Tuberculosis: a reminder to humankind about inequality in access to healthcare

Humanity has achieved major milestones in public health, yet efforts to make health care strategies more accessible have not been sufficient to meet the needs of all populations1. A clear example is tuberculosis (TB), which, despite being one of the oldest diseases affecting humankind2, remains one of the deadliest preventable and treatable infections worldwide, currently […]

Safe retroesternal dissection with harmonic scalpel and indocyanine green during Nuss surgery

Introduction Pectus excavatum is a common condition, occurring in up to 1 in 400 children1. Patients requiring surgical treatment should be selected according to symptom severity and radiologic findings2–4. The minimally invasive technique proposed and developed by Nuss in 1987 and published in 1998 is increasingly used5. However, complications may occur, some of which can […]

Postural obstructive sleep apnea. Narrative literature review

Introduction Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition exclusive to sleep. It is defined as partial or complete collapses of the upper airway (UA), associated with hypoxemia, hypercapnia, hypoventilation and/or microarousals, snoring, fragmented nonrestorative sleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), among other symptoms. It correlates with increased cardiovascular risk, metabolic and cognitive alterations, and worsening […]

Smoking, vaping, and comorbidities associated with adverse COVID-19 outcomes

Introduction Various comorbidities and risk factors have been associated with a higher likelihood of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and with the development of severe forms of COVID-19 (Table 1). In addition, these factors have been observed to contribute to the persistence of symptoms after acute infection, known as long COVID-19 […]

COVID-19 outpatient evaluation and treatment

Introduction On December 31st, 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission (Hubei Province, China) notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of a cluster of 27 cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology, which was later identified as a novel betacoronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2])1. Currently, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread worldwide, causing more […]