Aim Of The Study: In this article, we describe a rare case of the nutcracker syndrome caused by combined compression of the left anteroaortic and retroaortic renal veins. A 42-year-old woman presented with microhematuria and left flank pain. The patient underwent computed tomography and Doppler ultrasound which showed the left renal veins with anteroaortic and retroaortic courses, with signs of compression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmacol Res Perspect
April 2023
Background: Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), such as telmisartan, have been postulated to treat Covid-19-induced lung inflammation.
Methods: This is a parallel-group, randomized, two-arm, open-label, adaptive, multicenter superiority trial with 1:1 allocation ratio. Participants included patients from 18 years of age hospitalized with Covid-19 with 4 or fewer days since symptom onset enrolled at a university and a community hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
COVID-19 pandemic demands a swift response to find therapeutic tools that effectively reduce morbidity and mortality. Despite initial fears, evidence from retrospective observational studies supports the inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system as an emerging pathway to delay or moderate angiotensin II-driven lung inflammation. This has triggered several prospective clinical trials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
March 2021
The awareness of citizens concerning the health risks caused by environmental pollution is growing, but studies on determinants of pro-environmental behaviors have rarely examined health-related aspects. In this study, we investigated these determinants using data from a large survey among Italian university students (15 Universities: 4778 filled questionnaires). Besides the health-related aspects, represented by environmental health risk perception and functional health literacy, we considered social and demographic characteristics (gender, area of residence, sources of information, trust in institutional and non-institutional subjects, and students' capacity of positive actions, indicated as internal locus of control).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSevere periodontal disease (SPD) associated with systemic peripheral inflammation, cognitive impairment (CI) and arterial stiffness (AS) has been recognized. The aim of this study was to investigate whether CI and arterial stiffness (AS) occur in cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients with SPD. A crosssectional case-control study included hospitalized patients with CVD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Biological considerations suggest that renin-angiotensin system inhibitors might influence the severity of COVID-19. We aimed to evaluate whether continuing versus discontinuing renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers) affects outcomes in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.
Methods: The REPLACE COVID trial was a prospective, randomised, open-label trial done at 20 large referral hospitals in seven countries worldwide.
Background: Invasive meningococcal disease is a serious global health threat in the world; in 2016, the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported 3280 confirmed cases (including 304 deaths) of Invasive Meningococcal Diseases in Europe. In Italy, in 2017 were reported 200 cases 41% of which due to menB serogroup. From January 2013 the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has authorized the marketing of the meningococcal B vaccine 4CMenB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmong the determinants of environmental health risk perception, health literacy and social media messages have been generally neglected. This study details the environmental health risk perception and its determinants in Italian university students, including a measure of functional health literacy and an analysis of newspapers and social media. A cross sectional survey was carried out among students from 15 Italian universities and different disciplines (grouped into Scientific-Health and Humanistic-Legal-Social sectors) using a self-administered anonymous questionnaire, divided into six sections: socio-demographic characteristics, information on health and environment, environmental health risk perception, trust, attitudes and behaviors and functional health literacy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe failure of immunization coverage is the primary reason for the transmission and the spread of the diseases in young infants not eligible for vaccination because of age and in immunocompromised individuals. In both these categories measles, pertussis and varicella could be devastating. Pertussis, measles and varicella in the first year of life are responsible to the ED admission, the hospitalization and, exceptionally, the death.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Varicella pneumonia has been studied extensively in adults; it may also affect children and may require hospitalization.
Methods: We examined pneumonia complications in children hospitalized for varicella, over a 13 year period.
Results: Pneumonia occurred in 8.
Switched and IgM memory B cells execute different and noninterchangeable functions. We studied memory B cells in children of different ages, in peripheral blood and spleen and compared them with those of children born asplenic or unable to build germinal centers. We show that, whereas switched memory B cells are mostly generated in the germinal centers at all ages, IgM memory B cells can be distinct in three types with different developmental history.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: There is a relation between vascular endothelial function, atherosclerotic disease, and inflammation. Deterioration of endothelial function has been observed twenty-four hours after intensive periodontal treatment. This effect may be counteracted by the action of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, which improve endothelial function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objective: Periodontal disease has been described as playing a role in the atherosclerosis process, and its relation with intimal thickness and vascular endothelial function (EF) has been investigated. The present study sought to determine whether there are differences in parameters of arterial stiffness and EF between patients with and without severe periodontal disease (SPD).
Material And Methods: Patients referred to the School of Dentistry University of Buenos Aires, were assessed.
Niger J Clin Pract
August 2015
Aims: International adoption medicine is a relatively new specialty in pediatrics that has emerged to address the specific health care needs of internationally adopted children in high-income countries. This study ascertains the seroprotection rate for vaccine-preventable diseases, especially against pneumococcal diseases.
Patients And Methods: We evaluated 67 internationally adopted children that reached the International Adoption Unit of Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome-Italy.
Hepatitis B is a major infectious occupational hazard for health care workers and can be prevented with a safe and effective vaccine. The serum titer of anti-HBsAg antibodies is the most commonly used correlate of protection and post-vaccination anti-HBsAg concentrations of ≥ 10 mIU/ml are considered protective. Subjects with post-vaccination anti-HBsAg titers of <10 mIU/ml 1-6 months post-vaccination, who tested negative for HBsAg and anti-HBc, are defined as non-responders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: During the last century, mass vaccination programs have achieved considerable success across the world in immunizing against several serious infectious diseases. However, vaccinations are threatened by their own success after results have been obtained: the more the incidence of potentially devastating diseases decreases, thanks to the success of vaccination programs, the more public attention shifts towards real or alleged "side effects" of vaccines.
Methods: We analyze the experience of 153 children with "reaction to a previous vaccine dose" continuing the vaccination protocol in the safe environment of the Center for risk vaccination at the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS in Rome, from 2009 to 2011.