Treatment strategies with electrochemotherapy for limb in-transit melanoma: Real-world outcomes from a European, retrospective, cohort study.

Background: This study analysed treatment strategies with electrochemotherapy (ECT) in melanoma with limb in-transit metastases (ITM).

Methods: We audited AJCC v.8 stage IIIB-IIID patients treated across 22 centres (2006-2020) within the International Network for Sharing Practices of ECT (InspECT).

A shift in psychiatry through AI? Ethical challenges.

The digital transformation has made its way into many areas of society, including medicine. While AI-based systems are widespread in medical disciplines, their use in psychiatry is progressing more slowly. However, they promise to revolutionize psychiatric practice in terms of prevention options, diagnostics, or even therapy.

European e-Delphi process to define expert consensus on electrochemotherapy treatment indications, procedural aspects, and quality indicators in melanoma.

Background: Skin metastases are an important co-morbidity in melanoma. Despite broad adoption, electrochemotherapy implementation is hindered by a lack of treatment indications, uncertainty regarding procedural aspects, and the absence of quality indicators. An expert consensus may harmonize the approach among centres and facilitate comparison with other therapies.

Covalent polyphenol modification of a reactive cysteine in the major apple allergen Mal d 1.

Naturally occurring polyphenols can modify the molecular properties of food allergens. For the major apple allergen Mal d 1 it has been postulated that chemical reactions with polyphenols cause permanent changes in the tertiary structure, causing a loss of conformational IgE epitopes and reducing allergenicity. In our study, we investigated the effect that reactions with oxidized polyphenols have on the structure of Mal d 1 by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy.

Mutual Role Expectations by Patients and General Practitioners-A Mixed Methods Study on Complementarity.

Background: Changes in public attitudes toward “authorities” in general, as well as shifts in medical practice toward participative models of diagnosis and treatment, imply fundamental transformations in the patient−doctor relationship. However, consistency in reciprocal role expectations cannot be assumed, and this study reveals significant discrepancies in attitudes and behaviors in primary health consultations. Methods: We conducted a study in the tri-lingual northeastern Italian region of South Tyrol to determine whether perceptions of the patient’s role were congruent or differed.

Ascorbylation of a Reactive Cysteine in the Major Apple Allergen Mal d 1.

The protein Mal d 1 is responsible for most allergic reactions to apples () in the northern hemisphere. Mal d 1 contains a cysteine residue on its surface, with its reactive side chain thiol exposed to the surrounding food matrix. We show that, in vitro, this cysteine residue is prone to spontaneous chemical modification by ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

Livedoid skin reaction to 2nd dose of mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.

Skin often represents a target organ for adverse drug reactions and this also applies to the mRNA vaccines against Sars-CoV-2. Here we present a case of extensive livedoid reaction after 2nd dose of BNT162b-2 vaccine with massive blood skin extravasation and no systemic symptoms apart from anemization. The 30-year-old woman developed progressively enlarging livedoid lesions on limbs and abdomen.

Disaster Response in Italian Nursing Homes: A Qualitative Study during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Nursing homes (NHs) have been among the care settings most affected by both the virus itself and collateral damage through infection protection and control measures (IPC). However, there is a paucity of research regarding disaster response and preparedness of these institutions. The present study aimed to analyze disaster response and management and to develop prospective strategies for disaster management in NHs.

Mental Health Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic Long-Term Exposure in Italian Dermatologists.

The present study aimed at assessing the consequences of prolonged exposure to COVID-19 distress on mental health in non-frontline health care workers. For this purpose, we have conducted a survey on 425 Italian dermatologists, in the period February-March 2021. The psychopathological symptoms, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSD), as well as resilience, have been evaluated.

Who Is Watching the Children? A Quantitative Analysis of Strategies for Reconciling Work and Parenting during Lockdown in Northern Italy.

(1) Background: In their efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, most countries closed schools and kindergartens. To date, little is known about the strategies of working families reconciling work and parenting during repeated lockdown situations. (2) Methods: We performed a quantitative survey of working parents in Italy during a week of 'hard lockdown' in February/March 2021.

Primary Health Care and Hospital Management During COVID-19: Lessons from Lombardy.

The pandemic due to SARS-CoV-2 tested the resilience of health systems worldwide. The outcome of the pandemic is impacted by health management choices made over the course of the disaster, which in turn are strongly dependent on the underlying healthcare system - as mirrored by the fact that regional pandemic experiences differ considerably: In Italy (a country most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak), infection and mortality rates vary vastly between regions, with Lombardy - a comparatively well-equipped region with regard to hospitals and centers of scientific excellence - being amongst the worst-affected areas. Within this article, we focus on the challenges within primary health care and hospital organization, cooperation between primary and specialist care, and access to health care services: In Lombardy, neglected primary health care with a comparatively low availability of general practitioners (GPs) per inhabitant, the initial prioritization of hospitals during the pandemic while neglecting primary health care in terms of personal protective equipment (PPE), the lack of testing resources, and a failure to achieve coordinated support contributed to a quick overburdening of hospitals, where the dissolution of traditional departments into "macro-areas" may favor nosocomial infections during an ongoing pandemic.

Combination of a triple wavelength (650 nm, 810 nm, and 915 nm) class IV laser system and local mechanical abrasion in the treatment of chronic toenail onychomycosis: an uncontrolled prospective pilot study.

Background: Toenail onychomycosis is a frequent fungal infection that is difficult to treat, especially in elderly patients. Diverse local and systemic antifungal treatments are available with variable results. Recently, different laser systems have been proposed for the treatment of onychomycosis, among them a class IV laser system adopting three different wavelengths, that is, 650, 810, and 915 nm (K-Laser Cube 3TM).

Oral birch pollen immunotherapy with apples: Results of a phase II clinical pilot study.

Background: Seventy percent of patients suffering from birch pollen allergy (BPA) develop a pollen-related food allergy (prFA), especially to apples, due to a clinically relevant cross-reactivity between the major allergen in birch Bet v 1 and Mal d 1 in apples. Therefore allergen-specific immunotherapy with fresh apples (AITA) could be a promising natural treatment of both BPA and prFA.

Objective: To assess the clinical efficacy of immunotherapy by daily apple consumption for patients with BPA and prFA.

Combining chemotherapy and autologous peptide-pulsed dendritic cells provides survival benefit in stage IV melanoma patients.

Background And Objectives: We examined retrospectively whether the combination of standard dacarbazine (DTIC) and/or fotemustine chemotherapy and autologous peptide-loaded dendritic cell (DC) vaccination may improve survival of stage IV melanoma patients. Furthermore, a small cohort of long-term survivors was studied in more detail.

Patients And Methods: Between 1998 and 2008, 41 patients were vaccinated at least three times with DCs while receiving chemotherapy and compared to all other 168 patients in our database who only received chemotherapy (1993-2008).

The Association of Residential Altitude on the Molecular Profile and Survival of Melanoma: Results of an Interreg Study.

Cutaneous melanoma (CM) incidence is rising worldwide and is the primary cause of death from skin disease in the Western world. Personal risk factors linked to environmental ultraviolet radiation (UVR) are well-known etiological factors contributing to its development. Nevertheless, UVR can contribute to the development of CM in different patterns and to varying degrees.