In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of a New Ophthalmic Solution Containing Hexamidine Diisethionate 0.05% (Keratosept).

Purpose: To assess the in vitro antimicrobial activity of a new commercial ophthalmic solution containing hexamidine diisethionate 0.05% (Keratosept).

Methods: Staphylococcus aureus American Type Culture Collection (ATCC 43300), Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, 3 ocular bacterial isolates (1 Staphylococcus epidermidis, 1 S.

Inappropriate Nasopharyngeal Sampling for SARS-CoV-2 Detection Is a Relevant Cause of False-Negative Reports.

Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detection of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA on nasopharyngeal swab is the standard for diagnosing active COVID-19 disease in asymptomatic cases and in symptomatic patients without the typical radiologic findings. For the present COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, we describe 4 symptomatic patients with negative RT-PCR results at the first nasopharyngeal swab, which became positive when collected a few hours later by an otolaryngologist. All the patients showed nasal obstruction.

Imaging of Neurologic Disease in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: An Italian Multicenter Retrospective Observational Study.

Of 725 consecutive hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019, 108 (15%) had acute neurologic symptoms necessitating neurologic imaging.

Electronic cigarette use among Italian smokers: patterns, settings, and adverse events.

Objective: Information is scanty on the patterns and settings of electronic cigarette use and on its possible adverse events. To fill the knowledge gap on these issues, we conducted a survey among ever-smokers attending smoking cessation services (SCS) in Italy.

Methods: In 2016-2018, we enrolled 395 ever-smokers aged ⩾18 years who were current or former electronic cigarette users in 12 SCS from northern, central, and southern Italy.

Effect of rhTSH on Lipids.

Background: Subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with increased blood lipid levels. However, the exact role of thyrotropin (TSH) alone is not clear. In order to clarify this point, we analysed the acute effect of recombinant human TSH (rhTSH) administration on lipid levels.

MALONDIALDEHYDE LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background/purpose: The role of blood malondialdehyde (MDA) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of new blindness in industrialized countries, is still matter of debate. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published data on the MDA levels in AMD patients.

Methods: PubMed, ISI Web of Sciences, and Scopus searches were performed according to MOOSE guidelines.

Safety of Abatacept in Italian Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Interstitial Lung Disease: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Background: Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related interstitial lung disease (ILD) is challenging, and many conventional and biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) have been associated with ILD development or progression. The aim of this multicentric retrospective study was to analyze the evolution of ILD in Italian RA-ILD patients treated with abatacept (ABA).

Methods: All RA-ILD patients treated with ABA for at least six months were retrospectively evaluated.

PtpA and PknG Proteins Secreted by subsp. are Recognized by Sera from Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Case-Control Study.

Purpose: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can result from complex interactions between the affected person's genetic background and environment. Viral and bacterial infections may play a pathogenetic role in RA through different mechanisms of action. We aimed to evaluate the presence of antibodies (Abs) directed against two proteins of subsp.

Association of endemic goitre and exceptional longevity in Sardinia: evidence from an ecological study.

This study aims to test the hypothesis that a high prevalence of endemic goitre, considered as a proxy measure for subclinically reduced thyroid function in the population, is geographically associated with exceptional longevity. Using historical data available for 377 Sardinian municipalities in the first half of the twentieth century, we performed an ecological study to investigate the geographic distribution of goitre and its spatial association with demographic indicators of population longevity. This analysis was conducted by using both conventional ordinary least square and geographically weighted regression models to take into account spatial autocorrelation and included other longevity-associated factors previously identified in Sardinia.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Anticarbamylated Protein Antibodies in Established Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Monocentric Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of anticarbamylated protein antibodies (CarP), alone and in combination with traditional biomarkers (rheumatoid factor [RF] and anticitrullinated peptide antibodies [ACPA]), in established rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: A commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit was used to assess CarP concentrations in serum samples of 200 established RA and 206 controls (115 healthy donors and 55 patients with other rheumatic diseases). Main outcome measures were sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC; 95% confidence interval [CI]).

Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion in High Bleeding Risk Patients.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the outcomes of left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) in high bleeding risk patients suffering atrial fibrillation (AF) and to analyze the different antithrombotic therapies following the intervention.

Background Methods: This monocentric study included 68 patients with nonvalvular AF with an absolute contraindication to OAT or at high bleeding risk. Follow-up was done with a clinical visit at 3-6-12 months.

Association between Lipoprotein Levels and Humoral Reactivity to subsp. in Multiple Sclerosis, Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Environmental factors such as bacterial infections may play an important role in the development of autoimmune diseases. subsp. (MAP) is an obligate pathogen of ruminants able to use the host's cholesterol for survival into macrophages and has been associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), type 1 diabetes (T1DM) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through a molecular mimicry mechanism.

Ethical and therapeutic dilemmas in glioblastoma management during pregnancy: Two case reports and review of the literature.

Introduction: There are no guidelines about the management of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) during pregnancy: treatment of these patients presents therapeutic and ethical challenges.

Case Description: Two patients, respectively, 28 years old at the 14 week of gestation with a thalamic GBM and 38 years old at the 28 week of gestation with fronto-mesial GBM. Patients and their relatives were deeply informed about the natural history of GBM and potential risks and benefits of surgery, radiotherapy (XRT), and chemotherapy (CTX) for both, mother and fetus.

QT and QT dispersion intervals in long-standing and moderately active rheumatoid arthritis: results from a multicentre cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To define the prevalence of prolonged QT interval and QT dispersion (QTd) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and in a control population.

Methods: QT interval corrected by Bazett's formula (QTc) was calculated from standard 12-lead ECGs in 963 subjects free of previous cardiovascular events (646 RA patients and 317 controls strictly matched for age, sex and cardiovascular risk factors).

Results: RA patients (59.

In vitro antimicrobial activity of a new ophthalmic solution containing povidone-iodine 0.6% (IODIM ).

Purpose: To assess the in vitro antimicrobial activity of a new commercial ophthalmic solution containing povidone-iodine 0.6% (IODIM ).

Methods: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 43300, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, three ocular bacterial isolates (1 S.

Methotrexate therapy is not associated with increased liver stiffness and significant liver fibrosis in rheumatoid arthritis patients: A cross-sectional controlled study with real-time two-dimensional shear wave elastography.

Objective: To explore the significance of the association between treatment with methotrexate (MTX) and liver stiffness in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Methods: We enrolled 140 consecutive RA patients under MTX treatment (MTX-treated RA; mean treatment duration: 6.2 years; mean MTX cumulative dose: 4.

Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) Deficiency and Late-stage Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly in Western Countries. Evidence indicates that Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, a common genetic abnormality, may protect against ischemic heart and cerebrovascular disease, ocular vascular disorders, and colorectal cancer. This study was undertaken to ascertain whether G6PD deficiency may protect against AMD.

[Cerebral amyloid angiopathy and atrial fibrillation: a dangerous union].

Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is the major complication of oral anticoagulant therapy. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is an age-related disease characterized by the pathological deposition of β-amyloid protein in leptomeningeal and cortical cerebral vessels. Such vascular alterations expose to the risk of spontaneous vascular rupture.

Role of Adipokines in the Association between Thyroid Hormone and Components of the Metabolic Syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) increases cardiovascular risk. The role of thyroid hormone on components of MS is unclear. We analyzed a sample of 4733 euthyroid subjects from SardiNIA study.

Reactive arthritis secondary to enterocolitis.

Diagnosis of postenteritic reactive arthritis (ReA) is a challenge and might have a broad range of differential diagnoses. A 50-year-old man was referred to our attention because of persistent inflammatory low back pain and asymmetric oligoarthritis. The clinical history was positive for diarrhoea in the previous 3 months.

Benefits of Organized Mammographic Screening Programs in Women Aged 50 to 69 years: A Surgical Perspective.

Background: The benefits of organized mammographic screening programs (OMSPs) in reducing breast cancer mortality have been addressed by several studies. This study was designed to specifically evaluate the advantages of OMPSs in terms of surgical management of patients with breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: Surgical treatment of 201 patients with breast cancer aged 50 to 69 years coming from OMSPs was compared with that of 532 non-OMSP patients in same age group.

Age-related changes of the retinal microvasculature.

Purpose: Blood vessels of the retina provide an easily-accessible, representative window into the condition of microvasculature. We investigated how retinal vessel structure captured in fundus photographs changes with age, and how this may reflect features related to patient health, including blood pressure.

Results: We used two approaches.

Meta-Analysis of Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Concentrations in Rheumatic Diseases.

Raised circulating concentrations of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), have been reported in several rheumatic diseases (RDs). However, the strength of this relationship is unclear. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the magnitude and the robustness of the association between ADMA concentrations and RDs.

Melatonin and Vitamin D Orchestrate Adipose Derived Stem Cell Fate by Modulating Epigenetic Regulatory Genes.

Melatonin, that regulates many physiological processes including circadian rhythms, is a molecule able to promote osteoblasts maturation in vitro and to prevent bone loss in vivo, while regulating also adipocytes metabolism. In this regard, we have previously shown that melatonin in combination with vitamin D, is able to counteract the appearance of an adipogenic phenotype in adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs), cultured in an adipogenic favoring condition. In the present study, we aimed at evaluating the specific phenotype elicited by melatonin and vitamin D based medium, considering also the involvement of epigenetic regulating genes.