IL-1 Beta-A Biomarker for Ischemic Stroke Prognosis and Atherosclerotic Lesions of the Internal Carotid Artery.

Stroke is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Treatment of this pathology is still under development and its risk factors remain to be determined. Therefore, we aim to determine the role of interleukin-1 beta in atherosclerotic lesions of the internal carotid artery as a risk factor for stroke and the role of this biomarker in stroke prognosis.

Prognostic markers for ischemic stroke - are they truly reliable?

Background: Stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Despite extensive research, to this date there is no panel of biomarkers for the prevention and prognosis of ischemic stroke and there is still much incomplete and insufficiently researched information.

Aim: We conducted a prospective, observational study between January and June 2020.

The dilemma of cytomegalovirus and hepatitis B virus interaction.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a global public health problem despite the availability of effective vaccine and antiviral therapy. Cytomegalovirus (CMV), another hepatotropic virus, is also very prevalent in the general population worldwide. Both HBV and CMV can persist in the host and have potential to reactivate especially with weakened host cellular immunity.

Atypical posterior circulation strokes: a case-based review of rare anatomical variations involved.

The circle of Willis is a very important vascular mechanism of protecting against cerebral ischemia, especially when circulation within the main arteries irrigating the brain is somehow impeded. As result of congenital malformation arising early in embryonic development, the fetal-type posterior circle of Willis remains as such during the rest of one's life. Consequently, the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) becomes a branch of the internal carotid artery (ICA), rather than of the basilar artery (BA).

Outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with chronic liver disease: An international registry study.

Background & Aims: Chronic liver disease (CLD) and cirrhosis are associated with immune dysregulation, leading to concerns that affected patients may be at risk of adverse outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 on patients with pre-existing liver disease, which currently remains ill-defined.

Methods: Between 25th March and 8th July 2020, data on 745 patients with CLD and SARS-CoV-2 (including 386 with and 359 without cirrhosis) were collected by 2 international registries and compared to data on non-CLD patients with SARS-CoV-2 from a UK hospital network.

Outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in liver transplant recipients: an international registry study.

Background: Despite concerns that patients with liver transplants might be at increased risk of adverse outcomes from COVID-19 because of coexisting comorbidities and use of immunosuppressants, the effect of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on this patient group remains unclear. We aimed to assess the clinical outcomes in these patients.

Methods: In this multicentre cohort study, we collected data on patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, who were older than 18 years, who had previously received a liver transplant, and for whom data had been submitted by clinicians to one of two international registries (COVID-Hep and SECURE-Cirrhosis) at the end of the patient's disease course.

THERAPEUTIC PLASMA EXCHANGE AND DOUBLE FILTRATION PLASMAPHERESIS IN SEVERE NEUROIMMUNE DISORDERS.

Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an extracorporeal blood purification technique, which removes large molecular weight particles such as autoantibodies from plasma. TPE is accepted by the American Society for Apheresis as first line treatment for some severe neuroimmune disorders. Double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) is a newer technique in which plasma is not entirely removed, only the antibodies, using special filters.

Vascular Nursing and Vascular Surgery.

Background: Patients requiring vascular surgery have turned in older subjects with several comorbidities with frailty problems and increased vulnerability. Treating this kind of patients has become an important challenge both for vascular surgeons and for dedicated nurses, as these patients are more susceptible to postoperative complications and during discharge. The aim of this review is to analyze the role of vascular nurse in vascular surgery activities.

Trigeminal Meningioma in a Patient with Tardive Dyskinesia as Only Symptom.

Most meningiomas are benign, encapsulated tumors (95% of the cases), generally undergoing a limited number of genetic aberrations. We present the case of a 74-year-old patient with no significant pathological history, who is admitted to the neurology ward for orofacial dyskinesias accompanied by hypoesthesia in the left hemiface, a symptomatology that had started insidiously about two months before and worsened progressively over the past 3 weeks. A cerebral MRI was performed which revealed a small mass with discrete T2 hyperintensity and T1 iso-signal compared to the gray matter located in the left pontine cistern, with a large, well-defined base at the level of the cerebral tentorium.

Experimental measurement of flexion-extension movement in normal and osteoarthritic human knee.

The paper presents a comparative experimental study of flexion-extension movement in normal and osteoarthritic human knee. Measurements were performed on a group of seven healthy subjects and on a group of five patients with OA knees, for which experimental data were acquired for walking cycles on treadmill. Using an electrogoniometer-based acquisition system, the data were collected during the experimental gait on a treadmill with the speed equal to 3.