[Not Available].

Our purpose was to evaluate the approach of two different chatbots (ChatGPT and Gemini) to a list of questions about emergency department as a border area between hospital and territory. This study was performed in a single day, on 3 March 2024. Two different questions were sequentially type in Italian language, the same for each chatbot: definition of the emergency department as a border zone in Italy; possible solutions to the previous question.

The digitalization of emergency department triage: the perspectives of health professionals and patients.

Background: Digitalization in the healthcare sector offers several organizational advantages, ranging from enhanced service quality to cost savings. However, its adoption often progresses slowly and faces challenges, especially in critical settings like emergency departments, requiring prompt, clear, and efficient communication. As such, this study aims to comprehensively assess the factors influencing the preference for digitalized tools over traditional methods from the perspectives of both service providers and users.

Probable Silodosin-Induced Diplopia.

Diplopia, or double vision, is a symptom resulting from the perception of two images of a single object. We report a case of a possible silodosin-induced diplopia never reported before in the literature. We suggest that binocular diplopia should be considered in people assuming silodosin even if further studies should be conducted to explore possible pathogenetic mechanisms.

Effortful speech with distortion of prosody following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection has the potential for targeting the central nervous system, and several neurological symptoms have been reported in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We describe a 48-year-old Caucasian woman with SARS-CoV-2 infection followed by the onset of word finding difficulties, effortful speech along with prosody distortion, in the context of spared semantic and syntactic abilities. The clinical picture, perceived as foreign accent syndrome (FAS), was not associated with structural and functional imaging changes or neurophysiological assessment abnormalities.

Laboratory predictors of death from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the area of Valcamonica, Italy.

Background Comprehensive information has been published on laboratory tests which may predict worse outcome in Asian populations with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of this study is to describe laboratory findings in a group of Italian COVID-19 patients in the area of Valcamonica, and correlate abnormalities with disease severity. Methods The final study population consisted of 144 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 (70 who died during hospital stay and 74 who survived and could be discharged) between March 1 and 30, 2020, in Valcamonica Hospital.

Topiramate weight loss in migraine patients.

Topiramate (TPM) is generally recognized efficacious and safe in migraine prevention. A significant proportion of patients undergoing TPM administration may show weight loss. In epileptic subjects, high body mass index (BMI) was found to be predictive of weight loss under TPM therapy.

[Growth hormone secretion in heart failure].

Growth hormone is a pituitary polypeptide hormone regulating growth in paediatric age as well as inducing anabolic actions directly or IGF-I mediated in adult age. Particularly, in many animals GH and IGF-I receptors were observed in cardiac myocyte membrane. GH modifies left ventricle structure and function.

Role of growth hormone in chronic heart failure: therapeutic implications.

Chronic heart failure is a multi-etiological cardiovascular disorder with high prevalence and poor prognosis. Medical treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy is aimed at alleviating heart failure symptoms. Diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and very recently, beta-blockers have been shown to have favorable effects on symptoms, exercise capacity and mortality.

Role of growth hormone in chronic heart failure. Therapeutic implications.

Congestive heart failure is a multiple aetiology, high prevalence, poor prognosis cardiovascular disorder. Medical treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy is aimed at alleviating the symptoms of heart failure. Diuretics, ACE inhibitors and very recently, beta-blockers have been shown to have favourable effects on symptoms, exercise capacity and mortality.

Cardiovascular effects of a single slow release lanreotide injection in patients with acromegaly and left ventricular hypertrophy.

In our study we assessed the effects of a single i.m. injection of slow-release Lanreotide (30 mg) (SR-L), a new long-acting somatostain analog, on circulating GH levels, baseline cardiac function (M-mode, 2D guided, doppler-echocardiographic study) and cardiopulmonary response to exercise (cycloergometric test, performed using a computer drived, electrically braked cycle ergometer), tested at baseline, after 7 and 14 days from the injection in 10 acromegalic patients (5 M, 5 F, mean age 57.

Acute and chronic galanin administration decreases hypothalamic galanin synthesis in both male and female adult rats: evidence for a long-loop galanin autofeedback.

The secretion of growth hormone (GH) in both male and female rats is controlled by two main neuropeptides, GH-releasing hormone (GHRH), which is stimulatory, and somatostatin, which is inhibitory. Recently, it has been shown that galanin (GAL) also stimulates GH secretion, although the underlying mechanism is still unknown. It was the aim of this study to begin to elucidate if and how GAL regulates its own production at the hypothalamic and pituitary level.

Exercise-induced microalbuminuria in patients with active acromegaly: acute effects of slow-release lanreotide, a long-acting somatostatin analog.

Recent clinical studies have demonstrated an increase of urinary albumin excretion (UAE) at rest in acromegalic patients and, on the other hand, a reduced UAE in patients with growth hormone (GH) deficiency. Physical exercise is known to induce abnormal UAE in patients with diabetes, probably unmasking early glomerular alterations. The effect of exercise on UAE in acromegaly is not known.

Growth hormone (GH) responses to GH-releasing hormone alone or combined with arginine in patients with adrenal incidentaloma: evidence for enhanced somatostatinergic tone.

Spontaneous and stimulated GH secretion is blunted in hypercortisolemic states due to increased hypothalamic somatostatinergic tone. However, no data are available on the characteristics of GH secretion in patients with incidentally discovered adrenal adenomas. They represent an interesting model for studying GH secretion, as a slight degree of cortisol excess may frequently be observed in such patients who do not present with any clear Cushingoid sign.

Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.

Endogenous cortisol excess and glucocorticoid (GC) treatment have a profound effect on bone metabolism, acting at many sites. The mechanism of GC action on bone turnover is complex and has not been elucidated completely. GCs increase bone resorption, inhibit bone formation and have an indirect action on bone by decreasing intestinal Ca2+ absorption, modifying vitamin D metabolism, and sustaining a marked hypercalciuria, with variable changes in plasma PTH levels; finally, GCs inhibit the gonadotropic and somatotropic axis.

Endocrine predictors of acute hemodynamic effects of growth hormone in congestive heart failure.

Background: The aim of our study was to assess whether there could be any clinical and/or endocrine (spontaneous growth hormone [GH] secretion rate, baseline insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1]) predictors and/or determinants of the acute effects of continuous intravenous infusion of recombinant human GH on hemodynamic parameters in 12 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure (CHF).

Methods And Results: The study involved 12 male patients with chronic CHF (ischemic in 8 patients and idiopathic in 4). Ten patients were in New York Heart Association functional class III or IV and 2 in class II.