Publications by authors named "Devita M"

Research on the cerebellum and its functional organization has significantly expanded over the last decades, expanding our comprehension of its role far beyond motor control, including critical contributions to cognition and affective processing. Notably, the cerebellar lateralization mirrors contralateral brain lateralization, a complex phenomenon that remains unexplored, especially across different stages of life. The present work aims to bridge this gap by providing a comprehensive scoping review of the lateralization of motor, cognitive, and affective functioning within the cerebellum across the lifespan.

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  • Rathke's cleft cyst (RCC) is a benign cyst that usually goes unnoticed but can be associated with rare cases of hyponatremia due to inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) secretion.
  • The case study discusses a 56-year-old woman who experienced symptoms like blurry vision and headaches, ultimately diagnosed with euvolemic hyponatremia linked to RCC, which was treated effectively via endoscopic surgery.
  • The article emphasizes the need for careful evaluation and a multidisciplinary approach in managing such rare instances, while calling for more research to enhance understanding and treatment strategies for RCC related to SIADH.
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Sexuality is a fundamental part of human existence and it encompasses thoughts, desires, behaviors, relationships, as well as neuropsychological and physiological components. However, sexuality in older adults is under-researched from the neuropsychological and psychophysiological perspectives and is often neglected by healthcare providers in the clinical practice. This article aims to explore the state of the art on the neuropsychology and psychophysiology of older adults' sexuality, proposing future research directions and emphasizing its significance.

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  • Trazodone, an antidepressant often prescribed for insomnia, anxiety, and behavioral disorders, is the focus of a study aimed at understanding its prescription reasons, effectiveness, and side effects in older adults in long-term care facilities.
  • The study included feedback from 37 out of 74 participating long-term care facilities, analyzing data from 427 older adults, revealing that common reasons for prescribing trazodone included agitation, insomnia, and depression, with over 90% reporting it was effective.
  • While trazodone proved beneficial, the study identified falls as a key side effect, affecting 30% of participants, underlining the need for careful monitoring in elderly patients, especially those with dementia.
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  • The study investigates cognitive effects of COVID-19 on younger and older adults by comparing their performance over time.
  • It includes 226 participants and reveals significant differences in cognitive performance, especially in memory recall patterns between the two age groups.
  • The findings suggest that cognitive deficits in COVID-19 survivors may be linked to attention and concentration issues, aligning with the "brain fog" commonly reported post-infection.
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Identifying the onset of patient deterioration is challenging despite the potential to respond to patients earlier with better vital sign monitoring and rapid response team (RRT) activation. In this study an ECG based software as a medical device, the Analytic for Hemodynamic Instability Predictive Index (AHI-PI), was compared to the vital signs of heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate, evaluating how early it indicated risk before an RRT activation. A higher proportion of the events had risk indication by AHI-PI (92.

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Background: Malnutrition and sarcopenia significantly increase the risk of intra-hospital delirium, particularly among older adults. Given the potential correlation between calf circumference (CC) and these conditions, CC emerges as a promising predisposing factor for delirium. This study aims to investigate the independent association between delirium and anthropometric parameters, focusing on evaluating CC's predictive capacity for intra-hospital delirium risk.

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Background And Objectives: Anorexia of aging (AoA) is a prevalent geriatric syndrome characterized by a multifactorial decline in appetite and reduced food intake associated with the aging process. This systematic review aims to investigate the use and outcomes of cannabinoids in addressing AoA, with the goal of providing a comprehensive understanding and discussing their potential integration into daily clinical practice.

Methods: A thorough search of databases (Embase Ovid, Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) identified 6100 studies.

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Controversy exists as to the optimal observational time (OT) after outpatient percutaneous kidney biopsy. Further, there is some uncertainty about the benefit of smaller (18-gauge) vs. larger (16-gauge) biopsy needles.

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Introduction: Poor comprehension and medication adherence are common in older people, especially after hospitalizations, in case of changes or prescriptions of new therapeutic regimes. This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated approach in improving older individuals' adherence to medical recommendations after hospital discharge.

Methods: Data from an expected sample of 360 older inpatients (and their caregivers) will be collected.

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The hypothesis implicit in the rating scale design is that the categories reflect increasing levels of the latent variable. Rasch models for ordered polytomous items include parameters, called thresholds, that allow for empirically testing this hypothesis. Failure of the thresholds to advance monotonically with the categories (a condition that is referred to as "threshold disordering") provides evidence that the rating scale is not functioning as intended.

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The present study aims to investigate the relationship between cerebellar volumes and cognitive reserve in individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). A description of proxies of cerebellar cognitive reserve in terms of different volumes across lobules is also provided. 36 individuals with MCI underwent neuropsychological (MoCA, MMSE, Clock test, CRIq) assessment and neuroimaging acquisition with magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T.

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Aims: Considering the impact of sarcopenia on mortality, and the difficulty to assessment of body composition, the hypothesis of the study is that calf circumference (CC) is closely related to mortality in older patients. The aim of the study was to analyze the potential role of CC to predict mortality in old individuals at 3, 6 and 12 months after discharge from hospital.

Methods: Patients aged >65 years were recruited for this retrospective study from September 2021 to March 2022.

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While acute tubular injury (ATI) is known to occur in a significant number of minimal change disease (MCD) nephrotic syndrome cases with acute kidney injury (AKI), the clinical significance is not certain, and AKI may also occur without ATI. This study aimed to evaluate whether the severity of AKI defined by Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria correlated with the presence or severity of ATI in a series of adult patients with MCD. We also looked at whether time to remission of nephrotic syndrome (NS) with treatment correlated with the presence of ATI in those with and without AKI.

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Background: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), driven by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has disproportionately affected the elderly, with comorbidities like sarcopenia worsening prognosis. Considering the significant impact of RNA vaccines on survival rates in this population, our objective is to investigate the impact of vaccination on the survival of hospitalized elderly patients with COVID-19, considering the presence or absence of sarcopenia.

Methods: Prospective study conducted on 159 patients aged>65 years from September 2021 to March 2022.

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Rationale: Clinical deterioration of patients hospitalized outside the ICU is a source of potentially reversible morbidity and mortality. To address this, some acute care hospitals have implemented systems aimed at detecting and responding to such patients.

Objectives: To provide evidence-based recommendations for hospital clinicians and administrators to optimize recognition and response to clinical deterioration in non-ICU patients.

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Rationale: Clinical deterioration of patients hospitalized outside the ICU is a source of potentially reversible morbidity and mortality. To address this, some acute care facilities have implemented systems aimed at detecting and responding to such patients.

Objectives: To provide evidence-based recommendations for hospital clinicians and administrators to optimize recognition and response to clinical deterioration in non-ICU patients.

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Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), have provided valuable insights into the role of the cerebellum in cognitive processes. However, replicating findings from studies involving cerebellar stimulation poses challenges. This meta-analysis investigates the impact of NIBS on cognitive processes associated with the cerebellum.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Patients with a history of trauma showed significantly worse psychological symptoms, particularly in depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive issues, compared to those without trauma.
  • * The findings emphasize the need to consider trauma in the psychological care of post-COVID patients to improve intervention strategies.
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Objectives: How to detect the clinical impact of anticholinergic (AC) burden in people with HIV (PWH) remains poorly investigated. We cross-sectionally described the prevalence and type of AC signs/symptoms and the screening accuracy of three AC scales in detecting their presence in a modern cohort of PWH.

Methods: We calculated AC Burden Scale (ABS), AC Risk Score (ARS) and AC Drug Score (ADS) in 721 adult PWH and recorded the presence of AC signs/symptoms over the previous 3 months.

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Background And Objectives: One of the pathogenetic hypotheses of delirium is the "neuroinflammatory theory" with consequent neurotoxicity of brain connectivity networks. Micronutrients may play a significant role in the prevention of neuroinflammation. This systematic review addresses the role of micronutrients in the development of delirium in older populations.

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Background: The containment measures linked to the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the phyco-physical well-being of the population, especially older adults with neurocognitive disorders (NCDs). This study aims to evaluate whether the frailty of NCD patients was associated with different changes in multiple health domains, in particular in relation to loneliness and social isolation, pre- and post-lockdown.

Materials And Methods: Patients were recruited from 10 Italian Centers for Cognitive Disorders and Dementia.

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With the recent spread in monkeypox cases, continuous efforts are made to manage the disease efficiently. Pain at the site of monkeypox lesions and in areas of skin breakdown can be severe. The origin of pain is likely neuropathic.

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Objectives: This study evaluates whether social interaction level modifies the association between frailty and cognitive decline in older adults.

Methods: A total of 2701 adults aged ≥65 years enrolled in the Progetto Veneto Anziani (Pro.V.

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