[Management of bleeding and coagulopathy following major trauma]

Bleeding is the most common preventable cause of death in trauma patients. Acute traumatic coagulopathy is a specific condition with a different pathophysiology from other causes of the massive bleeding. An early identification of the coagulopathy is fundamental to implementing rapid treatment. There have been many changes in the management of massive hemorrhage, for example, the administration of the tranexamic acid and the use of balanced transfusion ratio. This review presents these practical points, some of them with scientific evidence, in order to achieve a beneficial effect for patient outcomes.

Cytogenetic data in 41 patients with multiple myeloma. Karyotype and other clinical parameters

Cytogenetic data of 41 patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) are reported. In all samples, cytogenetic studies were made of short-term and B-cell-stimulated culture: 20 cases (48.8%) showed chromosome abnormalities; 14 karyotypes were hypo- or pseudodiploid, and six were hyperdiploid. The most frequent numerical changes affected chromosomes 7, 11, 5 (gains), 14, 20, and Y (losses). Chromosome structural rearrangements of 22q were noted in six patients. Other and recurrent cytogenetic abnormalities were changes involving chromosomes 1, 14, and 17. A significant relation was observed between presence of chromosome abnormalities and the following hematologic parameters: clinical stage III (p = 0.0212), bone marrow (BM) plasma cell infiltration greater than 30% (p = 0.0379), presence of bone lesions (p = 0.0051), and beta 2-microglobulin levels greater than 4,000 md/dl (p = 0.0194).