Telemedicine in the treatment of gestational diabetes: An observational cohort study on pregnancy outcomes and maternal satisfaction.

Aims: Gestational diabetes treatment requires several outpatient consultations from diagnosis until delivery in order to prevent hyperglycaemia, which is associated with maternal and fetal complications. There is limited evidence in the literature about telemedicine superiority in improving pregnancy outcomes for women with gestational diabetes. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate maternal and fetal outcomes, while the secondary aim was to estimate the degree of satisfaction with gestational diabetes treatment, comparing telemedicine versus outpatient care.

Markers of liver function as potential prognostic indicators of SARS-CoV-2 infection: A retrospective analysis during the first and second waves of COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is known to cause a predominant respiratory disease, although extrapulmonary manifestations can also occur. One of the targets of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the hepatobiliary system. The present study aims to describe the correlation between the increase of liver damage markers (.

Phased strabismus surgery under topical anesthesia.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of phased strabismus surgery under topical anesthesia, with intraoperative comparison of ocular alignment in supine and seated positions.

Methods: This retrospective clinical investigation analyzed the data of patients who underwent phased strabismus surgery with fixed sutures under topical anesthesia. The technique consisted of 2 phases, spaced out with an intraoperative alternate prism cover test (performed in supine and seated positions): (1) surgery on one or two muscles, as defined by a preoperative surgical plan; (2) if judged necessary, a further one-muscle surgery.

Diagnostic anticipation to reduce emergency department length of stay: a retrospective cohort study in Ferrara University hospital, Italy.

Background: Emergency Department (ED) crowding reduces staff satisfaction and healthcare quality and safety, which in turn increase costs. Despite a number of proposed solutions, ED length of stay (LOS) - a main cause of overcrowding - remains a major issue worldwide. This retrospective cohort study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness on ED LOS of a procedure called "Diagnostic Anticipation" (DA), which consisted in anticipating the ordering of blood tests by nurses, at triage, following a diagnostic algorithm approved by physicians.

Evaluation on prognostic efficacy of lymph nodes ratio (LNR) and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) in complicated colon cancer: the first study in emergency surgery.

Background: Lymph node involvement is one of the most important prognostic factors in colon cancer. Twelve is considered the minimum number of lymph nodes necessary to retain reliable tumour staging, but several factors can potentially influence the lymph node harvesting. Emergent surgery for complicated colon cancer (perforation, occlusion, bleeding) could represent an obstacle to reach the benchmark of 12 nodes with an accurate lymphadenectomy.

Preoperative endoscopic tattooing to mark the tumour site does not improve lymph node retrieval in colorectal cancer: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: A direct correlation between number of lymph nodes retrieved and evaluated after a colectomy for colorectal cancer and survival of the patient has been reported, and consensus guidelines recommend to assess at least 12 lymph nodes for adequate staging. Many factors (i.e.

Radio-guided selective compartment neck dissection improves staging in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a prospective study on 345 patients with a 3-year follow-up.

Background: Prospective uncontrolled study to investigate in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients: (1) Distribution of lymph node metastases within the neck compartments, (2) factors predicting lymph nodes metastases, and (3) disease recurrence after thyroidectomy associated with radio-guided selective compartment neck dissection (RSCND).

Methods: We studied 345 consecutive PTC patients operated on between February 2004 and October 2011 at the S. Anna University Hospital, Ferrara (Italy).

[Management of children with headache in a Pediatric Emergency Department before and after the introduction of the Second International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II)].

The aim of this study was to evaluate how the management of children admitted with headache to a Pediatric Emergency Department, was modified by the introduction of the Second International Classification of Headache Disorders ( ICHD-II) published in 2004. The complexity and average costs of the services provided to patients in 2002 and 2011 were compared. The results revealed a decrease in the number of tests performed and in-hospital admissions.

Correlation of transcranial color Doppler to n20 somatosensory evoked potential detects ischemic penumbra in subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Background: Normal subjects present interhemispheric symmetry of middle cerebral artery (MCA) mean flow velocity and N20 cortical somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP). Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) can modify this pattern, since high regional brain vascular resistances increase blood flow velocity, and impaired regional brain perfusion reduces N20 amplitude. The aim of the study is to investigate the variability of MCA resistances and N20 amplitude between hemispheres in SAH.

Ill-lighting syndrome: prevalence in shift-work personnel in the anaesthesiology and intensive care department of three Italian hospitals.

Background: Light is one of the most important factors in our interaction with the environment; it is indispensable to visual function and neuroendocrine regulation, and is essential to our emotional perception and evaluation of the environment. Previous studies have focussed on the effects of prolonged anomalous exposure to artificial light and, in the field of work-related illness. Studies have been carried out on shift-work personnel, who are obliged to experience alterations in the physiological alternation of day and night, with anomalous exposure to light stimuli in hours normally reserved for sleep.

[The Day Service: a novel structure for the outpatient].

In our hospitals, diagnostic and therapeutic unbloody technologies allow the development of day care services in substitution for usual hospitalization. The Day Service, as like other daily services, is an organization of the outpatient structure, combining day care and simple services, into a complex clinical situation. A complex outpatient treatment (profile) identifies an "outpatient standard package" in accordance to a specific pathology or diagnostic symptomatology.

COPD increases the risk of squamous histological subtype in smokers who develop non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma has a stronger association with tobacco smoking than other non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). A study was undertaken to determine whether chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a risk factor for the squamous cell carcinoma histological subtype in smokers with surgically resectable NSCLC.

Methods: Using a case-control design, subjects with a surgically confirmed diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled from smokers undergoing lung resection for NSCLC in the District Hospital of Ferrara, Italy.

Detection of early ischemia in severe head injury by means of arteriovenous lactate differences and jugular bulb oxygen saturation. Relationship with CPP, severity indexes and outcome. Preliminary analysis.

Unlabelled: Early ischemia may be highly relevant in patients with severe head injuries. The aims of the study were: 1) to define if abnormal arteriovenous lactate difference (AVDL) and jugular bulb oxygen saturation (SjO2) are found in the early 24 hrs post injury; 2) to compare if abnormalities of SjO2 and of AVDL were associated with a specific typology of severity indexes and outcome; 3) to detect any association between abnormal AVDL and SjO2 with levels of cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP). The study involved 29 patients, with CPP, AVDL and SjO2 measured within 24 hours post-injury.

The reduced sensitivity of the ProC Global test in protein S deficient subjects reflects a reduction in the associated thrombotic risk.

To investigate simultaneously a defect affecting the protein C/protein S (PC/PS) anticoagulant pathway is possible thanks to a methodological approach (ProC(R) Global; Dade Behring) based on the activation of endogenous plasma PC by a snake venom extract. Factor V (FV) Leiden, the most frequent cause of hereditary thrombosis, is well detected by the test with sensitivity of 100% irrespective of the presence/absence of thrombosis in the subjects investigated. The test is also suited to detect PC or PS defect, but in this case the in vitro impairment of the PC/PS pathway is less pronounced particularly for PS defects (sensitivity for PC and PS defect, 85-100 and 30-90%, respectively).

Low folate levels and thermolabile methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase as primary determinant of mild hyperhomocystinemia in normal and thromboembolic subjects.

Several studies have indicated that mild to moderate hyperhomocystinemia is a common cause of arterial occlusive disease. Whether hyperhomocystinemia per se is an independent risk factor for vein thromboembolism (VTE) is still somewhat controversial. Both genetic and nutritional factors influence plasma homocysteine levels.

The Italian Multicentric Study on Epidemiology of Congenital Heart Disease: first step of the analysis. Working Party of the Italian Society of Pediatric Cardiology.

We present the aims, methodology and initial results from the Italian Multicentric Study for the registration and follow-up of congenital heart disease. The general aims are to measure the prevalence of congenital heart disease in different geographic areas of Italy, and to assess the survival and outcome of affected babies. During the years 1992 and 1993, eighteen centers for Pediatric Cardiology spread all over the Country enrolled 1445 new babies with congenital cardiac malformations from a population of 341,647 surveyed livebirths.

The effect of dietary soy supplementation on hot flushes.

Objective: To assess the effect of daily dietary supplementation of soy protein isolate powder on hot flushes in postmenopausal women.

Methods: We carried out a double-blind, parallel, multicenter, randomized placebo-controlled trial of 104 postmenopausal women. Fifty-one patients (age range 48-61 years) took 60 g of products containing 40 g of isolated soy protein [corrected] daily and 53 patients (age range 45-62 years) took 60 g of placebo (casein) daily.

Touch cytology. A reliable and cost-effective method for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection.

A variety of reliable methods are available for detecting Helicobacter pylori (Hp) during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. We evaluated the clinical utility and cost-effectiveness of rapid urease test (RUT), touch cytology (TC), and histology (H). Two hundred thirty-eight consecutive patients (178 without previous medical treatment and 60 formerly treated with anti-Hp therapy) were tested for Hp infection by RUT, TC, and H (H&E stain).