Narrative medicine: feasibility of a digital narrative diary application in oncology.

Objectives: We implemented narrative medicine in clinical practice using the Digital Narrative Medicine (DNM) platform.

Methods: We conducted a preliminary, open, uncontrolled, real-life study in the oncology and radiotherapy departments of Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico National Cancer Institute Regina Elena, Rome, Italy. We recruited adult Italian-speaking patients who then completed the DNM diary from the start of treatment.

[The impact of Reiki on side effects in patients with head-neck neoplasia undergoing radiotherapy: a pilot study].

Background: Cancer patients often report symptoms related to therapeutic treatment, whose management is based on traditional medicine. In recent years, however, there has been growing interest towards adopting some form of complementary medicine, among these, Reiki. The aim of this study is to evaluate how this type of discipline can contribute to managing radiotherapy-related symptoms in patients with head and neck cancer.

Transcranial color Doppler in stroke-free adult patients with sickle cell disease.

The threshold velocity ≥200 cm/s at transcranial Doppler (TCD) evaluation is a useful cut-off for preventing the stroke (STOP trial) in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), term including different types of sickle genotypes. Scanty data are available for adult SCD patients. We compared intracranial blood flow velocities between adult SCD patients and controls using transcranial color Doppler (TCCD), measuring the peak of systolic velocity (PSV) with the insonation angle correction and the pulsatility index (PI), an indicator of endothelial elasticity.

Double-blind randomized phase III study comparing a mixture of natural agents versus placebo in the prevention of acute mucositis during chemoradiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

Background: There is no widely accepted intervention in the prevention of acute mucositis during chemoradiotherapy for head and neck carcinoma. In the present double-blind study, we tested 4 natural agents, propolis, aloe vera, calendula, and chamomile versus placebo.

Methods: Patients undergoing concomitant chemo-intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) were given natural agent or matched placebo; grade 3 mucositis on physical examination according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 3.

[X-ray bone densitometry. Study of in vitro and in vivo reproducibility].

We studied the reproducibility in vitro and in vivo of a new bone densitometer (HOLOGIC QDR-1000, software version 4.03) which uses an x-ray source at two different levels of energy. Short and long term coefficient of variation (c.