Surfactant preparations for tuberculosis and other diseases beyond infancy: a letter from Russia

On the endoscopic methods used in pediatrics with questionable indications

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Partial isolation from international scientific community can result in application of invasive methods without sufficient indications.

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Performing invasive procedures, the risk-to-benefit ratio should be kept as low as possible.

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Practical recommendations must be based on reliable and reproducible research.

[Limited access to the international medical literature in Russia]

Limited access to foreign professional literature in the former Soviet Union had consequences for public health: persistence of some outdated methods and approaches. Several examples are discussed in this letter. The shortage of foreign literature has been partly compensated by domestic editions, sometimes containing compilations from foreign sources, borrowings without references, and mistranslations. International literature is on average scarcely quoted in Russian language scientific publications. Today, however, there are grounds for optimism: the economic upturn must bring improvements.