INTRODUCTION In December 2019, the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China. It has since spread around the world (,), leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global pandemic (). The disease caused by the virus, coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has been detected in more than 2,400,000 people worldwide and has caused more than 160,000 deaths (-). In Brazil, the first confirmed case was announced February 26, 2020 in the city of São Paulo. At the […]

It is necessary to elucidate why in the present coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) global pandemic infection by SARS-CoV-2 affects children, adults, and elderly people differently. Epidemiological and clinical data have shown that most children who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 are either asymptomatic or develop mild symptoms (-). Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain these findings: differences in the immune system of adults and children (and between very young children, pre-schooling children, and adolescents); competition with other respiratory viruses in the […]

When the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, there were approximately 147,000 confirmed cases worldwide. Just one month later, the COVID-19 disease had spread dramatically; the number of cases had increased ten-fold (), with 15% of infected patients requiring hospitalization and 5% in intensive care units (). This meteoric rise in cases resulted in an overloaded demand for medical resources, often exceeding the available […]

While Brazil is second only to the United States in terms of the absolute number of kidney and liver transplants, the number of lung transplantations remains modest. According to the Brazilian Registry of Transplantation, in 2019 only 106 lung transplants were performed across seven institutions. Three hospitals were responsible for 83% of these procedures, of which the Instituto do Coração (InCor) of HCFMUSP was responsible for 42% of these transplants. The reason for having only a few centers trained to […]

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease that causes severe pneumonia and sepsis. It affects mainly the lungs, but its effects on other organs can reflect the severity of sepsis in a patient. Arterial and venous thrombosis have been noted in necropsy studies, suggesting a direct and/or indirect action of the virus on the endothelium and the coagulation cascade. Endothelial involvement in bacterial and viral infections is not a new finding. It is known to be mediated by cytokines and has been […]

Acute respiratory viral diseases, like most other infectious diseases, affect mainly infants and young children, who present with 6-8 episodes per year and usually develop more severe manifestations than in adults. It is well-documented that innate antiviral immune responses in early life are characterized by lower type I interferon (IFN) responses () and reduced natural killer cell activity, which despite their higher numbers exhibit lower cytotoxic capacity and reduced number of cytoplasmic granules and degranulation ability (). Additionally, lower cytotoxic […]

Simultaneously, in the field of neurology, why did alcohol consumption by patients attract the attention of epileptologists? The answer lies in the national case–control study in Sweden assessing whether or not possible specific clinical features are associated with an increased risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) (). It was clearly demonstrated that individuals with generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) who sleep alone have a dramatically increased SUDEP risk (). Among comorbidities, a history of substance abuse or alcohol dependence […]

The current COVID-19 pandemic poses several public health challenges. The demands placed on health services are huge, as is the need to take population protection measures. The impacts are immediately reflected on health teams. They experience increased demands and risks, such as exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and a compromise of their mental health. Companies are also strongly impacted by the current situation. Some experience increased demands for their products and services, whereas others are affected by […]

Recently, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus that causes the emerging infectious disease was designated by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (,). COVID-19 has been reported predominantly in adult patients. The clinical, laboratorial, and radiographic abnormalities for adults with COVID-19 include fever, dry cough, myalgia, fatigue, chest discomfort, respiratory frequency >30/min, blood oxygen saturation <93%, leukopenia, lymphopenia, and chest radiographic or […]

General considerations for surgical assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic It is essential that professionals who provide medical assistance during the pandemic receive adequate training to avoid the infection of patients, companions, and the medical team itself. Strategies for reducing the length of hospital stays and limiting the number of visitors should be encouraged, as well as the isolation of patients with COVID-19 in inpatient units and in operating rooms (ORs) (). Handwashing and hand hygiene with alcohol-based solutions should be […]

The first sympathectomy was performed by Alexander in 1889 to treat epilepsy. Over the years, this procedure has been used by countless doctors to treat conditions such as exophthalmos, ischemic lesions due to arterial obstructions, scleroderma, epigastric paralysis, among others (). The surgical approach involves resection of the cervical ganglia, inevitably resulting in Horner’s Syndrome, which is a combination of signs and symptoms caused by the rupture of a nerve pathway from the brain to the face and eyes, affecting […]

In early December 2019, a pneumonia of unknown origin was first diagnosed in Wuhan, China (). The pathogen was identified as a novel coronavirus and was subsequently named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (). On January 30th, 2020, The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a public health emergency of international concern (). As of March 18th, 2020, there were 212,616 laboratory-confirmed cases worldwide (). Governments have responded in various ways to this evolving public […]

Undoubtedly, we are living in a period of great challenge for the field of medical science. The COVID-19 epidemic is an emerging and rapidly evolving situation that has brought up scientific concepts that were no longer relevant. For a long period of time, we did not experience situations that had such a high mortality rate affecting entire populations, or diseases that followed their natural courses with little prospect of treatment or reversal of their clinical presentation. Though we are accustomed […]

In 1817, the London surgeon and pharmacist James Parkinson published a 66-page-long booklet entitled “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy”, which contains the first detailed, clinical description of the shaking palsy, or “paralysis agitans”, which is currently known as Parkinson’s disease (PD) (). Two important facts James Parkinson probably did not consider at that time include the scientific progress of neuroscience over the past two centuries and the changes in the world’s population aging since then (). In fact, the […]

INTRODUCTION AND PRESENTATION OF THE ETHICAL ISSUE Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer in Brazil; it was responsible for 15,593 deaths in 2015, and an estimated 59,700 new cases were diagnosed in 2018 (). BC in Brazil has some peculiarities when compared to other countries; 35 to 41.1% of all cases are diagnosed among patients younger than 50 years old, and most of the operable cases are diagnosed in later stages (53.5% stage 2 and 23.2% […]