Retrospective analysis of a tertiary care centre of sex differences in risk factors, aetiology and short-term clinical outcome after revascularization treatment in young adults' ischemic stroke.

Background And Objectives: The incidence of ischemic stroke in young adults has increased substantially. There are limited data in the literature concerning the short-term clinical outcome in young adults with acute stroke after revascularization treatment. Due to the lack of available data on gender differences short-term clinical outcome, we designed the present study.

Recent Advances and Future Perspectives in the E-Nose Technologies Addressed to the Wine Industry.

Electronic nose devices stand out as pioneering innovations in contemporary technological research, addressing the arduous challenge of replicating the complex sense of smell found in humans. Currently, sensor instruments find application in a variety of fields, including environmental, (bio)medical, food, pharmaceutical, and materials production. Particularly the latter, has seen a significant increase in the adoption of technological tools to assess food quality, gradually supplanting human panelists and thus reshaping the entire quality control paradigm in the sector.

Phenotype variability and natural history of X-linked myopathy with excessive autophagy.

Objective: X-linked myopathy with excessive autophagy (XMEA) linked to the VMA21 gene leads to autophagy failure with progressive vacuolation and atrophy of skeletal muscles. Current knowledge of this rare disease is limited. Our objective was to define the clinical, radiological, and natural history of XMEA.

Feasibility assessment of a low-cost visible spectroscopy-based prototype for monitoring polyphenol extraction in fermenting musts.

Background: Polyphenols have long been used to evaluate grape and wine quality and it is necessary to measure them throughout various winemaking stages. They are currently assessed predominantly through analytical methods, which are characterized by time-consuming procedures and environmentally harmful practices. Non-destructive spectroscopy-based devices offer an alternative but they tend to be costly and not readily accessible for smaller wineries.

Optimizing the winemaking process: NIR spectroscopy and e-nose analysis for the online monitoring of fermentation.

Background: In the winemaking process, the rapid determination of specific quality parameters such as sugar content, pH, acidity, concentrations of phenolic compounds, anthocyanins and volatile organic compounds is crucial for high-quality wine production. Traditional analytical methods allow for precise quantification of these parameters but are time-consuming and expensive. This article explores the potential application of non-destructive analytical technique (NDAT) (near infra-red [NIR] and e-nose), as efficient alternatives for online monitoring of fermentation working on two different winemaking tanks and applying chemometrics to develop predictive models to correlate non-destructive and analytical data.

High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Surgery for Tumor Ablation: A Review of Current Applications.

The management of cancer with alternative approaches is a matter of clinical interest worldwide. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) surgery is a noninvasive technique performed under US or MRI guidance. The most studied therapeutic uses of HIFU involve thermal tissue ablation, demonstrating both palliative and curative potential.

Effects of immediate thrombolytic treatment in imaging area on functional outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Introduction: Door-to-needle time (DNT) is an established predictor of outcome in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). Several strategies have been proposed to streamline in-hospital pathways, among which treatment at CT/MR bed.

Aim: To explore the impact of treatment at CT/MR bed, here defined as imaging area (IA), on functional outcome in stroke patients treated with IVT alone.

Comparison of quantitative muscle ultrasound and whole-body muscle MRI in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 patients.

Introduction: Muscle ultrasound is a fast, non-invasive and cost-effective examination that can identify structural muscular changes by assessing muscle thickness and echointensity (EI) with a quantitative analysis (QMUS). To assess applicability and repeatability of QMUS, we evaluated patients with genetically confirmed facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1 (FSHD1), comparing their muscle ultrasound characteristics with healthy controls and with those detected by MRI. We also evaluated relationships between QMUS and demographic and clinical characteristics.

Whole body MRI with Diffusion Weighted Imaging versus 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/CT in the staging of lymphomas.

Purpose: To assess the diagnostic performance of Whole Body (WB)-MRI in comparison with 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/CT (18F-FDG-PET/CT) in lymphoma staging and to assess whether quantitative metabolic parameters from 18F-FDG-PET/CT and Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) values are related.

Materials And Methods: We prospectively enrolled patients with a histologically proven primary nodal lymphoma to  undergo 18F-FDG-PET/CT and WB-MRI, both performed within 15 days one from the other, either before starting treatment (baseline) or during treatment (interim). Positive and negative predictive values of WB-MRI for the identification of nodal and extra-nodal disease were measured.

CT-guided Pulsed Radiofrequency Combined with Steroid Injection for Sciatica from Herniated Disk: A Randomized Trial.

Background Evidence regarding effective nonsurgical management of sciatica remains limited. Purpose To determine a difference in effectiveness between combined pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) and transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) treatment versus TFESI alone for sciatic pain due to lumbar disk herniation. Materials and Methods This prospective multicenter double-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted between February 2017 and September 2019 in participants with sciatica due to lumbar disk herniation lasting 12 weeks or longer that was not responsive to conservative treatment.

Focused Ultrasound and External Beam Radiation Therapy for Painful Bone Metastases: A Phase II Clinical Trial.

Background Recent consensus statements and clinical trials have assessed the value of MRI-guided focused ultrasound surgery for pain palliation of bone metastases; however, a comparison with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) has not been performed. Purpose To compare safety and effectiveness data of MRI-guided focused ultrasound and EBRT in the treatment of bone metastases. Materials and Methods Participants with painful bone metastases, excluding skull and vertebral bodies, were enrolled in a prospective open-label nonrandomized phase II study between January 2017 and May 2019 and underwent either MRI-guided focused ultrasound or EBRT.

Distal upper limb involvement in myasthenia-myositis association.

Introduction: Myasthenia gravis-inflammatory myopathy (MG-IM) association has been rarely reported as specific clinical entity characterized by variable myositis manifestations, ranging from subclinical to diffuse muscle involvement with characteristic distal upper limb weakness. Although, in view of this, it has been hypothesized that distal muscle weakness in MG-IM could be due to the muscle inflammation instead of a pure neuromuscular transmission impairment, a biopsy-proven myositis process of distal muscles of upper limbs has not yet been provided.

Methods: We report on clinical, immunological, and myopathological characterization of a novel case affected by MG-IM association showing the typical distal upper limb weakness, including muscle biopsy of a weak forearm muscle.

Nerve high-resolution ultrasound in a 2-year follow-up of radial nerve palsy related to humeral shaft fractures.

Background: High-resolution nerve ultrasonography (HRUS) could have an emerging importance in diagnosis and follow-up of axonopathic radial palsy associated with humeral shaft fractures due to closed trauma. The aim of our study was to establish the role of HURS in this context through a longitudinal multimodal analysis.

Methods: Clinical, electrodiagnostic (EDX) and HRUS evaluations were prospectively performed at month 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 from injury, in a continuous series of 19 patients collected in a 5-year study.

Long term persistence of SARS-CoV-2 humoral response in multiple sclerosis subjects.

Background & Objectives: The persistence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 pandemic, partly due to the appearance of highly infectious variants, has made booster vaccinations necessary for vulnerable groups. Here, we present data regarding the decline of the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine-induced humoral immune response in a monocentric cohort of MS patients.

Methods: 96 MS patients undergoing eight different DMTs, all without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, were evaluated for anti-Spike IgG levels, 21 days (T1) and 5-6 months (T2) after the second SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine dose.

Comparing the relative and absolute effect of erenumab: is a 50% response enough? Results from the ESTEEMen study.

Background: Monoclonal antibodies acting on the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) or its receptor have changed migraine preventive treatment. Those treatments have led to reconsidering the outcomes of migraine prevention. Available data mostly considered benefits in terms of relative efficacy (percent or absolute decrease in monthly migraine days [MMDs] or headache days compared with baseline).

Gender Differences in 3-Month Outcomes of Erenumab Treatment-Study on Efficacy and Safety of Treatment With Erenumab in Men.

We reported gender-specific data on the efficacy and safety of erenumab, a monoclonal antibody antagonizing the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor. Our pooled patient-level analysis of real-world data included patients treated with erenumab and followed up for 12 weeks. We considered the following outcomes at weeks 9-12 of treatment compared with baseline: 0-29%, 30-49%, 50-75%, and ≥75% responder rates, according to the decrease in monthly headache days (MHDs), rate of treatment stopping, change in MHDs, monthly migraine days (MMDs), monthly days of acute medication and triptan use, and Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6) score from baseline to weeks 9-12.

Efficacy of booster doses in augmenting waning immune responses to COVID-19 vaccine in patients with cancer.

Anti-COVID-19 immunity dynamics were assessed in patients with cancer in a prospective clinical trial. Waning of immunity was detected 4-6 months post-vaccination with significant increases in anti-spike IgG titers after booster dosing, and 56% of seronegative patients seroconverted post-booster vaccination. Prior anti-CD20/BTK inhibitor therapy was associated with reduced vaccine efficacy.

High-resolution ultrasound of peripheral nerves in late-onset hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with polyneuropathy: similarities and differences with CIDP.

Introduction: Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN) remains a diagnostic challenge due to clinical, neurophysiological, and laboratory findings suggestive of other diagnoses, particularly chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). In this cross-sectional prospective study, we aimed to investigate the utility of high-resolution ultrasonography of peripheral nerves as a diagnostic tool to differentiate ATTRv-PN from CIDP.

Methods: In 11 treatment-naive patients with genetically confirmed late-onset ATTRv-PN and 25 patients with CIDP, we collected clinical, electrodiagnostic, and high-resolution ultrasonography data of the peripheral nerves.

Muscle magnetic resonance imaging in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1): Refining muscle involvement and implications for clinical trials.

Background: Only a few studies have reported muscle imaging data on small cohorts of patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). We aimed to investigate the muscle involvement in a large cohort of patients in order to refine the pattern of muscle involvement, to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of muscle weakness, and to identify potential imaging biomarkers for disease activity and severity.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-four DM1 patients underwent a cross-sectional muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study.

Skin biopsy and quantitative sensory assessment in an Italian cohort of ATTRv patients with polyneuropathy and asymptomatic carriers: possible evidence of early non-length dependent denervation.

Aim: Study of intraepidermal nerve fiber density (IENFD) by skin biopsy represents a promising tool in the evaluation of patients with ATTRv polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN). Herein, we retrospectively analyze intraepidermal innervation and quantitative sensory test (QST) data from an Italian cohort of Italian ATTRv-PN patients and asymptomatic carriers aimed to provide insights into early nerve pathological and functional changes in this disease.

Methods: IENFD and QST data of 14 ATTRv-PN patients and 14 asymptomatic carriers were retrospectively analyzed together with clinical and paraclinical data such as disease stage and severity, neuropathic pain scales, and sural SNAP amplitude.

Changes of clinical, neurophysiological and nerve ultrasound characteristics in CIDP over time: a 3-year follow-up.

Objectives: To evaluate, in a prospective study, high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) changes of nerve segments in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and their relationships with clinical and electrodiagnostic (EDX) characteristics.

Methods: Twenty-three consecutive patients with CIDP were included in a 3-year follow-up (FU) study. Each patient underwent neurologic examination, EDX and HRUS study.