Esporte competitivo na criança e no adolescente - exame pré-participação: eletrocardiograma obrigatório?

o crescente engajamento de crianças e adolescentes, na faixa etária de 7 a 17 anos, para a prática de esportes competitivos, exige cuidados médicos preventivos. o exame pré-participação (epp) requer o conhecimento médico adequado para a sua segura liberação. recentes acontecimentos de mortes súbitas, relacionados à prática esportiva, têm suscitado questões quanto à necessidade de avaliação médica baseada em exames complementares, os quais, devido à demora para sua realização, podem causar desmotivação e até o abandono do esporte por parte dos praticantes. este estudo de revisão, acrescido de dados colhidos por 30 anos no centro olímpico de treinamento e pesquisa (cotp) da secretaria municipal de esportes de são paulo - local de detecção, inclusão social e formação de futuros atletas -, objetiva a necessidade do envolvimento de entidades médicas na elaboração de um protocolo de epp, inserido na realidade brasileira, para a avaliação cardiovascular dessa população. por não dispormos de uma normativa, nos baseamos em protocolos estabelecidos por outros países para nos respaldarmos com informações, apesar de termos definido individualmente a conduta a ser tomada.

Tumores cardíacos em criança: análise retrospectiva

FUNDAMENTO: Avanço dos métodos não invasivos de imagem proporcionou o aumento no número de diagnóstico de tumores cardíacos. Apesar disso, a literatura apresenta poucos trabalhos envolvendo tumores cardíacos primários em crianças. OBJETIVO: Avaliar retrospectivamente casos de tumores cardíacos primários em crianças, considerando manifestações clínicas iniciais, exames utilizados para o diagnóstico, indicação cirúrgica, tipos histopatológicos encontrados e evolução pós-operatória imediata. MÉTODOS: O estudo foi retrospectivo, baseado na avaliação de prontuários no período de 1983 a 2011. Incluímos somente casos que foram orientados para tratamento cirúrgico no período. Avaliaram-se a idade na admissão, o diagnóstico pré-natal, a história familial, os sintomas iniciais e os resultados de exames realizados. Foram coletados, ainda, a data e indicação de cirurgia, os achados intraoperatórios, o resultado do exame histopatológico, assim como as complicações imediatas no pós-operatório. RESULTADOS: Dos 18 pacientes estudados, as manifestações clínicas mais encontradas foram dispneia e sopro cardíaco (7 e 6 pacientes, respectivamente); o método de complemento diagnóstico mais usado foi o ecocardiograma (18 pacientes); a obstrução cavitária ou do trato de entrada ou saída ventricular foi a principal indicação de cirurgia (12 casos); o perfil histológico mais encontrado foi rabdomioma (7 pacientes); a maioria dos pacientes apresentou boa evolução clínica. CONCLUSÃO: Neste estudo o diagnóstico por imagem foi basicamente ecocardiográfico, com boa correlação com os achados intraoperatórios. Os achados histopatológicos foram concordantes com a literatura, com o rabdomioma apresentando-se como o tumor mais comum em crianças. A evolução após tratamento cirúrgico mostrou-se favorável na maior parte dos casos.

Localized, diffuse, and aggregative-adhering Escherichia coli from infants with acute diarrhea and matched-controls

Of 126 infants under 2 years, enrolled in a study on the etiology of acute diarrhea in Recife, Brazil, we selected 37 from whom no recognized enteropathogens, except classic enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, were identified. For comparison, we also examined 37 matched-control infants without diarrhea seen at the same hospital setting. This paper had the purpose to determine the prevalence of localized, diffuse, and aggregative-adhering E. coli strains in both groups. Three to five fecal E. coli colonies, of each case and control, were tested individually for adherence to HeLa cells by using the one step 3-h incubation assay. Strains of E. coli showing localized adherence were found significantly more often in patients (37.8%) than in controls (13.5%), p < 0.02, and they were pratically confined to EPEC serovars 055:H-, 0111:H2, and 119:H6. In contrast, E. coli isolates exhibiting the diffuse or aggregative patterns of adherence were restricted to non-EPEC serogroups and were more frequently encountred among controls.

The consequences of malaria infection in pregnant women and their infants

Preliminary results are presented from this study which indicate that 84.8 of pregnant women present at first antenatal visit with anemia (Hb 11g/dl) an 8.7 of their infants (n = 230) have a hemoglobin at birth below 14g/dl. There is an association between pregnancy anemia and malaria. A case control study in pregnant women and an infant cohort study to 18 months of age, are employed to study the cause and effects of anemia and malaria on women and their infants health.

Enteropathogens associated with diarrheal disease in infants of poor urban areas of Porto Velho, Rondônia: a preliminary study

One hundred and thirty cases of diarrhea and 43 age-matched controls, 0 to 5 years old, were studied in a pediatric outpatient unit from a poor peri urban area of Porto Velho, Rondônia. Eighty percent of diarrheal cases were observed in the groups under 2 years of age. Rotavirus (19.2%) was the most frequent enteropathogen associated with diarrhea, followed by Shigella flexneri (6.15%) and S. sonnei (1.5%) and Salmonella sp. (6.9%). Four cases of E. coli enterotoxigenic infections (3.1%), E. coli enteropathogenic (EPEC)(2.3%) one case of E. coli enteroinvasive infection (0.8%) and one case of Yersinia enterocolitica (0.8%) were also identified. Mixed infections were frequent, associating rotavirus, EPEC and Salmonella sp. with Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia.

Sustainability of vector control strategies in the Gran Chaco Region: current challenges and possible approaches

Sustainability has become a focal point of the international agenda. At the heart of its range of distribution in the Gran Chaco Region, the elimination of Triatoma infestans has failed, even in areas subject to intensive professional vector control efforts. Chagas disease control programs traditionally have been composed of two divorced entities: a vector control program in charge of routine field operations (bug detection and insecticide spraying) and a disease control program in charge of screening blood donors, diagnosis, etiologic treatment and providing medical care to chronic patients. The challenge of sustainable suppression of bug infestation and Trypanosoma cruzi transmission can be met through integrated disease management, in which vector control is combined with active case detection and treatment to increase impact, cost-effectiveness and public acceptance in resource-limited settings. Multi-stakeholder involvement may add sustainability and resilience to the surveillance system. Chagas vector control and disease management must remain a regional effort within the frame of sustainable development rather than being viewed exclusively as a matter of health pertinent to the health sector. Sustained and continuous coordination between governments, agencies, control programs, academia and the affected communities is critical.

Exploring the association between Trypanosoma cruzi infection in rural communities and environmental changes in the southern Gran Chaco

The association between land use and land cover changes between 1979-2004 in a 2.26-million-hectare area south of the Gran Chaco region and Trypanosoma cruzi infection in rural communities was analysed. The extent of cultural land, open and closed forests and shrubland up to 3,000 m around rural communities in the north, northwest and west of the province of Córdoba was estimated using Landsat satellite imagery. The T. cruzi prevalence was estimated with a cross-sectional serological survey conducted in the rural communities. The land cover showed the same patterns in the 1979, 1999 and 2004 satellite imagery in both the northwest and west regions, with shrinking regions of cultured land and expanding closed forests away from the community. The closed forests and agricultural land coverage in the north region showed the same trend as in the northwest and west regions in 1979 but not in 1999 or 2004. In the latter two years, the coverage remote from the communities was either constant or changed in opposite ways from that of the northwest and west regions. The changes in closed forests and cultured vegetation alone did not have a significant, direct relationship with the occurrence of rural communities with at least one person infected by T. cruzi. This study suggests that the overall decrease in the prevalence of T. cruzi is a consequence of a combined effect of vector control activities and changes in land use and land cover.

Early diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis in newborn infants using IgG subclasses against two Toxoplasma gondii recombinant proteins

The aim of this work was to evaluate the utility of ELISA-based testing of total IgG (IgGt) antibodies and its subclasses (IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4) against soluble (STAg) and recombinant (rSAG1 and rMIC3) antigens of Toxoplasma gondii for diagnosing congenital toxoplasmosis. Sera from 217 newborns initially testing positive for specific IgM in filter paper dried blood spots were tested for specific IgM and IgG by ELFA-VIDAS®. Congenital toxoplasmosis was confirmed in 175 and ruled out in 42 infants. The validity of the ELISA tests was determined using the persistence of IgG antibodies (ELFA-VIDAS® kit) at the end of 12 months, which is considered the reference test for the diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis. The frequency of positivity with IgGt against STAg, rSAG1 and rMIC3 was found in 97.2%, 96.3% and 80.2%, respectively, of the newborns with confirmed congenital toxoplasmosis. IgG1 reacted with all three antigens, while IgG3 and IgG4 reacted preferentially with rMIC3. Higher mean values of reactivity (sample optical density/cut-off) were found for all subclasses when using rMIC3. All of the antigens showed high sensitivity and low specificity in detecting anti-T. gondii IgGt and IgG1 and low sensitivity and high specificity in detecting IgG3 and IgG4. In conclusion, the combined detection of IgG antibody subclasses against recombinant toxoplasmic antigens may be useful for the early diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis.