Cardiovascular and other risk factors among people who live in slums in Buenos Aires, Argentina

OBJECTIVES

Effective planning of health policies requires the availability of accurate data, representing the burden of disease and risks to the diverse components of society. In Argentina, health information comes from the national risk factors survey (NRFS), which characterises the distribution of different risk factors. However, the NRFS has never collected information from residents living in slums, despite slums representing 10% of the population. The objective of this survey was to characterise the prevalence of cardiovascular and other risk factors among the inhabitants of one of the largest slums in Buenos Aires (Villa 31) and compare it to data from the NRFS.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out in 400 slum households, using the same data structure as the NRFS. The survey obtained information about economic aspects, reproductive health, addictions and risk factors. All participants had their blood pressure, weight and height measured. A total of 406 people were interviewed and their data were compared with data from 32,365 people in the NRFS. All comparisons were made on the basis of age group.

RESULTS

A fair/poor self-perceived level of health (odds ratio [OR] 3.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.60-3.91), anxiety and moderate to severe depression (OR 5.44, 95% CI: 4.43-6.69), problem drinking (OR 10.01, 95% CI 8.08-12.40), self-reported hypertension (OR 1.26, 95% CI: 1.01-1.57), overweight (OR 1.26, 95% CI: 1.03-1.55) and obesity (OR 1.72, 95% CI: 1.38-2.15) were significantly higher in the slum population. In people aged 18-24 years, the prevalence of diabetes was triple the national average (OR 3.17, 95% CI: 1.26-7.98). For all evaluated conditions in this study, the inhabitants of the slum received significantly less treatment compared with participants from the NRFS.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of cardiovascular and other risk factors in the slum population has a different distribution to that reported in the NRFS. These data suggest the need to establish specific policies for slum populations.

Tragal cartilage in tympanoplasty: anatomic and functional results in 306 cases

Cartilage is the grafting material of choice in advanced disorders of the middle ear while the indications for its routine use remain controversial due to the possible detrimental effect on post-operative hearing. Aim of the present study was to report personal experience with "tragal cartilage shield" tympanoplasty. The study focused on 306 adult patients (236 primary procedures and 70 revisions from January 2003 to June 2007). Mean post-operative follow-up was 37 months (range 1-66). The following parameters were evaluated: graft take, change between the pre- and post-operative pure-tone average air-bone gap (PTA-ABG), post-operative complications. Graft take was achieved in 304 patients (99.35%) and there were no immediate post-operative complications. The overall average pre-operative pure-tone average air-bone gap was 43.79 +/- 7.07 dB, whereas the post-operative (1 year after surgery) pure-tone average air-bone gap was 10.43 +/- 5.25 dB (p < 0.0001). Statistically significant improvement was observed up to 5 years after surgery. This study reveals that tragal cartilage shield tympanoplasty is a reliable technique, in fact it has a high degree of graft take and hearing results are satisfactory. Furthermore, the cartilage is a satisfactory grafting material because it is easily accessible, easy to adapt, resistant to negative middle ear pressures, stable, elastic, well tolerated by the middle ear, resistant to resorption. Therefore, we also recommend its use in less severe middle ear disorders, in which the functional outcome is more essential.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: a study of two manoeuvres with and without betahistine

Efficacy of the liberatory manoeuvre and of gradual otolitis dispersion technique, with or without associated drug therapy, have been compared. Included in this prospective study were 103 patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo seen in the Outpatient Department. Patients were classified into 4 groups according to treatment: Liberatory Manoeuvre according to methods described by Semont et al., with and without betahistine, Gradual Otolitis Dispersion Technique according to Brandt and Daroff, with and without betahistine. Evaluation was performed at baseline and at 3, 7, 14, 30, 60 and 90 days after start of treatment. Response to treatment was evaluated using criteria of Epley. At day 14, liberatory manoeuvre-betahistine and Brandt and Daroff-betahistine groups did significantly better than liberatory manoeuvre and Brandt and Daroff groups (p < 0.05). Improvement reached at day 30 was: 100% in liberatory manoeuvre-betahistine group; 96.30% (p > 0.05) in Brandt and Daroff-betahistine group; these results were significantly better (p < 0.05) than those of liberatory manoeuvre (54.17%) and Brandt and Daroff (25%) groups. As far as concerns differences between disease onset and start of therapy (less and more than 2 weeks), and age (< or =60 years and > or =60 years), response to treatment was similar. In conclusion, both liberatory manoeuvre and Brandt and Daroff, when associated with betahistine, were significantly more effective than manoeuvres alone (p < 0.05). Improvement in liberatory manoeuvre-betahistine group, in the initial phase, was greater that in Brandt and Daroff-betahistine group, albeit, differences were not significant (p > 0.05). Age-related effects of manoeuvres were compared in 71 patients < 60 years and 32 patients > or =60 years, showing a similar improvement rate at the end of the investigation in both groups. In our opinion, liberatory manoeuvre and Brandt and Daroff associated with betahistamine produces faster recovery compared to liberatory manoeuvre and Brandt and Daroff alone. Nevertheless, 3 months after onset of treatment, all patients showed complete recovery due to spontaneous evolution of paroxysmal positional vertigo, in other words, treatment does not appear to influence the final improvement rate and its role should be accepted as a significant reduction in persistence of symptoms.

[The His duct as a cause of peritonsillar abscess before and after tonsillectomy]

The role of the duct of His in the aetiology and development of peritonsillar abscess before and after tonsillectomy is evaluated. This duct, lying between the palatine tonsil and the superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle, is the only remnant of the second pharyngeal pouch. If not properly identified and marsupialized, it can be responsible for recurrent peritonsillar abscess.

[The incidence and location of inflammatory paranasal sinus lesions in CT]

Several recent studies have labelled the anterior ethmoid as the main source of chronic and/or recurrent sinusitis in the entire paranasal sinus system. In an attempt to identify other possible patterns of developing sinusitis, 1,345 computed tomographies of neurological and neurosurgical patients with no previous history of paranasal sinusitis were evaluated. These scans were made between 1985 and 1989 in the Neurosurgical Clinic of the University of Freiburg. Seventy-five of these studies revealed evidence of inflammatory changes. In 57 scans maxillary sinus disease was evident, while in 46 there was en ethmoid disease, in 24 a sphenoid sinus disease and in 17 a frontal sinus disease. Nine scans showed pansinusitis. In 24 studies, one sinus location was involved (uni- or bilaterally) and among these were 21 with maxillary, 2 with anterior ethmoidal and 1 with frontal sinus involvement. In 38.7% of the examined scans, the anterior ethmoidal complex was free of disease. This study shows that, at least radiographically, the ethmoidal infundibulum is not always the origin of paranasal sinus disease. An isolated frontal, maxillary or sphenoidal sinusitis can develop as well. These results show that a simple anterior ethmoidectomy cannot be considered the panacea for chronic and/or recurring sinusitis. Surgical therapy of inflammatory sinus disease should, on the contrary, be tailored to each patient depending on anamnesis, clinical findings and CT results.