The carbon cost of inappropriate endoscopy.

Background And Aims: Digestive endoscopy is a resource-intensive activity with a conspicuous carbon footprint and an estimated rate of inappropriateness. However, the carbon costs of inappropriate endoscopic procedures still remain obscure. Here we evaluated the environmental impact of inappropriate endoscopic examinations.

Intestinal ischemic manifestations of SARS-CoV-2: Results from the ABDOCOVID multicentre study.

Background: Intestinal ischemia has been described in case reports of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease (coronavirus disease 19, COVID-19).

Aim: To define the clinical and histological, characteristics, as well as the outcome of ischemic gastrointestinal manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: A structured retrospective collection was promoted among three tertiary referral centres during the first wave of the pandemic in northern Italy.

The diagnostic yield of implantable loop recorders in unexplained syncope: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Guidelines recommend that implantable loop recorders (ILRs) are used in the evaluation of people with recurrent unexplained syncope in the absence of high-risk criteria, and in high-risk patients after a negative evaluation. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the diagnostic yield of ILRs in these patients.

Methods: We performed a systematic search in order to retrieve studies enrolling adults undergoing ILR implantation for undetermined syncope.

Genetic polymorphisms of inflammatory cytokines and liver fibrosis progression due to recurrent hepatitis C.

To ascertain whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) regulating the expression of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), IFN-gamma receptor-1 (IFNGR-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) may be associated with early fibrosis progression of recurrent hepatitis C, 50 liver transplantation recipients (32 men, 18 women, median age 56 years) with a median histologic follow-up time of 54 months were studied; 98 healthy blood donors served as controls. Cytokine SNPs were determined by means of previously described PCR-based methods. On the basis of the SNP studies, a low, intermediate, or high producer cytokine phenotype was attributed to each patient.

Pancreatic involvement in von Hippel-Lindau disease: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Background: Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is an autosomal dominant multicancer syndrome caused by the germline mutation of a tumor suppressor gene. Affected individuals develop benign and malignant tumors of the central nervous system, kidneys, adrenal glands, pancreas, and reproductive system. Although VHL disease is mainly diagnosed after the detection of central nervous system tumors, they may not always be the first presentation.

Favourable outcome of adefovir-dipivoxil treatment in acute de novo hepatitis B after liver transplantation.

Adefovir-dipivoxil has been shown to be effective against lamivudine-resistant mutants in immunocompetent patients and in a small number of liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The therapeutic role of adefovir-dipivoxil in acute de novo HBV infection after transplantation is uncertain. We describe a case of acute de novo HBV infection that occurred after liver transplantation and that was treated with lamivudine followed (when viral escape mutants emerged) by adefovir-dipivoxil rescue.