Bayesian Network Analysis for Prediction of Unplanned Hospital Readmissions of Cancer Patients with Breakthrough Cancer Pain and Complex Care Needs.

Background: Unplanned hospital readmissions (HRAs) are very common in cancer patients. These events can potentially impair the patients' health-related quality of life and increase cancer care costs. In this study, data-driven prediction models were developed for identifying patients at a higher risk for HRA.

Adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet in a population of South of Italy: factors involved and proposal of an educational field-based survey tool.

We developed and validated a tool assessing the adherence to the Mediterranean diet based on current nutritional recommendations for health promotion (MEDI-Quest). Four-hundred-and-eleven clinically healthy subjects completed both the MEDI-Quest-score and the validated MedDietScore (MDS). A good accordance between MEDI-Quest and MDS was observed (R = 0.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy modifies the neurohormonal profile, hemodynamic and functional capacity in heart failure patients.

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been shown to improve the clinical status and survival in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients, but little is known about its influence on neurohormonal profile.

Methods: Heart failure patients treated with CRT for moderate/severe heart failure were studied with echocardiography, cardiopulmonary test, and neurohormonal profile [brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), endothelin (END), big endothelin (big-END), epinephrine (EPI), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)] at baseline and after 1 year from the pacemaker implantation.

Results: 120 NYHA II-IV patients entered this study, all with an indication to CRT; 100 agreed to be implanted (group A), whereas 20 refused, identifying a control group (group B).