Long-term trajectories of bone metabolism parameters and bone mineral density (BMD) in obese patients treated with metabolic surgery: a real-world, retrospective study.

Purpose: Potential negative effects of metabolic surgery on skeletal integrity remain a concern, since long-term data of different surgical approaches are poor. This study aimed to describe changes in bone metabolism in subjects with obesity undergoing both Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG).

Methods: A single center, retrospective, observational clinical study on real-world data was performed enrolling subjects undergoing metabolic surgery.

Application of a Decision Tree Model to Predict the Outcome of Non-Intensive Inpatients Hospitalized for COVID-19.

Many studies have identified predictors of outcomes for inpatients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially in intensive care units. However, most retrospective studies applied regression methods to evaluate the risk of death or worsening health. Recently, new studies have based their conclusions on retrospective studies by applying machine learning methods.

Nitrogen dioxide pollution increases vulnerability to COVID-19 through altered immune function.

Previous ecological studies suggest the existence of possible interplays between the exposure to air pollutants and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Confirmations at individual level, however, are lacking. To explore the relationships between previous exposure to particulate matter < 10 μm (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO), the clinical outcome following hospital admittance, and lymphocyte subsets in COVID-19 patients with pneumonia.

[Stent loss and successful retrieval with the loop snare technique].

A 79-year-old woman was admitted to our coronary care unit for non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Urgent left transradial coronary angiography showed mid-distal high-grade stenosis of the left circumflex coronary artery. During percutaneous coronary intervention, stent dislodgement from the balloon catheter occurred.

SARS-CoV-2 Infection as a Determining Factor to the Precipitation of Ischemic Priapism in a Young Patient with Asymptomatic COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a disease characterized by respiratory distress, systemic inflammation, multiple organ dysfunction and coagulation disorders, chiefly pulmonary embolism, and deep venous thrombosis. In this case report, we discuss a peculiar case of ischemic priapism in a 36-year-old patient with asymptomatic COVID-19 and no other plausible causes of thrombophilia and/or alternative causes of priapism, as well as discussing possible explanations for such remarkable findings and comparing them to analogous cases recorded in literature. The patient was unsuccessfully treated via cavernous blood aspiration and required several shunting procedures, with no further recurrences and negative testing for pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis, and other causes of thrombophilia.

Pulmonary Artery Filling Defects in COVID-19 Patients Revealed Using CT Pulmonary Angiography: A Predictable Complication?

Purpose: This study is aimed at assessing the prevalence of pulmonary artery filling defects (PAFDs) consistent with pulmonary artery embolism (PAE) in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and at investigating possible radiological or clinical predictors.

Materials And Methods: Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiographies (CTPAs) from 43 consecutive patients with a confirmed COVID-19 infection were retrospectively reviewed, taking into consideration the revised Geneva score and the D-dimer value for each patient. Filling defects within the pulmonary arteries were recorded along with pleural and parenchymal findings such as ground glass opacities, consolidation, crazy paving, linear consolidation, and pleural effusion.

The grandfather's fever.

An 86-year-old Caucasian man had prior episodes of fever (up to 38 °C), mild abdominal pain, tachycardia, and malaise in the last 3 months, lasting 2-3 days. He never suffered from abdominal or chest pain, rash, or arthralgia. Major causes of fever were excluded (pulmonary, urinary, abdomen, skin infections, neoplasms, and major rheumatologic disorders).

Transradial versus transfemoral intervention for acute myocardial infarction: a propensity score-adjusted and -matched analysis from the REAL (REgistro regionale AngiopLastiche dell'Emilia-Romagna) multicenter registry.

Objectives: This study sought to assess whether transradial intervention, by minimizing access-site bleeding and vascular events, improves outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction compared with the transfemoral approach.

Background: Bleeding and consequent blood product transfusions have been causally associated with a higher mortality rate in patients with myocardial infarction undergoing coronary angioplasty.

Methods: We identified all adults undergoing percutaneous intervention for acute myocardial infarction in Emilia-Romagna, a region in the north of Italy of 4 million residents, between January 1, 2003, and July 30, 2009, at 12 referral hospitals using a region-mandated database of percutaneous coronary intervention procedures.

Coronary angiography and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty procedures: Evaluation of patients' maximum skin dose using Gafchromic films and a comparison of local levels with reference levels proposed in the literature.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the maximum skin dose (MSD) in patients undergoing interventional cardiology procedures, obtaining local reference levels and comparing these with the reference levels proposed in the literature. The patients' MSD was measured using Gafchromic XR type R films. In order to evaluate reference levels, the number of images acquired, the fluoroscopy times and the KAP(TOTAL) were recorded for each procedure.

Bone marrow cell transplantation improves cardiac, autonomic, and functional indexes in acute anterior myocardial infarction patients (Cardiac Study).

Aims: Bone marrow (BM) stem cells improve cardiac function and outcome after acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (MI). In this randomized controlled trial, the effects of intracoronary transfer of autologous BM cells on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and volumes (2D-echo and resting SPECT), stroke volume [impedance cardiography (ICG)], autonomic control [heart rate variability (HRV)], baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), and exercise tolerance (cardiopulmonary exercise test) were assessed in post-MI patients. Exercise stress SPECT was also performed.

Clinical impact of an inter-hospital transfer strategy in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary angioplasty: the Emilia-Romagna ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction network.

Aims: This study sought to evaluate the impact of an inter-hospital transfer strategy on treatment times and in-hospital and 1 year cardiac mortality of patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous intervention (p-PCI) in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, where an efficient region-wide system for reperfusion has been established.

Methods And Results: 3296 patients with STEMI, undergoing on-site p-PCI (2444 patients) (OS group) or p-PCI after inter-hospital transfer (852 patients) (T group) between 1 January 2004 and 30 June 2006 in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, were considered. During the study period, the number of patients undergoing p-PCI increased both for patients admitted to interventional centres and for those admitted to peripheral hospitals.

Percutaneous treatment of multivessel coronary disease in the drug eluting stent era: comparison of bare-metal stents, drug-eluting stents and a mixed approach in a large multicentre registry.

Background: Restenosis and a high incidence of new revascularisations reduce the long-term efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease.

Aims: To determine the modality of utilisation and the clinical efficacy of drug eluting stents (DES) in a real world multivessel PCI scenario.

Methods: From July 2002 to December 2004, 1726 consecutive patients enrolled in the REAL Registry (Registro REgionale AngiopLastiche Emilia-Romagna) underwent elective multivessel PCI with multiple stents in at least two different vessels; among them, 939 (54%) received only bare-metal stents (BMS group), 288 (17%) only DES (DES group) and 499 (29%) were treated with BMS and DES in different vessels (MIX group).

Safety and long-term efficacy of sirolimus eluting stent in ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction: the REAL (Registro REgionale AngiopLastiche Emilia-Romagna) registry.

Background: Limited data are available for sirolimus eluting stent (SES) implantation in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Aim: To confirm the safety and effectiveness of SES in patients with STEMI in a real-world scenario (multicentric registry).

Methods: From July 2002 to June 2004, clinical and angiographic data of 1617 patients with STEMI treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have been collected.

Transradial approach for renal percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting: a feasibility pilot study.

Background: Stent implantation of renal stenosis (RS) has been reported on extensively; this technique is perceived as superior to balloon angioplasty alone and less invasive than surgical revascularization. With the development of new accessories and stents, we can now improve and optimize procedural and clinical results. In this pilot study, we tested an alternative minimally invasive approach for renal stenting: the transradial artery catheterization (TAC) and a 6 French (Fr) system for stenting.

A human melanoma cell line transduced with an interleukin-4 gene by a retroviral vector releases biologically active IL-4 and maintains the original tumor antigenic phenotype.

Experimental models of vaccination with tumor cells engineered to produce interleukin-4 (IL-4) have shown that the local release of this cytokine is associated with the development of antitumor immunity that may induce regression of established cancer. The aim of this study was to transduce a human melanoma cell line with the gene coding for human IL-4, and to analyze cytokine production, phenotypic characteristics, and antigen expression after transduction. A retroviral vector, constructed by inserting IL-4 cDNA into the LXSN vector, was used to infect the human melanoma cell line Me14932, known to express the MHC class I HLA-A2 and the melanoma-associated antigen Melan-A/MART-1, recognized by HLA-A2-restricted T-cells.

Synthetic peptides homologous to prion protein residues 106-147 form amyloid-like fibrils in vitro.

Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease (GSS) is a prion-related encephalopathy pathologically characterized by massive deposition of prion protein (PrP) amyloid in the central nervous system. The major component of amyloid fibrils isolated from patients of the Indiana kindred of GSS (GSS-Ik) is an 11-kDa fragment of PrP spanning residues 58 to approximately 150. These patients carry a missense mutation of the PRNP gene, causing a Phe-->Ser substitution at codon 198.

Molecular characteristics of a protease-resistant, amyloidogenic and neurotoxic peptide homologous to residues 106-126 of the prion protein.

In the prion-related encephalopathies the prion protein is converted to an altered form, known as PrPSc, that is partially resistant to protease digestion. This abnormal isoform accumulates in the brain and its protease-resistant core aggregates extracellularly into amyloid fibrils. We have investigated the conformational properties, aggregation behaviour and sensitivity to protease digestion of a synthetic peptide homologous to residues 106-126 of human PrP, which was previously found to form amyloid-like fibrils in vitro and displayed neurotoxic activity toward primary cultures of rat hippocampal neurons.

B-myb antisense oligonucleotides inhibit proliferation of human hematopoietic cell lines.

The B-myb gene is highly homologous to the c-myb protooncogene in several domains and also shares some of the functions of c-myb in that it can act as a transcriptional activator. In addition, the expression of both the B-myb and c-myb genes correlates with proliferation of normal hematopoietic cells. We investigated more directly the role of B-myb in proliferation of hematopoietic cell lines using B-myb-specific antisense oligonucleotides.

Role of beta 1 integrins in tumor cell adhesion to cultured human endothelial cells.

We investigated the effects of beta 1 integrins on tumor cell (TC) adhesion to unstimulated and interleukin-1 (IL-1) activated endothelial cells (EC). IL-1 treatment (20 units/ml for 6 hours) of cultured human umbilical vein EC significantly increased adhesion of seven human TC lines of different origin. A goat antiserum raised to purified alpha 5 beta 1 integrin abolished the IL-1 induced increment in adhesion of two osteosarcomas, one melanoma, one lung, and one kidney carcinoma, whereas it did not affect adhesion of two colon carcinoma cell lines.