The role of mini-PCNL as primary approach for the treatment of pediatric kidney stones in a high-income country. Ten-year single-center report.

Purpose: To describe our experience in the use of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) as a primary treatment for paediatric kidney stones and to highlight its benefits.

Methods: The design was retrospective and observational. All the children treated for kidney stones from 2011 to 2021 were included.

A Better Touch: C-tactile Fibers Related Activity is Associated to Pain Reduction During Temporal Summation of Second Pain.

C-tactile (CT) fibers, responsible for the so-called "affective" touch (AT), have drawn a fair amount of attention within the scientific community for their marked social dimension. However, while the pain-relieving potential of discriminative touch (DT) has been documented, proofs of the analgesic properties of AT are still scarce. Additionally, no study has so far tested its possible pain-relieving effects on a clinically-relevant model.

Pain modulation as a function of hypnotizability: Diffuse noxious inhibitory control induced by cold pressor test vs explicit suggestions of analgesia.

The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of explicit suggestions of analgesia and of the activation of the Diffuse Noxious Inhibitory Control (DNIC) by cold pressor test on pain perception and heart rate in healthy participants with high (highs, N=18), low (lows, N=18) and intermediate scores of hypnotizability (mediums, N=15) out of hypnosis. Pain reports and the stimulus-locked heart rate changes induced by electrical nociceptive stimulation of the left hand were studied in the absence of concomitant stimuli (Control), during suggestions of analgesia (SUGG, glove analgesia) and during cold pressor test used as a conditioning stimulus to the right hand (DNIC, water temperature=10-12°C) in the REAL session. Participants were submitted also to a SHAM session in which the DNIC water temperature was 30°C and the suggestions for analgesia were substituted with weather forecast information.

Rare metastatic sites of renal cell carcinoma: urethra and spermatic cord.

Introduction: About 20% of patients with a diagnosis of primary renal cell carcinoma (RCC) present directly with metastatic disease. The aim of the present manuscript is to describe, for the first time a RCC metastasis located to the distal female urethra and to present an update on metastatic locations to the male spermatic cord.

Materials And Methods: We report two cases of rare RCC metastases.

A Retrospective Analysis of the Hemostatic Effect of FloSeal in Patients Undergoing Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy.

Background: Perioperative bleeding is a potential complication of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) that may worsen outcomes. The role of local hemostatic materials in RALP has not been adequately assessed. We evaluated the hemostatic impact of FloSeal (Baxter International Inc.

Partial Nephrectomy in Clinical T1b Renal Tumors: Multicenter Comparative Study of Open, Laparoscopic and Robot-assisted Approach (the RECORd Project).

Objective: To evaluate perioperative results of open (OPN), laparoscopic (LPN), and robot-assisted partial nephrectomies (RAPN) and to identify predictive factors of Trifecta achievement for clinical T1b renal tumors in a multicenter prospective dataset.

Methods: Data of 285 patients who had OPN (133), LPN (57), or RAPN (95) for cT1b renal tumors were extracted from the RECORd Project. High-volume centers were defined as ≥50 overall cases of partial nephrectomy per year.

Comparative Assessment of Cultures from Oral and Urethral Stem Cells for Urethral Regeneration.

Urethral reconstruction has received much attention in recent years, due to pathologies such as recurrence of urethral strictures after treatments. Various surgical techniques have been developed to obtain the best risk-benefit ratio, such as autologous grafts taken from the oral cavity. Tissue engineering and stem cells, growing in a tissue from a small biopsies, can further improve surgery, reducing invasiveness and morbidity.

Indices of relative weight and obesity.

Analyses are reported on the correlation with height and with subcutaneous fat thickness of relative weight expressed as per cent of average weight at given height, and of the ratios weight/height, weight/height squared, and the ponderal index (cube root of weight divided by height) in 7424 ‘healthy’ men in 12 cohorts in five countries. Analyses are also reported on the relationship of those indicators of relative weight to body density in 180 young men and in 248 men aged 49–59. Judged by the criteria of correlation with height (lowest is best) and to measures of body fatness (highest is best), the ponderal index is the poorest of the relative weight indices studied.

Liver abscess and pseudotumoral gastric lesion caused by chicken bone perforation: laparoscopic management.

The accidental ingestion of a foreign body into the gastrointestinal tract is not uncommon, but the vast majority of foreign bodies pass through the gastrointestinal tract uneventfully within a week. Less than 1% of patients with foreign body ingestion develop complications such as perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. The migration of an ingested foreign body may result in chronic inflammation, a silent clinical course, and radiological features suggestive of a neoplasm.

Cardiovascular risk factors predict survival in middle-aged men during 50 years.

Objectives: We aimed at studying the expectancy of life in middle-aged men as a function of several personal characteristics and risk factors.

Material And Methods: A sample of 1712 Italian men aged 40-59, first examined in 1960, was followed-up for mortality for 50 years. The length of survival was estimated as a function of 48 personal characteristics and risk factors using the multiple linear regression.

Gingival Myofibroma. A case report.

Aim: The Myofibroma (MF) is a benign mesenchymal tumor frequently observed in the skin and subcutaneous tissue of the head-neck region. It is described mainly in infants with congenital forms and, in early childhood, with acquired forms. Less often, it can be observed in adolescents and adults.

Factor analysis in the identification of dietary patterns and their predictive role in morbid and fatal events.

Objective: The purpose was to examine the role of dietary patterns derived from factor analysis and their association with health and disease.

Design: Longitudinal population study, with measurement of diet (dietary history method), cardiovascular risk factors and a follow-up of 20 years for CHD incidence and 40 years for mortality.

Setting: Two population samples in rural villages in northern and central Italy.

Secondary osteoporosis in men and women: clinical challenge of an unresolved issue.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical and etiological factors of osteoporosis. We also tested the FRAX algorithm to compare the assessment of fracture risk in patients with primary or secondary osteoporosis.

Methods: A prospective study carried out in a large sample of 123 men and 246 women.

Testicular metastasis of signet ring cell tumour of unknown origin: diagnostic features of a tricky case.

We introduce the diagnostic complexity of a testicular metastasis by signet ring cell adenocarcinoma of unknown origin. Testicular metastases are a rare event but, particular after 50 years of age, a testicular mass could represent a metastasis.

Sleep-disordered breathing in a sample of 495 children in Southern Italy.

Aim: Our objective was to investigate the occurrence of sleep-related breathing disturbances in a large cohort of school-aged children in Southern Italy, and to evaluate the association with anthropometric data and clinical findings of oropharynx and nasal airways.

Study Design: A two-phase cross-sectional study was conducted with children from schools in Turi, Italy.

Materials And Methods: A screening phase aimed to identify symptomatic children and clinical data from a cohort of 495 children by a self-administered questionnaire, and an instrumental phase for the definition of sleep-related disorders and clinical analysis of oral status were performed.

The association of the Mediterranean Adequacy Index with fatal coronary events in an Italian middle-aged male population followed for 40 years.

Background And Aims: The dietary habits defined as the Mediterranean diet have shown to be protective for coronary heart disease (CHD) and other morbid conditions. The present analysis aims to test the Mediterranean Adequacy Index (MAI), a dietary index derived from the Mediterranean habits, versus the occurrence of fatal CHD events in an Italian male population followed for 40 years.

Methods And Results: In 1965, at the time of the 5-year follow-up examination of the Italian Rural Areas of the Seven Countries Study, the diet was assessed by the dietary-history method in 1139 men aged 45-64 years, free from previous coronary events, in the rural communities of Crevalcore (Northern Italy) and Montegiorgio (Central Italy).

An interdisciplinary approach to a survey on dental caries in a group of 3-year-olds in Ascoli Piceno (Italy).

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the dental caries experience in a group of 3-year-old children, through an interdisciplinary protocol, both paediatric and paedodontic, in the district of Ascoli Piceno (Marche, Italy).

Materials And Methods: A sample of 82 children, 38 males and 44 females, was recruited by four paediatricians during a preliminary study phase, which consisted of the epidemiological survey explanation to the involved children's parents and informed consents collection; the survey was first planned and then performed by one calibrated examiner, (Cohen k test was 0.85) in two days on May 2008.

Does needle calibre affect pain and complication rates in patients undergoing transperineal prostate biopsy? A prospective, randomized trial.

Transperineal prostate biopsy is a procedure that can be used to obtain histological samples from the prostate. To improve both the quality of the biopsy core samples and prostate cancer detection, we are currently performing a prospective, randomized trial comparing prostate biopsy samples obtained using an 18 G-needle to those obtained using a 16 G needle. The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate pain and complication rates in both groups in order to assess whether performing a prostate biopsy with a larger calibre needle is a feasible procedure.

Biochemical markers in glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.

Following the introduction of corticosteroids as therapeutic agents in the 1950s, their use has been expanded so that today glucocorticoids are widely used. There are few studies in the literature directly aimed at describing the changes of bone markers following glucocorticoid administration. The interpretation of some of these investigations may be hampered by a number of confounding factors, whose influence is not always taken into consideration.

Well-differentiated giant scrotal liposarcoma: case presentation and management.

Scrotal liposarcoma is an uncommon disease, usually found after the fifth decade. We describe the case of a well-differentiated scrotal liposarcoma associated with a considerable inflammatory reaction, treated with surgical ablation.

The Mediterranean Adequacy Index: further confirming results of validity.

Background And Aims: Since dietary patterns can influence levels of major risk factors for chronic disease, various indexes or scores of overall diet quality have been proposed and related to risk factors for disease. The Mediterranean Adequacy Index (MAI) was developed to simply assess how close a diet is to the Healthy Reference National Mediterranean Diet (HRNMD), a healthful diet in which Mediterranean food patterns are inversely correlated with prevalence of risk factors for chronic disease. This report describes further evidence of MAI values for diets of population groups from different countries.

Oral hygiene habits and attitudes in a school population in L'Aquila (Italy).

Aim: This study aims to analyse the results of a questionnaire submitted to students of the elementary schools in L'Aquila in order to understand their awareness of a correct caries prevention method by using fluoride.

Materials And Methods: 4th and 5th grade students of elementary schools in L'Aquila were submitted to a questionnaire; from a total of 1205 students, age ranging from 8 to 12, 1094 were questioned; 7 children 8 years old, 282 of 9, 555 of 10, 243 of 11, 8 of 12, and only 2 of 13, respectively (the last 2 were registered later at school because non-EU citizens).

Results: Among the Italian population with a low incidence of dental decay, a relatively limited group, called 'high risk decay group', revealed a higher incidence of the pathology than the standard one.

Comparison of three different dietary scores in relation to 10-year mortality in elderly European subjects: the HALE project.

Objective: To investigate and compare the associations between dietary patterns and mortality using different European indexes of overall dietary quality.

Design, Setting And Participants: The HALE (Healthy Ageing: a Longitudinal study in Europe) population includes 2,068 men and 1,049 women, aged between 70 and 90 years of 10 European countries. Subjects were followed for 10 years.