Publications by authors named "Francesco Ortu"

: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection represents a significant public health concern and, consequently, the incidence of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND) has grown over the years. The present study aims to assess HAND with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to find significant associations with cognitive impairment. : The study included 210 PLWHA, aged from 30 to 81 years, of whom, 137 (65.

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Article Synopsis
  • HIV-HCV co-infected patients, once considered difficult to treat, showed high success rates (98.4% SVR12) with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for HCV treatment.
  • The study included 201 patients, mostly males with a median age of 54, and reported minimal side effects like pruritus, headache, and fatigue.
  • Six months after DAA treatment, there was a notable increase in CD4+ and CD8+ cell counts, particularly in patients who started with low CD4+ levels.
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HIV-infected people are at risk for neurocognitive impairment (HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders - HAND). To evaluate whether the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), a widely used neurocognitive screening tool, could be a valid instrument for HAND identification, we evaluated 166 HIV-infected subjects. Our results showed that 96 (57.

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A significant proportion of HIV-infected patients experiencing a late diagnosis highlights the need to define immunological protocols able to help the clinicians in identifying patients at higher risk for immunological failure. The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of easy cytometric tests in defining the effect of antiretroviral treatment (cART) on immunological homeostasis and in identifying predictive markers of early immune recovery. Chronic HIV infected patients (n = 202) were enrolled in a prospective multicentric study, and their immunological profile was studied before (w0) and after 24 weeks (w24) of antiretroviral treatment (cART) using a standardized flow cytometric panel.

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Objective: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection may also be associated with cardiac dysfunction, thus negatively affecting patients' morbidity and mortality. This preliminary study aimed at evaluating whether bi-and three-dimensional (3D) strain echocardiographic facilities were able to identify alterations in the right ventricular (RV) function in highly selected - because free from cardiovascular risk factors and other comorbidities - HIV patients.

Materials And Methods: Eight of these specific HIV patients (age: 32.

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Kaposi sarcoma is a tumour caused by human herpes virus 8, also known as Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus. It usually affects the skin and oral mucosa; however, it can also sometimes affect the lungs, the liver, the stomach, the bowel, and lymph nodes. Several body sites may be affected simultaneously.

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Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has been recognized as a central measure of the overall health status in HIV patients. With the availability of different highly effective drug combinations, maximizing quality-adjusted survival has become a major target of HIV treatment. Although the association of HIV RNA and CD4 cell count with clinical HIV progression has been well established, the relation between these markers and HRQoL measures is still unclear.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the potential benefits of directly administered antiretroviral therapy (DAART) in HIV-infected former injecting drug users (ex-IDUs) admitted to residential drug rehabilitation facilities. We compared 106 of these patients consecutively admitted in 12 communities where DAART was administered (DAART group) to two matched control groups of ex-IDUs undergoing self-administered ART: 106 subjects in other 10 communities (SAT group) and 106 outpatients at hospital infectious-disease wards where community patients were referred after discharge (OUT group). We estimated the proportion of patients with high adherence and the hazard ratio (HR) of 20% or more increase in the CD4(+) cell count and of reaching an undetectable viral load.

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Background: Hypersensitivity reaction to nevirapine, which in some cases can be fatal, shows a higher prevalence in Sardinia in comparison with other Italian regions.

Objective: This study demonstrates that hypersensitive reaction to nevirapine in Sardinian HIV-infected patients is associated with the HLA Cw8-B14 haplotype. These two HLA class I antigens are in strong linkage disequilibrium in the Sardinian population.

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