Cryoablation of renal tumors: long-term follow-up from a multicenter experience.

Purpose: To retrospectively investigate long-term outcomes of renal cryoablation from a multicenter database.

Methods: 338 patients with 363 renal tumors underwent cryoablation in 4 centers in North-Eastern Italy. 340/363 tumors (93.

Classification and analysis of outcome predictors in non-critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Background: Early detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected patients who could develop a severe form of COVID-19 must be considered of great importance to carry out adequate care and optimise the use of limited resources.

Aims: To use several machine learning classification models to analyse a series of non-critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to a general medicine ward to verify if any clinical variables recorded could predict the clinical outcome.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed non-critically ill patients with COVID-19 admitted to the general ward of the hospital in Pordenone from 1 March 2020 to 30 April 2020.

Characteristics and risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 in children tested in the early phase of the pandemic: a cross-sectional study, Italy, 23 February to 24 May 2020.

BackgroundVery few studies describe factors associated with COVID-19 diagnosis in children.AimWe here describe characteristics and risk factors for COVID-19 diagnosis in children tested in 20 paediatric centres across Italy.MethodsWe included cases aged 0-18 years tested between 23 February and 24 May 2020.

Fluorescence-based bowel anastomosis perfusion evaluation: results from the IHU-IRCAD-EAES EURO-FIGS registry.

Background: Anastomotic leakage (AL) is one of the dreaded complications following surgery in the digestive tract. Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging is a means to intraoperatively visualize anastomotic perfusion, facilitating fluorescence image-guided surgery (FIGS) with the purpose to reduce the incidence of AL. The aim of this study was to analyze the current practices and results of NIRF imaging of the anastomosis in digestive tract surgery through the EURO-FIGS registry.

A pre-operative prognostic score for the selection of patients for salvage surgery after recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

Salvage surgery in recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma has a poor outcome, both in terms of survival and quality of life. Therefore, the identification of pre-operative prognostic factors to improve the selection of patients who could benefit the most from salvage surgery is clinically relevant. The present study is a single-center retrospective analysis of 164 patients treated with salvage surgery after recurrence of head and neck cancer.

The surgical treatment of non-metastatic melanoma in a Clinical National Melanoma Registry Study Group (CNMR): a retrospective cohort quality improvement study to reduce the morbidity rates.

Background: Reproducible, high-quality surgery is a key point in the management of cancer patients. Quality indicators for surgical treatment of melanoma has been presented with benchmarks but data on morbidity are still limited. This study presents the quality indicators on morbidity after surgical treatment for non-metastatic skin melanoma in an Italian registry.

A Novel Kindred with Familial Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Caused by a Rare Germline Mutation (N655K): Clinico-Pathological Presentation and TKI Sensitivity.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, are characterized by activating mutations in or genes. The vast majority of GISTs are sporadic, but rare hereditary forms have been reported, often featuring multifocality and younger age of onset. We here report the identification of a novel kindred affected by familial GIST caused by a germline mutation in exon 13 (N655K).

CDKN1B mutation and copy number variation are associated with tumor aggressiveness in luminal breast cancer.

The CDKN1B gene, encoding for the CDK inhibitor p27 , is mutated in defined human cancer subtypes, including breast, prostate carcinomas and small intestine neuroendocrine tumors. Lessons learned from small intestine neuroendocrine tumors suggest that CDKN1B mutations could be subclonal, raising the question of whether a deeper sequencing approach could lead to the identification of higher numbers of patients with mutations. Here, we addressed this question and analyzed human cancer biopsies from breast (n = 396), ovarian (n = 110) and head and neck squamous carcinoma (n = 202) patients, using an ultra-deep sequencing approach.

Ceftobiprole and pneumonia in adults admitted to the emergency department is it time to assess a new therapeutic algorithm?

Objective: Ceftobiprole is an advance generation cephalosporin which has broad-spectrum bacterial activity (both against Gram-positive and negative pathogens) and was approved for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and non-ventilated hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) in most European countries. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ceftobiprole in the treatment of pneumonia in a cohort of severely ill patients admitted to the emergency department (ED).

Methods: 1-year observational retrospective mono-centric study.

Beyond MicroRNAs: Emerging Role of Other Non-Coding RNAs in HPV-Driven Cancers.

Persistent infection with high-risk Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) leads to the development of several tumors, including cervical, oropharyngeal, and anogenital squamous cell carcinoma. In the last years, the use of high-throughput sequencing technologies has revealed a number of non-coding RNA (ncRNAs), distinct from micro RNAs (miRNAs), that are deregulated in HPV-driven cancers, thus suggesting that HPV infection may affect their expression. However, since the knowledge of ncRNAs is still limited, a better understanding of ncRNAs biology, biogenesis, and function may be challenging for improving the diagnosis of HPV infection or progression, and for monitoring the response to therapy of patients affected by HPV-driven tumors.

Effect of Online Health Information Seeking on Anxiety in Hospitalized Pregnant Women: Cohort Study.

Background: There are approximately 1,000,000 pregnant women at high risk for obstetric complications per year, more than half of whom require hospitalization.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the relation between online health information seeking and anxiety levels in a sample of hospitalized woman with pregnancy-related complications.

Methods: A sample of 105 pregnant women hospitalized in northern Italy, all with an obstetric complication diagnosis, completed different questionnaires: Use of Internet Health-information (UIH) questionnaire about use of the internet, EuroQOL 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire on quality of life, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire measuring general anxiety levels, and a questionnaire about critical events occurring during hospitalization.

Prognostic significance of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in HPV status era for oropharyngeal cancer.

Aim: To evaluate the role of baseline neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as prognostic marker in squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx (OPC) treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in the era of HPV status.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective analysis of 125 patients (pts) affected with locally advanced OPC was performed. Inclusion criteria were age >18 years, stage III or IV (TNM 7th ed.

Adherence to Prescribed E-Diary Recording by Patients With Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: Observational Study.

Background: Complete diagnosis and therapy of seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis require evidence that exposure to the sensitizing pollen triggers allergic symptoms. Electronic clinical diaries, by recording disease severity scores and pollen exposure, can demonstrate this association. However, patients who spontaneously download an e-diary app show very low adherence to their recording.

Direct health-care cost of head and neck cancers: a population-based study in north-eastern Italy.

Improvements in prognosis of head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have paralleled with an increase in health-care costs, so that an economic evaluation is of growing importance. Presently, most of the evidence is from insurance-based studies in the USA. Between 2007 and 2010, 879 HNSCC patients were identified through the population-based cancer registry of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, including 266 oral, 187 oropharyngeal, 136 hypopharyngeal, and 290 laryngeal cancers.

Association between night-time surgery and occurrence of intraoperative adverse events and postoperative pulmonary complications.

Background: The aim of this post hoc analysis of a large cohort study was to evaluate the association between night-time surgery and the occurrence of intraoperative adverse events (AEs) and postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs).

Methods: LAS VEGAS (Local Assessment of Ventilatory Management During General Anesthesia for Surgery) was a prospective international 1-week study that enrolled adult patients undergoing surgical procedures with general anaesthesia and mechanical ventilation in 146 hospitals across 29 countries. Surgeries were defined as occurring during 'daytime' when induction of anaesthesia was between 8:00 AM and 7:59 PM, and as 'night-time' when induction was between 8:00 PM and 7:59 AM.

A New Genetic Risk Score to Predict the Outcome of Locally Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Treated With First-Line Exemestane: Results From a Prospective Study.

Introduction: Approximately 50% of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients treated with first-line exemestane do not show objective response and currently there are no reliable biomarkers to predict the outcome of patients using this therapy. The constitutive genetic background might be responsible for differences in the outcome of exemestane-treated patients. We designed a prospective study to investigate the role of germ line polymorphisms as biomarkers of survival.

Laparoscopic Trans-Abdominal Right Adrenalectomy for a Large Primitive Adrenal Oncocytic Carcinoma: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

BACKGROUND Adrenocortical oncocytic neoplasms (AONs) are extremely rare tumors. AONs are classified as: oncocytoma (AO), oncocytic neoplasm of uncertain malignant potential (AONUMP), and oncocytic carcinoma (AOC). Among the 162 reported cases of AONs in the literature, 30 cases were classified as malignant.

Genetic biomarkers for hepatocellular cancer risk in a caucasian population.

Aim: To uncover novel genetic markers that could contribute to predicting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) susceptibility in Caucasians.

Methods: The present retrospective case-control study compared genotype frequencies between a cohort of HCC cases and two, independent, HCC-free, age/sex-matched control groups. The HCC cohort comprised 192 homogeneous patients that had undergone orthotopic liver transplantation.

ANMCO-SIMEU Consensus Document: in-hospital management of patients presenting with chest pain.

Chest pain is a common general practice presentation that requires careful diagnostic assessment because of its diverse and potentially serious causes. However, the evaluation of acute chest pain remains challenging, despite many new insights over the past two decades. The percentage of patients presenting to the emergency departments because of acute chest pain appears to be increasing.

Patient and physician views on the quality of care for inflammatory bowel disease after one-year follow-up: Results from SOLUTION-2, a prospective IG-IBD study.

Background And Aims: Perception of quality of care is important in the management of patients with chronic diseases, particularly inflammatory bowel disease.

Aims And Methods: This longitudinal study aimed to investigate variations of the Quality of Care through the Patients' Eyes (QUOTE-IBD) questionnaire scores one year after the basal evaluation in the Studio Osservazionale quaLità cUre malatTIe crOniche intestiNali (SOLUTION-1) study.

Results: Of the cohort of 992 patients, 936 were evaluable.

Outcome of laparoscopic gastric bypass in obese and diabetic patients: when surgery fails.

Background: The beneficial effects of bariatric surgery on diabetes and obesity have been widely demonstrated in the literature. The aim of our study was to evaluate the rate of failure of laparoscopic gastric bypass both in terms of weight loss and metabolic remission after one follow-up year.

Methods: A longitudinal, multicenter prospective study was carried out on 771 patients affected by pathological obesity.

The impact of time to treatment initiation on survival from head and neck cancer in north-eastern Italy.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of time to treatment initiation (TTI) on overall survival in patients with head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Materials And Methods: In the period 2003-2009, 1616 HNSCC patients were diagnosed in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Northeastern Italy, including 462 oral, 346 oropharyngeal, 212 hypopharyngeal, and 596 laryngeal cancers. Clinical information, including date and type of first treatment, and follow-up were retrieved from the regional Cancer Registry and a population-based health database collecting comprehensive health information on people living in the Region.

UGT1A polymorphisms as genetic biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma risk in Caucasian population.

Background & Aims: The definition of new biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk, especially in high-risk HBV/HCV-positive population, is urgently needed to improve HCC clinical management. This study focused on variants of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A (UGT1A) enzymes that catalyse the reaction of glucuronidation, one of the most important chemical defence pathway of the body. The aim of this study was to elucidate the contribution of UGT1A polymorphisms in predicting HCC susceptibility in Caucasians.