Prospective validation of a lymphocyte infiltration prognostic test in stage III colon cancer patients treated with adjuvant FOLFOX.

Background: The prognostic value of lymphocyte infiltration (LI) of colorectal carcinoma (CC) has been demonstrated by several groups. However, no validated test is currently available for clinical practice. We previously described an automated and reproducible method for testing LI and aimed to validate it for clinical use.

Choices of Stent and Cerebral Protection in the Ongoing ACST-2 Trial: A Descriptive Study.

Objective/background: Several plaque and lesion characteristics have been associated with an increased risk for procedural stroke during or shortly after carotid artery stenting (CAS). While technical advancements in stent design and cerebral protection devices (CPD) may help reduce the procedural stroke risk, and anatomy remains important, tailoring stenting procedures according to plaque and lesion characteristics might be a useful strategy in reducing stroke associated with CAS. In this descriptive report of the ongoing Asymptomatic Carotid Surgery Trial-2 (ACST-2), it was assessed whether choice for stent and use or type of CPD was influenced by plaque and lesion characteristics.

Oxygen Use in Neonatal Care: A Two-edged Sword.

In the neonatal period, the clinical use of oxygen should be taken into consideration for its beneficial and toxicity effects. Oxygen toxicity is due to the development of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as OH that is one of the strongest oxidants in nature. Of note, generation of ROS is a normal occurrence in human and it is involved in a myriad of physiological reactions.

Propranolol 0.1% eye micro-drops in newborns with retinopathy of prematurity: a pilot clinical trial.

Background: Oral propranolol reduces retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) progression, although not safely. This study evaluated safety and efficacy of propranolol eye micro-drops in preterm newborns with ROP.

Methods: A multicenter open-label trial, planned according to the Simon optimal two-stage design, was performed to analyze safety and efficacy of propranolol micro-drops in newborns with stage 2 ROP.

ADHERE: randomized controlled trial comparing renal function in de novo kidney transplant recipients receiving prolonged-release tacrolimus plus mycophenolate mofetil or sirolimus.

ADHERE was a randomized, open-label, Phase IV study comparing renal function at Week 52 postkidney transplant, in patients who received prolonged-release tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive regimens. On Days 0-27, patients received prolonged-release tacrolimus (initially 0.2 mg/kg/day), corticosteroids, and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF).

Italian medical students quality of life: years 2005-2015.

Background: Quality of Life (QoL) is a concept used to indicate the general wellness of persons or societies. University students report a low quality of life and a worse perception of their health status, because of a situation of greater discomfort in which they live during the course of the study, especially in faculties with an important emotional burden, such as medical schools. The aim of the study was to evaluate the perceived health status of first year medical students.

Neuroimaging of the Postoperative Spine.

Operative treatments of the spine are becoming increasingly more common for the availability of a wide range of surgical and minimally invasive procedures. MR imaging allows for excellent evaluation of both normal and abnormal findings in the postoperative spine. This article provides the basic tools to evaluate complications after different operative procedures and offers an overview on the main topics a radiologist may encounter during his or her professional carrier.

Extended lymphadenectomy in elderly and/or highly co-morbid gastric cancer patients: A retrospective multicenter study.

Background: Gastrectomy with extended lymphadenectomy is considered the gold standard treatment for advanced gastric cancer, with no age- or comorbidity-related limitations. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of curative gastrectomy with extended nodal dissection, verifying survival in elderly and highly co-morbid patients.

Methods: In a retrospective multicenter study, we examined 1322 non-metastatic gastric-cancer patients that underwent curative gastrectomy with D2 versus D1 lymphadenectomy from January 2000 to December 2009.

Ischemic Stroke after Heart Transplantation.

Cerebrovascular complications after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) are more common in comparison with neurological sequelae subsequent to routine cardiac surgery. Ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) are more common (with an incidence of up to 13%) than intracranial hemorrhage (2.5%).

HIV treatment and care among Italian inmates: a one-month point survey.

Background: HIV infection, with an estimated prevalence be between 2 and 50 times those of the general adult population is a major health challenge for prison authorities worldwide. Since no nationwide surveillance system is present in Italy, data on HIV prevalence and treatment in prisons are limited to only a few and small observational studies. We aimed to estimate HIV prevalence and obtain an overview on diagnostic and therapeutic activities concerning HIV infection in the Italian penitentiary system.

Alteration of serum lipid profile, SRB1 loss, and impaired Nrf2 activation in CDKL5 disorder.

CDKL5 mutation is associated with an atypical Rett syndrome (RTT) variant. Recently, cholesterol homeostasis perturbation and oxidative-mediated loss of the high-density lipoprotein receptor SRB1 in typical RTT have been suggested. Here, we demonstrate an altered lipid serum profile also in CDKL5 patients with decreased levels of SRB1 and impaired activation of the defensive system Nrf2.

Early relapsing calcified cerebral embolism.

Calcified cerebral emboli are rarely reported, but may be recurrent and devastating. Misdiagnosis at interpretation of initial brain computed tomography (CT) scan may occur in up to 27% of cases. The purpose of this case report was to describe clinical, CT, and CT angiography findings in a 79-year-old woman undergoing early recurrent stroke from calcified cerebral embolism.

Revised American Thyroid Association guidelines for the management of medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Introduction: The American Thyroid Association appointed a Task Force of experts to revise the original Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Management Guidelines of the American Thyroid Association.

Methods: The Task Force identified relevant articles using a systematic PubMed search, supplemented with additional published materials, and then created evidence-based recommendations, which were set in categories using criteria adapted from the United States Preventive Services Task Force Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The original guidelines provided abundant source material and an excellent organizational structure that served as the basis for the current revised document.

Cerebral circulation time is prolonged and not correlated with EDSS in multiple sclerosis patients: a study using digital subtracted angiography.

Literature has suggested that changes in brain flow circulation occur in patients with multiple sclerosis. In this study, digital subtraction angiography (DSA) was used to measure the absolute CCT value in MS patients and to correlate its value to age at disease onset and duration, and to expand disability status scale (EDSS). DSA assessment was performed on eighty MS patients and on a control group of forty-four age-matched patients.

Arterial stiffness in patients with deep and lobar intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background And Purpose: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for approximately 10% of stroke cases. Hypertension may play a role in the pathogenesis of ICH that occurs in the basal ganglia, thalamus, pons, and cerebellum, but not in that of lobar ICH. Hypertension contributes to decreased elasticity of arteries, thereby increasing the likelihood of rupture in response to acute elevation in intravascular pressure.

A case of Parry-Romberg syndrome and alien hand.

Parry-Romberg syndrome (PRS) is a rare condition characterised by progressive hemi-facial atrophy. Here we present a PRS case with alien-hand syndrome, which has not previously been described in adult onset disease. On the basis of the presumed auto-immune pathology of PRS we justify the treatment strategy we successfully used in this patient.

A sonographic quantitative cutoff value of cerebral venous outflow in neurologic diseases: a blinded study of 115 subjects.

Background And Purpose: The autonomic nervous system maintains constant cerebral venous blood outflow in changing positions. Alterations in cerebral autoregulation can be revealed by postural changes at quantitative color Doppler sonography. The aim of this study was to reach an optimal cutoff value of the difference between the cerebral venous blood outflow in the supine and seated positions that can discriminate healthy controls from patients with multiple sclerosis and those with other neurologic diseases and to evaluate its specificity, sensitivity, and diagnostic accuracy.

Gemcitabine, oxaliplatin, levofolinate, 5-fluorouracil, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and interleukin-2 (GOLFIG) versus FOLFOX chemotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer patients: the GOLFIG-2 multicentric open-label randomized phase III trial.

The GOLFIG-2 phase III trial was designed to compare the immunobiological activity and antitumor efficacy of GOLFIG chemoimmunotherapy regimen with standard FOLFOX-4 chemotherapy in frontline treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. This trial was conceived on the basis of previous evidence of antitumor and immunomodulating activity of the GOLFIG regimen in mCRC. GOLFIG-2 is a multicentric open/label phase III trial (EUDRACT: 2005-003458-81).

Selective capsulotomies of the expanded breast as a remodelling method in two-stage breast reconstruction.

The two-stage breast reconstruction with tissue expander and prosthesis is nowadays a common method for achieving a satisfactory appearance in selected patients who had a mastectomy, but its most common aesthetic drawback is represented by an excessive volumetric increment of the superior half of the reconstructed breast, with a convexity of the profile in that area. A possible solution to limit this effect, and to fulfil the inferior pole, may be obtained by reducing the inferior tissue resistance by means of capsulotomies. This study reports the effects of various types of capsulotomies, performed in 72 patients after removal of the mammary expander, with the aim of emphasising the convexity of the inferior mammary aspect in the expanded breast.

Quantitative ColourDopplerSonography evaluation of cerebral venous outflow: a comparative study between patients with multiple sclerosis and controls.

Background: Internal Jugular Veins (IJVs) are the principle outflow pathway for intracranial blood in clinostatism condition. In the seated position, IJVs collapse, while Vertebral Veins (VVs) increase the venous outflow and partially compensate the venous drainage. Spinal Epidural Veins are an additional drainage pathway in the seated position.

Lung cancer presenting with trigeminal neuropathy.

The purpose of this case report is to describe MR imaging and CT findings of a patient in whom the first clinical and neuroradiological manifestation of a metastatic lung adenocarcinoma was unilateral trigeminal neuropathy caused by a presumed metastasis involving cisternal and Meckel's cave segments of ipsilateral trigeminal nerve. MR imaging and CT scan differential diagnosis of expansive lesions of the intracranial trigeminal nerve must include metastases. Physicians and neuroradiologists must be aware of metastases as an uncommon cause of trigeminal neuropathy, even as the presenting condition of cancer.