Long-term body composition improvement in post-menopausal women following bariatric surgery: a cross-sectional and case-control study.

Objective: Bariatric surgery (BS) induces loss of body fat mass (FM) with an inexorable loss of lean mass (LM). Menopause leads to deleterious changes in body composition (BC) related to estrogen deficiency including LM loss and increase in total and visceral adipose tissue (VAT). This study aims to describe the long-term weight evolution of post-menopausal women after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and to compare the BC between BS patients vs post-menopausal non-operated women.

Inferior vena cava thrombosis as a possible cause of nephrotic-range proteinuria: two case reports.

Background: Nephrotic-range proteinuria is a common reason for nephrological consultation in clinical practice. The differential diagnosis is wide, and generally focuses on different forms of glomerulonephritis, but other causes should not be overlooked, as illustrated in this article.

Case Presentations: We report two female patients with nephrotic-range proteinuria.

Defining Global Benchmarks in Elective Secondary Bariatric Surgery Comprising Conversional, Revisional, and Reversal Procedures.

Objective: To define "best possible" outcomes for secondary bariatric surgery (BS).

Background: Management of poor response and of long-term complications after BS is complex and under-investigated. Indications and types of reoperations vary widely and postoperative complication rates are higher compared to primary BS.

The predictive value of segmentation metrics on dosimetry in organs at risk of the brain.

Background: Fully automatic medical image segmentation has been a long pursuit in radiotherapy (RT). Recent developments involving deep learning show promising results yielding consistent and time efficient contours. In order to train and validate these systems, several geometric based metrics, such as Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC), Hausdorff, and other related metrics are currently the standard in automated medical image segmentation challenges.

Cardiac Output Determination in Precapillary Pulmonary Hypertension: A Systematic Review.

Background: Cardiac output determination is essential in precapillary pulmonary hypertension. While direct Fick is the gold standard, thermodilution is commonly used as the reference method. Moving to noninvasive methods would be highly beneficial for patients, avoiding repetitive invasive assessments.

Gastrointestinal quality of life before and short- and long-term after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for severe obesity.

Background: Overall quality of life (QoL) is generally improved after bariatric surgery. Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms including abdominal pain have been reported in up to >30% of patients after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), and may negatively influence QoL, especially GI-QoL.

Objectives: To evaluate the evolution of GI symptoms and GI-QoL short- and long-term after RYGB.

BMI Course Over 10 Years After Bariatric Surgery and Biopsychosocial Complexity Assessed with the INTERMED: a Retrospective Study.

Background: While bariatric surgery is an effective therapy for patients with severe obesity, not all patients benefit equally. An explanation might be that psychosocial risk factors hamper outcome. The study aimed to evaluate if biopsychosocial case complexity predicts evolution of BMI over 10 years after bariatric surgery.

Selexipag for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Introduction: : Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare pulmonary vasculopathy. This review focuses on selexipag, a prostacyclin receptor agonist validated for the treatment of PAH.

Areas Covered: We review the structure, mechanisms of action, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of selexipag.

Stereotactic Radiotherapy for the Management of Refractory Ventricular Tachycardia: Promise and Future Directions.

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) caused by myocardial scaring bears a significant risk of mortality and morbidity. Antiarrhythmic drug therapy (AAD) and catheter ablation remain the cornerstone of VT management, but both treatments have limited efficacy and potential adverse effects. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is routinely used in oncology to treat non-invasively solid tumors with high precision and efficacy.

Suggestions for Radiation Oncologists during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and COVID-19 diffusion have recently become an international public health emergency. Cancer patients, as a frail population, are particularly exposed to the risk related to infections. The clinical decision-making process and the organizational workflow of radiotherapy department should be revised in the light of the critical situation.

Introduction of a specialized consultation prior to insertion of totally implantable access venous devices: Impact on cancellation rate and patient satisfaction.

Objectives: Preoperative consultation is usually not performed before insertion of a totally implantable venous access device (TIVAD). In our experience, an incomplete preoperative assessment, a predictable medical condition contraindicating surgery, or no-show patients the day of surgery led to several surgery cancellations. Therefore, we introduced a specific preoperative surgical consultation for TIVAD that took place shortly before surgery.

Does One Dose Really Fit All? On the Monitoring of Direct Oral Anticoagulants: A Review of the Literature.

Background:  There is an increasing amount of literature on direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) laboratory monitoring. The aims of the present review were to evaluate published data on monitoring DOACs, to provide clinical guidance on how to interpret results, and to summarize why, when, and how to monitor DOACs.

Methods:  The publications screened for this review were obtained through a PubMed search for articles published in English or French before April 2019 that had the following as their main themes: DOAC monitoring, DOAC exposure-effect relationship, DOAC drug interactions, and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of DOACs.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, Obesity, and Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: Complex Relationship-a Narrative Review.

Common, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is promoted by increased abdomino-thoracic pressure gradient and affects a large proportion of patients with obesity. Weight loss is one of the mainstays of conservative treatment. While fundoplication is recognized as the best surgical option in the general population, its results in severely obese individuals are controversial.

The Breast Health Global Initiative 2018 Global Summit on Improving Breast Healthcare Through Resource-Stratified Phased Implementation: Methods and overview.

Background: The Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI) established a series of resource-stratified, evidence-based guidelines to address breast cancer control in the context of available resources. Here, the authors describe methodologies and health system prerequisites to support the translation and implementation of these guidelines into practice.

Methods: In October 2018, the BHGI convened the Sixth Global Summit on Improving Breast Healthcare Through Resource-Stratified Phased Implementation.

Integrating radiomics into holomics for personalised oncology: from algorithms to bedside.

Radiomics, artificial intelligence, and deep learning figure amongst recent buzzwords in current medical imaging research and technological development. Analysis of medical big data in assessment and follow-up of personalised treatments has also become a major research topic in the area of precision medicine. In this review, current research trends in radiomics are analysed, from handcrafted radiomics feature extraction and statistical analysis to deep learning.

MRI of non-specific low back pain and/or lumbar radiculopathy: do we need T1 when using a sagittal T2-weighted Dixon sequence?

Objective: To show that for the MRI workup of non-specific low back pain and/or lumbar radiculopathy, the acquisition of T1-weighted sequences in the sagittal plane could be waived when using an FSE T2-weighted Dixon sequence.

Materials And Methods: Three musculoskeletal radiologists retrospectively reviewed fifty lumbar spine MRI examinations performed for non-specific low back pain and/or lumbar radiculopathy. Two protocols were separately analyzed in the sagittal plane: a standard protocol (T1-weighted, in-phase, and water-only images of an FSE T2-weighted Dixon sequence) and a simplified protocol (fat-only, in-phase, and water-only images of an FSE T2-weighted Dixon sequence).

Long-Term Weight Loss, Metabolic Outcomes, and Quality of Life at 10 Years After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Are Independent of Patients' Age at Baseline.

Background: Conflicting data have been published for bariatric surgery in older patients, with no long-term large-scale studies available. Our aim was to provide long-term (> 10 years) results on weight loss, metabolic outcomes, and quality of life in a large homogenous series of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) patients, according to age at baseline.

Patients And Methods: All consecutive patients who underwent primary RYGB between 1999 and 2007, and therefore eligible for 10-year follow-up, were retrospectively analyzed.

Weight Loss Directly Influences Intermediate-Term Remission of Diabetes Mellitus After Bariatric Surgery: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

Purpose: Roux en Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB) is an effective therapy for patients with severe obesity. It induces both significant weight loss and rapid improvements of metabolic complications. This study was undertaken to better define the direct role of weight loss in the metabolic improvements.