Minimally Invasive Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women: A Prospective Comparative Analysis between Bulking Agent and Single-Incision Sling.

Introduction: The study aims to compare the efficacy and safety of bulking agents and single-incision slings in the treatment of urinary incontinence in 159 patients during a 29-month follow-up period.

Material And Methods: Of the 159 patients suffering from stress urinary incontinence, 64 were treated with bulking agents (PAHG Bulkamid) and 75 with a single-incision sling (Altis). The ICIQ-UI-SF (Incontinence Questionnaire-Urine Incontinence-Short Form), PISQ-12 (Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaires short form), FSFI (Female Sexual Function Index), FSDS (Female Sexual Distress Scale), and PGI-I (Patient Global Improvement Index) were used to assess efficiency and quality of life.

A Next-Generation Sequencing Approach to Identify Gene Mutations in Early- and Late-Onset Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Patients of an Italian Cohort.

Sequencing of sarcomere protein genes in patients fulfilling the clinical diagnostic criteria for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) identifies a disease-causing mutation in 35% to 60% of cases. Age at diagnosis and family history may increase the yield of mutations screening. In order to assess whether Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) may fulfil the molecular diagnostic needs in HCM, we included 17 HCM-related genes in a sequencing panel run on PGM IonTorrent.

Electrocardiographic evolution in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who develop a left ventricular apical aneurysm.

Introduction: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients with apical aneurysm have a largely unfavourable clinical course, and are often unrecognised because echocardiography is limited in the assessment of the left ventricular (LV) apex. The aim of this study is the identification of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities associated with the development of apical aneurysm in HCM patients.

Materials And Methods: Electrocardiographic features were assessed in 14 HCM patients who had a good-quality baseline ECG recorded before and after the diagnosis of apical aneurysm.