad de la atención de salud; México.
En el marco de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud II, en 1994 se realizó un estudio cualitativo sobre ... more En el marco de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud II, en 1994 se realizó un estudio cualitativo sobre las modalidades y determinantes microsociales que intervienen en la utilización de los servicios de salud; se llevó a cabo en ocho áreas urbanas del país, entre los estratos socioeconómicos medio y bajo. Se aplicaron 192 entrevistas individuales abiertas entre la población usuaria de los servicios, así como ocho grupos focales con usuarios de los servicios de salud en cuatro de esas ciudades. Asimismo, se realizaron 61 entrevistas a prestadores de servicios de salud, tanto de la Secretaría de Salud y de los servicios de seguridad social, como entre médicos privados. En este trabajo se presentan algunos de los resultados obtenidos, un resumen del diseño utilizado y los principales resultados concernientes al punto de vista de los utilizadores de servicios de salud. Entre los hallazgos se destaca que la población distingue entre "estar enfermo" y "caer enfermo"; la conducta preventiva en la población se presenta cuando se está enfermo, con miras a evitar caer enfermo. Otro hallazgo se refiere a la tendencia de la población a adicionar diversas lógicas curativas, lo que se contrapone al estilo de la medicina moderna que tiende a ser excluyente. Finalmente, una tercera serie de hallazgos se refiere a los dilemas que la utilización de los servicios implica para la población, por los costos económicos y de oportunidad que presentan, así como por la mala calidad del trato que, según su percepción, con frecuencia reciben. El trabajo concluye con una serie de recomendaciones para mejorar la respuesta institucional frente a las necesidades de salud de los individuos. PALABRAS CLAVE: servicios de salud/utilización; calidad de la atención de salud; México.
The Agusan River basin of eastern Mindanao, the Philippines, hosts several centres of artisanal g... more The Agusan River basin of eastern Mindanao, the Philippines, hosts several centres of artisanal gold mining, the most important of which, Diwalwal, is a significant gold producer in global terms. An investigation of the environmental impacts of artisanal mining in the Agusan system, with particular reference to mercury contamination, was initiated in 1995 following reports of several incidents of human Hg poisoning in the province of Davao del Norte. Results show drainage downstream of Diwalwal is characterised by extremely high levels of Hg both in Ž . Ž . solution maximum 2906 grl and in bottom sediments ) 20 mgrkg . Filtered surface water Hg levels exceed the WHO Drinking Water guideline and the US-EPA Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic Life for a downstream distance of more than 14 km, including channel sections utilised for fishing and potable water supply. The Environment Canada sediment quality Hg Toxic Effect Threshold for the Protection of Aquatic Life is exceeded for a downstream distance of 20 km. Hair Hg data indicate that ballmill and CIP plant operators processing Hg contaminated tailings at eastern Mindanao's principal gold beneficiation centre, Apokon, may be subject to enhanced occupational Hg exposure. It appears that the wider population of this area has not been affected. U Corresponding author. 0048-9697r99r$ -see front matter ᮊ 1999 NERC. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII: S 0 0 4 8 -9 6 9 7 9 9 0 0 0 1 6 -9 ( ) J.D. Appleton et al. r The Science of the Total En¨ironment 228 1999 95᎐109 96
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stent placement has been shown to increase the safety and effectiveness o... more BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stent placement has been shown to increase the safety and effectiveness of balloon angioplasty in cervical carotid disease. Here, the authors investigated the feasibility, safety, and short-term outcome of stent-assisted angioplasty for the treatment of intracranial stenoses.
With the recent development and refinement of endovascular stents, the significant potential for ... more With the recent development and refinement of endovascular stents, the significant potential for these devices in the treatment of wide-necked dissecting and fusiform aneurysms has become apparent. In this article the authors report on the use of stents and coils to treat dissecting and fusiform vertebral artery (VA) aneurysms. Eight consecutive patients harboring eight dissecting aneurysms and one fusiform aneurysm of the VA were succesfully treated using a procedure in which the authors inserted an intravascular stent and secondary endosaccular coils when needed. In all but one patient complete aneurysm occlusion was achieved, and in all cases there was no neurological complication. Follow-up angiography examinations were performed in all patients (mean duration of follow-up angiography review 13.1 months, range 3-42 months). The patients remained stable throughout the clinical follow-up period (mean 14.1 months, range 4-42 months). No rebleeding was recorded. At present this combined approach represents a reliable and safe alternative for the treatment of VA dissecting aneurysms, especially in patients who cannot tolerate occlusion tests.
The Pipeline embolization device (PED) (Chestnut Medical Technologies, Inc., Menlo Park, CA) is a... more The Pipeline embolization device (PED) (Chestnut Medical Technologies, Inc., Menlo Park, CA) is a new microcatheter-delivered endovascular construct designed to achieve the curative reconstruction of the parent arteries giving rise to wide-necked and fusiform intracranial aneurysms. We present our initial periprocedural experience with the PED and midterm follow-up results for a series of 53 patients. Patients harboring large and giant wide-necked, nonsaccular, and recurrent intracranial aneurysms were selected for treatment. All patients were pretreated with dual antiplatelet medications for at least 72 hours before surgery and continued taking both agents for at least 6 months after treatment. A control digital subtraction angiogram was typically performed at 3, 6, and 12 months. Fifty-three patients (age range, 11-77 years; average age, 55.2 years; 48 female) with 63 intracranial aneurysms were treated with the PED. Small (n = 33), large (n = 22), and giant (n = 8) wide-necked aneurysms were included. A total of 72 PEDs were used. Treatment was achieved with a single PED in 44 aneurysms, with 2 overlapping PEDs in 17 aneurysms, and with 3 overlapping PEDs in 2 aneurysms. The mean time between the treatment and last follow-up digital subtraction angiogram was 5.9 months (range, 1-22 months). Complete angiographic occlusion was achieved in 56%, 93%, and 95% of aneurysms at 3 (n = 42), 6 (n = 28), and 12 (n = 18) months, respectively. The only aneurysm that remained patent at the time of the 12-month follow-up examination had been treated previously with stent-supported coiling. The presence of a preexisting endoluminal stent may have limited the efficacy of the PED reconstruction in this aneurysm. No aneurysms demonstrated a deterioration of angiographic occlusion during the follow-up period (i.e., no recanalizations). No major complications (stroke or death) were encountered during the study period. Three patients (5%), all with giant aneurysms, experienced transient exacerbations of preexisting cranial neuropathies and headache after the PED treatment. All 3 were treated with corticosteroids, and these symptoms resolved within 1 month. Endovascular reconstruction with the PED represents a safe, durable, and curative treatment of selected wide-necked, large and giant cerebral aneurysms. The rate of complete occlusion at the time of the 12-month follow-up examination approached 100% in the present study. To date, no angiographic recurrences have been observed during serial angiographic follow-up.
The authors investigated the feasibility, safety, and short-term outcome of stent treatment for i... more The authors investigated the feasibility, safety, and short-term outcome of stent treatment for intracranial aneurysms, stenoses, and dissections. One hundred twenty-three consecutive patients with intracranial saccular, dissecting, and fusiform aneurysms, atherosclerotic lesions, and dissections were selected for intracranial stent implantation with or without adjunctive coil placement. One hundred eleven patients (mean age 47 years, range 3-73 years) underwent stent treatment; 12 patients (9.8%) were not treated. These 111 patients were divided into four groups: in Group 1 there were 62 patients with saccular aneurysms; Group 2 included nine patients (10 lesions) with dissecting or fusiform aneurysms; in Group 3 there were 36 patients with symptomatic intracranial atheromatous stenoses of more than 50%; and Group 4 included four patients with symptomatic intracranial dissections. All patients underwent computerized tomography scanning and/or magnetic resonance imaging and cerebral digital subtraction angiography preoperatively. Of the 72 aneurysms in Groups 1 and 2, 59 (82%) were treated with combined endovascular stent implantation and endosaccular coil placement. In 67 aneurysms (93%) we achieved complete or nearly complete obliteration. All patients with arterial narrowing achieved residual stenoses of less than 30% postangioplasty. One patient required repeated angioplasty. The morbidity rate in the series was 10.9% and the mortality rate was 6.3%. These findings indicate that stent treatment is feasible and seems to be an effective modality for arterial reconstruction. This versatile tool allows the treatment of a wide variety of challenging intracranial lesions.
The authors report their experience with the use of the Neuroform Microdelivery System for intrav... more The authors report their experience with the use of the Neuroform Microdelivery System for intravascular reconstruction. They assess the technical feasibility of the system, the efficacy of the combined application of stent and detachable coils, and the follow-up findings. Fifty patients found to harbor a complex wide-necked intracranial aneurysm were selected for the study. Different strategies were chosen and the performance and technical success of the device were evaluated. Stent placement was recorded as optimal or suboptimal with respect to the stent position. Clinical and angiographic follow-up examinations were obtained. Forty-six patients with 48 intracranial aneurysms were treated, leading to a technical success rate of 92%. Forty-two lesions were located in the anterior circulation. In every case the dome/neck ratio was less than 2 and the mean aneurysm size in these patients was 8.8 mm. The most frequent clinical presentation was subarachnoid hemorrhage in 48% of cases. Stent placement was optimal in 81.2% of cases and suboptimal in 18.8%. In 31% of cases, the investigators encountered difficulties in placing the Neuroform stent. Clinical follow up was recorded in all patients and angiographic follow up was obtained in 63%. There were no cases of repeated hemorrhage. In a single case in which only the stent was implanted progressive thrombosis was identified during the follow-up period. The procedure-related morbidity and mortality rates were 8.6 and 2.1%, respectively. On the basis of the results, the authors conclude that the Neuroform self-expanding stent is a flexible and useful device that can be readily and safely maneuvered through tortuous intracranial vessels, enabling the endovascular treatment of complex wide-necked aneurysms. Early in the authors' experience, stent delivery presented difficulties; however, a second generation of devices has resolved this limitation. Although the early results are promising, the long-term benefit of this technique has to be proved by angiographic and clinical follow-up examinations.
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Papers by Carlos Miranda