Consequences of Increases in Antibiotic Resistance Pattern on Outcome of Pancreatic Resection for Cancer.

Background: The role of drug-resistance infections on surgical outcomes is controversial. The aim of the study was to determine whether increase antibiotic resistance was an independent risk factor for development of major non-infectious postoperative complications.

Methods: This work included a multicenter cohort study of patients who underwent pancreatic resections for cancer over a 3-year interval.

Coronary Artery Aneurysm After Bioresorbable Scaffold Implantation in a Woman With an Acute Coronary Syndrome.

We herein report the case of an ST-elevation myocardial infarction due to bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BRS) failure. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed the exact mechanism of late BRS stent thrombosis due to an acquired coronary aneurysm related to BRS. A drug eluting OCT-guided stenting over a failed BRS in the context of an acute coronary syndrome, with the simultaneous presence of a BRS thrombosis and coronary artery aneurysm, proved to be effective.

Cataract and optic disk drusen in a patient with glycogenosis and di George syndrome: clinical and molecular report.

Background: We report the ophthalmic findings of a patient with type Ia glycogen storage disease (GSD Ia), DiGeorge syndrome (DGS), cataract and optic nerve head drusen (ONHD).

Case Presentation: A 26-year-old white woman, born at term by natural delivery presented with a post-natal diagnosis of GSD Ia. Genetic testing by array-comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) for DGS was required because of her low levels of serum calcium.

Evaluation of effectiveness and safety of a herbal compound in primary insomnia symptoms and sleep disturbances not related to medical or psychiatric causes.

Background And Purpose: Sleep disturbances and related daytime activities impairment are common diseases nowadays. General practitioners are often the first health care professional asked to alleviate sleep disturbances and primary insomnia symptoms. Beyond a wide class of hypnotic drugs, botanicals can represent an alternative treatment for those kinds of symptoms.

A European multicientre study on the comparison of HIV-1 viral loads between VERIS HIV-1 Assay and Roche COBAS® TAQMAN® HIV-1 test, Abbott RealTime HIV-1 Assay, and Siemens VERSANT HIV-1 Assay.

Background: Viral load monitoring is essential for patients under treatment for HIV. Beckman Coulter has developed the VERIS HIV-1 Assay for use on the novel, automated DxN VERIS Molecular Diagnostics System. OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the clinical performance of the new quantitative VERIS HIV-1 Assay at multiple EU laboratories.

Repetitive use of levosimendan in advanced heart failure: need for stronger evidence in a field in dire need of a useful therapy.

Patients in the latest stages of heart failure are severely compromised, with poor quality of life and frequent hospitalizations. Heart transplantation and left ventricular assist device implantation are viable options only for a minority, and intermittent or continuous infusions of positive inotropes may be needed as a bridge therapy or as a symptomatic approach. In these settings, levosimendan has potential advantages over conventional inotropes (catecholamines and phosphodiesterase inhibitors), such as sustained effects after initial infusion, synergy with beta-blockers, and no increase in oxygen consumption.

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection After Pregnancy as First Manifestation of a Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

We report the case of a myocardial infarction in the post-partum period due to a spontaneous coronary artery dissection. The role of intracoronary imaging was critical: OCT imaging led us to formulate the right diagnosis.OCT imaging revealed a multiple coronary artery dissection in the left main non-detectable on angiography and in the circumflex, with evidence of coronary hematoma in the circumflex and left anterior descending.

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia with Mutated IGHV4-34 Receptors: Shared and Distinct Immunogenetic Features and Clinical Outcomes.

We sought to investigate whether B cell receptor immunoglobulin (BcR IG) stereotypy is associated with particular clinicobiological features among chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients expressing mutated BcR IG (M-CLL) encoded by the IGHV4-34 gene, and also ascertain whether these associations could refine prognostication. In a series of 19,907 CLL cases with available immunogenetic information, we identified 339 IGHV4-34-expressing cases assigned to one of the four largest stereotyped M-CLL subsets, namely subsets #4, #16, #29 and #201, and investigated in detail their clinicobiological characteristics and disease outcomes. We identified shared and subset-specific patterns of somatic hypermutation (SHM) among patients assigned to these subsets.

A multicenter randomized trial comparing the use of touch versus no-touch guidewire technique for deep biliary cannulation: the TNT study.

Background And Aims: There are 2 techniques described for selective bile duct guidewire cannulation, the touch (T) technique (engaging the papilla with a sphincterotome and then advancing the guidewire) and the no-touch (NT) technique (engaging the papilla only with the guidewire). The aim of this prospective, multicenter randomized study was to compare the outcomes of the 2 guidewire cannulation techniques.

Methods: Three hundred consecutive patients with naïve papillae were enrolled in 2 groups (150 to T group and 150 to NT group).

Stroke-like attack: first episode of sporadic hemiplegic migraine.

Hemiplegic migraine (HM) is a rare migraine with aura; it can be familiar or sporadic. A 46-years-old man presented left migraine followed by right hemiparesis with bilateral plantar flexion of cutaneous plantar reflex (CPR). Brain CT and CT-angiography were normal.

Headache and endovascular procedures.

The International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3 beta) includes headache attributed to intracranial endovascular procedures (EVPs). The aim of this review is to describe the clinical and pathophysiological aspects of headache related to vascular lesions and EVPs. Current studies regarding this issue are contradictory, although generally favouring headache improvement after EVPs.

Reliability, Feasibility and Value of Ecography in Clinical-functional Results in Patients Affected by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: is There a Correlation?

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate how the ultrasound examination in the carpal tunnel diagnosis could contribute to the clinical and neurophysiological evaluation. This was done by evaluating the cross-sectional area (CSA) and its correlation with symptoms and functionality data assessed by the BTQC questionnaire.

Methods: 60 patients were subjected to open CTR for idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome.

Liver-allocation policies for patients affected by HCC in Europe.

The main goal of organ allocation systems is to guarantee an equal access to the limited resource of liver grafts for every patients on the waiting list, balancing between the ethical principles of , and The European heath care scenario is very complex, as it is essentially decentralized and each Nation and Regions inside the nation, operate on a significant degree of autonomy. Furthermore the epidemiology of liver diseases and HCC, which is different among European countries, clearly inpacts on indications and priorities. The aims of this review are to analyze liver allocation policies for hepatocellular carcinoma, among different European.

Late Echocardiographic Study of Aortic Valve and Aortic Root after Surgery for Type A Acute Aortic Dissection.

Objective: In case of concomitant aortic regurgitation (AR) valve, sparing operation is considered the first choice in selected patients. The aim of this retrospective clinical and echocardiographic study was to evaluate the long-term survival results of conservative approach and the determinants of recurrent AR.

Methods: From 2000 to 2011, fifty patients (median: 63 years and interquartile range: 53-72) underwent an aortic valve-sparing procedure for acute aortic dissection, and discharged alive.

Myocardial deformation in iron overload cardiomyopathy: speckle tracking imaging in a beta-thalassemia major population.

Traditional echocardiography is unable to detect neither the early stages of iron overload cardiomyopathy nor myocardial iron deposition. The aim of the study is to determine myocardial systolic strain indices in thalassemia major (TM), and assess their relationship with T2*, a cardiac magnetic resonance index of the severity of cardiac iron overload. 55 TM cases with recent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR-T2*) underwent speckle tracking analysis to assess regional myocardial strains and rotation.

Ultrasound characterization of insulin induced lipohypertrophy in type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: Subcutaneous insulin absorption is one of the key factors affecting glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus under insulin therapy. Insulin-induced subcutaneous lipohypertrophy has been reported to impair insulin regular absorption and hence glycemic control. So far, lipohypertrophy diagnosis has only been clinical.

European Multicenter Study on Analytical Performance of Veris HIV-1 Assay.

The analytical performance of the Veris HIV-1 assay for use on the new, fully automated Beckman Coulter DxN Veris molecular diagnostics system was evaluated at 10 European virology laboratories. The precision, analytical sensitivity, performance with negative samples, linearity, and performance with HIV-1 groups/subtypes were evaluated. The precision for the 1-ml assay showed a standard deviation (SD) of 0.

Endovascular Treatment of Ischemic Stroke: An Updated Meta-Analysis of Efficacy and Safety.

Background: Recent randomized trials demonstrated the superiority of the mechanical thrombectomy over the best medical treatment in patients with acute ischemic stroke due to an occlusion of arteries of proximal anterior circulation. In this updated meta-analysis, we aimed to summarize the total clinical effects of the treatment, including the last trials.

Methods: We performed literature search of Randomized Crontrolled Trials (RCTs) published between 2010 and October 2016, comparing endovenous thrombolysis plus mechanical thrombectomy (intervention group) with best medical care alone (control group).

A Case of Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm Extensively Studied by Flow Cytometry and Immunohistochemistry.

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare hematologic malignancy with aggressive clinical course and poor prognosis. Diagnosis is based on detection of CD4 CD56, CD123, TCL-1, and blood dendritic cell antigen-2/CD303 blasts, together with the absence of lineage specific antigens on tumour cells. In this report we present a case of BPDCN presenting with extramedullary and bone marrow involvement, extensively studied by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry, who achieved complete remission after acute lymphoblastic leukemia like chemotherapy and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Endoscopic management of patients with post-surgical leaks involving the gastrointestinal tract: A large case series.

Background: Post-surgical anastomotic leaks often require a re-intervention, are associated with a definite morbidity and mortality, and with relevant costs. We described a large series of patients with different post-surgical leaks involving the gastrointestinal tract managed with endoscopy as initial approach.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected cases with anastomotic leaks managed with different endoscopic approaches (with surgical or radiological drainage when needed) in two endoscopic centres during 5 years.

Body schema and corporeal self-recognition in the alien hand syndrome.

Objective: The alien hand syndrome (AHS) is a rare neuropsychological disorder characterized by involuntary, yet purposeful, hand movements. Patients with the AHS typically complain about a loss of agency associated with a feeling of estrangement for actions performed by the affected limb. The present study explores the integrity of the body representation in AHS, focusing on 2 main processes: multisensory integration and visual self-recognition of body parts.