Outcomes in patients hospitalized for heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: differences in clinical profile and treatment between 2002 and 2009.

Aims: Heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently co-exist, and each is a major public health issue. In a large cohort of hospitalized HF patients, we evaluated: (i) the impact of COPD on clinical outcomes; (ii) whether outcomes and treatments changed from 2002 to 2009; and (iii) the relationship between outcomes and treatments focusing on beta-blockers (BBs) and bronchodilators (BDs).

Methods And Results: From linkable Lombardy administrative health databases, we selected individuals with a discharge diagnosis of HF with or without concomitant COPD (HF yesCOPD and HF noCOPD) in 2002 and 2009.

Dramatic effect of levetiracetam in early-onset epileptic encephalopathy due to STXBP1 mutation.

Background: Syntaxin Binding Protein 1 (STXBP1) mutations determine a central neurotransmission dysfunction through impairment of the synaptic vesicle release, thus causing a spectrum of phenotypes varying from syndromic and non-syndromic epilepsy to intellectual disability of variable degree. Among the antiepileptic drugs, levetiracetam has a unique mechanism of action binding SV2A, a glycoprotein of the synaptic vesicle release machinery.

Patient Description: We report a 1-month-old boy manifesting an epileptic encephalopathy with clonic seizures refractory to phenobarbital, pyridoxine and phenytoin that presented a dramatic response to levetiracetam with full epilepsy control and EEG normalization.

Value of KRAS as prognostic or predictive marker in NSCLC: results from the TAILOR trial.

Background: The prognostic and predictive role of KRAS mutations in advanced nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still unclear. TAILOR prospectively assessed the prognostic and predictive value of KRAS mutations in NSCLC patients treated with erlotinib or docetaxel in second line.

Patients And Methods: NSCLC patients from 52 Italian hospitals were genotyped for KRAS and EGFR mutational status in two independent laboratories.

Anti-anxiety efficacy of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga in general anxiety disorder: A multicomponent, yoga based, breath intervention program for patients suffering from generalized anxiety disorder with or without comorbidities.

Background: Surdashan Kriya Yoga (SKY) is a procedure that in various studies, has shown evidences of efficacy in alleviating Depression and Anxiety disorders, but in Europe and USA it has not been studied yet on a Caucasian population as an adjunct therapy for psychiatric Disorders.

Methods: The study involved a sample of consenting women and men (n = 69) who received SKY therapy for a six-month time period. They were assessed at recruitment, after two weeks, after three months and after six months using Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HRSA), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (ZSAS), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS) and Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90).

An educational campaign about epilepsy among Italian primary school teachers. 2. The results of a focused training program.

A cohort of 582 Italian primary school teachers underwent a questionnaire survey to test their knowledge and attitudes toward epilepsy and verify whether an intensive and focused educational program could result in improvement of knowledge and attitudes. The program consisted of a presentation of the clinical manifestations of epilepsy and the distribution of informative brochures and an educational kit on the disease and its management to be used with their students. After several months, 317 teachers were retested using the same questions.

Does the co-occurrence of FGFR3 gene mutation in hypochondroplasia, medial temporal lobe dysgenesis, and focal epilepsy suggest a syndrome?

Background: Hypochondroplasia is a rare skeletal dysplasia characterized by disproportionately short stature, lumbar lordosis, and limited extension of the elbow caused by mutations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene that plays a role in controlling nervous system development. Hypochondroplasia with FGFR3 mutation associated with bilateral medial temporal lobe anomalies and focal epilepsy was previously reported in several patients.

Patient: We report clinical, electroclinical, and neuroradiological findings of one patient affected by hypochondroplasia.

An educational campaign toward epilepsy among Italian primary school teachers: 1. Survey on knowledge and attitudes.

A questionnaire survey was undertaken to assess the impact of a nationwide educational campaign about epilepsy on the knowledge and attitudes toward the disease among Italian primary school teachers. Five hundred and eighty-two teachers participated. All interviewees were aware of the existence of epilepsy, and most of them had direct experience with the disease.

Vaccination and occurrence of seizures in SCN1A mutation-positive patients: a multicenter Italian study.

Background: The relation between epileptic seizures and vaccinations is sometimes debated. In the present work, the impact of vaccination on seizure onset and clinical outcome of SCN1A mutation-positive patients is addressed.

Methods: Seventy-two patients diagnosed with Dravet syndrome or generalized epilepsy with febrile seizure plus, carrying SCN1A mutations or not, were included.

Early-onset absence epilepsy aggravated by valproic acid: a video-EEG report.

Early-onset absence epilepsy refers to patients with absence seizures beginning before age 4 and comprises a heterogeneous group of epilepsies. Onset of absence seizures in the first year of life is very rare. We report a boy with absence seizures with onset at age 11 months, whose seizures increased in frequency after the introduction of valproic acid (VPA) treatment and substantially improved upon cessation of treatment.

Erlotinib versus docetaxel as second-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and wild-type EGFR tumours (TAILOR): a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Erlotinib is registered for treatment of all patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, its efficacy for treatment of patients whose tumours are EGFR wild-type-which includes most patients-is still contentious. We assessed the efficacy of erlotinib compared with a standard second-line chemotherapy in such patients.

Seizures and EEG pattern in Kabuki syndrome.

Purpose: Kabuki syndrome (KS) is a rare dysmorphogenic disorder that is characterized by multiple congenital abnormalities with central nervous system involvement. The diagnosis is clinical and a variable degree of mental retardation is always present. Epilepsy is frequently reported, but a typical electroclinical pattern has not been described.

Efficacy of sublingual specific immunotherapy in intermittent and persistent allergic rhinitis in children: an observational case-control study on 171 patients. The EFESO-children multicenter trial.

Sublingual-specific immunotherapy (SLIT) is considered as a valid treatment of respiratory allergies. However, there are few data on large sample size regarding its clinical role in 'real life' in term of reduction of symptoms, rescue medications and prevention of asthma in patients suffering from allergic rhinitis (AR) especially in children. We performed a multicenter, case-control study to evaluate the effect of SLIT in children (age 6-18 yr) with intermittent or persistent AR.

Ictal impending danger--"sixth sense seizures"--in patients with benign focal epileptic seizures of adolescence.

Purpose: We describe nine consecutive patients with diagnosis of benign focal epileptic seizures of adolescence (BFSA), who experienced an ictal sensation of impending danger.

Materials And Methods: We collected nine BFSA patients after a comprehensive clinical and laboratory investigation, video-EEG analysis and neuroimaging study.

Results: All patients displayed a distinct electro-clinical pattern of seizures characterized by a peculiar subjective feeling of impending danger coming from behind, followed by a coordinated behavior of "head-turning" toward the danger.

Impact of idiopathic epilepsy on mothers and fathers: strain, burden of care, worries and perception of vulnerability.

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of idiopathic epilepsy on mothers and fathers in terms of strain, burden of care, worries and perception of vulnerability. Data were collected and analyzed shortly after the diagnosis (T0) and 12 months later (T1). The results indicated that at T0 parents of children with epilepsy showed higher levels of worries and perception of vulnerability than controls; mothers sustained a greater burden of care and exhibited higher levels of strain than fathers.

Petrous apex arachnoid cyst: a case report and review of the literature.

Cholesterol granuloma and cholesteatoma are the two most common destructive lesions of the petrous apex. Arachnoid cyst is much less common. These three expansile lesions are often indistinguishable on clinical grounds.