Challenges of preanalytical variables in erythrocyte sedimentation rate: a CUBE 30 touch evaluation.

The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is a widely used diagnostic test, influenced by all physiological and pathological conditions that can bias blood rheology by interfering factors. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the CUBE 30 touch ESR analyzer in samples with preanalytical variables, as lipemia, hemolysis, and icterus or in presence of fibrinogen., Moreover we focused to define the maximum time limits to ensure a reliable ESR measure.

Dissimilar Trypanosoma cruzi genotype-specific serological profile assessed by Chagas-Flow ATE IgG1 upon benznidazole etiological treatment of chronic Chagas disease.

The present study aimed to verify the impact of etiological treatment on the genotype-specific serological diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease patients (CH), using the Chagas-Flow ATE IgG1 methodology. For this purpose, a total of 92 serum samples from CH, categorized as Not Treated (NT, n = 32) and Benznidazole-Treated (Bz-T, n = 60), were tested at Study Baseline and 5Years Follow-up. At Study Baseline, all patients have the diagnosis of Chagas disease confirmed by Chagas-Flow ATE IgG1, using the set of attributes ("antigen/serum dilution/cut-off"; "EVI/250/30%").

Budget Impact Analysis of Olaparib for the Management of Patients with Homologous Recombination Repair (HRR)-Mutated Castration-Resistant Metastatic Prostate Cancer in Argentina.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to perform a budget impact analysis (BIA) of introducing olaparib treatment for adult patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in Argentina.

Methods: A BIA model was used to estimate the cost difference between the current scenario (without olaparib) and the new scenario (incorporation of olaparib) for a third-party payer over a 5-year time horizon. The budgetary impact is estimated at the national health system level and by healthcare sectors in Argentina.

Budget Impact Analysis of Olaparib in Combination with Bevacizumab for Maintenance Therapy for Ovarian Cancer in Argentina.

Objectives: To perform a budget impact analysis (BIA) of introducing olaparib as maintenance therapy in women who have BRCA mutations (BRCAm) with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer (PSROC) in combination with bevacizumab in Argentina.

Methods: A BIA model was used to analyse over a 5-year time horizon the change in the health system's budget following the adoption of olaparib as maintenance therapy in BRCAm patients with PSROC. The BIA for each year was estimated by comparing the cost difference between the current scenario (treatment with bevacizumab) and the new scenario (the addition of olaparib) for a third-party payer.

Psychometric properties of the Quiet Ego Scale (iQES) within the Italian cultural context.

Introduction: The quiet ego indicates a more compassionate conception of self-identity that integrates others into the self by lowering the intensity of the ego and enhancing the awareness of the present moment. The Quiet Ego Scale (QES) is a 14-item self-report measure of quiet ego, and it is composed of the following four psychological domains: detached awareness, inclusive identity, perspective taking, and growth. The present study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the Quiet Ego Scale within the Italian cultural context (iQES).

Lung cancer in Argentina: a modelling study of disease and economic burden.

Objectives: Lung cancer remains a significant global public health challenge and is still one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in Argentina. This study aims to assess the disease and economic burden of lung cancer in the country.

Study Design: Burden of disease study.

New insights into genetic diversity, and its influence on parasite biology and clinical outcomes.

Chagas disease, caused by , remains a serious public health problem worldwide. The parasite was subdivided into six distinct genetic groups, called "discrete typing units" (DTUs), from TcI to TcVI. Several studies have indicated that the heterogeneity of species directly affects the diversity of clinical manifestations of Chagas disease, control, diagnosis performance, and susceptibility to treatment.

Validation, performance, and reliability of two automated tests for vitamin B12 and folate assay.

Background: Deficiency of Vitamin B12 and folate may determine hematological, neurological, and metabolic alterations; therefore, an accurate quantification of their serum levels is required, especially in the presence of symptoms that might suggest a deficiency. CHORUS VIT B12 and CHORUS FOLATE are two automated immunoassays, developed to quantify vitamin B12 and folate, respectively, in human serum.

Design And Methods: This single-center, non-pharmacological, diagnostic study described the validation and characterization of CHORUS VIT B12 and CHORUS FOLATE, with a specific focus on performance, precision, and reliability.

Canopy-forming macroalgae can adapt to marine heatwaves.

Seawater warming and marine heatwaves (MHWs) have a major role on the fragmentation and loss of coastal marine habitats. Understanding the resilience and potential for adaptation of marine habitat forming species to ocean warming becomes pivotal for predicting future changes, improving present conservation and restoration strategies. In this study, a thermo-tolerance experiment was conducted to investigate the physiological effects of short vs long MHWs occurring at different timing on recruits of Gongolaria barbata, a canopy-forming species widespread in the Mediterranean Sea.

Drug treatment of type 2 diabetes: Its cost is significantly associated with HbA1c levels.

Aims: To examine the relationship between costs of hyperglycaemia drug treatment and glycemic control amongst people with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: This observational study utilised data from the QUALIDIAB database on 3,452 T2D patients seen in Diabetes Centers in Argentina. Patients were classified according to their HbA1c value into two groups: on target (OT; HbA1c ≤ 7%), and not on target (NOT; HbA1c > 7%); within each category we considered clinical and metabolic indicators, as well as type of hyperglycaemia treatment.

A novel SCL-90-R six-item factor identifies subjects at risk of early adverse outcomes in public mental health settings.

To increase access to treatment, Italy made assessment at community mental health centers (CMHCs) independent of medical referral, resulting in increased numbers of patients to be triaged efficiently. To support this process, we evaluated SCL-90-R item-ratings to identify factors that best predicted adverse early outcomes among persons seeking first-time CMHC care in a 24-month period in Rome. A psychiatric nurse screened subjects with a brief interview and self-administered SCL-90-R and psychiatrists provided CGI ratings and ICD-9 diagnosis.

Focus on aggressive behaviour in mental illness.

Background: Aggression is a behaviour with evolutionary origins, but in today’s society it is often both destructive and maladaptive. Increase of aggressive behaviour has been observed in a number of serious mental illnesses, and it represents a clinical challenge for mental healthcare provider. These phenomena can lead to harmful behaviours, including violence, thus representing a serious public health concern.

Aripiprazole once-monthly as treatment for psychosis in Turner syndrome: literature review and case report.

Turner syndrome (TS) is a neurogenetic disorder characterized by partial or complete monosomy-X, usually resulting of a sporadic chromosomal nondisjunction. It is one of the most common sex chromosome abnormalities, affecting approximately 1 in 2,000 live born females. There are sporadic few case reports of concomitant TS with schizophrenia worldwide.

[Pathophysiology of aggressive behavior: evaluation and management of pathological aggression].

This work aims to define the aggression in all its forms, with notes on management and rapid tranquilization. The pathological aggression is described as a non-homogeneous phenomenon, it is variable in according to social, psychological and biological agents. The distinction of violence between affective aggression and predatory aggression can be functional to the prediction of outcome of any treatment.

[Psychiatric case management. Chronic Disease Management application experience in a public Mental Health Service].

Aim: Aim of this study is to investigate the possible effectiveness of a specific program management needs of patients at high impact health care, case management (CM). The welfare impact is evaluated in terms of the severity of the presented disorder or to other characteristic factors of the individual patient, such as: adherence to the proposed treatments, possible resistance to drug treatment, cognitive structure, the presence of comorbid medical pathologies, abuse/addiction and, more generally, all bio-psycho-social functioning variables that can complicate the treatment of the patient.

Methods: Twenty five outpatients with chronic schizophrenia (age mean 49,5 yrs) were evaluated through the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN20) and Life Skill Profile (LSP) before and after 1 year of CM treatment.

Parkinson's disease (PD) in the elderly: an example of geriatric syndrome (GS)?

PD is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder that affects as many as 1-2% of persons aged 60 years and older. In the latest decade, the approach to PD was dramatically changed. In fact, although for many years PD has been considered only "a disease that affects walking", with a key role of the neurotransmitter dopamine, recently the neurological approach has been substantially modified.

A second trial of clozapine in a case of granulocytopenia.

It is generally believed that agranulocytosis, a major problem with clozapine treatment, will tend to occur dose-dependently once it develops in an individual. Therefore, despite clinical progress obtained, the drug has to be discontinued and treatment shifts to another drug. We report on the case of a 29-year-old woman with DSM-IV undifferentiated schizophrenia who developed agranulocytosis after 5 years of 300 mg/day clozapine treatment.

Disruption of nocturnal melatonin rhythm and immunological involvement in ischaemic stroke patients.

The aim of this study was to evaluate nocturnal and diurnal urinary melatonin excretion in a group of ischaemic stroke patients, and to verify if a possible impairment of this excretion could be linked with some changes of immunological and neuro-psychic status. We assessed 13 ischaemic stroke patients and five healthy controls for nocturnal urinary melatonin excretion, which was found to be impaired in stroke patients (patients, 0.05 +/- 0.

Unreliability of TRH test but not dexamethasone suppression test as a marker of depression in chronic vasculopathic patients.

Thirteen vasculopathic nondepressed men, admitted to the hospital 2 weeks earlier because of stroke, 10 age- and weight-matched patients with major depression, and 10 age- and weight-matched normal controls were tested with TRH and on different occasion with the dexamethasone (DEX) suppression test (DST). Patients with stroke were tested again with TRH and DST after 1 year. All subjects were euthyroid.

[Parma Stroke Data Bank: embolic stroke].

Cerebral infarction is one of the three main causes of death in most countries. It is very frequent and, since it is more often disabiliting rather than fatal, it is of high social impact. The correct classification of patients and the accurate diagnostic definition of the various subtypes of stroke is of great prognostic and therapeutic importance since cerebral infarction is not a single entity.

[Parma stroke data bank: atherothrombotic and lacunar stroke].

In an epidemiological research about stroke, we studied 235 patients with atherothrombotic brain infarctions and 81 patients with lacunes. It was a longitudinal study concerning patients admitted to our Medical Division during the acute phase and followed up for one year after the onset. We report some anamnestic data, the frequency of positive brain CT scan, main risk factors, symptoms at the onset, severity degree of the stroke within the first 72 hours, complications during, and outcome after, the first four weeks, including personal performances and environmental fitness, mortality rate and frequency of relapses.

Prevalence and prognostic value of peripheral arterial disease in stroke patients.

As atherosclerosis is a multi-systemic disease, each patient presenting clinical manifestation of atherosclerosis such as a stroke or RIND should be, from a vascular point of view, globally evaluated. The availability of Doppler ultrasound technique enables us to discover the presence of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) which is not always overt in the patient's history. Furthermore the presence of PAD is associated with a poorer prognosis in stroke patients.