Publications by authors named "Angela De Matthaeis"

Abdominal pain represents a frequent symptom for referral to emergency departments and/or internal medicine outpatient setting. Similarly, fever, fatigue and weight loss are non-specific manifestations of disease. The present case describes the diagnostic process in a patient with abdominal pain and a palpable abdominal mass.

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  • Elderly COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular risk factors, particularly those with reduced eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate), face a higher risk of severe outcomes like ICU admission or death.
  • A study of 231 hospitalized COVID-19 patients found that low eGFR significantly correlated with these adverse outcomes, with 34.2% reaching either ICU admission or death during their stay.
  • The analysis identified key factors influencing these risks, including age, blood glucose levels, and previous use of anti-platelet treatments, emphasizing the importance of monitoring kidney function in managing COVID-19 patients.
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Clinical manifestations accompanying respiratory failure with insidious and rapidly progressive onset are often non-specific. Symptoms such as a cough, dyspnea, and fever are common to a large number of inflammatory, infectious, or neoplastic diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic it is essential to limit the use of hospital services and inappropriate diagnostic techniques.

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  • The study investigates the reliability and accuracy of diagnosing COVID-19 in patients who had multiple negative swab tests, using evaluations from radiologists and clinicians.
  • Among 84 eligible patients, the study found a substantial agreement between radiologists and moderate agreement among clinicians, indicating a good level of reliability in their diagnoses.
  • The findings suggest that both radiologic and clinical assessments can effectively identify COVID-19 in swab-negative patients, but these results should be confirmed with serological testing.
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Blood acid-base imbalance has important effects on vascular reactivity, which can be related to nitric oxide (NO) concentration and increased during hypercapnia. Release of NO seems to be linked to H+ and CO2 concentration and to exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a common medical condition in the elderly. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD), a valuable cardiovascular risk indicator, allows assessment of endothelial-dependent vasodilation, which is to a certain extent mediated by NO.

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Vitamin D (25OHD) and/or parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels have been associated with common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). We investigated such associations in inpatients consecutively admitted to an Internal Medicine Department. In 168 consecutive patients admitted to our department, 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) was measured by means of RIA and PTH by means of ICMA, whereas IMT by means of ultrasonography.

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Background And Aims: According to the original Petersen criteria, we investigated the association between endothelial dysfunction and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by flow-mediated dilation (FMD). We aimed to verify if endothelial dysfunction occurs in MCI and whether vascular factors are implicated in the MCI pathogenesis.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study performed on 34 subjects with clinical diagnosis of MCI and 37 controls, older than 60 years.

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Insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS2) plays a crucial role in the regulation of insulin signaling. Several polymorphisms of the gene encoding IRS2 have been identified. The variant causing Gly1057Asp substitution is relatively frequent in humans and its impact on insulin sensitivity seems to be dependent on age and body weight.

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The fountain of youth has always been a myth for mankind. Aging is a physiologic state in which a progressive decline of organ functions is accompanied with the development of age-related diseases. The causes of aging remain unknown, probably being related to a multifactorial process.

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This study was carried out to assess whether endothelial dysfunction, evaluated by flow-mediated dilation (FMD), is related to the occurrence of the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in old age. Eighty patients (25 men and 55 women), mean age 74.1±7.

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