How to conduct research in palliative care? A perspective from Italy.

Background: In western countries, the increasing life expectancy and the growing number of individuals with advanced chronic conditions have resulted in a greater demand for palliative care. Specifically, Italy has witnessed substantial growth in the palliative care field, marked by the establishment of Palliative Care Networks and an academic fellowship program in 2022. To further enhance this field, it is crucial to conduct high-quality scientific research that produces results applicable in clinical practice.

Causes of deaths in long-term care and hospice care facilities during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic: a snapshot of Italy during 2020.

Background: Older adults living in long-term care facilities (LTCF) have been severely affected by COVID-19. Hospice care (HC) facilities and palliative care are essential in treating patients dying from COVID-19. In Italy, little is known about the impact of COVID-19 on deaths in LTCF and the care provided in HC to COVID-19 patients.

Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on palliative care provision by a hospital-based unit: results from an observational study.

Background Palliative care is a key approach in improving the quality of life of patients and their families facing the end-of-life care process. It is widely regarded as a public-health concern, especially considering the rapidly increasing end-of-life care needs worldwide. Its provision has been highly challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.

Neurosurgical Defeats: Critically Ill Patients and the Role of Palliative Care Service.

The onco-functional balance in neuro-oncology requires maximizing tumor removal while rigorously preserving patients' neurological status. When postoperative worsening prevents the implementation of oncologic treatments, palliative care service offers an individualized path for symptom and psychosocial distress relief. Here, we report on a series of 25 patients operated on for malignant brain tumor who did not undergo adjuvant treatments after neurosurgery; they represented 3.

Lacosamide on background eeg activity in brain tumor-related epilepsy patients: A case series study.

Objective: Therapeutic doses of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) may alter EEG background activity, which is considered an index of the functional state of the brain. Quantitative analysis (qEEG) of EEG background activity is a valid instrument to assess the effects of many centrally active drugs on the central nervous system, including AEDs. Lacosamide (LCM) is a new AED that could be a valid therapeutic choice in patients with brain tumor-related epilepsy (BTRE).

Effect of high dose cytosine arabinoside on quantitative EEG in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Background EEG activity is considered an index of functional state of brain. Chemotherapy (CT), used for non-central nervous system (CNS) cancer, can cross the blood brain barrier and contribute to changes in the functional state of brain that can alter background EEG activity. Quantitative EEG (qEEG) is superior to conventional EEG in the detection of subtle alterations of EEG background activity and for this reason, the use of qEEG might assist the clinician in evaluating the possible effect of CT on the CNS.

Antiepileptic drug use and epileptic seizures in nursing home residents in the Province of Pavia, Italy: A reappraisal 12 years after a first survey.

Purpose: To assess the prevalence of epileptic seizures, and antiepileptic drug (AED) use among nursing home elderly residents; to evaluate demographics, seizure characteristics, and seizure-related comorbidities associated with institutionalization; and to compare findings with a previous survey conducted 12 years earlier.

Methods: Data on demographics, age at institutionalization, diagnoses, functional and cognitive status (Barthel Index and Mini Mental State Examination) and drug treatment were obtained by review of medical records of all individuals aged ≥ 60 years at 21 nursing homes. Data from individuals with a diagnosis of epileptic seizures and AED users were compared with non-seizure, non-AED individuals.

Theta-burst stimulation-induced plasticity over primary somatosensory cortex changes somatosensory temporal discrimination in healthy humans.

Background: The somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold (STDT) measures the ability to perceive two stimuli as being sequential. Precisely how the single cerebral structures contribute in controlling the STDT is partially known and no information is available about whether STDT can be modulated by plasticity-inducing protocols.

Methodology/principal Findings: To investigate how the cortical and cerebellar areas contribute to the STDT we used transcranial magnetic stimulation and a neuronavigation system.

Subthalamic nucleus stimulation and somatosensory temporal discrimination in Parkinson's disease.

Whereas numerous studies document the effects of dopamine medication and deep brain stimulation on motor function in patients with Parkinson's disease, few have investigated deep brain stimulation-induced changes in sensory functions. In this study of 13 patients with Parkinson's disease, we tested the effects of deep brain stimulation on the somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold. To investigate whether deep brain stimulation and dopaminergic medication induce similar changes in somatosensory discrimination, somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold values were acquired under four experimental conditions: (i) medication ON/deep brain stimulation on; (ii) medication ON/deep brain stimulation off; (iii) medication OFF/deep brain stimulation on; and (iv) medication OFF/deep brain stimulation off.