Epidemiology, therapy and outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma between 2010 and 2019 in Piedmont, Italy.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. It is often diagnosed at an advanced stage and therefore its prognosis remains poor with a low 5-year survival rate. HCC patients have increasingly complex and constantly changing characteristics, thus up-to-date and comprehensive data are fundamental.

Human herpes virus 8-negative effusion-based lymphoma in a patient with persistent serous effusions.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most common histologic diagnosis among the aggressive lymphomas, accounting for 30% of all lymphomas. Human herpes virus 8-negative effusion-based lymphoma (HHV8-negative EBL) is a rare form of lymphoma, under recognized and still not well characterized in the literature. In contrast to primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), HHV8-negative EBL is characterized by malignant effusion in essentially serous body cavity with no detectable contiguous tumor masses and is no associated with human immunodeficiency virus and HHV8 infections.

Multidrug-Resistant Bloodstream Infections in Internal Medicine: Results from a Single-Center Study.

Objectives: Infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are expanding globally and are associated with higher mortality rates and hospital-related costs. The objectives of this study were to analyze the trends of MDRO bacteremia and antimicrobial resistance rates in Internal Medicine wards of our hospital and to identify the variables associated with these infections.

Methods: During a 6-year period (July 1, 2011-June 30, 2017), patients with positive blood culture isolates hospitalized in the Internal Medicine wards in the Santa Croce and Carle Hospital in Cuneo, Italy, were assessed.

A structured physical activity program in an adolescent population with overweight or obesity: a prospective interventional study.

Obesity is a significant health problem, with increasing involvement of young population worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of 2 different types of physical exercise (resistance vs. combined aerobic-resistance) on cardiovascular and anthropometric profile of a sample of sedentary adolescents with overweight and obesity.

A Novel Approach to Left Ventricular Filling Pressure Assessment: The Role of Hemodynamic Forces Analysis.

Diastolic function in patients with heart failure is usually impaired, resulting in increased left ventricular (LV) filling pressures, whose gold standard assessment is right heart catheterization (RHC). Hemodynamic force (HDF) analysis is a novel echocardiographic tool, providing an original approach to cardiac function assessment through the speckle-tracking technology. The aim of our study was to evaluate the use of HDFs, both alone and included in a new predictive model, as a potential novel diagnostic tool of the diastolic function.

Echocardiographic estimation of right ventricular wall tension: haemodynamic comparison and long-term follow-up.

Prognosis in pulmonary hypertension is strictly linked to right ventricle failure, which results from uncoupling between right ventricle function and its afterload. This study sought to describe how to estimate with echocardiography right ventricular wall tension, its correlation with right ventricle haemodynamics and its prognostic role. A total of 190 patients without overt right ventricle failure but with suspected pulmonary hypertension on a previous echocardiogram underwent right heart catheterization and nearly-simultaneous echocardiography.

Trisomy of the Short Arm of Chromosome 12 Associated with High Cardiovascular Risk: A Case Report.

Trisomy of the short arm of chromosome 12 is a rare genetic disease characterised by dysmorphic features, mental retardation, behavioural disorders, seizures predisposition and other congenital abnormalities. Arterial hypertension is not a characteristic feature of 12p trisomy, although congenital heart defects are reported. In this case report, we present a young patient with incomplete trisomy 12p, analysing some characteristics of this disease that have not been previously described in literature.

Prospective diagnostic and prognostic study of copeptin in suspected acute aortic syndromes.

Acute aortic syndromes (AAS) are cardiovascular emergencies with unmet diagnostic needs. Copeptin is released upon stress conditions and is approved for rule-out of myocardial infarction (MI). As MI and AAS share presenting symptoms, stress mechanisms and necessity for rapid diagnosis, copeptin appears as an attractive biomarker also for AAS.

Role of Cryptochrome-1 and Cryptochrome-2 in Aldosterone-Producing Adenomas and Adrenocortical Cells.

Mice lacking the core-clock components, cryptochrome-1 (CRY1) and cryptochrome-2 (CRY2) display a phenotype of hyperaldosteronism, due to the upregulation of type VI 3β-hydroxyl-steroid dehydrogenase (), the murine counterpart to the human type I 3β-hydroxyl-steroid dehydrogenase () gene. In the present study, we evaluated the role of and genes, and their potential interplay with isoforms in adrenal pathophysiology in man. Forty-six sporadic aldosterone-producing adenomas (APAs) and 20 paired adrenal samples were included, with the human adrenocortical cells HAC15 used as the in vitro model.

Inaccuracy of Right Atrial Pressure Estimates Through Inferior Vena Cava Indices.

The precision of echocardiography in estimating pulmonary pressures has been debated. A value of right atrial pressure (RAP) is needed for pulmonary pressure estimation, and it could be partly responsible for the estimation error. Several schemes based on the inferior vena cava (IVC) are commonly used in clinical practice and in experimental studies for RAP estimation.

Aortic root dilatation in essential hypertension: prevalence according to new reference values.

Background: Aortic root dilatation (ARD) and arterial hypertension represent two important risk factors for aortic dissection: prevalence of observed ARD is increasing - up to 12% in the latest available reports. A recently published work tested on a good number of healthy individuals new reference ranges for aortic root dimensions, suggesting new reference values with corrections for age, gender, height (pHeight) or body surface area (pBSA).

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of ARD in hypertensive patients using various criteria.

Ascending aortic dilatation, arterial stiffness and cardiac organ damage in essential hypertension.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of dilatation of proximal ascending aorta (pAA) in essential hypertensive patients and the association between pAA dilatation, arterial stiffness and left ventricular hypertrophy.

Background: Few data are available regarding patients with pAA dilatation in arterial hypertension. It is not known whether pAA dilatation may be related to increased left ventricular mass and what the relation with central hemodynamics and arterial stiffness would be.

Echocardiographic abnormalities in the assessment of cardiac organ damage in never-treated hypertensive patients.

Hypertension-related cardiac organ damage, other than left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH), has been described: in particular, concentric remodeling, LV diastolic dysfunction (DD), and left atrial (LA) enlargement are significantly associated with cardiovascular morbility and mortality in different populations. This study evaluated the prevalence of these latter morphofunctional abnormalities, in never-treated essential hypertensive patients and the role of such a serial assessment of hypertensive cardiac damage in improving cardiovascular risk stratification in these patients. A total of 100 never-treated essential hypertensive subjects underwent a complete clinical and echocardiographic evaluation.

Left heart morphology and function in primary aldosteronism.

Primary aldosteronism is the most frequent cause of secondary hypertension, accounting for up to 11% of cases in selected populations. Patients affected by primary aldosteronism have shown higher prevalence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events compared with patients with essential hypertension, despite similar blood pressure levels. Several studies have been performed over past years aiming to explain these data; many of these evaluated echocardiographic differences in hypertension-related cardiac organ damage between primary aldosteronism and essential hypertension.

Left atrial enlargement in essential hypertension: role in the assessment of subclinical hypertensive heart disease.

Background: Arterial hypertension is a common cause of cardiac organ damage, inducing morphofunctional modifications involving left chambers. This is a retrospective study: it was designed to evaluate the additive clinical value of left atrial enlargement (LAe) assessment in the evaluation of cardiac organ damage.

Methods: A total of 814 (67% male; aged 50.

Aortic size index enlargement is associated with central hemodynamics in essential hypertension.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between brachial and central blood pressure (bBP and cBP) levels and aortic root dilatation (ARD) in essential hypertensive patients. A total of 190 untreated and treated essential hypertensive patients (mean age, 55 ± 11 years) were considered for this analysis. We measured pulsatile hemodynamics and the proximal aortic diameter directly using tonometry, ultrasound imaging (echocardiography) and Doppler.

Echocardiographic indexes for the non-invasive evaluation of pulmonary hemodynamics.

Ultrasound imaging has continuously developed over recent years, leading to the development of several novel echocardiographic indexes. Among these, of particular interest are those that focus on pulmonary hemodynamics, because they not only improve both sensitivity and specificity in the echocardiographic evaluation of pulmonary pressures (systolic, mean, and diastolic), but can also be used to estimate other pulmonary hemodynamic parameters, such as pulmonary vascular resistance, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, and pulmonary capacitance and impedance. Such parameters can provide important diagnostic and prognostic information in patients with heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary arterial hypertension and in every patient with suspected pulmonary impairment.

[Left ventricular diastolic function and dysfunction: a single cardiac target for various systemic diseases].

Several systemic and cardiac diseases cause an impairment of left ventricular filling or of the ability to maintain cardiac output, without an increase in end-diastolic pressure. Prevalence of diastolic dysfunction has been found to be higher than systolic dysfunction in most studies. Many physiological conditions (age, sex and body weight), and pathological processes, such as cardiac or systemic diseases, can increase the incidence of diastolic dysfunction.

Orthostatic hypotension: evaluation and treatment.

Orthostatic hypotension (OH) may be dependent upon various neurogenic and non-neurogenic disorders and conditions. Neurogenic causes include the main autonomic failure syndromes, primary (multiple system atrophy, pure autonomic failure, and autonomic failure associated with Parkinson's disease) and secondary (central nervous system diseases, peripheral neuropathies and systemic diseases). Non-neurogenic causes of OH include cardiac impairment, fluid and electrolyte loss, vasodilatation, and old age.