A Particular Focus on the Prevalence of - and -Thalassemia in Western Sicilian Population from Trapani Province in the COVID-19 Era.

Thalassemia is a Mendelian inherited blood disease caused by and gene mutations, known as one of the major health problems of Mediterranean populations. Here, we examined the distribution of and gene defects in the Trapani province population. A total of 2,401 individuals from Trapani province were enrolled from January 2007 to December 2021, and routine methodologies were used for detecting the and genic variants.

A new formulation of an occlusive dressing containing betamethasone valerate 0.1% in the treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis.

Background: Betamethasone valerate (BMV) is a medium-potency corticosteroid commonly used for the treatment of chronic psoriasis. Although occlusion has been shown to enhance the efficacy of BMV treatment, no ready-to-use occlusive BMV formulation is currently approved for the market.

Methods: Forty-two patients with mild to moderate psoriasis and with symmetrical lesions were treated with BMV 0.

Risk factors for the syndrome of ventricular enlargement with gait apraxia (idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus): a case-control study.

A case-control study was performed to verify the association between the risk factors for cerebrovascular disease and the syndrome of ventricular enlargement with gait apraxia (VEGAS). This syndrome was defined on the basis of clinical and CT criteria alone; however, it may be representative of patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus in whom gait disturbance is the initial symptom. Seventeen patients were matched for age and sex with one hospitalised and two general population controls.

Neuropsychological, electroencephalogram and brain computed tomography findings in motor neuron disease.

Thirty-five patients affected with sporadic motor neuron disease (MND) and without clinically evident mental deterioration were systematically investigated by means of neuropsychological tests, quantitative analysis of EEG and brain CT. The MND patients as a group showed a slight but definite and stereotyped cognitive impairment. Temporal slow EEG activity was increased in the whole MND group and posterior background activity was slower in the more cognitively impaired patients.

Binswanger's disease: a review of the literature and a personal contribution.

Binswanger's disease is the name which has been given to a form of subcortical vascular dementia. These patients have a particular clinical profile which progressively includes strokes, gait disorder, pseudobulbar signs and cognitive impairment suggesting dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex. The radiological pattern of hypodensity of the white matter on CT scan (or an increased MRI signal), albeit much debated, seems to be more closely associated with hypertension, previous strokes and neuropsychological defects.