Snapshot of Fall Prevention in Patients Referred to a Neurorehabilitation Unit: A Feasibility Study on the Use of an Airbag Device.

Active wearable devices such as protective smart belts have been proposed to reduce hip impact in the event of a fall. This study primarily evaluated the feasibility and acceptance of a specific protective belt among selected patients identified as being at risk of falling who were admitted to an ICS Maugeri Neurorehabilitation Unit from September 2022 to April 2023. According to previous institutional observations, the device was worn between the 6th and 21st days of recovery.

Temporal and masseter muscle evaluation by MRI provides information on muscle mass and quality in acromegaly patients.

Purpose: The impact of GH/IGF-1 levels on skeletal muscle in acromegaly is still controversial. Temporal (TMT) and masseter muscle (MMT) thickness has been recently demonstrated as a reliable measure of muscle mass. We aimed to investigate the relationship between TMT, MMT and clinical/biochemical characteristics in patients with acromegaly.

Skeletal Muscle Evaluation in Patients With Acromegaly.

Context: Patients with acromegaly are characterized by chronic exposure to high growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 levels, known for their anabolic effect on skeletal muscle. Therefore, an increased skeletal muscle mass could be hypothesized in these individuals. Herein, we have performed a systematic revision of published evidence regarding skeletal muscle mass, quality, and performance in patients with acromegaly.

Pasireotide effects on biochemical control and glycometabolic profile in acromegaly patients switched from combination therapies or unconventional dosages of somatostatin analogs.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of pasireotide (PAS) therapy on hormonal and glycometabolic outcome in patients with acromegaly previously treated with combination medical therapies or unconventional dosages of first-generation somatostatin receptor ligands (fg-SRLs).

Methods: Retrospective study carried out in two referral centers for pituitary diseases. Twenty-one acromegalic patients were switched to PAS (12 had biochemical control, 9 were uncontrolled).

Effectiveness of a combined UV-C and ozone treatment in reducing healthcare-associated infections in hospital facilities.

Background: Hospital-acquired infections pose an ongoing threat to patient safety due to the presence of multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and other pathogens such as Clostridioides difficile which are dependent on thorough and effective cleaning and disinfection by personnel.

Methods: This study evaluated the influence of UV-C air treatment: the air in the room was sanitized by UV-C and redirected into the room. In addition, ozone was released into the room to treat actual surfaces in low-risk areas such as hospital gyms, and high- to medium-risk areas such as hospital rooms.

ICF framework in cardiac rehabilitation: a real-life implementation in post-cardiac surgery and chronic heart failure patients.

Background: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) is growing in importance in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) as the number of elderly comorbid patients increases.

Aim: To classify through the ICF framework a group of post-cardiac surgery (CS) and chronic heart failure (CHF) patients undergoing rehabilitation. Then, to compare the two groups and identify possible factors at admission that could affect ICF evaluations at discharge.

Trabecular Bone Score as a Reliable Measure of Lumbar Spine Bone Microarchitecture in Acromegalic Patients.

Although GH and IGF-1 excess has a controversial impact on bone mineral density (BMD), acromegalic patients display variable degrees of bone structure impairment. In this study, we aim to investigate the usefulness of trabecular bone score (TBS), compared to BMD, in identifying acromegalic patients with impaired lumbar spine trabecular microarchitecture. Forty-four acromegalic patients were investigated for disease control, metabolic and gonadal status, bone metabolism parameters, and the presence of vertebral fractures (VFs).

Evaluation of acromegaly treatment direct costs with respect to biochemical control and follow-up length.

Purpose: Acromegaly is a severe chronic endocrine disease. Achieving biochemical control often needs a multimodal treatment approach, including prolonged medical treatment. Aim of the study is to evaluate the burden of treatment direct costs with respect to the different therapeutic strategies, disease control, and follow-up length.

Clinical and Radiological Predictors of Biochemical Response to First-Line Treatment With Somatostatin Receptor Ligands in Acromegaly: A Real-Life Perspective.

Background: First-generation somatostatin receptor ligands (fg-SRLs) represent the first-line medical treatment for acromegaly, recommended in patients with persistent disease after neurosurgery, or when surgical approach is not feasible. Despite the lack of strong recommendations from guidelines and consensus statements, data from national Registries report an increasing use of medical therapy as first-line treatment in acromegaly.

Objective: We retrospectively evaluated the potential role of a large number of clinical and radiological parameters in predicting the biochemical response to 6-month treatment with fg-SRLs, in a cohort of naïve acromegaly patients referred to a single tertiary center for pituitary diseases.

Patients recovering from exacerbations of COPD with and without hospitalization need: could ICF score be an additional pulmonary rehabilitation outcome?

Objective: To compare disability changes measured with the Respiratory ICF Maugeri core set on COPD patients, recovering from acute exacerbation with and without hospitalization, submitted to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR).

Materials And Methods: All COPD inpatients admitted for rehabilitation in 9 Respiratory Units (January-August 2019) were considered eligible. 2066 patients were included (540 discharged from an acute Hospital = Hospital group and 1526 coming from their home = Home group).

Patients recovering from COVID-19 pneumonia in sub-acute care exhibit severe frailty: Role of the nurse assessment.

Aims And Objectives: To document the level of frailty in sub-acute COVID-19 patients recovering from acute respiratory failure and investigate the associations between frailty, assessed by the nurse using the Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score (BRASS), and clinical and functional patient characteristics during hospitalisation.

Background: Frailty is a major problem in patients discharged from acute care, but no data are available on the frailty risk in survivors of COVID-19 infection.

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study (STROBE checklist).

Discordant GH and IGF-1 Results in Treated Acromegaly: Impact of GH Cutoffs and Mean Values Assessment.

Context: Discordant growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) values are frequent in acromegaly.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of different GH cutoffs on discordance rate. To investigate whether the mean of consecutive GH measurements impacts discordance rate when matched to the last available IGF-1 value.

Minimal Clinically Important Difference in Barthel Index Dyspnea in Patients with COPD.

Background: The Barthel Index dyspnea (BId) is responsive to physiological changes and pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) has not been established yet.

Aim: To identify the MCID of BId in patients with COPD stratified according to the presence of chronic respiratory failure (CRF) or not.

Emerging drugs for the treatment of acromegaly.

Introduction: Acromegaly is a disease characterized by elevated growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels. Surgery is the only curative treatment, while medical therapies are administered life-long. To date, almost 30% of patients treated with the currently available medical therapies do not achieve biochemical control.

Octreotide-Resistant Acromegaly: Challenges and Solutions.

Acromegaly is a rare and severe disease caused by an increased and autonomous secretion of growth hormone (GH), thus resulting in high circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Comorbidities and mortality rate are closely related to the disease duration. However, in most cases achieving biochemical control means reducing or even normalizing mortality and restoring normal life expectancy.

Implementation of a real-world based ICF set for the rehabilitation of respiratory diseases: a pilot study.

Background: International Classification Functioning (ICF) Core Sets represent a holistic approach to functioning within rehabilitation field. Information-reporting efficacy of a rehabilitation-based Respiratory ICF set applied on a large scale throughout the ICS Maugeri network was tested.

Methods: A prospective multi-center study (May-November 2018) was conducted for all respiratory inpatients consecutively admitted for rehabilitation.

Current perspectives on the impact of clinical disease and biochemical control on comorbidities and quality of life in acromegaly.

Acromegaly is a rare chronic, systemic disorder caused by excessive growth hormone (GH) secretion from a somatotroph pituitary adenoma. GH hypersecretion leads to overproduction of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which contributes to the somatic overgrowth, physical disfigurement, onset of multiple systemic comorbidities, reduced quality of life (QoL) and premature mortality of uncontrolled patients. Somatostatin receptor ligands, dopamine agonists and a GH receptor antagonist are currently available for medical therapy of acromegaly.

[Diagnostic and therapeutic therapeutic pathways, including rehabilitative ones or only "discharge" rehabilitation?].

Due to epidemiological and social changes related to the increase in the average life expectancy, hospital users are characterized by elderly chronic and comorbid patients who require recurrent hospitalizations often with disability outcomes. In this framework, an innovative clinical and management hospitalization model is the adequate answer to systematically promote the patient independence. Main features are interdisciplinary and integrated care pathways facing both disease and disability biologically and functionally diagnosed by ICD and ICF.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Can baseline endocrinological examination and thyroid ultrasound predict the development of thyroid disease in immunotherapy-treated patients? Results from a prospective, single-center, open-label study.

The authors are retracting this article [1] because they do not have permission to publish the data from the study reported. As the data are confidential, the content of this article has been removed from the journal website. All authors agree with this retraction.

Integrated care of chronic degenerative non-communicable diseases and rehabilitation: the odd couple?

Chronic degenerative non-communicable diseases affecting different organs and systems are considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the emergent epidemic in the third millennium...

Objective measurement of scarring by multiple assessors: is the tissue tonometer a reliable option?

Depending on the patient population, the incidence of scarring is as great as 75% after burns. Skin pliability and functional recovery are affected negatively by hypertrophic scarring. Therapists use various treatment strategies to improve scar outcomes.