Usefulness of Procalcitonin Levels for Predicting the Microbiological Orientation in Patients with Sepsis.

The main objective of the study was to verify whether levels of procalcitonin (PCT) could guide us toward determining the type of bacteria causing the sepsis and to identify the discriminatory cut-off point in the first urgent laboratory test. This study is a single center retrospective analysis that includes 371 patients with a mean age of 71.7 ± 15.

Benefits of Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging During Breast Tissue Expansion: Literature Review and Case Series.

Breast cancer results in up to 1.6 million new candidates for yearly breast reconstruction (BR) surgery. Two-stage breast reconstruction surgery with the use of a tissue expander (TE) is a common approach to reconstructing the breast after mastectomy.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Surgical Management of Breast Cancer: Global Trends and Future Perspectives.

Introduction: The rapid spread of COVID-19 across the globe is forcing surgical oncologists to change their daily practice. We sought to evaluate how breast surgeons are adapting their surgical activity to limit viral spread and spare hospital resources.

Methods: A panel of 12 breast surgeons from the most affected regions of the world convened a virtual meeting on April 7, 2020, to discuss the changes in their local surgical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diagnostic value of the stand-alone synthetic image in digital breast tomosynthesis examinations.

Objective: To demonstrate the non-inferiority of synthetic image (SI) mammography versus full-field digital mammography (FFDM) in breast tomosynthesis (DBT) examinations.

Methods: An observational, retrospective, single-centre, multireader blinded study was performed, using 2384 images to directly compare SI and FFDM based on Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BIRADS) categorisation and visibility of radiological findings. Readers had no access to digital breast tomosynthesis slices.

Effect of Genetic Polymorphisms and Long-Term Tobacco Exposure on the Risk of Breast Cancer.

Introduction: Tobacco smoke contains many potentially harmful compounds that may act differently and at different stages in breast cancer development. The focus of this work was to assess the possible role of cigarette smoking (status, dose, duration or age at initiation) and polymorphisms in genes coding for enzymes involved in tobacco carcinogen metabolism (, ) or in DNA repair (, , and ) in breast cancer development.

Methods: We designed a case control study with 297 patients, 217 histologically verified breast cancers (141 smokers and 76 non-smokers) and 80 healthy smokers in a cohort of Spanish women.