Food Allergy After Pediatric Liver Transplantation: A Systematic Review.

Background: Liver transplant (LT) recipients, particularly children, have an increased risk of developing food allergies (FAs) after transplantation both compared to all the other transplant groups and to the general population. Little is known about the pathogenesis underlying this phenomenon and comprehensive recommendations or clinical practice guidelines are still lacking, mainly due to the scarcity of high-quality evidence.

Aim: We aimed to prepare a systematic review on FA in pediatric LT recipients to assess epidemiology and risk factors, evaluate the correlation to specific food groups, describe clinical manifestations, investigate the rate of tolerance acquisition over time and report available therapeutic strategies.

Results of a multicenter universal newborn screening program for sickle cell disease in Italy: A call to action.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic multisystem disorder requiring comprehensive care that includes newborn screening (NBS) as the first step of care. Italy still lacks a national SCD NBS program and policy on blood disorders. Pilot single-center screening programs and a regional targeted screening have been implemented so far, but more evidence is needed in order to impact health policies.

TAKE10: A community approach to teaching compression-only CPR to high-risk zip codes.

Objective: Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has the ability to improve patient survival. However, the rates at which CPR occurs are suboptimal. We hypothesized that targeted CPR training in neighborhoods with low bystander CPR and high incidence of cardiac arrests would increase the incidence of bystander CPR for adult OHCA.

Association of mental health disorders and Medicaid with ED admissions for ambulatory care-sensitive condition conditions.

Introduction: Adult Medicaid enrollees are more likely to have mental health disorders (MHDs) than privately insured patients and also have high rates of emergency department (ED) visits for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs). We aimed to evaluate the association of MHD and insurance type with ED admissions for ACSC in the United States.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of ED visits made by adults aged 18 to 64 years using the corrected 2011 National Emergency Department Survey.

Inequalities in lung cancer care of elderly patients with schizophrenia: an observational cohort study.

Objective: Cancer mortality is higher in individuals with schizophrenia, a finding that may be due, in part, to inequalities in care. We evaluated gaps in lung cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survival among elderly individuals with schizophrenia.

Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database linked to Medicare records was used to identify patients 66 years or older with primary non-small cell lung cancer.

Effectiveness of radiation therapy alone for elderly patients with unresected stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Chemoradiotherapy is the standard of care for unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Elderly patients, who are often considered unfit for combined chemoradiotherapy, frequently receive radiation therapy (RT) alone. Using population-based data, we evaluated the effectiveness and tolerability of lone RT in unresected elderly stage III NSCLC patients.

Evaluating beliefs associated with late-stage lung cancer presentation in minorities.

Introduction: Minority patients in the United States present with later stages of lung cancer and have poorer outcomes. Cultural factors, such as beliefs regarding lung cancer and discrimination experiences, may underlie this disparity.

Methods: Patients with a new diagnosis of lung cancer were recruited from four medical centers in New York City.

Beliefs and attitudes about lung cancer screening among smokers.

The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) recently reported that annual computed tomography (CT) screening is associated with decreased lung cancer mortality in high-risk smokers. Beliefs about lung cancer and screening, particularly across race and ethnicity, and their influence on CT screening utilization are largely unexamined. Our study recruited asymptomatic, high-risk smokers, 55-74 years of age from primary care clinics in an academic urban hospital.

Pre-operative chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients.

Background/aims: The aim of the study was to evaluate clinical and pathological effects of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) before surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhosis (55 patients); results were compared with a group of 45 patients undergoing surgical resection without TACE.

Methodology: From March 1989 to December 1997, 55 cirrhotic patients, affected by surgically resectable HCC not larger than 5 cm with unifocal or bifocal tumor lesions, underwent TACE pre-operatively.

Results: Massive necrosis was observed in 26%, necrosis > 50% in 38% of lesions.

Splenectomy for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: comparison of laparoscopic and conventional surgery.

Background: This study aimed to compare the safety, efficacy, and clinical benefits of laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) to open splenectomy (OS) in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

Methods: The results from 14 consecutive patients who underwent LS for ITP were reviewed and compared with the results from patients who underwent OS for the same disease. Demographics, concomitant disease on admission, and platelet counts were evaluated, as were details of the surgical procedure, postoperative physiologic status, and hospital stay.

In vivo evaluation of timing, degree, and distribution of bacterial translocation following experimental small bowel transplantation.

These studies were designed to evaluate the correlation between morphologic and functional changes after heterotopic auxiliary small bowel isograft with systemic venous drainage and two ostomies in 20 Lewis rats. Morphologic damage of the graft was scored by full-thickness biopsies before surgery and 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after transplant. Functional evaluation of the graft was done, at the same time points, by urinary excretion of lactulose and mannitol injected in the proximal ostomy.