A historical review of aortography is made that substantiates its present status as a diagnostic tool, particularly in angiology and urology. The technic, premedication, and anesthesia are discussed in detail. The hazards of the procedure and their prevention are reviewed. The reactions to contrast media are enumerated. Aortography plays a selected but important role in the evaluation of aortic...

In the growth of electrocardiography as a clinical method, British physiologists and physicians have played a more important role than those of any other nationality. Waller was the first to show that the electrical activities of the human heart could be recorded by leading from the extremities or from the surface of the chest. Mackenzie, although he did not deal directly with this subject, tre...

Obesity control and prevention is a complex task that requires a thorough understanding of the physiological basis and body composition. In Spain, as in most countries, anthropometric criteria, such as weight, height, body mass index, skinfold thickness and body circumferences have traditionally been used to define obesity and general eating disorders, but these variables have little sensitivit...

Warfarin has been in clinical use for nearly 60 years, and in 2010 there were 25 million prescriptions for warfarin in the United States. Although warfarin is highly efficacious, it has a narrow therapeutic window to achieve desired anticoagulation without excess risk of bleeding. Anticoagulation status is monitored with the International Normalized Ratio (INR), where the most common target INR...

Although discrepancies have been reported between free thyroxin (fT4) in serum and actual thyrometabolic status, the concentration of free thyroid hormones in blood is thought to be an important determinant of the thyrometabolic status of patients. Therefore, the diagnostic value of fT4 measurement has been emphasized. This prompted us to evaluate the diagnostic significance of direct fT4 measu...