Machine learning-based forecast of Helmet-CPAP therapy failure in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome patients.

Background And Objective: Helmet-Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (H-CPAP) is a non-invasive respiratory support that is used for the treatment of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a severe medical condition diagnosed when symptoms like profound hypoxemia, pulmonary opacities on radiography, or unexplained respiratory failure are present. It can be classified as mild, moderate or severe. H-CPAP therapy is recommended as the initial treatment approach for mild ARDS.

Direct detection of minimum ionizing charged particles in a perovskite single crystal detector with single particle sensitivity.

We report the detection of high energy electrons of some hundreds of MeV, crossing a methylammonium lead bromide single crystal device with sensitivity down to a single electron. In the device, the released energy is close to the energy released by minimum-ionizing particles. This is the first demonstration of a perovskite-based device that can be used for tracking and counting minimum-ionizing charged particles.

Multimodality imaging methods and systemic biomarkers in classical low-flow low-gradient aortic stenosis: Key findings for risk stratification.

Objectives: The aim of the present study is to assess multimodality imaging findings according to systemic biomarkers, high-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, in low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis (LFLG-AS).

Background: Elevated levels of BNP and hsTnI have been related with poor prognosis in patients with LFLG-AS.

Methods: Prospective study with LFLG-AS patients that underwent hsTnI, BNP, coronary angiography, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with T1 mapping, echocardiogram and dobutamine stress echocardiogram.

Postoperative myocardial fibrosis assessment in aortic valvular heart diseases-a cardiovascular magnetic resonance study.

Aims: Left ventricular remodelling occurs during the chronic course of aortic regurgitation (AR) and aortic stenosis (AS), leading to myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis. Several studies have shown that extracellular volume fraction (ECV) and indexed extracellular volume (iECV) are important surrogate markers of diffuse myocardial fibrosis (MF). Postoperative data on these cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) extracellular expansion parameters for either AS or AR are scarce.

Splenic Abscesses in Endocarditis: A Rare Disease with High Mortality. The Experience of a Heart Institute in Brazil.

Introduction: Splenic abscess secondary to endocarditis is a rare complication with high mortality. The treatment modality, splenectomy versus percutaneous drainage, and the best time, before or after valve replacement, are controversial. In the literature, there are only a few small case series about the subject.

Clinical Profile and 30-Day Outcomes of Patients with Bicuspid Aortic Valve Undergoing Aortic Valve and/or Aorta Surgery.

Background: The bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) affects 0.5 to 2% of the population and is associated with valve and aortic alterations. There is a lack of studies on the profile of these patients in the Brazilian population.

Transcatheter Valve-in-Valve Procedures for Bioprosthetic Valve Dysfunction in Patients With Rheumatic vs. Non-Rheumatic Valvular Heart Disease.

Bioprosthetic heart valve has limited durability and lower long-term performance especially in rheumatic heart disease (RHD) patients that are often subject to multiple redo operations. Minimally invasive procedures, such as transcatheter valve-in-valve (ViV) implantation, may offer an attractive alternative, although data is lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes in rheumatic vs.

Heyde's Syndrome: Therapeutic Strategies and Long-Term Follow-Up.

Background: Heyde's syndrome is the association of severe aortic stenosis with episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding due to angiodysplastic lesion. Little is known about the factors associated with new episodes of bleeding and long-term outcomes. Furthermore, most data are restricted to case reports and small case series.

Rheumatic Myocarditis: A Poorly Recognized Etiology of Left Ventricular Dysfunction in Valvular Heart Disease Patients.

Heart failure occurs in ~10% of patients with acute rheumatic fever (RF), and several studies have shown that cardiac decompensation in RF results primarily from valvular disease and is not due to primary myocarditis. However, the literature on this topic is scarce, and a recent case series has shown that recurrent RF can cause ventricular dysfunction even in the absence of valvular heart disease. The present study evaluated the clinical, laboratory and imaging characteristics of 25 consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of myocarditis confirmed by 18F-FDG PET/CT or gallium-67 cardiac scintigraphy and RF reactivation according to the revised Jones Criteria.

A medical epopee: recurrent fungal endocarditis, heart transplantation and chylopericardium.

Background: Candida prosthetic endocarditis is associated with high mortality rates and valve replacement surgery, together with antifungal treatment, play a major role in eradicating the fungal infection. Valve reoperations in these scenarios may be relatively common due to the high infection relapse rates and, in some cases, heart transplantation may be an imposing therapy for infection resolution and for the heart failure related to the myocardial reoperation injury. Among the many postoperative complications related to heart transplantation, chylopericardium is a rare but challenging example.

A Cross-Sectional Survey on Burnout Prevalence and Profile in the Sicilian Population of Ambulance Driver-Rescuers.

Introduction: Burnout is present at a high rate in emergency medicine. The ambulance driver-rescuers, who furnish first aid to the victims, are the non-medical part of the Italian 118-service staff. There is a lack of research on burnout risk in Italian Emergency Medical Services and, particularly, for this category of workers.

Head-to-head comparison of plasma cTnI concentration values measured with three high-sensitivity methods in a large Italian population of healthy volunteers and patients admitted to emergency department with acute coronary syndrome: A multi-center study.

Background: The study aim is to compare cTnI values measured with three high-sensitivity (hs) methods in apparently healthy volunteers and patients admitted to emergency department (ED) with acute coronary syndrome enrolled in a large multicentre study.

Methods: Heparinized plasma samples were collected from 1511 apparently healthy subjects from 8 Italian clinical institutions (mean age: 51.5 years, SD: 14.

Myocardial Fibrosis in Classical Low-Flow, Low-Gradient Aortic Stenosis.

Background Few data exist on the degree of interstitial myocardial fibrosis in patients with classical low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis (LFLG-AS) and its association with left ventricular flow reserve (FR) on dobutamine stress echocardiography. This study sought to evaluate the diffuse interstitial fibrosis measured by T1 mapping cardiac magnetic resonance technique in LFLG-AS patients with and without FR. Methods Prospective study including 65 consecutive patients (41 LFLG-AS [mean age, 67.

Thumbs up: Imagined hand movements counteract the adverse effects of post-surgical hand immobilization. Clinical, behavioral, and fMRI longitudinal observations.

Motor imagery (M.I.) training has been widely used to enhance motor behavior.

Evaluation of 99th percentile and reference change values of the hs-cTnI method using ADVIA Centaur XPT platform: A multicenter study.

Background: According to quality specifications required by international guidelines, the evaluation of the 99th URL value is a very difficult task that is usually beyond the capacity of a single laboratory. The aims of this article are to report and discuss the results of a multicenter study concerning the evaluation of the 99th percentile URL and reference change (RCV) of the ADVIA Centaur High-Sensitivity Troponin I (TNIH), recently distributed to the Italian clinical laboratories.

Materials And Methods: The reference population evaluated with ADVIA XPT method for the calculation of cTnI reference distribution parameters consisted of 1325 healthy adults subjects (age range from 18 to 86 years), including 653 women (mean age 50.

Functional brain effects of hand disuse in patients with trapeziometacarpal joint osteoarthritis: executed and imagined movements.

The human trapeziometacarpal (TMC) joint has a crucial evolutionary importance as it permits rotation and opposition of the thumb to the other fingers. In chronic TMC joint osteoarthritis (i.e.

Like the back of the (right) hand? A new fMRI look on the hand laterality task.

There is a common saying for expressing familiarity with something. It refers to our hands, and strangely enough, in English, one says to know something like the back of the hand, whereas in other cultures, for example, Italy, Spain and France, the same expression is with the palm. Previous behavioural data have suggested that our ability to visually discriminate a right from a left hand is influenced by perspective.

Degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis: analysis of results in a series of 374 patients treated with unilateral laminotomy for bilateral microdecompression.

Object: Surgical decompression is the recommended treatment in patients with moderate to severe degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS) in whom symptoms do not respond to conservative therapy. Multilevel disease, poor patient health, and advanced age are generally considered predictors of a poor outcome after surgery, essentially because of a surgical technique that has always been considered invasive and prone to causing postoperative instability. The authors present a minimally invasive surgical technique performed using a unilateral approach for lumbar decompression.