The Intellectual Profile of Adults with Specific Learning Disabilities.

Despite growing research on adults with specific learning disabilities (SLDs), evidence concerning their intellectual profile remains scarce. The present study examined the results of the administration of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition to 301 adults diagnosed with SLDs and compared them to the results obtained from previous studies with a large sample of children with SLDs. The results showed that: (1) as observed among children, adults with SLDs also presented higher scores in the subtests implying reasoning (associated with the General Ability Index, GAI) and lower scores in the subtests involving working memory and processing speed; (2) the discrepancy between full-scale IQ and the GAI had a good predictive value in discriminating adults with and without SLDs; (3) the four-factor hierarchical structure of intelligence proposed for the general adult population held for adults with SLDs as well, even though there were substantial differences in the loadings and a five-factor structure could be more appropriate; (4) similarities as well as strong differences were present between adults and children with SLDs.

Bacterial Infections Following Splenectomy for Malignant and Nonmalignant Hematologic Diseases.

Splenectomy, while often necessary in otherwise healthy patients after major trauma, finds its primary indication for patients with underlying malignant or nonmalignant hematologic diseases. Indications of splenectomy for hematologic diseases have been reducing in the last few years, due to improved diagnostic and therapeutic tools. In high-income countries, there is a clear decrease over calendar time in the incidence of all indication splenectomy except nonmalignant hematologic diseases.

Acute hepatitis C: a 24-week course of pegylated interferon α-2b versus a 12-week course of pegylated interferon α-2b alone or with ribavirin.

Unlabelled: Therapy of acute hepatitis C (AHC) has not yet been standardized and several issues are still unresolved. This open, randomized, multicenter trial aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of a 24-week course of pegylated IFN (Peg-IFN) alpha-2b versus a 12-week course of Peg-IFN alpha-2b alone or with ribavirin (RBV) in AHC patients. One hundred and thirty HCV acutely infected patients who did not spontaneously resolve by week 12 after onset were consecutively enrolled and randomized to receive Peg-IFN alpha-2b monotherapy (1.

Five-year retrospective Italian multicenter study of visceral leishmaniasis treatment.

The treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is poorly standardized in Italy in spite of the existing evidence. All consecutive patients with VL admitted at 15 Italian centers as inpatients or outpatients between January 2004 and December 2008 were retrospectively considered; outcome data at 1 year after treatment were obtained for all but 1 patient. Demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, diagnostic procedures, treatment regimens and outcomes, as well as side effects were recorded.

Improved metabolic profile after switch to darunavir/ritonavir in HIV positive patients previously on protease inhibitor therapy.

Metabolic abnormalities associated with cumulative exposure to antiretroviral therapy have been linked to an increased risk of myocardial infarction in HIV positive individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the switch from lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) or fosamprenavir/ritonavir (FPV/r) to darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r) is able to improve the lipid profile. A total of 13 Caucasian subjects (7 from LPV/r and 6 from FPV/r) were enrolled in the study and received DRV/r at the dose of 800/100 mg, without change in their NRTI backbone.

Short communication: proangiogenic hematopoietic cells in acute HIV infection.

Chronic HIV infection induces significant changes in the trafficking of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Specifically, it causes marked depletion of proangiogenic hematopoietic cells, the so-called colony-forming unit-endothelial cells (CFU-ECs). In this study we evaluated CFU-ECs in two subjects with acute HIV infection.

Interleukin-28B (IL-28B) single-nucleotide polymorphisms and interferon plus ribavirin treatment outcome in Italian chronically HCV-infected patients.

To determine the single or combined effect of both rs12979860 and rs8099917 SNPs on HCV treatment response, these variants were genotyped in samples from a cohort of 170 patients infected with different HCV genotypes (HCVGT). The favourable rs12979860 CC genotype was found only in patients with sustained or rapid virological responses (SVR/RVR) and at significantly high proportions in HCVGT1/4 SVR patients. A significant association was also found between the rs8099917 TT genotype and SVR in both HCVGT1/4 and HCVGT2/3 groups of patients.

Psychophysical distress and alexithymic traits in chronic fatigue syndrome with and without comorbid depression.

Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) often report a comorbid depressive disorder. Comorbid depression may negatively influence the long-term outcome of CFS therefore it must be correctly diagnosed and treated. The aim of the present study is to provide a clinical and psychometric assessment of CFS patients with and without depressive features.

Optimization of comorbidity therapy to achieve sustained viral response in HCV patients.

Several studies indicate that insulin resistance and diabetes influence sustained viral response in treatment for chronic HCV infection. We describe the case of a relapsed patient with HCV infection who achieved a sustained viral response due to an improvement in insulin resistance through modification of antihypertensive therapy. By improving insulin resistance with telmisartan, an ARB with PPAR gamma agonist propriety, sustained viral response was obtained with the same antiviral therapy.

An Italian study on health-related quality of life and fatigue in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and patients with chronic HCV virus infection: similarities and differences.

Severe fatigue and a significantly reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL) have been described in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in comparison with patients affected by chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and other chronic medical conditions. We examined 39 CFS and 49 CHC patients to explore whether fatigue and a poor HRQoL represent a greater medical and social problem in CFS than in CHC. The severity of fatigue and the HRQoL were assessed using the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS) and the Health Status Questionnaire Short Form-36 (SF-36), respectively.

Proteinuria in an African HIV-infected patient: effects of telmisartan.

Kidney disease remains a major comorbidity of HIV infection especially in subjects of African ethnicity. HIV-associated renal disease with overt proteinuria has been associated with poorer outcomes and increased mortality. Telmisartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker partial agonist of the PPAR-? approved for the treatment of hypertension, seems to exert a nephro-protective effect independent of blood pressure reduction in the general population.

Differential expression of interferon-induced microRNAs in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection treated with pegylated interferon alpha.

There have been reports of in-vitro interferon (IFN)-mediated antiviral activity against the hepatitis C virus (HCV) through microRNAs (miRNAs). The main aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of several miRNAs (miR-1, miR-30, miR-128, miR-196, miR-296) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy individuals after in vitro IFN-treatment and in PBMCs from patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) before and 12 hours after the first injection of pegylated IFN alpha. We demonstrated that expression of these miRNAs could be recorded in PBMCs collected from healthy individuals before and after in-vitro IFN alpha treatment.

Cystatin C, adipokines and cardiovascular risk in HIV infected patients.

Objectives: To value the role of leptin, adiponectin and cystatin C in HIV infected patients treated with combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) subdivided for cardiovascular risk (CVR).

Methods: 56 HIV+ cART treated patients were screened by Framingham score and subdivided in 2 groups: A) 15 with "high" CVR (>10%) and B) 41 with "low" CVR (<10%). Viro-immunological parameters, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, microalbuminuria, fasting glucose, insulinemia, HOMA-IR, CRP, cystatin C, IL-18, IL-6, leptin, adiponectin, antropometric parameters and total abdominal tissue (TAT), subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral abdominal tissue (VAT) were measured.

Use of hematopoietic growth factor in the management of hematological side effects associated to antiviral treatment for HCV hepatitis.

Haematological abnormalities are common during combination antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C. Although dose reduction or discontinuation can easily treat these side effects, they can adversely affect the efficacy of combination antiviral therapy reducing the likelihood of a sustained viral response (SVR). To avoid potentially diminishing a patient's chance of response, many physicians have begun using growth factors off-label to manage anaemia and neutropenia in hepatitis C.

Use of epoetin beta during combination therapy of infection with hepatitis c virus with ribavirin improves a sustained viral response.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of epoetin-beta on anemia and sustained viral response in patients with chronic hepatitis C receiving treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Forty-two Caucasian patients with chronic hepatitis C infection, treated with pegylated interferon alpha-2a or alpha-2b plus ribavirin, who experienced at least a 2 log decline in HCV-RNA in the first month of therapy and a > or =2.5 g/dl hemoglobin drop from baseline, were recruited.

Severe HIV-associated hypertriglyceridaemia treated with rosuvastatin plus omega-3 fatty acids.

Compared with healthy controls, HIV patients already have abnormal lipoprotein concentrations before the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which worsen with the therapy. HAART-associated dyslipidaemia features fundamental proatherogenic changes such as increased plasma triglycerides (TGs), increased total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol as well as decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The current guidelines for managing HIV-associated dyslipidaemia recommend diet and exercise counselling, alteration of HAART regimen or addition of lipid-lowering medications such as statins, fibrates and omega-3 (OM-3) fatty acids.

Quality of life, depression, and cytokine patterns in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with antiviral therapy.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of chronic hepatitis C and antiviral therapy on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), depression symptoms and cytokine patterns.

Methods: Twenty HCV+ patients treated with peginterferon plus ribavirin were enrolled in this cohort study and invited to complete SF-12 and BDI questionnaires prior to (T0) and at the end of the treatment (T1). HCV-RNA, serum levels of ALT, AST, haemoglobin, ferritin and IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 were evaluated at T0 and T1.

Acute urinary retention due to HSV-1: a case report.

Complications in urinary tract nervous routes due to herpes viruses as VZV and HSV-2 are well known. Acute urinary retention and chronic neuropathic pain are not rare when sacral dermatomes are involved by these viruses. However, an analogous condition has not yet been clearly ascribed to HSV-1 infection.

Introducing mediterranean journal of hematology and infectious diseases.

Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases (MJHID) is a new open access, peer-reviewed, online journal, which encompasses different aspects of clinical and translational research providing an insight into the relationship between acute and chronic infections and hematological diseases. MJHID will be a topical journal on subjects of current importance in clinical haematology and infectious diseases. Every issue should have, beside the editor in chief, a guest editor.

Treatment with silybin-vitamin E-phospholipid complex in patients with hepatitis C infection.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of silybin-phospholipids and vitamin E complex (SPV complex), by determining cytokine patterns and various markers of liver disease. Forty Caucasian patients with chronic HCV infection were recruited and divided into two groups: 30 were treated with SPV complex for 3 months, while the other 10 did not receive any treatment. Ten other subjects without HCV infection but with staeatosic diagnosis were recruited and treated with SPV complex.

Inguinal lymphadenopathy due to Bartonella henselae.

The bacterium Bartonella henselae causes cat scratch disease, a self-limited zoonotic disease which is common among children and adolescents. The most typical clinical presentation is a regional lymphadenopathy that commonly involves only a single node of cervical and axillary lymph nodes. Inguinal localization is rarely described.

High dose of erythropoietin in management of interferon/ribavirin induced anemia.

Accumulating evidence now supports the use of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) to manage anemia in PEG-IFN/RBV treated patients, with the objective of maintaining the RBV dose, but currently no official guidelines exist. Actually, rHuEPO exact utilizable dose in PEG-IFN/RBV treated patients is not known. We describe the case of a patient with severe ribavirin-induced anemia.

Inflammatory cytokines and S-100b protein in patients with hepatitis C infection and cryoglobulinemias.

Objective: To investigate a predictive role for the protein S-100b and serum circulating levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with and without mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC).

Methods: Sixty chronically HCV-infected patients were divided into two groups: 30 with and 30 without MC. Patients with MC presented detectable mixed cryoglobulins and clinical weakness, purpura and arthralgias.

Metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk in HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy.

In this cross-sectional study, we evaluate potential predictors of Metabolic Syndrome (MS) in a group of 54 Caucasian chronically HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy. According to ATP-III criteria, 22 patients were affected by MS and 32 were not. The mean age of the sample was 41.