Current state of education in venous diseases within vascular surgery training programs in Italy: A national web-based survey among residents.

Background: To analyze the perception of vascular surgery trainees from Italian schools of Vascular Surgery regarding the level of practical and theoretical education in venous diseases.

Methods: An anonymous electronic survey was sent to Italian vascular surgery residents affiliated with 19 universities, asking about their training and experience in the management of venous diseases. The survey gathered information on the residents' personal and demographic details, their university's teaching program, operative experience in phlebology, as well as their confidence levels in performing various venous procedures, with the goal of analyzing the training and learning programs provided by Italian vascular surgery schools.

Nocturnal Sleep Dynamics Alterations in the Early Stages of Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia.

Study Objectives: Sleep disorders have been recognized as an integral component of the clinical syndrome in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, limited data exists for rarer types of neurodegenerative diseases, such as behavioral variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD). This study aims to analyze EEG power spectra and sleep stage transitions in bvFTD patients, hypothesizing that bvFTD may show distinctive sleep stage transitions compared to patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD).

Textbook Outcome in Colorectal Surgery for Cancer: An Italian Version.

: The textbook outcome (TO) is a composite tool introduced to uniform surgical units and regulate surgical quality and outcomes. A patient is considered TO only if all predetermined items are met. In colorectal surgery, TO represents a new tool that can achieve important results given the prevalence of colorectal cancers.

The sex prevalence of lower limb varicose vein networks.

Objective: To determine the sex prevalence of lower limb varicose networks fed by reflux of the great saphenous vein (GSV), anterior accessory saphenous vein (AASV), and small saphenous vein singularly or in combination.

Methods: We scanned by the means of the same color Doppler ultrasound protocol 3000 lower limbs in 1500 consecutive patients, affected by symptomatic chronic venous insufficiency from 2013 to 2023. Limbs with normal venous function, incomplete scans, or that were affected by post-thrombotic syndrome, pelvic reflux, isolated perforator reflux, venous malformation, phlebolymphedema and Clinical, Etiological, Anatomical, Pathophysiological clinical class C5 and C6 were excluded from the final analysis.

Bowel preparation for elective colorectal resection: multi-treatment machine learning analysis on 6241 cases from a prospective Italian cohort.

Background: Current evidence concerning bowel preparation before elective colorectal surgery is still controversial. This study aimed to compare the incidence of anastomotic leakage (AL), surgical site infections (SSIs), and overall morbidity (any adverse event, OM) after elective colorectal surgery using four different types of bowel preparation.

Methods: A prospective database gathered among 78 Italian surgical centers in two prospective studies, including 6241 patients who underwent elective colorectal resection with anastomosis for malignant or benign disease, was re-analyzed through a multi-treatment machine-learning model considering no bowel preparation (NBP; No.

Selective assisted intravascular lithotripsy for complex aorto-iliac calcific lesions.

Background: Intravascular lithotripsy has proven to be safe, less invasive, and effective for coronary and peripheral arteries, and the indication has been extended to the aortic district but there is still little evidence in the literature as only a few cases have been described so far.

Method: We report a case of intravascular lithotripsy of the infrarenal aorta due to coral reef, chronic occlusion using a single Shockwave M5 + balloon, followed by a covered stent deployment. The aortic bifurcation and common iliac arteries presented hemodynamic calcific lesions, which were prepared singularly with lithotripsy before aorto-iliac covered stenting in kissing configuration.

Right-sided colonic diverticulitis. Short and long-term surgical outcomes and 2-year quality of life.

Aim: We aimed to investigate the short and the long-term outcomes and 2-year Quality of Life (QoL) of patients with right-sided colonic diverticulitis (RCD) surgically managed.

Method: We conducted an ambidirectional cohort study of patients with RCD undergoing surgery between 2012/2022. A colonoscopy was performed at 1-year post surgery.

Abdominal drainage after elective colorectal surgery: propensity score-matched retrospective analysis of an Italian cohort.

Background: In Italy, surgeons continue to drain the abdominal cavity in more than 50 per cent of patients after colorectal resection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of abdominal drain placement on early adverse events in patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery.

Methods: A database was retrospectively analysed through a 1:1 propensity score-matching model including 21 covariates.

A Randomized Phase III Trial of Complete Mesocolic Excision Compared with Conventional Surgery for Right Colon Cancer: Interim Analysis of a Nationwide Multicenter Study of the Italian Society of Surgical Oncology Colorectal Cancer Network (CoME-in trial).

Background: Although complete mesocolic excision (CME) is supposed to be associated with a higher lymph node (LN) yield, decreased local recurrence, and survival improvement, its implementation currently is debated because the evidence level of these data is rather low and still not supported by randomized controlled trials.

Method: This is a multicenter, randomized, superiority trial (NCT04871399). The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) was the primary end point of the study.

Treatment of true superficial femoral artery aneurysms: the 15-year experience of a single centre.

Objective: True superficial femoral artery aneurysms (SFAAs) are rare and traditionally treated by open repair. However, the endovascular approach excluding the aneurysm sac with a covered stent may be an alternative. This study aimed to compare the outcomes of the open and endovascular repair of SFAAs.

Endovascular Revascularisation versus Open Surgery with Prosthetic Bypass for Femoro-Popliteal Lesions in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease.

: Complex atherosclerotic femoro-popliteal lesions have traditionally been treated with bypass surgery. A prosthetic graft is used to save the vein graft for more distal revascularisations or when a vein graft is unavailable. The endovascular approach has gained popularity and is offered as a first-line strategy for complex lesions.

International Union of Angiology consensus document on vascular compression syndromes.

Vascular compression syndromes (VCS) are rare diseases, but they may cause significant symptoms interfering with the quality of life (QoL) of patients who are often in their younger age. Given their infrequent occurrence, multiform clinical and anatomical presentation, and absence of dedicated guidelines from scientific societies, further knowledge of these conditions is required to investigate and treat them using modern imaging and surgical (open or endovascular) techniques. This consensus document will focus on known VCS, affecting the arterial and venous system.

Circular External Fixation as a New Offloading Standard of Treatment in Charcot Neuro-Osteoarthropathy Complicated by Midfoot Osteomyelitis: A Pilot, Prospective Case-Control Study.

After surgical treatment of Charcot neuro-osteoarthropathy (CNO) complicated by plantar ulcer and midtarsal osteomyelitis, offloading is mandatory to protect the surgical site. Total contact casting is, to date, the standard-of-care to offload the foot during the postoperative period. We have compared the application of external circular fixator, to the standard of care, with regard to surgical wound healing and time to healing.

Cerebral Outflow Discrepancies in Recurrent Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: Focus on Ultrasonographic Examination.

This prospective pilot study aimed to evaluate whether cerebral inflow and outflow abnormalities assessed by ultrasonographic examination could be associated with recurrent benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Twenty-four patients with recurrent BPPV, affected by at least two episodes, and diagnosed according to American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) criteria, evaluated at our University Hospital, between 1 February 2020 and 30 November 2021, have been included. At the ultrasonographic examination, 22 of 24 patients (92%) reported one or more alterations of the extracranial venous circulation, among those considered for the diagnosis of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI), although none of the studied patients were found to have alterations in the arterial circulation.

Computer-aided detection of arrhythmogenic sites in post-ischemic ventricular tachycardia.

Nowadays, catheter-based ablation in patients with post-ischemic ventricular tachycardia (VT) is performed in arrhythmogenic sites identified by electrophysiologists by visual inspection during electroanatomic mapping. This work aims to present the development of machine learning tools aiming at supporting clinicians in the identification of arrhythmogenic sites by exploiting innovative features that belong to different domains. This study included 1584 bipolar electrograms from nine patients affected by post-ischemic VT.

Automatic signal quality assessment of raw trans-abdominal biopotential recordings for non-invasive fetal electrocardiography.

Wearable monitoring systems for non-invasive multi-channel fetal electrocardiography (fECG) can support fetal surveillance and diagnosis during pregnancy, thus enabling prompt treatment. In these embedded systems, power saving is the key to long-term monitoring. In this regard, the computational burden of signal processing methods implemented for the fECG extraction from the multi-channel trans-abdominal recordings plays a non-negligible role.

Primary Drug-Coated Balloon Versus Drug-Eluting Stent for Native Atherosclerotic Femoropopliteal Lesions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to compare drug-coated balloon (DCB) to drug-eluting stent (DES) angioplasty as a primary option in patients with femoropopliteal lesions in terms of primary patency and freedom from clinically driven target lesion revascularization (cdTLR) and major adverse limb events (MALE).

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed using the PubMed and Embase databases. All studies written in English language and reporting data presenting a comparison between patients receiving primary percutaneous balloon angioplasty using the DCB versus primary percutaneous stenting with DES for native femoropopliteal lesions were included in this meta-analysis.

Estimated EEG functional connectivity and aperiodic component induced by vagal nerve stimulation in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Background: Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) improves seizure frequency and quality of life in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE), although the exact mechanism is not fully understood. Previous studies have evaluated the effect of VNS on functional connectivity using the phase lag index (PLI), but none has analyzed its effect on EEG aperiodic parameters (offset and exponent), which are highly conserved and related to physiological functions.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of VNS on PLI and aperiodic parameters and infer whether these changes correlate with clinical responses in subjects with DRE.

Laparoscopic Hartmann's reversal has better clinical outcomes compared to open surgery: An international multicenter cohort study involving 502 patients.

Background: Hartmann's procedure (HP) is used in surgical emergencies such as colonic perforation and colonic obstruction. "Temporary" colostomy performed during HP is not always reversed in part due to potential morbidity and mortality associated with reversal. There are several contributing factors for patients requiring a permanent colostomy following HP.

Minimally invasive vs. open segmental resection of the splenic flexure for cancer: a nationwide study of the Italian Society of Surgical Oncology-Colorectal Cancer Network (SICO-CNN).

Background: Evidence on the efficacy of minimally invasive (MI) segmental resection of splenic flexure cancer (SFC) is not available, mostly due to the rarity of this tumor. This study aimed to determine the survival outcomes of MI and open treatment, and to investigate whether MI is noninferior to open procedure regarding short-term outcomes.

Methods: This nationwide retrospective cohort study included all consecutive SFC segmental resections performed in 30 referral centers between 2006 and 2016.