Occupational nonasthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis: current concepts.

Background: Nonasthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis (NAEB) is an important cause of chronic cough, since it is present in 10-15% of patients referred for specialist investigation. The syndrome is considered a variant of occupational asthma when it develops as a consequence of occupational exposure, hence it should be considered in the spectrum of work-related airway diseases.

Objectives And Methods: The aim of this paper was to update and expand the previous reviews on the clinical and pathophysiological features of NAEB and analyze available data on the occupational causes of the disease.

Chronic neck pain and treatment of cognitive and behavioural factors: results of a randomised controlled clinical trial.

Purpose: Although there is growing evidence in favour of the bio-psychosocial approach to the treatment of persistent neck pain, it is questioned whether treating psychological factors can improve patient perceptions of disability, pain and quality of life. This randomised, controlled study with 12 months' follow-up was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of adding cognitive-behavioural principles to exercises for chronic neck pain.

Methods: Eighty patients were randomly assigned to the usual neck exercises plus cognitive-behavioural treatment (PTcb group, 40 subjects) or to treatment based on neck exercises alone (PT group, 40 subjects).

Pneumomediastinum is a possible acute complication of severe occupational asthma.

Occupational asthma has been reported to be the most common chronic respiratory occupational disease in many developed countries, and as with other occupational lung diseases, occupational asthma is potentially preventable. We report the case of a 24-year-old baker who experienced pneumomediastinum as a consequence of workplace exposure. This is the first report of pneumomediastinum as an acute complication of occupational asthma, and it exemplarily shows that the lack of medical surveillance at the workplace may lead to an acute, although unusual, complication.

The Italian version of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ-I): cross-cultural adaptation, factor analysis, reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change.

Study Design: Evaluation of the psychometric properties of a translated and culturally adapted questionnaire.

Objective: Translating, culturally adapting, and validating the Italian version of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ-I) to allow its use with Italian-speaking patients with low-back pain (LBP).

Summary Of Background Data: Growing attention is being given to standardized outcome measures to improve interventions for LBP.

Development of the Italian version of the knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score for patients with knee injuries: cross-cultural adaptation, dimensionality, reliability, and validity.

Objective: Translating, culturally adapting and validating an Italian version of the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS-I) to allow its use with Italian-speaking patients with knee complaints.

Design: The KOOS-I was developed by means of forward-backward translation, a final review by an expert committee, and a test of the pre-final version to establish its correspondence with the original English version. The psychometric testing included analysis of dimensionality using item-scale correlation after correction for overlap, reliability by means of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficients), and construct validity using an a priori hypothesised Pearson correlations with a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36).

Preservation of auditory P300-like potentials in cortical deafness.

The phenomenon of blindsight has been largely studied and refers to residual abilities of blind patients without an acknowledged visual awareness. Similarly, "deaf hearing" might represent a further example of dissociation between detection and perception of sounds. Here we report the rare case of a patient with a persistent and complete cortical deafness caused by damage to the bilateral temporo-parietal lobes who occasionally showed unexpected reactions to environmental sounds despite she denied hearing.

EAACI consensus statement for investigation of work-related asthma in non-specialized centres.

Work-related asthma (WRA) is a relevant problem in several countries, is cause of disability and socioeconomic consequences for both the patient and the society and is probably still underdiagnosed. A correct diagnosis is extremely important to reduce or limit the consequences of the disease. This consensus document was prepared by a EAACI Task Force consisting of an expert panel of allergologists, pneumologists and occupational physicians from different European countries.

Development of the Italian version of the Pain Catastrophising Scale (PCS-I): cross-cultural adaptation, factor analysis, reliability, validity and sensitivity to change.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to create an Italian version of the Pain Catastrophising Scale (PCS-I) and evaluate its psychometric properties in a sample with chronic low back pain.

Methods: The PCS was culturally adapted in accordance with international standards. The psychometric testing included factor analysis, reliability by internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest repeatability (intraclass coefficient correlations), and concurrent validity by comparing the PCS-I with a numerical rating scale (NRS), the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) (Pearson's correlation).

Occupational exposure to toluene diisocyanate and neutrophilic bronchitis without asthma.

Context: Isocyanates represent a leading cause of occupational asthma, and sputum neutrophilia or eosinophilia has been described in subjects with isocyanate-induced occupational asthma after exposure to these chemicals. One case of non-asthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis due to methylene diphenil isocyanates has been reported, but a similar condition in the instance of neutrophilic bronchial inflammation has never been described.

Case Details: We report a 34-year-old woman, who, 18 months after beginning work in a plastic industry, reported the onset of dry cough at work.

Autonomic dysfunction in the early stage of ALS with bulbar involvement.

Our objective was to assess the autonomic function of ALS patients with and without bulbar signs to characterize dysautonomia in ALS disease. Standard autonomic tests and spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV), reflecting changes in the sympathovagal balance, were examined in 33 ALS patients (14 with bulbar signs) and 30 controls. Results showed that in the supine position, ALS patients had significantly lower total power and absolute values of high-frequency power indicating a depressed sinus arrhythmia.

EAACI position paper: prevention of work-related respiratory allergies among pre-apprentices or apprentices and young workers.

Apprenticeship is a period of increased risk of developing work-related respiratory allergic diseases. There is a need for documents to provide appropriate professional advice to young adults aiming to reduce unsuitable job choices and prevent impairment from their careers. The present document is the result of a consensus reached by a panel of experts from European and non-European countries addressed to allergologists, pneumologists, occupational physicians, primary care physicians, and other specialists interested in this field, which aims to reduce work-related respiratory allergies (rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma) among allergic or nonallergic apprentices and other young adults entering the workforce.

Efficacy of the Regent Suit training during a post-acute stroke rehabilitation process: description of a case report.

In Western industrialized Countries, stroke constitutes a major cause of motor disability. According to rehabilitative principles, propríoceptive stimulations appear to positively influence postural control and ambulation recovery. This case report describes the application of the Regent Suit, a rehabilitative device developed by the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, to improve the gait performances of a patient severely affected by stroke, in its post-acute phase.

The use of fractional exhaled nitric oxide in investigation of work-related cough in a hairdresser.

Background: Occupational and environmental factors may be a cause of nonasthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis (NAEB). The diagnosis of occupational NAEB requires evidence of sputum eosinophilia. Nevertheless, a minority of patients are not able to produce suitable sputum specimens.

Clinical and economic aspects of the use of nebivolol in the treatment of elderly patients with heart failure.

Heart failure is a common and disabling condition with morbidity and mortality that increase dramatically with advancing age. Large observational studies, retrospective subgroup analyses and meta-analyses of clinical trials in systolic heart failure, and recently published randomized studies have provided data supporting the use of beta-blockers as a baseline therapy in heart failure in the elderly. Despite the available evidence about beta-blockers, this therapy is still less frequently used in elderly compared to younger patients.

The Italian version of the Sickness Impact Profile-Roland Scale for chronic pain: cross-cultural adaptation, reliability, validity and sensitivity to change.

Purpose: As no adapted form of the 23-item Sickness Impact Profile (SIP)-Roland Scale for patients with chronic pain has ever been validated in the Italian population, the aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt and validate an Italian version.

Methods: The development of the Italian version involved translation and back-translation, a final review by an expert committee and the testing of the pre-final version to establish its correspondence with the original. The psychometric testing included testing reliability by internal consistency (Cronbach's α) and test-retest repeatability (intraclass coefficient correlation; ICC), construct validity by comparison with an 11-point pain intensity numerical rating scale (NRS; Pearson's correlation) and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36; Pearson's correlation) and sensitivity to change by calculating the minimum detectable change (MDC).

Development of the Italian version of the revised Scoliosis Research Society-22 Patient Questionnaire, SRS-22r-I: cross-cultural adaptation, factor analysis, reliability, and validity.

Study Design: Evaluation of the psychometric properties of a translated and culturally adapted questionnaire.

Objective: Translating, culturally adapting, and validating the Italian version of the revised Scoliosis Research Society-22 Patient Questionnaire (SRS-22r-I) in order to allow its use with Italian-speaking patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Summary Of Background Data: Increasing attention is being given to health-related quality of life measures as a means of adding information about the evaluation of AIS.

EAACI position paper on occupational rhinitis.

The present document is the result of a consensus reached by a panel of experts from European and non-European countries on Occupational Rhinitis (OR), a disease of emerging relevance which has received little attention in comparison to occupational asthma. The document covers the main items of OR including epidemiology, diagnosis, management, socio-economic impact, preventive strategies and medicolegal issues. An operational definition and classification of OR tailored on that of occupational asthma, as well as a diagnostic algorithm based on steps allowing for different levels of diagnostic evidence are proposed.

Occupational rhinitis.

The present document is the result of a consensus reached by a panel of experts from European and nonEuropean countries on Occupational Rhinitis (OR), a disease of emerging relevance, which has received little attention in comparison to occupational asthma. The document covers the main items of OR including epidemiology, diagnosis, management, socio-economic impact, preventive strategies and medicolegal issues. An operational definition and classification of OR tailored to that of occupational asthma, as well as a diagnostic algorithm based on steps allowing different levels of diagnostic evidence, are proposed.

Usefulness of a cognitive behavioural and rehabilitative approach to enhance long lasting benefit after lumbar spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis surgery. A case report.

Most spine-surgically treated patients are considered eligible for rehabilitative treatment. Unfortunately, an evidence-based consensus on the best postsurgical conservative treatment is not mentioned. In absence of a shared pathway, physical therapies, exercises, back schools, massages and other manual therapies are sometimes recommended by surgeons and clinicians.

World Trade Center disaster: short- and medium-term health outcome.

Several studies related to September 11 World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attack have been conducted in order to monitor physical and mental health in the population at risk in the short and medium-term. In this paper the main health consequences in the exposed subjects 6 years after the disaster, including ocular, gastrointestinal, respiratory and psychological effects are described and discussed.

Two-year outcome of a prospective, controlled study of a disease management programme for elderly patients with heart failure.

Objective: Elderly heart failure patients are at high risk of events. Available studies and systematic reviews suggest that elderly patients benefit from disease management programmes (DMPs). However, important questions remain open, including the optimal follow-up intensity and duration and whether such interventions are cost-effective during long-term follow-up and in different healthcare systems.