: Chest X-ray (CXR) is currently the most used investigation for clinical follow-up after major noncardiac thoracic surgery. This study explores the use of lung ultrasound (LUS) as an alternative to CXR in the postoperative management of patients who undergo major thoracic procedures. : The patients in our cohort were monitored with both a CXR and a lung ultrasonography after surgery and the day after chest drain removal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Research work has shown that hippocampal subfields are atrophic to varying extents in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. However, studies examining the functional implications of subfield-specific hippocampal damage in early MS are limited. We aim to gain insights into the relationship between hippocampal atrophy and memory function by investigating the correlation between global and regional hippocampal atrophy and memory performance in early MS patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: mutations are responsible for Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC), a rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease. Patients harbouring heterozygous mutations may rarely show parkinsonism or dementia. Here, we describe for the first time a large family with an apparently autosomal dominant late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) harbouring a novel heterozygous mutation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTeneurins are type II transmembrane proteins comprised of four phylogenetically conserved homologs (Ten-1-4) that are highly expressed during neurogenesis. An additional bioactive peptide named teneurin C-terminal-associated peptide (TCAP-1-4) is present at the carboxyl terminal of teneurins. The possible correlation between the Ten/TCAP system and brain injuries has not been explored yet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Med
September 2018
Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is a minimal invasive procedure used to resolve carotid occlusion that can be affected by peri-procedural complications. Statin use before CAS has shown to reduce peri-procedural risk and improve survival, though time-dependent cofactors that influence mortality has not been considered. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term survival of patients who undergo CAS considering new occurred major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) as time-dependent cofactor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Radioembolisation is part of the multimodal treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at specialist liver centres. This study analysed the impact of prior treatment on tolerability and survival following radioembolisation.
Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 325 consecutive patients with a confirmed diagnosis of HCC, who received radioembolisation with yttrium-90 resin microspheres at eight European centres between September 2003 and December 2009.
J Vasc Surg
January 2016
Objective: The chimney/snorkel endovascular aortic repair (ch-EVAR) is gaining ever-greater acceptance in the treatment of pararenal pathologic processes. However, the published experience includes mainly short-term clinical results with combinations of several abdominal devices and types of chimney grafts. The aim of this study was the midterm evaluation of the Endurant stent graft (Medtronic, Santa Rosa, Calif) as a standard abdominal device for ch-EVAR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To investigate if drug-coated balloon (DCB) predilation may improve the efficacy of carotid artery stenting (CAS) for restenosis after carotid endarterectomy (CEA).
Methods: Eighteen consecutive patients (11 men; median age 75 years) with significant restenosis within 24 months of CEA were treated with a paclitaxel-coated DCB prior to CAS. Clinical outcomes and stent patency were systematically appraised.
Background & Aims: The European Network on Radioembolization with Yttrium-90 resin microspheres study group (ENRY) conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the outcomes among elderly (≥ 70 years) and younger patients (<70 years) with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who received radioembolization at 8 European centers.
Methods: Patients with confirmed diagnosis of unresectable HCC who either progressed following resection or locoregional treatment and/or who were considered poor candidates for chemoembolization were evaluated by a multidisciplinary team for radioembolization with (90)Y-resin microspheres (SIR-Spheres; Sirtex Medical). The survival outcome and all adverse events were compared between the two age groups.
Background: Acute myocarditis (AM) may occasionally have an infarct-like presentation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relation between electrocardiographic (ECG) findings in this group of patients and myocardial damage assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) technique.
Hypothesis: Myocardial damage may be associated with ECG changes in infarct-like AM.
Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is a myocardial disorder characterized by prominent trabeculations and deep intertrabecular recesses within the left ventricular wall. Multi-slice computed tomography (CT) might represent a valid non-invasive imaging technique for the diagnostic work-up of these patients, being able to visualize the compacted and non-compacted layers and to simultaneously rule out the presence of associated coronary artery disease and congenital heart disease. In the present report, the CT features of LVNC are described.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is no established management algorithm for portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in cirrhotic patients. The aim of our study was to prospectively evaluate anticoagulation and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) to treat PVT.
Methods: Cirrhotics with non-malignant PVT were included.
Unlabelled: A multicenter analysis was conducted to evaluate the main prognostic factors driving survival after radioembolization using yttrium-90-labeled resin microspheres in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma at eight European centers. In total, 325 patients received a median activity of 1.6 GBq between September 2003 and December 2009, predominantly as whole-liver (45.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We reviewed our experience with the transluminal placement of the Djumbodis system in the aortic arch and isthmus in patients with type A acute aortic dissection to assess its impact on true and false aortic lumen evolution.
Methods: Between January 2005 and September 2009, 50 patients underwent surgery for type A acute aortic dissection. Twenty-eight patients (group A) were operated on by implanting the Djumbodis prosthesis, and 22 patients (group B) without the prosthesis.
A 15-year-old boy was severely injured in a motor vehicle accident. A blunt abdominal trauma resulted in multiple lesions requiring urgent surgical treatment. Seven days after the trauma, renal Doppler sonography showed absence of arterial signal in the left kidney hilum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report the feasible and safe use of the Amplatz Goose Neck Snare kit for avulsed ureter retrieval during ureteroscopy. A 49-year-old lady and a 61-year-old man complaining of urolithiasis underwent ureteroscopy; following stone fragmentation, and basketing avulsion of the ureter occurred. Using the Amplatz Goose Neck Snare kit it was possible to place an indwelling ureteral catheter in both cases aiming at restoring the urinary upper tract continuity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiffuse hepatic haemangiomatosis is rare in adults. Association with high output intrahepatic arteriovenous fistulas has been described. To avoid heart failure complications, treatment is essential.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The incidence of lymphocele after kidney transplantation ranges from 0.6% to 16%. The management of lymphocele is still controversial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report two cases of young patients in whom a continuous murmur was the only abnormal physical finding. The diagnosis was artero-venous malformation (AVM) in the context of pulmonary sequestration in the first patient and AVM alone in the second. The aim is to stress the perennial role of physical examination, the role of Doppler echocardiography and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the study of a pathological process involving the pulmonary vascular system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovasc Intervent Radiol
February 2008
We treated three cases of early portal vein thrombosis (PVT) by minimally invasive percutaneous transhepatic portography. All patients developed PVT within 30 days of major hepatic surgery (one case each of orthotopic liver transplantation, splenectomy in a previous liver transplant recipient, and right extended hepatectomy with resection and reconstruction of the left branch of the portal vein for tumor infiltration). In all cases minimally invasive percutaneous transhepatic portography was adopted to treat this complication by mechanical fragmentation and pharmacological lysis of the thrombus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Conventional surgery of the thoracic aorta is frequently associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Here we present treatment of surgical pathologies of the thoracic aorta using a less invasive endovascular approach.
Methods: From January 2000 to May 2004, 51 patients (mean age 62.