One-Year Anti-VEGF Therapy Outcomes in Diabetic Macular Edema Based on Treatment Intensity: Data from the Fight Retinal Blindness! Registry.

Purpose: To compare 1-year outcomes of eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME) treated in routine clinical practice based on the proportion of visits where intravitreal VEGF inhibitor injections were delivered.

Design: Cohort study.

Participants: There were 2288 treatment-naive eyes with DME starting intravitreal VEGF inhibitor therapy from October 31, 2015 to October 31, 2021 from the Fight Retinal Blindness! international outcomes registry.

Web-based surveillance of respiratory infection outbreaks: retrospective analysis of Italian COVID-19 epidemic waves using Google Trends.

Introduction: Large-scale diagnostic testing has been proven insufficient to promptly monitor the spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019. Electronic resources may provide better insight into the early detection of epidemics. We aimed to retrospectively explore whether the Google search volume has been useful in detecting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus outbreaks early compared to the swab-based surveillance system.

Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment after Intravitreal Injections of Anti-VEGF for Retinal Diseases: Data from the Fight Retinal Blindness! Registry.

Purpose: To report the estimated incidence, probability, risk factors, and 1-year outcomes of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) in eyes receiving intravitreal injections (IVTs) of VEGF inhibitors for various retinal conditions in routine clinical practice.

Design: Retrospective analysis of data from a prospectively designed observational outcomes registry: the Fight Retinal Blindness!

Participants: Eyes of patients starting IVTs of VEGF inhibitors (ranibizumab, aflibercept, or bevacizumab) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, or retinal vein occlusion from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2020. All eyes that developed RRD within 90 days of IVTs were defined as cases with RRD and were matched with control eyes.

Are there Clinical Ways to Assess Inflammation in Dry Eye Disease?

In the diagnostic process of dry eye disease, the detection of inflammatory activity is critical in order to evaluate the risk of progression and immunologic shift of the disease, to predict patient response to treatment, and to design an efficient therapeutic strategy, including artificial tear replacement, punctal occlusion or anti-inflammatory therapy.Even if it is difficult to quantify, some indicators of the presence of inflammation are collectible during the examination of the ocular surface in a first-line clinical setting. This review presents and critically discusses the assessment of inflammation in dry eye disease in clinical practice.

The Subtle Role of Para-inflammation in Modulating the Progression of Dry Eye Disease.

In patients with DED, the continuous stimuli induced by excessive or persistent cold fiber sensors and overstimulation of nociceptors, as well as tear hyperosmolarity induced by evaporative stress, induce a transitory protective adaptation response called para-inflammation to restore ocular surface homeostasis. This mild subclinical inflammatory status (a type of hormetic response) can become chronic if the stimuli or tissue malfunction is present for a sustained period, causing persistent symptoms and damage to ocular surface epithelia.We review the mechanisms that characterize the transition from para-inflammation to a persistent inflammatory status of the ocular surface, including accumulation of biological waste and damaged/dysfunctional proteins, which, in normal conditions, are eliminated by autophagy, activation of the inflammasomes, and what is currently known about their role in DED pathogenesis.

The Global Registry for Hereditary Angioedema due to C1-Inhibitor Deficiency.

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare condition, mostly due to genetic deficiency of complement C1 inhibitor (C1-INH). The rarity of HAE impedes extensive data collection and assessment of the impact of certain factors known to affect the course of this disabling and life-threatening disease. Establishing a global registry could assist to overcome such issues and provides valuable patient data from different countries.

OCT Signs of Early Atrophy in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Interreader Agreement: Classification of Atrophy Meetings Report 6.

Purpose: To determine the interreader agreement for incomplete retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and outer retinal atrophy (iRORA) and complete RPE and outer retinal atrophy (cRORA) and their related features in age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Design: Interreader agreement study.

Participants: Twelve readers from 6 reading centers.

Functional fat injection in the treatment of dysphagia following surgery.

Functional fat injection under local anesthesia could be useful in the treatment of chronic dysphagia in selected patients with tissue loss secondary to laryngeal surgery.

Fundus autofluorescence imaging.

Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) imaging is an in vivo imaging method that allows for topographic mapping of naturally or pathologically occurring intrinsic fluorophores of the ocular fundus. The dominant sources are fluorophores accumulating as lipofuscin in lysosomal storage bodies in postmitotic retinal pigment epithelium cells as well as other fluorophores that may occur with disease in the outer retina and subretinal space. Photopigments of the photoreceptor outer segments as well as macular pigment and melanin at the fovea and parafovea may act as filters of the excitation light.

Torsion of wandering spleen involving the pancreatic tail.

Background: Wandering spleen (WS) is a rare clinical entity resulting from the absence or maldevelopment of the ligaments normally involved in the attachment of the spleen in its normal position. WS can be a cause of acute abdomen leading to different complications ranging from torsion of the vascular pedicle to spleen infarction. Often, in absence of symptoms, it is an occasional finding during radiological exams and surgery represents the gold standard in the management of this unusual condition.

Early and Mid-Term Results of Rapid Deployment Valves: The Intuity Italian Registry (INTU-ITA).

Background: Rapid deployment bioprostheses (RDBs) have been recently introduced into clinical practice for the treatment of severe aortic valve stenosis. The aim of this retrospective multicenter study was to assess early and mid-term clinical and hemodynamic outcomes of patients undergoing RDB implantation.

Methods: Data from a national registry that included patients who underwent isolated or combined aortic valve replacement with RDB in Italy were analyzed.

Correlation between Very Short and Short-Term Blood Pressure Variability in Diabetic-Hypertensive and Healthy Subjects.

Background: Blood pressure (BP) variability can be evaluated by 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring (24h-ABPM), but its concordance with results from finger BP measurement (FBPM) has not been established yet.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare parameters of short-term (24h-ABPM) with very short-term BP variability (FBPM) in healthy (C) and diabetic-hypertensive (DH) subjects.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with 51 DH subjects and 12 C subjects who underwent 24h-ABPM [extracting time-rate, standard deviation (SD), coefficient of variation (CV)] and short-term beat-to-beat recording at rest and after standing-up maneuvers [FBPM, extracting BP and heart rate (HR) variability parameters in the frequency domain, autoregressive spectral analysis].

Choroidal Thickness in Patients Diagnosed with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection: Results from Two Populations of Different Ethnicities.

: To measure the choroidal thickness among subjects with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection from two diverse ethnic populations and to compare it with healthy controls. : Subjects with HIV infection and healthy controls were enrolled in two referring centers in Italy and India. Clinical data were collected.

Dysphagia screening in subacute care settings using the Italian version of the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (I-RBWH) dysphagia screening tool.

The large majority of the available dysphagia screening tools has been developed for the stroke population. Only few screening tools are suitable for heterogeneous groups of patients admitted to a subacute care unit. The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) dysphagia screening tool is a nurse-administered, evidence-based swallow screening tool for generic acute hospital use that demonstrates excellent sensitivity and specificity.

Lung ultrasound and short-term prognosis in heart failure patients.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of hospitalization for patients older than 65years, with a 30-day readmission rate of 20-25%. Although several markers have been evaluated to stratify timing of follow-up after an acute decompensation is mostly based on clinical judgment. Lung ultrasound (LUS) has been demonstrated to be a valid tool for the assessment and monitoring of pulmonary congestion.

Interpretation of fundus autofluorescence changes in choriocapillaritis: a multi-modality imaging study.

Purpose: We aimed to describe imaging findings in primary inflammatory choriocapillaropathies (PICCPs) after a photobleaching process.

Methods: 2Images from six consecutive cases of patients affected by PICCPs (four with multiple evanescent white dot syndrome and two with multifocal choroiditis) were reviewed. Patients underwent fundus autofluorescence (FAF), fluorescein angiography (FA), indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) by means of the Spectralis HRA (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany).

Characterization of retinal structure and diagnosis of peripheral acquired retinoschisis using high-resolution ultrasound B-scan.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to report the ability of high-resolution ultrasonography (USG) B-Scan in differentiating between acquired retinoschisis (RS) and retinal detachment (RD), and to compare the findings with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

Methods: Patients with acquired peripheral RS and RD undergoing imaging with high-resolution B-scan USG and SD-OCT were included in the study. Descriptive analysis was performed on the images obtained by high-resolution B-scan USG to identify various retinal interfaces.

Relationship between energy expenditure, physical activity and weight loss during CPAP treatment in obese OSA subjects.

Background: Increased energy expenditure (EE) has been reported in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). It has been postulated that CPAP treatment may induce weight reduction in obese patients, even if it has not been confirmed by recent studies. In the present study we investigated the effect of OSA on EE and the effect of CPAP on body weight and physical activity.

Proposed lexicon for anatomic landmarks in normal posterior segment spectral-domain optical coherence tomography: the IN•OCT consensus.

Purpose: To develop a consensus nomenclature for the classification of retinal and choroidal layers and bands visible on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) images of a normal eye.

Design: An international panel with expertise in retinal imaging (International Nomenclature for Optical Coherence Tomography [IN • OCT] Panel) was assembled to define a consensus for OCT imaging terminology.

Participants: A panel of retina specialists.

Evaluation of prostaglandin analogue effects on corneal keratocyte density using scanning laser confocal microscopy.

Purpose: To determine if treatment with prostaglandin (PG) analogues affects keratocyte density as an indirect measure of extracellular matrix in the corneal stroma.

Patients And Methods: In this case control study, 129 eyes from 68 patients were examined: 52 eyes had only PG analogue therapy for at least 3 years, 37 eyes had only β-adrenergic blocker therapy for at least 3 years, and 40 control eyes were without therapy. Scanning laser confocal microscopy was carried out, and each corneal stroma was subdivided into the anterior, midstroma, and posterior stroma.

Vertical banded gastroplasty modifies plasma ghrelin secretion in obese patients.

Background: Restrictive bariatric surgery causes weight loss through substantial decline of appetite with satiety after meals. Reduction of plasma ghrelin levels after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding could contribute to these effects, although contradictory results have been reported. The only restrictive operation still not yet investigated is vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG).

Levosulpiride in somatoform disorders: A double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study.

Reliable data on the psychopharmacotherapy of somatoform disorders (SDs) are scanty because of patients' poor psychopathological awareness and compliance, the need for combination treatment, and the lack of suitable instruments for clinical diagnosis and assessment. The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of low doses of levosulpiride in the treatment of SDs. Seventy-four patients with SDs diagnosed according to ICD-10 and DSM-IIIR criteria by means of the Comprehensive International Schedule for Somatoform Disorders-Somatoform Disorders Schedule (CISSD-SDS) were treated for 4 weeks either with levosulpiride (50 mg b.