What is known and Objective: The worldwide volume of surgery is huge and the number of interventions performed is increasing as a result of advances in technological resources and refinement of medical teams' expertise, in a progressively elderly and sick population. Consequently, half of the general surgical patients take medications unrelated to surgery. Evidence-based guidelines for perioperative medication management are therefore critically needed to improve safety in surgery. The purpose of this work was to develop practice recommendations for the management of chronic medication in the perioperative period. Methods: A systematic review and a formal consensus were performed. A search in Medline, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge and Medscape were conducted in September 2008. Two independent investigators assessed the quality of selected studies. Evidence-based guidelines with strength classification were found for some therapeutic groups. Those guidelines were adopted and no further analysis was performed. For the other therapeutic groups, a formal consensus was used, based on a modified nominal group technique: 32 statements were formulated considering the literature retrieved. A selected panel of experts was asked by electronic mail to rate their level of agreement with each statement. Then, a meeting was convened and a second round survey was used to determine the final level of agreement. The statements which met the established criteria of consensus were developed into practice recommendations, supported by the results of the formal consensus and the evidencebased findings from systematic review. Results and Discussion: A total of 23 studies were included in the systematic review; three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 13 cohorts, two case-controls and three clinic-cases. Twenty-two practice recommendations for the management of chronic medication in the perioperative period resulted from formal consensus. What is new and Conclusion: Epidemiological studies concerning the perioperative management of chronic medications are clinically heterogeneous and there are few RCTs available. However, the formal consensus method proved to be a helpful tool to integrate different strands of evidence for the development of practice guidelines.

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16 Biomedical and Biopharmaceutical Research J o r n a l d e I n v e s t i g a ç ã o B i o m é d i c a e B i o f a r m a c ê u t i c aDevelopment of a strategy to identify the characteristics of babie's rooms associated with volatile organic compounds and with the occurrence of wheezing AbstractThe air quality in residential contexts is still poorly understood. However, it is assumed to be very important in children's health, especially as a contributor to the onset of respiratory disease. Some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been associated with the occurrence of asthma and respiratory disease symptoms. The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire to identify the characteristics of the rooms where babies (0 to 36 months old) sleep, potentially associated with exposure to volatile organic compounds and with the occurrence of wheezing. The design of the questionnaire involved bibliographic research, selection of (research) articles, definition of appropriate variables and pretesting. As a result, we obtained an instrument comprised of 50 questions, suitable for the analysis of the data sought. This questionnaire also serves as a tool that may be useful in other studies in the scope of indoor air quality.Keywords: Questionnaire, Indoor air quality, VOC, Baby room, Wheezing ResumoA qualidade do ar em contexto residencial ainda é pouco conhecida, no entanto assume-se que é muito importante na saúde das crianças, especialmente enquanto contributo para o aparecimento de doença respiratória. Alguns compostos orgânicos voláteis (COV) têm sido associados à ocorrência de asma e de sintomas de doença respiratória. Este estudo teve como objetivo desenvolver um questionário que permita identificar as características do quarto de bebés (0 aos 36 meses) potencialmente associadas à exposição a compostos orgânicos voláteis e à ocorrência de sibilância. A sua conceção foi sustentada por pesquisa bibliográfica, seleção de artigos, definição de variáveis e realização de pré-testes. Como resultado obteve-se um instrumento constituído por 50 questões ajustadas à aferição dos dados procurados, que pode constituir uma ferramenta aplicável noutros estudos do mesmo âmbito.Palavras-chave: Questionário, Qualidade do ar interior, Compostos orgânicos voláteis (COV), Quarto de bebé, Sibilância.

A tuberculose permanece, na atualidade, um problema de saúde global que afeta milhares de pessoas todos os anos e continua a ser a segunda maior causa de morte por doença infeciosa a nível mundial, a seguir ao vírus da imunodeficiência humana (VIH). Declarada pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) como uma emergência mundial, a tuberculose é uma doença contagiosa causada pela bactéria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 1 Em Portugal, nos últimos 10 anos, a taxa de incidência de casos de tuberculose diminuiu cerca de 40%, com