Neuropeptide Y as a risk factor for cardiorenal disease and cognitive dysfunction in chronic kidney disease: translational opportunities and challenges.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36-amino-acid peptide member of a family also including peptide YY and pancreatic polypeptide, which are all ligands to Gi/Go coupled receptors. NPY regulates several fundamental biologic functions including appetite/satiety, sex and reproduction, learning and memory, cardiovascular and renal function and immune functions. The mesenteric circulation is a major source of NPY in the blood in man and this peptide is considered a key regulator of gut-brain cross talk.

Two-months quality of life of COVID-19 invasively ventilated survivors; an Italian single-center study.

Background: COVID-19 disease can lead to severe functional impairments after discharge. We assessed the quality of life of invasively ventilated COVID-19 ARDS survivors.

Methods: We carried out a prospective follow-up study of the patients admitted to the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of a teaching hospital.

Diagnostic and prognostic factors in patients with prostate cancer: a systematic review protocol.

Introduction: As part of the PIONEER (Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Enhancement Through the Power of Big Data in Europe) Consortium, we will explore which diagnostic and prognostic factors (DPFs) are currently being researched to previously defined clinical and patient-reported outcomes for prostate cancer (PCa).

Methods And Analysis: This research project will follow the following four steps: (1) a broad systematic literature review of DPFs for all stages of PCa, covering evidence from 2014 onwards; (2) discussion of systematic review findings by a multidisciplinary expert panel; (3) risk of bias assessment and applicability with Prediction model Risk Of Bias Assessment Tool criteria, Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) and the Quality In Prognosis Studies tool (QUIPS) and (4) additional quantitative assessments if required.

Ethics And Dissemination: We aim to develop an online tool to present the DPFs identified in this research and make them available across all stakeholders.

Prognostic role of ultrasonography staging in patients with anal cancer.

Background: Carcinomas of the anal canal are staged according to the size and extent of the disease; however, we propose including a novel ultrasound (US) staging system, based on depth of tumor invasion. In this study the clinical American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging guidelines and the US classificationss in patients with anal cancer were compared.

Aim: To evaluate the prognostic role of the US staging system in patients with anal cancer.

Use of fibrin glue in bariatric surgery: analysis of complications after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy on 450 consecutive patients.

Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG) is one of the most performed surgical procedures in bariatric surgery. Staple line leak and bleeding are by far the two most feared complications after LSG. In this study, we retrospectively compared the efficacy of Fibrin Glue in preventing staple line leak and bleeding.

Modified laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with Rossetti antireflux fundoplication: results after 220 procedures with 24-month follow-up.

Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), including erosive esophagitis, is highly prevalent in the obese population. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is one of the most frequently performed bariatric procedures. The relationship between LSG and GERD has gained increasing attention.

Laparoscopic Abdominal Wall Hernia Repair.

Background And Objectives: The aim of this retrospective monocentric study was to evaluate results and recurrence rate with long-term follow-up after laparoscopic incisional/ventral hernia repair.

Methods: This was a retrospective, single-center, observational trial, collecting data from patients who underwent laparoscopic incisional/ventral abdominal hernia repair using the open intraperitoneal onlay mesh technique and a single mesh type. All patients signed an informed consent form before surgery.

Restrictive filling pattern in ischemic cardiomyopathy: Insights after surgical ventricular restoration.

Objective: To examine factors possibly involved in the resolution or persistence of restrictive filling pattern (RFP) after surgical ventricular restoration (SVR) in a series of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and RFP.

Methods: Echocardiography was performed at baseline (pre-SVR), discharge, and follow-up in 43 patients with ICM and RFP (E/A ratio ≥2). Patients were divided into 2 groups based on E/A ratio at discharge: improved (E/A ratio <2; 22 patients) and unchanged (E/A ratio ≥2; 21 patients).

Hypertension in High School Students: Genetic and Environmental Factors: The HYGEF Study.

Hypertension and obesity in the young population are major risk factors for renal and cardiovascular events, which could arise in adulthood. A candidate-gene approach was applied in a cohort observational study, in which we collected data from 2638 high school adolescent students. Participants underwent anthropometric and blood pressure (BP) measurements, as well as saliva and urine sample collection for genomic DNA extraction and renal function evaluation, respectively.

Technologies for image-guided surgery for managing lymphatic metastases in prostate cancer.

One of the challenges for the surgical management of prostate cancer is the lymphatic spread of metastases. Lymph node metastases vary in size (micrometastases (<2 mm) or macrometastases (>2 mm)), and their interactions with the lymphatic environment differ (whether they are hypoxic or connected to blood flow). Thus, devising a universal imaging system and an image-guided surgical approach that supports the resection of all affected lymph nodes is difficult.

Radical prostatectomy for locally advanced and high-risk prostate cancer: A systematic review of the literature.

Context: The role of radical prostatectomy (RP) in high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) is increasing.

Purpose: To review the existing literature and determine the value of RP in high-risk and locally advanced PCa.

Documentary Source: MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from 01/2000 through 05/2016 according to the PRISMA guidelines.

Identification of core items in the enhanced recovery pathway.

Background & Aims: The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathway represents an optimal approach in patients undergoing colorectal surgery but complexity in implementing its items could limit its application. The aim of this study is to identify possible core items within an ERAS pathway following elective colorectal resection.

Methods: This is a retrospective review of data prospectively collected between January 2014 and September 2015 by 14 Italian Hospitals in an electronic registry dedicated to an ERAS protocol.

Predictors of Cancer-specific Survival After Disease Recurrence in Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma: The Effect of Time to Recurrence.

Introduction: A few studies addressed predictive factors of cancer-specific mortality (CSM) in patients with recurrent renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following surgery. Time to recurrence (TTR) is an important predictor of CSM in various types of cancers. The aim of our study was to describe the course of RCC following disease recurrence and to identify prognostic factors that influence CSM with a special focus on TTR.

TMS of primary motor cortex with a biphasic pulse activates two independent sets of excitable neurones.

Background: Biphasic pulses produced by most commercially available TMS machines have a cosine waveform, which makes it difficult to study the interaction between the two phases of stimulation.

Objective: We used a controllable pulse TMS (cTMS) device delivering quasi-rectangular pulse outputs to investigate whether monophasic are more effective than biphasic pulses.

Methods: Temporally symmetric ("biphasic") or highly asymmetric ("monophasic") charge-balanced biphasic stimuli were used to target the hand area of motor cortex in the anterior-posterior (AP) or posterior-anterior (PA) initial current direction.

Practice Patterns Compared with Evidence-based Strategies for the Management of Androgen Deprivation Therapy-Induced Side Effects in Prostate Cancer Patients: Results of a European Web-based Survey.

Background: Evidence-based recommendations are available for the management of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)-induced side effects; however, there are no data on the implementation of the recommendations into daily practice patterns.

Objective: To compare practice patterns in the management of ADT-induced side effects with evidence-based strategies.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A European Web-based survey was conducted from January 16, 2015, to June 24, 2015.

Palate perforation differentiates cocaine-induced midline destructive lesions from granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

Cocaine abuse occasionally causes extensive destruction of the osteocartilaginous structures of the nose, sinuses and palate, which mimics the clinical picture of other diseases associated with necrotising midfacial lesions. The differentiation of cocaine-induced midline destructive lesions (CIMDL) and limited granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) may be difficult, particularly if patients do not readily admit substance abuse. We studied 10 patients with CIMDL and palate perforation referred to our Unit between 2002 and 2015.

External validation of a nomogram for identification of pathologically favorable disease in intermediate risk prostate cancer patients.

Objective: To establish an external validation of the new nomogram from Gandaglia et al which provides estimates of the probability of pathological favorable disease in pre-operatively defined intermediate-risk PCa.

Patients And Methods: Overall, 2928 intermediate-risk PCa patients according to the D'Amico classification undergoing RP and bilateral lymph node dissection in seven academic centres between 2000 and 2011. Pathologically favorable PCa was defined as low-grade organ-confined disease.

Diabetes in Cushing Disease.

Purpose Of Review: This review focuses on the pathophysiological and clinical aspects of diabetes mellitus occurring in patients with Cushing disease (CD).

Recent Findings: Insulin resistance and impairment in insulin secretion are both involved in the pathogenesis of glucocorticoid-induced diabetes. Correction of glucocorticoid excess does not always resolve abnormalities of glucose homeostasis, and correction of hyperglycaemia is specifically required.