Abstract BACKGROUND Diabetic foot ulcers are a common diabetic complication leading to alarming figures of amputation, disability, and early mortality. The diabetic glucooxidative environment impairs the healing response, promoting the onset of a ‘wound chronicity phenotype’. In 50% of ulcers, these non-healing wounds act as an open door for developing infections, a process facilitated by diabetic patients’ dysimmunity. Infection can elicit biofilm formation that worsens wound prognosis. How this microorganism community is able to take advantage of underlying diabetic conditions and thrive both within the wound and the diabetic host is an expanding research field. OBJECTIVES 1) Offer an overview of the major cellular and molecular derangements of the diabetic healing process versus physiological cascades in a non-diabetic host. 2) Describe the main immunopathological aspects of diabetics’ immune response and explore how these contribute to wound infection susceptibility. 3) Conceptualize infection and biofilim in diabetic foot ulcers and analyze their dynamic interactions with wound bed cells and matrices, and their systemic effects at the organism level. 4) Offer an integrative conceptual framework of wound–dysimmunity–infection–organism damage. EVIDENCE AQUISITION We retrieved 683 articles indexed in Medline/PubMed, SciELO, Bioline International and Google Scholar. 280 articles were selected for discussion under four major subheadings: 1) normal healing processes, 2) impaired healing processes in the diabetic population, 3) diabetic dysimmunity and 4) diabetic foot infection and its interaction with the host. DEVELOPMENT The diabetic healing response is heterogeneous, torpid and asynchronous, leading to wound chronicity. The accumulation of senescent cells and a protracted inflammatory profile with a pro-catabolic balance hinder the proliferative response and delay re-epithelialization. Diabetes reduces the immune system’s abilities to orchestrate an appropriate antimicrobial response and offers ideal conditions for microbiota establishment and biofilm formation. Biofilm–microbial entrenchment hinders antimicrobial therapy effectiveness, amplifies the host's pre-existing immunodepression, arrests the wound’s proliferative phase, increases localized catabolism, prolongs pathogenic inflammation and perpetuates wound chronicity. In such circumstances the infected wound may act as a proinflammatory and pro-oxidant organ superimposed onto the host, which eventually intensifies peripheral insulin resistance and disrupts homeostasis. CONCLUSIONS The number of lower-limb amputations remains high worldwide despite continued research efforts on diabetic foot ulcers. Identifying and manipulating the molecular drivers underlying diabetic wound healing failure, and dysimmunity-driven susceptibility to infection will offer more effective therapeutic tools for the diabetic population.

Diencephalic syndrome is a set of symptoms and signs caused by dysfunction in this area of the encephalon and characterized by marked malnutrition despite adequate intake of calories. Two cases were reported in this paper. The first one was a 13-years old girl with a history of medro failure since her 3rd month of life, who was admitted to this service for the study of her severe protein/energy malnutrition. In the course of her hospitalization, she presented with unstable appetite and suffered a paroxistic event one month after being hospitalized. The infant girl was then performed magnetic resonance imaging test which revealed a 3 cm x 3cm rounded hypodense image in the suprasellar region. She was operated on twice, the tumor was excised and the anatomic and pathological analysis yielded the presence of low grade pilocytic astrocytoma. The second patient was an small infant who was admitted to the service with a confirmed diagnosis of intracranial tumor for study, very similar to the case previously presented. He suffered an acute protein/energy malnutrition, so he was performed a computerized tomography which showed a broad tumoral mass in the suprasellar region with dilated ventricular system. During the hospitalization, he presented with marked anorexia, progressive loss of weight and he finally underwent gastrotomy, but he died 59 days after admission as a result of pancytopenia. The result of necropsy was low grade pilocytic astrocytoma.

El síndrome diencefálico es un complejo de síntomas y signos causados por disfunción de esta área del encéfalo caracterizado por una marcada desnutrición aun cuando la ingesta calórica es normal. Se presentan dos casos, el primero de ellos una niña de 13 meses de edad con antecedentes de un fallo de medro a partir del tercer mes de vida, que ingresó en este servicio para el estudio de una desnutrición proteico energética severa que presentó en el transcurso de su evolución un apetito inestable y al mes de ingresada un evento paroxístico. Se le realizó resonancia magnética nuclear y se comprobó imagen hipodensa, redondeada, que medía aproximadamente 3 x 3 cm en región supraselar; fue intervenida quirúrgicamente en 2 ocasiones, se realizó exéresis del tumor, y se confirmó anatomopatológicamente un astrocitoma pilocítico de bajo grado. El segundo paciente, un lactante que ingresó con el diagnóstico confirmado de tumor intracraneal para estudio, semejante al caso presentado anteriormente, mostraba una marcada desnutrición proteico energética, se le realizó tomografía axial computarizada en la que se pudo apreciar una extensa masa tumoral supraselar con dilatación del sistema ventricular. Durante su evolución presentó marcada anorexia con pérdida de peso progresiva, por lo que se realizó gastrostomía. A los 59 días falleció como consecuencia de una pancitopenia, y la necropsia concluyó: astrocitoma pilocítico de bajo grado.

A study of 1 201 persons aged 15 years and over from the City of Havana was carried out to determine the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders and their symptom severity index as well as the knowledge of the population about the temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD). Multistage cluster sampling with equal probability proportional allocation was used. Data were collected through anamnesis and clinical examination on the basis of a form created according to Helkimo´s Anamnesic and Clinical Indexes of Dysfunction. Dysfunction affected 31.89% of the patients according to the anamnesic index whereas 47,33% according to the clinical index, which evidenced that the percentage of surveyed people with clinical signs of dysfunction was higher than that of those who pointed out some symptom; females prevailed and there was age proportionality; also, the most common dysfunction was the mild one on the basis of the clinical and the anamnesic indexes. The main symptom was joint sounds during mandible opening and closure. The level of knowledge was poor because of the lack of information on this topic.

Se realizó un estudio en 1 201 personas de 15 años y más de Ciudad de La Habana con el objetivo de determinar la prevalencia de los trastornos temporomandibulares y el índice de severidad sintomatológica de estos, así como el conocimiento que presentaba la población sobre las alteraciones de la articulación temporomandibular. Se utilizó el muestreo por conglomerados polietápicos con asignación proporcional equiprobabilístico. La información se recogió por la anamnesis y examen clínico mediante un formulario confeccionado según los criterios de los Indices Anamnésico y Clínicos de Disfunción de Helkimo. Presentaron disfunción el 31,89 % de los examinados según índice anamnésico y el 47,33 % según índice clínico, lo que evidenció que el porcentaje de encuestados con signos clínicos de disfunción fue mayor que los que refirieron algún síntoma, con predominio del sexo femenino y proporcional con la edad, con mayor frecuencia de la disfunción leve tanto en el índice clínico como anamnésico. La sintomatología principal fueron los ruidos articulares durante los movimientos de abertura y cierre mandibular. Con respecto al nivel de conocimiento se evidenció escasa información sobre el tema.

A literature review was made to provide updated information on the different therapeutic alternatives at the disposal of dental professionals for the treatment of termporomandibular disorders aimed at relieving pain and re-establish the functioning of the joint. However, it is necessary to firstly make a good diagnosis and then detect the causative factors, emphasizing that stress is a key element to be taken into consideration. The existence of various therapeutical approaches for temporomandibular disorders is due to the multiple factors present in the etiology; the two most used alternatives are occlusal splints and selective carving. Physiotherapy is prefered over chemotherapy, as therapeutic coadjuvant for temporomandibular disorders, because likely occurence of adverse reaction decreases. The surgical treatment will be advised only in the event of failure of standard methods.

Se realizó una revisión bibliográfica con el objetivo de actualizar las diferentes alternativas terapéuticas que se disponen por parte de los profesionales para el tratamiento de los trastornos temporomandibulares, para lo cual los primeros esfuerzos están encaminados al alivio del dolor y al restablecimiento de la función, aunque previamente es necesario un buen diagnóstico y detección de los factores causales, enfatizando que el estrés es un elemento primordial que se debe considerar. La existencia de variados enfoques terapéuticos para los trastornos temporomandibulares queda justificada por la multifactorialidad de la etiología; las 2 alternativas más utilizadas son las férulas oclusales y el tallado selectivo. Se prefiere la fisioterapia a la quimioterapia, como coadyuvante terapéutica de los trastornos temporomandibulares, ya que disminuye el peligro de producir reacciones adversas. Solo se indicará el tratamiento quirúrgico cuando han fracasado los métodos conservadores.