Painful diabetic polyneuropathy: approach to diagnosis and management.

Objectives: To provide a current overview of the diagnostic work-up and management of painful diabetic polyneuropathy (PDPN).

Methods: A review covering the literature from 2004 to 2011, which describes the tools designed to diagnose neuropathic pain and assess its severity, including self-administered questionnaires, validated laboratory tests and simple handheld screening devices, and the evidence-based therapeutic approaches to PDPN.

Results: The clinical aspects, pathogenesis, and comorbidities of PDPN, as well as its impact on health related quality of life (HR-QoL), are the main drivers for the management of patients with suspected PDPN.

Patterns of treatment with PDE5 inhibitors in the clinical practice in Italy: longitudinal data from the Erectile Dysfunction Observational Study.

The Erectile Dysfunction Observational Study (EDOS) is a 6-months observational prospective multicentric study enrolling men with erectile dysfunction (ED) who asked, to be started on a treatment or to change a previous treatment. Aims of the study were to analyse the pattern of treatment and compare the efficacy of treatments used. Patients were enrolled during a normal hospital visit and were prescribed a treatment for ED.

Tadalafil and vardenafil vs sildenafil: a review of patient-preference studies.

The immediate objective of phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor treatment is to restore the ability of a man to achieve and/or maintain an erection adequate for sexual intercourse. As erectile dysfunction (ED) generally develops in the second half of life, the ultimate objective generally is not procreation, but quality of sexual life. Indeed, ED is known to impair quality of life considerably; two-thirds of men report that ED has impaired their self-esteem and nearly a third claim that it has damaged the relationship with their partner.

[Tadalafil versus sildenafil citrate in the treatment of ED:Italian patients' preferences and explanatory notes].

This is an open, multicentre, randomized, crossover study having the aim to evaluate the preference for sildenafil citrate or tadalafil in a population of Italian patients affected by ED, and to compare the efficacy and safety of these two drugs. MATERIAL AND METHODS. From October 2003 to November 2004, thirteen Italian centers enrolled ED patients (age >18) being in steady and naïve relation to ED treatment, both through PDE5 inhibitors and any other treatment option.

Evaluation of an alternative dosing regimen with tadalafil, three times per week, for men with erectile dysfunction: SURE study in Italy.

Aim: To examine the preference for two dosing regimens of 20 mg of tadalafil, on demand or three times per week, in men affected with erectile dysfunction (ED) in Italy.

Methods: Scheduled Use versus on demand Regimen Evaluation (SURE) is a multicenter, crossover and open-label study, involving 94 urology centers in Italy. Patients aged 18 years or older affected with ED for at least 3 months were enrolled and randomized to 20 mg of tadalafil treatment on demand or three times per week for 5-6 weeks.