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OBJECTIVES To evaluate the role of Helicobacter pylori and other risk factors in recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). METHODS Patients with functional dyspepsia responded to questionnaires regarding demographic and clinical data, anxiety and depression, and a specific RAS questionnaire. They underwent upper digestive endoscopy and H. pylori evaluation. RESULTS 476 patients were included and of the 372 evaluated for H. pylori, 65.6% were H. pylori-positive. RAS was reported by 32.6% (155/476). In the bivariate analysis of the 372 patients evaluated for gastric H. pylori status, positive subjects had a lower RAS prevalence (29.9%; 73/244) than H. pylori-negative (41.4%; 53/128) (p = .026). Smoking (p = .005) and older age (p = .034) were also associated with a lower prevalence, while female gender (p = .032) and lower income (p = .046) presented higher RAS prevalence. In the multivariate analysis, H. pylori infection (p = .017), smoking (p = .001), and older age (p = .013) were protective factors, while lower income (p = .030) and anxiety (p = .042) were risk factors. In the multivariate analysis of all patients, female gender, lower income, and more schooling years were risk factors. CONCLUSIONS An unexpected lower prevalence of RAS was found in H. pylori-positive patients. Smoking, sex, age, income, education, and anxiety were associated with RAS.

Background: The effectiveness of evidence-based, goal-directed care to reduce losses of brain-dead potential organ donors through cardiac arrest is unclear. DONORS aimed to determine whether guiding clinical management with an evidence-based goal-directed checklist can reduce losses of potential organ donors to cardiac arrest. Methods: This open cluster randomized trial assigned adult intensive care units from hospitals across Brazil with 10 or more annual brain death reports to guide the management of potential donors with the checklist (intervention group) or to maintain usual care without the checklist (control group). Intervention group was instructed to apply a checklist with 13 clinical goals and 14 corresponding actions, every six hours, from study enrollment to organ retrieval. Consecutive potential donors between 14 and 90 years of age were included. Primary outcome was incidence of loss of brain-dead potential organ donors to cardiac arrest at the individual level. A prespecified sensitivity analysis assessed checklist adherence as an effect modifier. Findings: Among 1771 potential donors screened, 1535 were included from 63 hospitals: 31 assigned to checklist guidance (743 potential donors) and 32 to usual care (792 potential donors). Seventy (9.4%) potential donors at intervention hospitals and 117 (14.8%) at control met the primary outcome (hazard ratio [HR], 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53 to 1.05; P=0.09). Median checklist adherence was 79% (interquartile range, 64% to 90%). Among those with adherence greater than 79%, primary outcome rate was lower than control group (5.3% vs. 14.8%; HR, 0.45; 9% CI, 0.26 to 0.75). Among those with low adherence, primary outcome rate was comparable to the control group. Interpretation: Overall use of the checklist in preventing donor loss due to cardiac arrest was inconclusive. However, predefined subgroup analysis suggests that high adherence to the checklist may reduce donor losses to cardiac arrest. Funding: Brazilian Ministry of Health through PROADI-SUS. Declaration of Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Ethics Approval Statement: In accordance with ethical principles stated in the Resolution No. 466/2012 of the Brazilian National Health Council/Ministry of Health, the Research Ethics Committee of each participating hospital approved the conduct of this study with a waiver of consent for eligible potential donors. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03179020 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03179020)

Background The quality of clinical care of brain-dead potential organ donors may help reduce donor losses caused by irreversible or unreversed cardiac arrest and increase the number of organs donated. We sought to determine whether an evidence-based, goal-directed checklist for donor management in intensive care units (ICUs) can reduce donor losses to cardiac arrest. Methods/design The DONORS study is a multicentre, cluster-randomised controlled trial with a 1:1 allocation ratio designed to compare an intervention group (goal-directed checklist for brain-dead potential organ donor management) with a control group (standard ICU care). The primary outcome is loss of potential donors due to cardiac arrest. Secondary outcomes are the number of actual organ donors and the number of solid organs recovered per actual donor. Exploratory outcomes include the achievement of relevant clinical goals during the management of brain-dead potential organ donors. The present statistical analysis plan (SAP) describes all primary statistical procedures that will be used to evaluate the results and perform exploratory and sensitivity analyses of the trial. Discussion The SAP of the DONORS study aims to describe its analytic procedures, enhancing the transparency of the study. At the moment of SAP subsmission, 63 institutions have been randomised and were enrolling study participants. Thus, the analyses reported herein have been defined before the end of the study recruitment and database locking. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03179020. Registered on 7 June 2017.

IntroductionThere is an increasing demand for multi-organ donors for organ transplantation programmes. This study protocol describes the Donation Network to Optimise Organ Recovery Study, a planned cluster randomised controlled trial that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of an evidence-based, goal-directed checklist for brain-dead potential organ donor management in intensive care units (ICUs) in reducing the loss of potential donors due to cardiac arrest.Methods and analysisThe study will include ICUs of at least 60 Brazilian sites with an average of ≥10 annual notifications of valid potential organ donors. Hospitals will be randomly assigned (with a 1:1 allocation ratio) to the intervention group, which will involve the implementation of an evidence-based, goal-directed checklist for potential organ donor maintenance, or the control group, which will maintain the usual care practices of the ICU. Team members from all participating ICUs will receive training on how to conduct family interviews for organ donation. The primary outcome will be loss of potential donors due to cardiac arrest. Secondary outcomes will include the number of actual organ donors and the number of organs recovered per actual donor.Ethics and disseminationThe institutional review board (IRB) of the coordinating centre and of each participating site individually approved the study. We requested a waiver of informed consent for the IRB of each site. Study results will be disseminated to the general medical community through publications in peer-reviewed medical journals.Trial registration numberNCT03179020; Pre-results.

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most frequent types of malignant tumors in the world. There is growing evidence of the relationship between it development and obesity. The mechanism that links obesity to cancer is still not fully understood; however, it is essential to the understanding the adipose tissue in metabolic changes related to obesity and hepatocellular carcinoma. Objective: To review the influence of serum leptin levels in patients with hepatocelular carcinoma. Method: Systematic review of the literature based on the methodology of the Cochrane Institute. The search for articles was in the database: Science Direct, Scielo, Medline, Lilacs e Pubmed. The key words used were hepatocellular carcinoma, leptin, adipokine. Results: After evaluation of individual studies, were selected seven studies. The results previously studied are still inconsistent and contradictory, and leptin can be effectively involved in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Conclusion: Therefore, it is necessary to develop prospective, well-designed and conducted focusing on the role and specific mechanisms of this hormone in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, so that new correlations can be properly supported. RESUMO Introdução: O carcinoma hepatocelular é um dos tipos mais frequentes de tumores malignos no mundo. Há crescentes evidências da relação entre o seu desenvolvimento e a obesidade. O mecanismo que os relaciona ainda não é completamente entendido. Entretanto é essencial a compreensão do tecido adiposo nas alterações metabólicas relacionadas à obesidade e ao câncer. Objetivo: Revisar a influência dos níveis séricos de leptina em pacientes com carcinoma hepatocelular. Método: Trata-se de revisão bibliográfica baseada na metodologia do Instituto Cochrane; a busca de dados foi realizada na base de dados Science Direct, Scielo, Medline, Lilacs e Pubmed, empregando as seguintes descritores: hepatocellular carcinoma, leptin, adipokine. Resultado: Após avaliação individual dos artigos selecionaram-se sete estudos. Os resultados ainda são inconsistentes e contraditórios, e a leptina pode estar efetivamente envolvida na ocorrência e no desenvolvimento do carcinoma hepatocelular. Conclusão: Faz-se necessário o desenvolvimento de estudos prospectivos, bem desenhados e conduzidos sobre o papel e mecanismos específicos deste hormônio em pacientes com carcinoma hepatocelular para que novas correlações sejam devidamente comprovadas.