This thesis examines the concept of medical futility and its importance for the practice of medicine nowadays. It presents an overview of the development of the concept throughout history and it discusses the main arguments in favor and against a determination of futile treatment in the clinical setting. The notion of futility, in broad terms, describes the situation in which certain medical interventions no longer benefit the patient and therefore, it follows that there must be a derived moral obligation to stop said intervention. Such an idea brings forward numerous problematic pitfalls that are discussed in this thesis, among which are the debate about the limits of medicine, the tension between the notions of patient autonomy and physician authority and the practice of medical rationing in hospitals. This thesis aims to provide a new perspective on the subject in hopes that it will help to keep the ongoing debate running so in the near future, more experts will decide to contribute themselves with their expertise. Situations where a medical intervention ceases to benefit the patient will continue to occur at the bedside; what is more, these ethical conundrums will become more and more problematic as the technological imperative intensifies and the possibilities of biotechnology increase. The leading question that directed the development of the thesis was “when enough it’s enough?” in other words, what are the ethical considerations on the limits of medicine? The paper concludes that the concept of medical futility has a heuristic value, and thus it has helped yield more clarity about relevant matters such as the differentiation between futility and rationing, the fact that more research is needed to test what works and what does not and it has brought to the spotlight the importance of more robust standards of practice that, for example, prevent physicians from practicing defensive medicine. Resumen: Esta tesis examina el concepto de futilidad médica y su importancia para la práctica de la medicina en la actualidad. Presenta una visión general del desarrollo del concepto a lo largo de la historia y discute los principales argumentos a favor y en contra de la determinación de un tratamiento fútil en el ámbito clínico. La noción de futilidad, en términos generales, describe la situación en la que ciertas intervenciones médicas ya no benefician al paciente y, por lo tanto, se deduce que debe existir una obligación moral derivada de detener dicha intervención. Esta idea plantea numerosos asuntos problemáticos que se discuten en esta tesis, entre los que se encuentran el debate sobre los límites de la medicina, la tensión entre las nociones de autonomía del paciente y autoridad del médico, y la práctica del racionamiento médico en los hospitales. Esta tesis pretende aportar una nueva perspectiva sobre el tema con la esperanza de que esta ayude a mantener el debate vigente, de manera que, en un futuro próximo, más expertos decidan aportar su experiencia. Las situaciones en las que una intervención médica deja de beneficiar al paciente seguirán; más aún, estos debates éticos se volverán cada vez más problemáticos a medida que se intensifique el imperativo tecnológico y aumenten las posibilidades de la biotecnología. La pregunta principal que dirigió el desarrollo de la tesis fue ""¿cuándo es momento de parar?"", es decir, ¿cuáles son las consideraciones éticas sobre los límites de la medicina? El documento concluye que el concepto de futilidad médica tiene un valor heurístico y, por lo tanto, ha contribuido a aclarar cuestiones pertinentes como la diferenciación entre futilidad y racionamiento, el hecho de que se necesita más investigación para probar lo que funciona y lo que no, y ha puesto de relieve la importancia de contar con normas de práctica más sólidas que, por ejemplo, impidan a los médicos practicar la medicina defensiva.

Background: Current scores do not adequately predict cardiovascular risk in patients with chronic kidney disease who are at a very high CV risk in short and medium term. Aim: The aim of our analysis was to create a Bayesian network to predict the 2-year occurrence of a cardiovascular event in patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods and results: The data originated from the observational and prospective Photo-Graphe V3 cohort. Sixty-two nephrologists in 20 French regions included 1144 non-dialysed patients with chronic kidney disease. Seven hundred and thirty patients with known medical status at 2 years were analysed. An initial Bayesian model was first built using 26 variables related to the characteristics of the patients, their medical background, and treatments. A cardiovascular event (heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, transient ischemic attack, stroke or cardiovascular death) occurred in 20.0% of the patients after two years of follow-up. The model was first optimized using synthetic data (created from the original database) to increase its reliability. The number of variables was then reduced using the 13 most informative variables to increase its clinical applicability. The10-fold cross validation showed that the optimized clinical model with 13 variables had an area under the ROC curve of 0.90+0.02, a sensitivity of 82.5+5.9%, a specificity of 80.6+5.1%, a predictive positive value of 81.2+3.4% and a negative predictive value of 82.5+4.4%. The percentage of misclassified subjects was 18.4+2.6%. Conclusion: Using artificial intelligence methods, a new clinical tool to predict cardiovascular events in patients with chronic kidney disease is proposed.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the chemically assisted dissection with sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate (MESNA), in the reduction of residual and recurrent cholesteatoma after mastoidectomy in children with chronic cholesteatomatous otitis media (CCOM). Study Design: Retrospective case–control study. Setting: Tertiary referral center. Population: One hundred forty mastoidectomies performed in patients under 18 years of age for the treatment of CCOM. Interventions: Chemically assisted dissection (CAD) with MESNA compared with surgical dissection without MESNA. Main Outcome Measures: Recidivism of cholesteatoma (recurrence and residual disease), variations in the average of bone conduction threshold after treatment, and complications. Results: Recidivism of cholesteatoma was significantly lower when CAD with MESNA was used (p<0.0001). No difference was found in the mean variation of the average of bone conduction thresholds between the groups, confirming its safety profile regarding auditory function. Meatoplasty stenosis after surgery was more prevalent within CAD with MESNA group (p: 0.049). Conclusion: Recurrent and residual cholesteatoma remains a problem, especially in children and despite surgical techniques such as canal wall down mastoidectomy and endoscopic ear surgery. CAD with MESNA can be safe and effective to reduce recurrence rates. Resumen. Objetivo: Evaluar la efectividad de la disección químicamente asistida con 2-mercaptoetanosulfonato de sodio (MESNA), en la reducción de colesteatoma residual y recurrente después de mastoidectomía en niños con otitis media colesteatomatosa crónica (OMCC). Diseño del estudio: Estudio retrospectivo de casos y controles. Lugar: Centro de referencia terciario pediatrico. Población: Ciento cuarenta mastoidectomías realizadas en pacientes menores de 18 años para el tratamiento de OMCC. Intervenciones: Disección químicamente asistida (DQA) con MESNA en comparación con disección quirúrgica sin MESNA. Principales medidas de resultado: Reincidencia de colesteatoma (recurrencia y enfermedad residual), variaciones en el promedio del umbral de conducción ósea después del tratamiento y complicaciones. Resultados: La reincidencia del colesteatoma fue significativamente menor cuando se utilizó DQA con MESNA (p <0,0001). No se encontraron diferencias en la variación media del promedio de los umbrales de conducción ósea entre los grupos, lo que confirma su perfil de seguridad con respecto a la función auditiva. La estenosis de la meatoplastia después de la cirugía fue más frecuente dentro del grupo de DQA con MESNA (p: 0.049). Conclusión: El colesteatoma recurrente y residual sigue siendo un problema, especialmente en niños y a pesar de las técnicas quirúrgicas, como la mastoidectomía radical y la cirugía endoscópica del oído. La DQA con MESNA puede ser segura y efectiva para reducir las tasas de recurrencia.

El ambiente escolar es uno de los entornos más relevantes y significativos de nuestra vida, pues allí se tejen comportamientos, relaciones y hábitos que suelen modelar patrones de alimentación que impactan en nuestras preferencias de consumo. En este sentido, si bien es cierto que existe una combinación de factores individuales, como cuestiones psicológicas y culturales, que impactan en nuestros hábitos alimentarios, diversos estudios han demostrado el carácter determinante de los existen factores ambientales, entre ellos la disponibilidad, la accesibilidad y la invasiva publicidad de alimentos en los entornos donde nos relacionamos. Según UNICEF, en Colombia 3 de cada 10 niños y niñas entre 6 y 12 años padecen de sobrepeso. Esto lo confirman los datos recolectados por la ENSIN, reflejando que en 2005. El 4,3% de la población escolar (niños y niñas entre 5 y 12 años) tenía exceso de peso. Ya para el 2010 esta cifra habría aumentado a 18,8% y para el 2015 este porcentaje alcanzó el 24,4%. Este panorama es altamente preocupante, pues según la Organización Mundial de la Salud, la obesidad infantil se asocia con una mayor probabilidad de muerte prematura y discapacidad en la edad adulta. Esta cartilla resume los argumentos legales y de salud pública, por los cuales la regulación de venta y publicidad de ultraprocesados en entornos escolares es una política necesaria para favorecer la salud y la alimentación de los niños y niñas en Colombia. Descripción tomada de: https://www.dejusticia.org/publication/promoviendo-ambientes-escolares-libres-de-comida-chatarra-en-colombia/

In 2007, Mexico City legalized abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. By doing so, it became the first and only state in Mexico where abortion on demand is legal. In this paper, I use this natural experiment to estimate the effects of abortion legalization on child and maternal health. I perform Difference-In-Differences estimates using information from all births and deaths occurred between 2002 and 2012. My findings suggest that the change in the abortion legislation in Mexico City reduced the Infant Mortality Rate and the Under 5 Mortality Rate by approximately 2.3 and 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. Moreover, for the Maternal Mortality Rate I find that the estimations range from -5.49 to -6 deaths per 100,000 live births. These results are validated by the use of a more accurate control group generated by the Synthetic Control Method. To the best of my knowledge, this if the first paper that attempts to examine the effects of abortion legalization in Mexico City on child health. En el 2007, Ciudad de México legalizó el aborto en las 12 primeras semanas de gestación. Al hacerlo, se convirtió en el primero y único estado del país en donde el aborto voluntario es legal. En este artículo utilizo este experimento natural para estimar los efectos de la legalización del aborto en la salud materno infantil. Realizo estimaciones de Diferencias en Diferencias utilizando información de todos los nacimientos y muertes ocurridos entre 2002 y 2012. Mis hallazgos sugieren que el cambio en la legislación relativa el aborto en la Ciudad de México redujo la tasa de mortalidad Infantil y la tasa de mortalidad en menores de 5 años en aproximadamente 2.3 y 2.4 muertes por cada 1.000 nacidos vivos, respectivamente. Además, para la tasa de mortalidad materna, encuentro que las estimaciones oscilan entre -5,49 y -6 muertes por 100.000 nacidos vivos. Estos resultados se validan mediante el uso de un grupo de control más preciso, utilizando la metodología de control sintético. Según mi conocimiento, este es el primer artículo que intenta examinar los efectos de la legalización del aborto en la Ciudad de México sobre la salud infantil.

El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la relación de las variables de rendimiento físico con los grupos de equipos ganadores, empatados y perdedores de los partidos de la Copa Mundial de la FIFA Rusia 2018. La muestra seleccionada para realizar el presente análisis fue de 32 selecciones nacionales participantes, examinadas por medio de 57 partidos en total. Los equipos fueron divididos en tres diferentes grupos, dependiendo del resultado obtenido: (0) equipos ganadores (N=48), (1) equipos que empataron (N=18) y (2) equipos perdedores (N=48). Los datos recogidos del presente trabajo de investigación han sido analizados a través de la página web https://www.fifa.com. Las variables utilizadas para el análisis de los datos fueron: distancia total recorrida, distancia recorrida con el balón en posesión, distancia recorrida sin el balón en posesión, sprints, posesión del balón lanzamientos a favor, diferencia de lanzamientos, tiempo empleado en la mitad del equipo oponente (OH), tiempo empleado en el tercio ofensivo (A3); Tiempo empleado en el área de penalti (PA), zona 1 de velocidad: 0-7 km/h, zona 2 de velocidad: 7-15 km/h, zona 3 de velocidad: 15-20 km/h, zona 4 de velocidad: 20-25 km/h, zona 5 de velocidad: > 25 km/h. Se realizó la prueba de Kolmogorov-Smirnov, para establecer la normalidad de los datos y posteriormente la prueba ANOVA de un factor para analizar los datos de distribución normal y la prueba de Kruskal-Wallis para muestras independientes, para datos de distribución no normal. Los datos observados no arrojaron diferencias significativas entre los grupos. La conclusión de la presente investigación es que ni las variables de rendimiento físico, ni las variables técnico-tácticas utilizadas, fueron determinantes para ganar, empatar o perder partidos en la Copa Mundial de la FIFA Rusia 2018.

Colombia is an upper middle-income country with an estimated population of 49.2 million people, and road traffic collisions (RTCs) are the second most common cause of traumatic death. The government established the National Road Safety Plan (PNSV) for the period 2011-2021, to reduce RTC-related deaths by 26%. Study aim was to evaluate whether Road Safety Laws have had a long-term effect on road safety in the country. Data on RTC from January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2017 were collated from official Colombian governmental publications. Three periods were considered for analysis: 2001-2010 evaluating the Transit Code; 2011-2017 evaluating the PNSV; and 2001-2017 evaluating the full study period. A total of 102,723 deaths (12.7%) and 707,778 injuries (87.3%) were reported from 2001 through 2017. Transit Code period showed a 10.1% decline in deaths, 16.6% decline in injuries, and rates per 100,000 inhabitants and per 10,000 registered vehicles also declined. During the PNSV period, there was an increase in deaths by 16.6%, injuries decreased by 1.7%, and death rates per 100,000 inhabitants also increased. During the total study period, a 12.4% reduction in the total number of casualties was achieved, and death and injury rates per 100,000 inhabitants decreased by 12.4% and 27.5%, respectively. Overall, the absolute number of RTCs and deaths has increased. RTCs rates per 10,000 registered vehicles has decreased. Although the goals of the PNSV may not be realized, some laws may be having a beneficial effect. Further study is required to determine the longer-term impact of these initiatives.

Background: The effect of early surgery in elderly patients with hip fractures has been controversial during the last five decades due to equivocal evidence both in favour and against it. The objective of this thesis is to systematically assess all the available evidence on the effect(s) of early surgery compared with delayed surgery in elderly patients with hip fractures. Methods: Searches for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or prospective observational studies were conducted from inception to July 2017 in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), and they were complemented with list of references searching, review of both clinical trials registers and archives of orthopaedic meetings. Two reviewers independently selected studies for inclusion, extracted data and evaluated risk of bias; and a third reviewer resolved discrepancies. Risk ratios (RR) were calculated for dichotomous data, and mean difference (MD) or standardised mean difference (SMD) was calculated for continuous data. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Results: 39 studies were included with 51,857 participants (range of mean age: 74 to 93 years) comparing early versus delayed surgery. Three studies were RCTs and 36 were observational studies. The evidence from RCTs and observational studies showed that early surgery reduces risk of all-cause 3 mortality in elderly patients with a hip fracture (RR 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.65 to 0.83; I2 = 67%; number needed to treat for benefit (NNTB) 20; low quality of evidence). Observational studies showed reduced risk of all-cause mortality by early surgery at 6 (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.91; I2 = 56%; very low quality of evidence) and 12 months postoperative (RR 0.69, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.87; I2 = 76%; very low quality of evidence), and when surgery is performed within the first 48 hours upon hospital admission (RR 0.72, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.84; I2 = 65%; very low quality of evidence). Observational studies also showed a reduction of complications (RR 0.61, 95% CI 0.51 to 0.73; I2 = 64%; very low quality of evidence) and length of hospital stay (MD -5.06, 95% CI -6.52 to -3.60; I2 = 87%; very low quality of evidence) by early surgery, but the evidence was uncertain for functionality (SMD 0.05, 95% CI -0.04 to 0.14; I2 = 0%; low quality of evidence) and pain (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.17; I2 = 0%; very low quality of evidence). RCTs showed that early surgery reduces length of stay (MD -6.73, 95% CI -12.92 to -0.54; I2 = 54%; very low quality of evidence) and improves functionality (SMD 0.32, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.59; I2 = 5%; low quality of evidence). Conclusions: Low-quality evidence showed that early surgery reduces all-cause mortality at 6 and 12 months post-surgery, especially when it is performed during the first 48 hours after hospital admission. There was very low-quality evidence of a reduction in complications including pneumonia and pressure sores, and low-quality evidence for a reduced risk of urinary tract infection for early compared with delayed surgery. Reductions in length of hospital stay and improvement of postoperative functionality with early surgery were also observed but with very low- and low-quality of evidence respectively. There was very low-quality evidence for no effect of early surgery on postoperative pain.

El desgaste por empatía es un concepto relativamente reciente y en evolución que ha captado el interés de los profesionales sanitarios debido a que el trabajo en el ámbito de la salud implica un coste emocional que repercute en la misma salud del trabajador y en su labor profesional. Según la literatura revisada, los programas en prevención en todos los niveles de este tipo de estrés son escasos, por lo tanto, el objetivo de este trabajo es proponer un programa de prevención del desgaste por empatía en profesionales sanitarios de una unidad de diálisis de hospital. La idea surgió de la necesidad manifiesta por la Unidad de Diálisis del Hospital Universitario Infanta Sofía (HUIS), hacia la Unidad de Salud Mental del mismo Hospital y de la confianza depositada en la investigación académica, relacionada con la dificultad en el afrontamiento a la muerte de pacientes de la Unidad, por parte del personal asistencial. El propósito es entonces entrenar a los profesionales en estrategias de regulación emocional del desgaste por empatía, con el fin de disminuir los niveles de este tipo de estrés y prevenir su futura aparición, por medio del desarrollo de 6 módulos, que se llevarán a cabo a través de diferentes ciclos y que puede tener continuidad a través de una modalidad de Formación Continuada. Se ha diseñado una evaluación estandarizada con el fin de medir la presunta efectividad del programa para prevenir el desgaste por empatía. Se realiza una valoración sobre los resultados esperados, las conclusiones del diseño de la propuesta del programa, así como de sus limitaciones y sobre futuras líneas de investigación. Abstract: The compassion fatigue is a relatively recent and evolving concept that has captured the interest of health professionals because working in health implies an emotional cost that affects the health and the worker performance. According to the revised literature, prevention programs at all levels of this kind of stress are scarce, therefore, the objective of this work is to propose a program of prevention of compassion fatigue in healthcare professionals of a dialysis unit of a hospital. The idea came up from the necessity exposed by the Dialysis Unit of the Hospital Universitario Infanta Sofia (HUIS), towards the Mental Health Unit of the same Hospital and from the confidence placed in the academic research, related to the difficulty of facing death of patients of the unit, by the assistance personnel. The purpose is then to train professionals in strategies of emotional regulation of compassion fatigue, in order to reduce the levels of this type of stress and prevent its future emergence, through the development of 6 modules, which will be carried out through different cycles and that can have continuity through a continuous training modality. A standardized assessment has been designed to measure the presumed effectiveness of the program to prevent the compassion fatigue. An assessment is made of the expected results, the conclusions of the design of the program proposal, as well as its limitations and future lines of research.

Organotypic brain culture is an experimental tool widely used in neuroscience studies. One major drawback of this technique is reduced neuronal survival across time, which is likely exacerbated by the loss of blood flow. We have designed a novel, tube flow system, which is easily incorporated into the commonly-used, standard semi-permeable membrane culture methodology which has significantly enhanced neuronal survival in a brain stem nucleus involved in control of motivated and arousal states: the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT). Our automated system provides nutrients and removes waste in a comparatively aseptic environment, while preserving temperature, and oxygen levels. Using immunohistochemistry and electrophysiology, our system was found superior to standard techniques in preserving tissue quality and survival of LDT cells for up to 2 weeks. In summary, we provide evidence for the first time that the LDT can be preserved in organotypic slice culture, and further, our technical improvements of adding a flow system, which likely enhanced perfusion to the slice, were associated with enhanced neuronal survival. Our perfusion system is expected to facilitate organotypic experiments focused on chronic stimulations and multielectrode recordings in the LDT, as well as enhance neuronal survival in slice cultures originating from other brain regions.