Exploring collaborative practices for chronic disease management: Results from a new survey to primary care physicians and specialists in Italy.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represent a global health challenge that requires coordination across various healthcare settings. This study in Tuscany, Italy, investigates professional integration between primary care physicians (PCPs) and specialists in NCD management. A self-developed survey was used to explore professionals' views on clinical and organizational collaboration, accountability, and service improvement.

Organisation and management of multi-professional care for cancer patients at end-of-life: state-of-the-art from a survey to community and hospital-based professionals.

Providing timely and satisficing End-of-Life care (EOLC) is a priority for healthcare systems since aging population and chronic diseases are boosting the global demand for care at end-of-life (EOL). In OECD countries the access to EOLC is insufficient. In Italy, the average rate of cancer patients assisted by the palliative care (PC) network at EOL was 28% in 2021, with high variability in the country.

Enhanced patient journey associated with improved overall survival in colon cancer patients: A study by the Ligurian Oncology Network.

Background: Colon cancer imposes a significant burden on global healthcare systems, necessitating efforts to improve oncology care quality and patient outcomes. We studied the correlation between care quality and survival outcomes among colon cancer patients within the Ligurian Oncology Network (Italy).

Methods: We developed an Overall Quality Score (OQS) to evaluate the impact of oncology care quality on survival outcomes within the Ligurian Oncology Network.

Decellularized extracellular matrix derived from dental pulp stem cells promotes gingival fibroblast adhesion and migration.

Background: Decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) has been proposed as a useful source of biomimetic materials for regenerative medicine due to its biological properties that regulate cell behaviors. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of decellularized ECM derived from dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) on gingival fibroblast (GF) cell behaviors. Cells were isolated from dental pulp and gingival tissues.

Pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block combined with local infiltration analgesia is not superior to local infiltration analgesia for the management of postoperative pain after primary elective total hip arthroplasty: A prospective, randomized, controlled, single-blind trial.

Background: Local infiltration analgesia (LIA) has been advocated for the pain management after total hip arthroplasty (THA). The analgesic benefits of an added pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block remain questionable.

Methods: This randomized, single-blind trial enrolled patients undergoing elective THA under general anaesthesia and standardized postoperative analgesia.

Bilateral ultrasound-guided maxillary and mandibular combined nerves block reduces morphine consumption after double-jaw orthognathic surgery: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Double-jaw surgeries are known to be painful and to require opioids. Maxillary (V2) and mandibular (V3) nerves block could provide adequate pain management with minimal opioid-related side effects. Our main objective was to evaluate the analgesic effect of bilateral ultrasound-guided V2 and V3 combined nerves block in patients undergoing double-jaw orthognathic surgery.

Including environmental and social sustainability in the planning process of healthcare services: A case study of cancer screening programs in an inner area in Italy.

Healthcare systems plan their activities to achieve efficiency and effectiveness, without addressing environmental and social sustainability. This paper describes a new approach adopted in Italy to plan and deliver health prevention services in an inner area of the Tuscany region (in Italy) to guarantee proximity of care and environmental and social sustainability. The project examines the design and delivery of cancer screening programmes using a mobile screening unit to maximise social benefits while minimising environmental waste.

Addressing chronic diseases: a comparative study of policies towards type-2 diabetes and hypertension in selected European countries.

Background: Type-2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension (HTN) are two of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases (NCDs): they both cause a relevant number of premature deaths worldwide and heavily impact the national health systems. This study illustrates the impact of HTN and T2D in four European countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Spain) and compares their policies towards the monitoring and management of HTN and T2D and the prevention of NCDs as a whole. This analysis is conducted throughout the DigiCare4You Project (H2020)-which implements an innovative solution involving digital tools for the prevention and management of T2D and HTN.

Root resorptions induced by genetic disorders: A systematic review.

Objectives: Root resorption in permanent teeth is a common pathological process that often follows dental trauma or orthodontic treatment. More rarely, root resorption is a feature of genetic disorders and can help with diagnosis. Thus, the present review aims to determine which genetic disorders could induce pathological root resorptions and thus which mutated genes could be associated with them.

Postoperative outcomes after total sevoflurane inhalation sedation using a disposable delivery system (Sedaconda-ACD) in cardiac surgery.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted our team to develop new solutions for performing cardiac surgery without intravenous anesthetics due to a shortage of these drugs. We utilized an anesthetic conserving device (Sedaconda-ACD) to administer total inhaled anesthesia because specific vaporizers were unavailable for administering inhaled agents during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in our center. We documented our experience and postoperative cardiovascular outcomes.

Oral Health in Patients with History of Head and Neck Cancer: Complexity and Benefits of a Targeted Oral Healthcare Pathway.

Purpose Of Review: This work consists in a literature review on the current state of knowledge regarding the oral management of patients with a history of head and neck cancer (HNC), corroborated by clinical cases and illustrated by clear infographic summaries. It aims to provide healthcare professionals with a comprehensive overview of the oral health status of HCN patients.

Recent Findings: Head and neck cancers (HNCs) represent the seventh most common type of cancer worldwide, with over 660,000 annual new cases.

[Oral mesenchymal cells, a specific niche, from development to regeneration].

Oral buccal tissues, including bone and mucosa, have unique properties. Oral mucosal fibroblasts and jaw osteoblasts, both derived from Cranial Neural Crest cells, play a key role in healing and repair. These cells express a specific repertoire of genes with their regenerative properties, but also craniofacial diseases.

Unmet needs in end-of-life care for heart failure patients.

Objective: To investigate end-of-life (EoL) care for heart failure (HF) in Tuscany (Italy) from healthcare professionals' perspective and identify areas for intervention.

Methods: All the directors of Cardiology units (n = 29) and palliative care (PC) units (n = 14) in Tuscany were surveyed on the practices of EoL care.

Results: Forty-five percent of cardiologists reported that their hospital had some EoL care services for HF patients.

Does spinal anesthesia for total hip or knee arthroplasty entail longer operating room occupancy compared to general anesthesia? Case-control study of 337 spinal versus 243 general anesthesias.

Background: Treatment protocols, including anesthesia, are constantly progressing to improve rapid early postoperative recovery in lower-limb arthroplasty. To the best of our knowledge, however, no studies compared general versus spinal anesthesia (GA vs. SA) in the surgical pathway of patients undergoing total knee or hip arthroplasty (TKA, THA).

Perioperative pain management models in four European countries: A narrative review of differences, similarities and future directions.

There is general agreement that acute pain management is an important component of perioperative medicine. However, there is no consensus on the best model of care for perioperative pain management, mainly because evidence is missing in many aspects. Comparing the similarities and differences between countries might reveal some insights into different organisational models and how they work.

Presence and Role of Associations of Cancer Patients and Volunteers in Specialist Breast Centres: An Italian National Survey of Breast Centres Associated with Senonetwork.

This article aims to present the results of a national, cross-sectional, voluntary, online survey on the presence and roles of associations of breast cancer patients and volunteers in Italian specialist breast centres. The survey was developed according to standard methods. The questionnaire was pre-tested by a random sample of three breast centres, loaded onto the SurveyMonkey platform, and piloted by one volunteer breast centre.

Telepsychiatry: The future is already present.

This review paper analyzes the state of knowledge on Telepsychiatry (TP) after the crisis caused by COVID and the resulting need to use new modalities of care. Six essential aspects of TP are addressed: patient's and mental health staff satisfaction, diagnostic reliability, effectiveness of TP interventions, cost-effectiveness in terms of opportunity cost (or efficiency), legal aspects inherent to confidentiality and privacy in particular and the attitude of professionals toward TP. Satisfaction with TP is acceptable among both patients and professionals, the latter being the most reluctant.

Postoperative delirium is a risk factor of institutionalization after hip fracture: an observational cohort study.

Introduction: Hip fracture is a common clinical problem in geriatric patients often associated with poor postoperative outcomes. Postoperative delirium (POD) and postoperative neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) are particularly frequent. The consequences of these disorders on postoperative recovery and autonomy are not fully described.

Quality of life and satisfaction of patients after oncoplastic or traditional breast-conserving surgery using the BREAST-Q (BCT module): a prospective study.

Introduction: The oncoplastic conservative surgery was developed as a natural evolution of traditional surgery, attempting to improve the therapeutic and aesthetic outcomes where tumor resection could be followed by not-adequate results. Our primary aim is to evaluate how patient satisfaction and quality-of-life after conservative oncoplastic surgery, using BREAST-Q (BCT Module), change pre- and post-operatively. The secondary aim is to compare patient-reported outcome after oncoplastic or traditional conservative surgery.

Self-processing in coma, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome and minimally conscious state.

Introduction: Behavioral and cerebral dissociation has been now clearly established in some patients with acquired disorders of consciousness (DoC). Altogether, these studies mainly focused on the preservation of high-level cognitive markers in prolonged DoC, but did not specifically investigate lower but key-cognitive functions to consciousness emergence, such as the ability to take a first-person perspective, notably at the acute stage of coma. We made the hypothesis that the preservation of self-recognition (i) is independent of the behavioral impairment of consciousness, and (ii) can reflect the ability to recover consciousness.

Impairment of central language processing in critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 patients with delirium.

Accumulating evidence indicates that coronavirus disease 2019 is a major cause of delirium. Given the global dimension of the current pandemic and the fact that delirium is a strong predictor of cognitive decline for critically ill patients, this raises concerns regarding the neurological cost of coronavirus disease 2019. Currently, there is a major knowledge gap related to the covert yet potentially incapacitating higher-order cognitive impairment underpinning coronavirus disease 2019 related delirium.

Women's choices of hospital for breast cancer surgery in Italy: Quality and equity implications.

This paper employs mixed logit regression to investigate the effects of providers characteristics on women's choice of hospital for breast surgery. Patient level data are used to model choices in Tuscany region, Italy. In particular, we focus on the effects of travel time and hospital quality indicators including quality standard (volumes of breast surgery), measurement of process (waiting times) and quality of surgical procedures.