Publications by authors named "Giovanna Piazzetta"

Article Synopsis
  • Severe asthma can be understood through different types called phenotypes, which are linked to complex biological causes known as endotypes.
  • * Researchers have found that new treatments using antibodies can help people with different types of severe asthma, especially those related to allergies and certain immune responses.
  • * There is hope for better treatments in the future for people with a type of severe asthma that currently doesn't have good treatment options, which could help improve their lives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) is an inflammatory disease of the nasal and sinus mucosa. This inflammatory process is supported by a multitude of cytokines, including IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 produced by Th2 cells, as well as by IgE produced by B lymphocytes in response to a stimulus. Omalizumab is an anti-IgE monoclonal antibody with well-recognized roles in allergic asthma and chronic spontaneous urticaria.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) is an inflammatory disease linked to type 2 inflammation. Several biologics have demonstrated therapeutic potential for the treatment of this pathology in which IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 represent the major cytokines involved in the control of eosinophilic respiratory inflammation. 25% of CRSwNP patients relapse after the use of oral glucocorticoids or after surgery and often require several surgeries during their lifetime.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Already used for the treatment of some allergic and inflammatory diseases, such as asthma or atopic dermatitis, dupilumab has also been approved as add-on therapy for patients with CRSwNP, and it could represent the keystone to reducing the remission time as well as to improve healing and quality of life. On the other hand, the role of miRNAs as potential biomarkers of immune modulation is emerging. We analyzed the effects of a short-time treatment with dupilumab in patients with CRSwNP, analyzing the immune response modification as well as miRNAs modulations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Killian's (antrochoanal) polyp is a unilateral nasal polypoid lesion of the maxillary sinus especially affecting children and young adults with unilateral nasal obstruction, pus discharge, and headache. Although its etiology is unclear, chronic inflammation, autoreactivity, allergies, and viral infections are implicated in its formation and development, causing nasal tissue remodeling. In this context, we isolated and cultured mesenchymal stem cells from surgical biopsies of three patients with Killian nasal polyp (KNP-MSCs) while healthy nasal tissue (HNT-MSCs) was used as control.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Having been approved for biological treatment of atopic dermatitis, dupilumab has also been recently licensed as add-on therapy for severe asthma and nasal polyposis. With regard to the latter diseases, few real-life clinical investigations have been carried out to date.

Objective: The primary end point of this single-center observational study was to evaluate in a real-life setting the short-term therapeutic effects of dupilumab in patients with severe asthma and nasal polyposis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We report the case of a primitive nasal melanoma in an 82-year-old patient, showing how this rare malignancy, with non-specific signs and symptoms, can represent a challenging diagnosis for the physician. A 82-year-old Caucasian patient presented for unilateral nasal obstruction and occasional epistaxis. Computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the facial massif revealed turbinate hypertrophy and a polypoid phlogistic tissue isointense in T1 with an intermediate signal in T2 and Short-TI Inversion Recovery (STIR)-T2, occupying the middle meatus and the anterior upper and lower left meatus with partial obliteration of the ostium and the infundibulum of the maxillary sinus.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chronic rhinosinusitis of the nasal mucosa is an inflammatory disease of paranasal sinuses, which causes rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, and hyposmia, and in some cases, it can result in the development of nasal polyposis. Nasal polyps are benign lobular-shaped growths that project in the nasal cavities; they originate from inflammation in the paranasal mucous membrane and are associated with a high expression of interleukins (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IgE. Polyps derive from the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of the nasal epithelium resulting in a nasal tissue remodeling.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The aim of this study has been to evaluate the efficacy of the IL-5 receptor blocker benralizumab on chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP), associated with severe eosinophilic allergic asthma. Ten patients with severe eosinophilic allergic asthma and CRSwNP were enrolled. Sino-nasal outcome test (SNOT-22), numerical rating scale (NRS), endoscopic nasal polyp score, Lund Mackey CT (computed tomography) score, and blood eosinophil count were measured at baseline and after 24 weeks of treatment with benralizumab.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

BACKGROUND Lipomas, the most common soft tissue tumors, represent almost half of all benign mesenchymal neoplasms and are characterized by the absence of symptoms. However, if they grow in a laryngeal site, they can cause dyspnea and dysphonia which represents one of the major symptoms of benign laryngeal diseases (such as polyps or nodules); these symptoms are often the first symptom of neoplastic diseases. CASE REPORT We present a case of a 28-year-old female patient with a rounded pseudocyst neoformation located in the left aryepiglottic fold that partially hid the homolateral vocal cord and limited its mobility.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Maxillary sinus mucocele is an unusual clinic entity (incidence of 3-10%), represented by mucous secretion lined by respiratory stratified pavemented epithelium and its origin is mainly secondary to infections, inflammations, surgery, trauma or neoplasia.

Case Report: We present a case of maxillary sinus mucocele. Subject of the study is a 74 aged patient referring positive anamnesis for nasal cavity surgery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF