Percutaneous Vertebral Reconstruction (PVR) Technique of Pathological Compression Fractures: An Innovative Combined Treatment of Microwave Ablation, Bilateral Expandable Titanium SpineJack Implants Followed by Vertebroplasty.

(1) Background: to retrospectively evaluate safety and efficacy of combined microwave ablation (MWA) and bilateral expandable titanium SpineJack (SJ) implants followed by vertebroplasty (VP) for the treatment of painful thoracolumbar pathological vertebral compression fracture. (2) Methods: from July 2017 to October 2022, twenty-eight patients (13 women and 15 men; mean age 68 ± 11 years) with a history of primary neoplasm and thirty-six painful vertebral metastases with vertebral compression fracture underwent combined MWA and bilateral expandable titanium SpineJack implants with vertebroplasty. We analyzed safety through complications rate, and efficacy through vertebral height restoration and pain decrease, evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS), and Functional Mobility Scale (FMS), and local tumor control.

Re-expansion of vertebral compression fractures in patients with multiple myeloma with percutaneous vertebroplasty using spinejack implants: a preliminary and retrospective study.

Objective: To retrospectively evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of vertebroplasty using Spinejack implantation for the treatment and stabilization of painful vertebral compression fractures, in patients diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (MM), to allow both an effective pain reduction and a global structural spine stabilization.

Materials And Methods: From July 2017 and May 2022 thirty-nine patients diagnosed MM, with forty-nine vertebral compression fractures underwent percutaneous Vertebroplasty using Spinejack Implants. We analyzed the feasibility and complications of the procedure, the decrease in pain using visual analogue scale (VAS) and Functional Mobility Scale (FMS).

Clinical Rationale of Using Steerable Technologies for Radiofrequency Ablation Followed by Cavity Creation and Cement Augmentation in the Treatment of Painful Spinal Metastases.

(1) Background: Cement distribution after radiofrequency ablation of spinal metastases can be unpredictable due to various tumor factors, and vertebral augmentation requires advanced devices to prevent cement leakage and achieve satisfactory filling. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a platform of steerable technologies with an articulating radiofrequency ablation (RFA) probe and targeted cavity creation before vertebral augmentation in the treatment of painful spinal metastases. (2) Methods: Sixteen patients (mean age, 67 years) underwent RFA in conjunction with vertebral augmentation after the creation of a targeted balloon cavity for metastatic spinal disease and were followed up to 6 months.

The Increasing Role of CT-Guided Cryoablation for the Treatment of Liver Cancer: A Single-Center Report.

Purpose: Cryoablation (CrA) is a minimally invasive treatment that can be used in primary and metastatic liver cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of CrA in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver metastases. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the patients who had CrA for HCC or liver metastases between 2015 and 2020.

Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Intracranial Carotid Occlusion with Patent Intracranial Arteries : The Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke.

Purpose: Intracranial carotid artery occlusion represents an underinvestigated cause of acute ischemic stroke as well as an indication for mechanical thrombectomy. We investigated baseline and procedural characteristics, outcomes and predictors of outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke secondary to intracranial carotid artery occlusion.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of the Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke was performed.

Percutaneous Endoscopic Transgastric Jejunostomy (PEG-J) Tube Placement for Levodopa-Carbidopa Intrajejunal Gel Therapy in the Interventional Radiology Suite: A Long-term Follow-up.

Background: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy (PEG) and radiologically inserted gastrojejunostomy (RIG) are both safe and effective techniques for gastrojejunal tube placement. The authors compared these 2 procedures in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) who required the continuous intrajejunal delivery of a levodopa/carbidopa gel suspension (LCIG).

Methods: Outcomes were retrospectively collated from 30 PEG and 12 RIG procedures performed at 2 centers in patients with advanced PD for the delivery of LCIG.

Are apolipoprotein E alleles correlated with semen quality?

Apolipoproteins have a unique role in lipoprotein metabolism regulation, aiding lipid transport and acting as a cofactor of the enzymes involved in metabolism. There are three co-dominant alleles, APOE*2, APOE*3 and APOE*4, which encode three protein isoforms, apoE2, apoE3 and apoE4. APOE*3 is the most frequent in all populations thus far investigated, ranging from 50 to 90%.

Outcome of occupational asthma due to cobalt hypersensitivity.

We performed a follow-up study on nine subjects with occupational asthma due to cobalt hypersensitivity confirmed by a specific bronchial provocation test. Both at diagnosis and at the two follow-up visits (1 and 3 years after the diagnosis, respectively), we graded the severity of asthmatic symptoms and the need for antiasthma treatment and performed lung function tests, measurement of airways responsiveness to methacholine (PD15) and skin tests. The evolution of the disease was established on the basis of the increase or decrease in asthmatic symptoms and the requirements for medication, FEV1 and PD15.

Toluene diisocyanate induced asthma: outcome according to persistence or cessation of exposure.

Sixty patients with occupational asthma due to exposure to toluene diisocyanate (TDI) were re-evaluated, five years after the initial diagnosis had been confirmed by a specific bronchial provocation challenge. During both examinations the severity of asthmatic symptoms and the need for antiasthma treatment were graded and lung function tests, measurement of airway responsiveness to methacholine (PD15), and skin tests with common inhalant allergens were carried out. The evolution of the disease was established on the basis of the increase or decrease in asthmatic symptoms, requirements for medication, and FEV1 and PD15 methacholine between the two examinations.

One- and two-dimensional 1H-NMR analysis of lipids extracted from erythrocytes and plasma of humans.

A combination of established lipid extraction procedures and high-resolution 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic methods has been used to analyze qualitatively and quantitatively the lipid composition of human erythrocytes and plasma. The major lipids present in each structural class were identified and quantified. Considerable information on the composition of unsaturated fatty acid chains were obtained for the intact lipids without resort to hydrolysis.

Subclinical inorganic mercury neuropathy: neurophysiological investigations in 17 occupationally exposed subjects.

17 workers in a thermometer factory exposed to mercury for periods ranging from 1 to 40 years all had high urine and blood mercury levels on undergoing electromyographic examination. All were clinically free from central and peripheral nervous symptoms. 88% had subclinical neuropathy, mainly distal and axonal.

Toxicity in man due to stain removers containing 1,2-dichloropropane.

There are reports that 1,2-dichloropropane, a constituent of many commercial solvents and stain removers in Italy, has caused severe liver damage and, sometimes, acute renal failure. Between 1980 and 1983 three cases of 1,2-dichloropropane intoxication (1 by ingestion, 2 by inhalation) were observed. Clinical features included severe liver damage, acute renal failure (2 patients), haemolytic anaemia, and disseminated intravascular coagulation.

AK and ADA polymorphisms in South Sardinia.

A sample of the South Sardinia population was studied with respect to adenylate kinase (AK) and adenosine deaminase (ADA) enzymes. The gene frequencies were: AK1 0.975 and ADA1 = 0.

Occupational type test for the etiological diagnosis of asthma due to toluene di-isocyanate.

An occupational type exposure-test to toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) for the diagnosis of specific respiratory sensitization is proposed. The subjects were tested by exposure to a two-pot polyurethane varnish with and without TDI activator, using a paint-spraying system under standard and controlled conditions, so as not to exceed the threshold limit value of TDI. Forced expiratory volume per second and specific airway resistance (plethysmographic method) were measured before each exposure and during the following 24 h.

Pathology produced by isocyanates: methods of immunological investigation.

A group of 182 workers exposed to diisocyanates (varnishers, carpenters, producers of polyurethane resins and expanded plastic) were examined to study the immunogenic capacity of these substances. The skin tests, particularly the intradermal tests, revealed reactions of the immediate, accelerated and/or delayed types due to the presence of IgE and IgG, in addition to responses of the cellular type. This was confirmed by passive transfer in guinea-pigs and man and immunohaematological tests such as passive haemagglutination and lymphocyte transformation.