The aim of this study is the methodological evaluation of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) in hypertension. This is the first in a series of review articles, analysis, assessment in methodology and content of clinical practice guidelines in Cardiology. Of all clinical practice guidelines, three were selected and the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument was used to assess each guide. The guidelines obtained the lowest score in the domain of applicability (mean 43.8%); while the highest score was for clarity of presentation (mean 81.5%). The lowest percentage was found in the applicability domain (European guideline) and the highest of all scores was found in two domains: scope and purpose, and clarity of presentation (Canadian guideline). Assessing the quality of the clinical practice guidelines analyzed, the Canadian is one with the best scores obtained by applying the AGREE II instrument, and it is advised to be used without modifications.

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ObjectiveTo evaluate the diagnostic validity of fine-needle capillary cytology (FNCC) in palpable tumours.Material and methodsA retrospective, single-tray, cross-sectional diagnostic test study was carried out. We reviewed the cytological reports of the case files of the Cytology Unit of the Northern Regional Institute of Neoplastic Diseases (IREN) from January 2012 to December 2016.ResultsA total of 332 patients were selected, with an average age of 54.77 years (range 13–90 years); 61.4% of patients were female. The most frequent anatomical sites were lymph nodes (49.7%), thyroid (13.3%), breast (12.3%) and soft tissues (11.4%). Twenty-five cytologies did not have a histological correlation and six showed an atypical result. In the lymph node study, the most frequent pathology was metastatic carcinoma (49.7%), followed by lymphoma (13.3%). The FNCC had a sensitivity of 99.55%, a specificity of 98.77%, a positive predictive value of 99.55% and a negative predictive value of 98.77%. The positive likelihood ratio was 80.63%.ConclusionsFNCC is a useful, safe, reliable and economical ambulatory technique with minimal complications and high diagnostic accuracy.

Objetivo: Identificar la necesidad de implementar cursos de Medicina Basada en la Evidencia(MBE) en los planes de estudio de pregrado de las universidades peruanas. El estudio: Estudio observacional de tipo descriptivo. Se evaluó la prevalencia de la enseñanza del curso de MBE en las escuelas de medicina de universidades peruanas, el semestre en el que se enseñaba y la obligatoriedad. Hallazgos: De 44 escuelas de medicina evaluadas, ocho (18,2%) incluían un curso de MBE en sus planes de estudio, de las que cinco (62,5%) correspondían a universidades privadas y en siete(87,5%) el curso era obligatorio. Conclusiones: La enseñanza de la MBE en las escuelas de medicina de las universidades peruanas es baja, pudiendo conducir a una menor confianza y certeza en la toma de decisiones clínicas.