Prognostic impact of late gadolinium enhancement in the risk stratification of heart transplant patients.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to assess the association of the presence and amount of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) at cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with cardiovascular adverse events in patients with orthotopic heart transplantation (HTx).

Methods And Results: We enrolled 48 patients (mean age, 54.7 ± 14.

Aneurysm Study of Pipeline in an Observational Registry (ASPIRe).

Background And Objective: Few prospective studies exist evaluating the safety and efficacy of the Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. The Aneurysm Study of Pipeline In an observational Registry (ASPIRe) study prospectively analyzed rates of complete aneurysm occlusion and neurologic adverse events following PED treatment of intracranial aneurysms.

Materials And Methods: We performed a multicenter study prospectively evaluating patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with PED.

A Type A and Type D Combined Personality Typology in Essential Hypertension and Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients: Associations with Demographic, Psychological, Clinical, and Lifestyle Indicators.

Many studies have focused on Type A and Type D personality types in the context of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), but nothing is known about how these personality types combine to create new profiles. The present study aimed to develop a typology of Type A and Type D personality in two groups of patients affected by and at risk for coronary disease. The study involved 711 patients: 51.

Efficacy and safety of rechallenge treatment with gefitinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Objectives: Although patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and an activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation benefit from the use of EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), most of them progress within 12 months from treatment start due to acquired resistance. In clinical practice, many physicians frequently offer these patients retreatment with EGFR-TKIs after a chemotherapy break, based on small or retrospective studies.

Materials And Methods: A phase II trial was conducted in patients with stage III/IV NSCLC, to assess the efficacy, safety and impact on quality of life (QoL) and disease-related symptoms of gefitinib rechallenge.

Age-Related Differences in 1- and 12-Month Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (from a Large Multicenter Data Repository).

Scarce data are available on the impact of age on transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) outcomes. We therefore, analyzed 1,845 consecutive patients from 9 Italian centers who underwent TAVI with the Corevalve Revalving System from September 2007 to March 2014; patients were dichotomized according to their age in the date of the procedure, as follows: 75 to 85 years old and >85 years old. End points were defined according to Valve Academic Research Consortium definitions.

A sequential approach with imatinib, chemotherapy and transplant for adult Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia: final results of the GIMEMA LAL 0904 study.

In the GIMEMA LAL 0904 protocol, adult Philadelphia positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients were treated with chemotherapy for induction and consolidation, followed by maintenance with imatinib. The protocol was subsequently amended and imatinib was incorporated in the induction and post-remission phase together with chemotherapy. Due to the toxicity of this combined approach, the protocol was further amended to a sequential scheme based on imatinib plus steroids as induction, followed by consolidation with chemotherapy plus imatinib and, when applicable, by a hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

Microstructural Correlates of Emotional Attribution Impairment in Non-Demented Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Impairments in the ability to recognize and attribute emotional states to others have been described in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and linked to the dysfunction of key nodes of the emotional empathy network. Microstructural correlates of such disorders are still unexplored. We investigated the white-matter substrates of emotional attribution deficits in a sample of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients without cognitive decline.

Oxidative Stress Assessment in Response to Ultraendurance Exercise: Thiols Redox Status and ROS Production according to Duration of a Competitive Race.

Purpose. Response to an ultraendurance competitive race on thiols redox status, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and oxidative stress (OxS) was investigated according to duration. Methods.

Polymyxin-B hemoperfusion in septic patients: analysis of a multicenter registry.

Background: In 2010, the EUPHAS 2 collaborative group created a registry with the purpose of recording data from critically ill patients suffering from severe sepsis and septic shock treated with polymyxin-B hemoperfusion (PMX-HP) for endotoxin removal. The aim of the registry was to verify the application of PMX-HP in the daily clinical practice.

Methods: The EUPHAS 2 registry involved 57 centers between January 2010 and December 2014, collecting retrospective data of 357 patients (297 in Europe and 60 in Asia) suffering from severe sepsis and septic shock caused by proved or suspected infection related to Gram negative bacteria.

Effects of Levosimendan on Endothelial Function and Hemodynamics During Weaning From Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Life Support.

Objective: Weaning from veno-arterial extracorporeal life support is challenging. The objective of this trial was to investigate the endothelial and hemodynamic effects of levosimendan in cardiogenic shock patients supported with veno-arterial extracorporeal life support.

Design: This was a prospective observational trial.

Ofatumumab plus chlorambucil as a first-line therapy in less fit patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: analysis of COMPLEMENT1 and other monoclonal antibodies association data.

The management of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has radically improved over the last few years with the addition of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) to chemotherapy. Chlorambucil has been considered for decades as a suitable therapeutic option for frail patients. Taking into account the advantage offered by the addition of MoAbs to chemotherapy, different studies up to now have explored the feasibility of chlorambucil-based chemoimmunotherapies in treatment-naïve CLL.

Abdomen/pelvis computed tomography in staging of pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma: is it always necessary?

The purpose of the study was to determine if abdomen/pelvis computed tomography (CT) can be safety omitted in the initial staging of a subgroup of children affected by Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL). Every participating center of A.I.

Expanding the clinical spectrum of COL1A1 mutations in different forms of glaucoma.

Background: Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) and early onset glaucomas are one of the major causes of children and young adult blindness worldwide. Both autosomal recessive and dominant inheritance have been described with involvement of several genes including CYP1B1, FOXC1, PITX2, MYOC and PAX6. However, mutations in these genes explain only a small fraction of cases suggesting the presence of further candidate genes.

Myocardial Expression Analysis of Osteopontin and Its Splice Variants in Patients Affected by End-Stage Idiopathic or Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Osteopontin (OPN) is a phosphoglycoprotein of cardiac extracellular matrix and it is still poorly defined whether its expression changes in failing heart of different origin. The full-length OPN-a and its isoforms (OPN-b, OPN-c) transcriptomic profile were evaluated in myocardium of patients with dilated or ischemic cardiomyopathy (DCM n = 8; LVEF% = 17.5±3; ICM n = 8; LVEF% = 19.

WSES Guidelines for the management of acute left sided colonic diverticulitis in the emergency setting.

Acute left sided colonic diverticulitis is one of the most common clinical conditions encountered by surgeons in acute setting. A World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) Consensus Conference on acute diverticulitis was held during the 3rd World Congress of the WSES in Jerusalem, Israel, on July 7th, 2015. During this consensus conference the guidelines for the management of acute left sided colonic diverticulitis in the emergency setting were presented and discussed.

Total pericardial agenesis mimicking arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.

: We report the incidental finding of pericardial agenesis in a patient with electrocardiographic and echocardiographic abnormalities mimicking arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. The anatomic findings were clearly depicted by cardiac magnetic resonance. The patient was asymptomatic and the clinical relevance of this finding would be raised in case a possible differential diagnosis of right heart overload should be necessary.

Treatment recommendations from the Eighth International Workshop on Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia.

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) is a distinct B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder for which clearly defined criteria for the diagnosis, initiation of therapy, and treatment strategy have been proposed as part of the consensus panels of the International Workshop on Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (IWWM). At IWWM-8, a task force for treatment recommendations was impanelled to review recently published and ongoing clinical trial data as well as the impact of new mutations (MYD88 and CXCR4) on treatment decisions, indications for B-cell receptor and proteasome inhibitors, and future clinical trial initiatives for WM patients. The panel concluded that therapeutic strategies in WM should be based on individual patient and disease characteristics.

Endovascular and surgical approaches of ethmoidal dural fistulas: a multicenter experience and a literature review.

Ethmoidal dural arteriovenous fistulae are rare vascular malformations associated with a high risk of bleeding. We present a multicenter contemporary series of patients treated with microsurgical and endovascular techniques. Sixteen consecutive patients were evaluated and/or treated between 2008 and 2015 at four centers with large experience in the endovascular and surgical treatment of cerebrovascular diseases.

Prognostic implications of mitral regurgitation in patients after cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Aim: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is a common finding in patients with heart failure with debatable effects on prognosis. Reduction in MR is one of the mechanisms by which cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) exerts its beneficial effects. We investigated the prognostic impact of baseline MR and MR persistence after CRT on outcomes of treated patients.

Active Tuberculosis Case Finding Interventions Among Immigrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Italy.

In Italy tuberculosis (TB) is largely concentrated in vulnerable groups such as migrants and in urban settings. We analyzed three TB case finding interventions conducted at primary centers and mobile clinics for regular/irregular immigrants and refugees/asylum seekers performed over a four-year period (November 2009-March 2014) at five different sites in Rome and one site in Milan, Italy. TB history and presence of symptoms suggestive of active TB were investigated by verbal screening through a structured questionnaire in migrants presenting for any medical condition to out-patient and mobile clinics.

Impact of severe left ventricular dysfunction on mid-term mortality in elderly patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Background: Whether patients with reduced left ventricular function present worse outcome after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is controversial. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of baseline severe impairment of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) on mortality after TAVI.

Methods: Six-hundred-forty-nine patients with aortic stenosis underwent TAVI with the CoreValve system (92.