The Role of Sleeve Gastrectomy in Reducing Cardiovascular Risk.

Background: Obesity is an independent cardiovascular risk factor and a catalyst of other cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and metabolic syndrome.

Methods: We analyzed cardiovascular risk in obese patients before and after sleeve gastrectomy (SG). To this end, we studied changes in body mass index (BMI), blood chemistry parameters that characterize the risk of atherosclerosis and instrumental parameters (objective markers of this risk), namely intima-media thickness (IMT) and flow-mediated dilation (FMD), the latter reflecting endothelial function.

Is Carotid Stenosis in Women a Gender-Related Condition?

Background: We set out to study, through ultrasound examinations, the carotid bifurcation in men and women with/without carotid stenosis to look for anatomical and electrophysiologic differences. We evaluated other variables to look for differences that might explain the dissimilar behavior of this disease in the two sexes and the presence and impact of risk factors.

Methods: We examined 974 subjects aged 25 to 88 years (478 men and 496 women) in whom we considered heart rate, smoking status, and the presence of hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia.

High resolution mini-gammacamera and 99mTc [HMPAO] - leukocytes for diagnosis of infection and radioguided surgery in diabetic foot.

Discovery of osteitis may be delayed because of late appearance of X-ray signs in patients with diabetic foot. Scintigraphy with labelled leukocytes is able to detect flogosis but often misses bone involvement, due to inadequate resolution of Anger camera, the commonest detector used in nuclear medicine. Radioguided surgery and biopsy with high resolution scintigraphy (HRS) started to be studied since 2000: although this method had never been tested for planning and guiding diabetic foot surgery, in our opinion it can help early diagnosis and surgical treatment of diabetic foot.

Control of the operated carotid with ultrasound. Anatomical and hemodynamical modifications, both local and intracranial.

Background: A study has been done on the operated carotid monitoring the modifications of the wall and of the flow in the site of the operation and at the intracranial level.

Methods: 146 operated carotids were studied using transcranial Doppler, duplex and color. The pre-surgical data were confronted with the postsurgical ones on the 4th day, one month later, 3 months later and every 6 months.