Assessing the Beneficial Impact of a Patient Support Program in Secukinumab-Treated Patients with Psoriasis in Italy.

Purpose: For patients with psoriasis, treatment adherence and persistence are fundamental if therapeutic goals are to be met. Patient Support Programs (PSPs) may be used as a support tool to assist patients and health care professionals optimize treatment and improve disease management.

Patients And Methods: In Italy, the PSP PSOLife CARE, which began on the 9th of February 2017 and is ongoing, aimed to support patients with psoriasis under therapy with secukinumab (Cosentyx).

Aortic Pathology in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

Patients with autoimmune disease, and specifically lupus erythematosus, have an increased risk of developing aortic pathology, including aneurysm and dissections. We report a case of a 49-year-old woman with lupus erythematosus treated surgically for an abdominal aortic aneurysm in 2009, who developed type B aortic dissection 1 year later, treated by endovascular means. Dissection furtherly underwent aneurysm evolution, and the patient finally was brought to vascular attention with a fatal thoracic aneurysm rupture.

Levosimendan beyond inotropy and acute heart failure: Evidence of pleiotropic effects on the heart and other organs: An expert panel position paper.

Levosimendan is a positive inotrope with vasodilating properties (inodilator) indicated for decompensated heart failure (HF) patients with low cardiac output. Accumulated evidence supports several pleiotropic effects of levosimendan beyond inotropy, the heart and decompensated HF. Those effects are not readily explained by cardiac function enhancement and seem to be related to additional properties of the drug such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic ones.

Nonfatal cerebral air embolism after dental surgery.

After removal of four impacted third molars under general anesthesia, our patient developed subcutaneous emphysema, pneumothorax, pneumopericardium, and pneumomediastinum. Soon thereafter, coma with generalized epileptic status ensued. A cerebral magnetic resonance and single photon emission computed tomography showed hypoperfusion of the right thalamus and parietal, temporal, and frontal cortices.

Atypical primary headache responding to finger pressure: possible involvement of the vagus nerve?

We describe a case of atypical primary headache strongly responsive to prolonged pressure in the anterior aspect of the neck. We hypothesize that, at least in this case, the trigemino-cervical system and its connections with the vagus nerve are involved.

Intrahepatic accessory spleen: imaging features.

The authors present a case report of a 60-year-old man with a hepatic unknown mass. For diagnosis, they used ECO, CT (with and without contrast), MR (with and without contrast) and an ultrasound-assisted percutaneous lesion biopsy. Thus the mass-lesion in the liver appeared to be an intrahepatic accessory spleen in a patient afflicted with chronic hepatitis.

Two Different Therapeutic Modalities in the Treatment of the Upper Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis: Preliminary Investigation With 20 Case Reports.

Primary or secondary axillary or/and subclavian vein thrombosis (ASVT) can produce long-term disability, mostly in young patients, while the final vein recanalization after various therapeutic modalities often fails. Our aim was to compare the results of two different therapeutic modalities: the thrombolytic vs anticoagulant therapy, in primary and secondary ASVT in a retrospective data analysis in terms of efficacy, negative side effects, long-term positive results. Eleven patients (Group A), with primary and secondary to central venous cannulation or cardiac pacing ASVT, were treated with anticoagulant therapy, while another 9 patients (Group B), were treated with thrombolytic therapy, that included urokinase or streptokinase for 24-48 hours.

Gastrointestinal emergencies in patients with acute intestinal graft-versus-host disease.

Acute intestinal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) develops in about 30-50% of allogeneic bone-marrow transplant recipients: 10-20% have gastrointestinal emergencies (hemorrhage or perforation). Mortality reaches 30-60% in patients with acute, grade 2-4 GVHD. We studied 36 bone marrow recipients in whom acute intestinal GVHD developed.

Pancytopenia associated with thymoma resolving after thymectomy and immunosuppressive therapy. Case report.

In a 43-year-old woman, pancytopenia accompanying thymoma persisted after thymectomy, requiring weekly blood transfusions, and did not respond to prednisone 50 mg/day. Cyclosporine 10 mg/kg/day plus prednisone 20 mg/day for a month gradually corrected the blood parameters. Thirty months later the patient is well and haematologically stable.

Identification and localization of atrial natriuretic factor receptors in human spermatozoa.

Specific binding sites for atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) have been detected and localized in viable human spermatozoa through radioreceptor analysis and autoradiography, respectively. Radiotracer uptake was time and concentration dependent. Scatchard analysis of saturation data showed a single class of ANF receptors with a kd of 2.