Acupuncture Point Injection of Vitamin K1 to Treat Severe Primary Dysmenorrhea: Case Series at a Women’s Health Service in Bologna

Introduction and Aim: Vitamin K acupuncture point injection is an effective and safe menstrual pain treatment derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine, commonly used in some Chinese hospitals. This case series investigated the effectiveness and safety of vitamin K acupuncture point injection on menstrual pain in patients with severe primary dysmenorrhea at a regional public health clinic at Bologna, Italy. Methods: From September 2006 to July 2010, 24 women were enrolled and treated during their first day of menstrual pain with an injection of 1 ml of solution containing 5 mg of vitamin K1 in an acupuncture point San Yin Jiao/Spleen 6 (SP6) bilaterally on the inside of each lower leg above the ankle. Results: Treatment was well tolerated and no major adverse events were reported. Pain relief was observed starting from 2 minutes after treatment and within 30 minutes. All treated women but one (96%) reported a substantial pain reduction (p 0.001). During the six post-treatment follow-up cycles, a trend toward a reduction of menstrual distress evaluated by the Cox Pain Intensity and Duration Scales was documented. Women reported fewer daily life restrictions and consumption of fewer analgesic tablets when compared to what they reported at the pre-treatment cycle. Conclusions: The results of this case series indicate that in primary dysmenorrhea a single vitamin K1 injection in the SP6 acupuncture point has an immediate pain-relieving effect and may ameliorate menstrual pain intensity and duration in post-treatment follow-up cycles.

Chronic HCV infection and inflammation:Clinical impact on hepatic and extra-hepatic manifestations

The liver has a central role in regulating inflammation by its capacity to secrete a number of proteins that control both local and systemic inflammatory responses. Chronic inflammation or an exaggerated inflammatory response can produce detrimental effects on target organs. Chronic hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection causes liver inflammation by complex and not yet well-understood molecular pathways, including direct viral effects and indirect mechanisms involving cytokine pathways,oxidative stress and steatosis induction. An increasing body of evidence recognizes the inflammatory response in chronic hepatitis C as pathogenically linked to the development of both liver-limited injury(fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) and extrahepatic HCV-related diseases(lymphoproliferative disease,atherosclerosis, cardiovascular and brain disease). Defining the complex mechanisms of HCV-induced inflammation could be crucial to determine the global impact of infection, to estimate progression of the disease, and to explore novel therapeutic approaches to avert HCVrelated diseases. This review focuses on HCV-related clinical conditions as a result of chronic liver and systemic inflammatory states.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic vs open gastrectomy for gastric cancer:Systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM To evaluate the potential effectiveness of robot-assisted gastrectomy(RAG) in comparison to open gastrectomy(OG) for gastric cancer patients.METHODS A comprehensive systematic literature search using PubM ed,EMBASE,and the Cochrane Library was carried out to identify studies comparing RAG and OG in gastric cancer.Participants of any age and sex were considered for inclusion in comparative studies of the two techniques independently from type of gastrectomy.A meta-analysis of short-term perioperative outcomes was performed to evaluate whether RAG is equivalent to OG.The primary outcome measures were set for estimated blood loss,operative time,conversion rate,morbidity,and hospital stay.Secondary among postoperative complications,wound infection,bleeding and anastomotic leakage were also analysed.RESULTS A total of 6 articles,5 retrospective and 1 randomized controlled study,involving 6123 patients overall,with 689(11.3%) cases submitted to RAG and 5434(88.7%) to OG,satisfied the eligibility criteria and were included in the meta-analysis.RAG was associated with longer operation time than OG(weighted mean difference 72.20 min;P < 0.001),but with reduction in blood loss and shorter hospital stay(weighted mean difference-166.83 mL and-1.97 d respectively;P < 0.001).No differences were found with respect to overall postoperative complications(P = 0.65),wound infection(P = 0.35),bleeding(P = 0.65),and anastomotic leakage(P = 0.06).The postoperative mortality rates were similar between the two groups.With respect to oncological outcomes,no statistical differences among the number of harvested lymph nodes were found(weighted mean difference-1.12;P = 0.10).CONCLUSION RAG seems to be a technically valid alternative to OG for performing radical gastrectomy in gastric cancer resulting in safe complications.

Hypertransaminasemia in the course of infection with SARS-CoV-2:Incidence and pathogenetic hypothesis

In patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,the respiratory symptoms,such as fever,cough and dyspnea,are the most frequent clinical manifestations.These patients may also present with less well-defined symptoms like diarrhea,nausea,vomiting and/or abdominal discomfort both at the time of diagnosis and during the clinical course.In a few cases,these symptoms may also present before the appearance of respiratory symptoms.To penetrate the body,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 uses ACE2 receptors,which are present not only in respiratory epithelium but also in gastrointestinal mucosa and liver cholangiocytes.In several cases,viral RNA is detectable in the stool of patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).The liver damage seems to show a multifactorial origin.About 2%-11%of patients with COVID-19 have known underlying hepatic pathologies.In 14%-53%of COVID-19 cases,there is an alteration of the indices of liver cytolysis and is more frequently observed in severe forms of COVID-19,especially during hospitalization.

Paradoxical relationship between proton pump inhibitors and COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND The proton pump inhibitors(PPIs),used to reduce gastric acid secretion,represent one of the most widely used pharmaceutical classes in the world.Their consumption as a risk factor for the evolution of severe forms of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)infection has been investigated as well as the mortality of these patients.These risks also appear to be linked to the duration and the dosage.On the other hand,several studies have emerged with regard to the protective or therapeutic effects of these drugs.More and more evidence underlines the immunomodulatory and anti-fibrotic role of PPIs.In addition,their ability to alkalize the contents of endosomes and lysosomes serves as an obstacle to the entry of the virus into the host cells.AIM To identify studies on the relationship between the intake of PPIs and coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)in patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection,with the main objective of evaluating the outcomes related to severity and mortality.METHODS A literature review was performed in November 2020.The MEDLINE/PubMed,Cochrane Library,EMBASE and Google Scholar databases were searched for all relevant articles published in English on this topic.The search terms were identified by means of controlled vocabularies,such as the National Library of Medicine’s MESH(Medical Subject Headings)and keywords.The MESH terms and keywords used were as follows:“COVID-19”,“proton pump inhibitors”,“PPIs”,“SARS-CoV-2”,“outcomes”,“severity”and“mortality”.The inclusion criteria regarding the studies considered in our analysis were:meta-analysis,casecontrol,hospital-based case-control,population-based case-control,retrospective studies,online survey,as well as cohort-studies,while articles not published as full reports,such as conference abstracts,case reports and editorials were excluded.We tried to summarize and pool all the data if available.RESULTS A total of 9 studies were found that described the use of PPIs,of which only 5 clearly reported the severity and mortality data in SARS-CoV-2 patients.Our pooled incidence analysis of severe events did not differ between patients with and without PPIs(odds ratio 1.65,95%confidence interval:0.62-4.35)(P=0.314),or for mortality(odds ratio 1.77,95%confidence interval:0.62-5.03)(P=0.286).CONCLUSION Detailed and larger case studies are needed to accurately understand the role of PPIs in this viral infection.

New Wireless Handheld Ultrasound-Guided Vacuum-Assisted Breast Biopsy (VABB) Devices: An Important Innovation in Breast Diagnosis

Vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB) plays a fundamental role in the preoperative assessment of breast lesions pro- viding large histology samples that are useful to define diagnoses and biological parameters to guide treatment planning. This technique has been used in our institute since 2000 and two new wireless handheld ultrasound-guided VABB de- vices have been introduced since May 2012. In this report we analyze our experience with these revolutionary devices which are able to provide the option of single-insertion contiguous tissue samples respectively with a 13/14-gauge aperture. Our initial experience on 75 lesions shows that these devices are safe, fast, procedurally advantageous for operators and well accepted by patients. Finally VABB procedures can markedly reduce the need for surgical biopsy.

Botulinum toxin treatment of severe dysphagia following brainstem stroke

Objective: To evaluate botulinum toxin treatment of hyperactive upper esophageal sphincter after first-time brainstem stroke. Design: A retrospective study. Subjects: Twelve patients with long standing dysphagia after brainstem vascular injury admitted to the rehabilitation department of a medical centre. Methods: All patients underwent clinical examination, videofluoroscopic study of swallowing and electromyography. Botulinum toxin was injected percutaneously under electromyographic guide. Outcomes were measured after two weeks and through a long follow up programme, which ranged from two to ten years. Results: A total of 75% of patients (9 of 12) had favourable outcomes. Two patients showed long lasting functional benefits after only one botulinum toxin injection, while seven patients required further treatments to maintain an adequate oral intake. In seven cases it was possible to remove percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. No relevant complications were observed. Conclusion: Botulinum toxin can improve severe dysphagia with elective hyperactivity of the upper esophageal sphincter in patients with or without unilateral paresis of the inferior constrictor muscle and in absence of a nuclear involvement of the IXth and Xth cranial nerves. The outcome could be unsatisfactory in the cases of oral phase involvement, bilateral lesion of the inferior constrictor muscle and when there is velopharyngeal insufficiency.

Effect of antihypertensive therapy on hospitalization and mortality among uncomplicated and high risk hypertensive patients

Objective: Evaluate the impact of antihypertensive drugs (AHD) on stroke and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and death for 3 cohorts of patients: diabetics, high risk, and hypertensive. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort obervational study based on administrative database of 7 Italian Local Health Units. Newly treated patients with AHD were enrolled from 01/01/2004 to 06/30/2007. Drug utilization and incidence of death, stroke and AMI were measured until 12/31/2007. Results: The study enrolled 125,770 patients aged ≥ 18-year-old: 8516 diabetic, 8549 high risk, and 108,705 hypertensive. Diabetic and high risk patients were more frequently male (57.2%, 64.9% VS 46.6%) and older (66.4 ± 11.6, 67.5 ± 13.2 VS 61.6 ± 13.9) than hypertensive patients and were more treated with concomitant therapy. Drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system were the more fre- quent choice in the three cohorts but with a dif- ferent prevalence (63.9%, 52.9%, 35.9% in dia- betic, hypertensive and high risk patients re- spectively). Adherent patients to AHD > 80% were 44.0% among diabetic patients, 48.4% among high risk, 35.2% among hypertensive. A Cox regression model showed that the risk of the combined outcome was determined by increasing age, male gender, presence of concomitant therapy, low adherence to AHD and first choice of AHD. Conclusions: An integrated analysis of prescription and hospital admission database has the great advantage that it uses routinely available data, it can be done quickly and by few staff, and it is less expensive than planned large scale survey.

Treatment of Chronic Oxaliplatin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Oxaliplatin is a platinum-derivative chemotherapeutic agent used in digestive tumours, in the adjuvant and metastatic setting. Oxaliplatin can cause a chronic peripheral sensory neuropathy which impacts the quality of life and is dose limiting. To date, no therapeutic strategies have proved effective in the treatment of oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OIPN). Methods: A computerized search of the literature on PubMed database was performed. Publisher original articles were included if they focused on treatment of peripheral neuropathy among patients submitted to oxaliplatin. Eleven out of 242 reviewed papers met our inclusion criteria and were subjected to a 19-item quality checklist. Results: The included studies differed with respect to study design, patient population and sample size, neuropathic symptoms assessment and efficacy measure. Most studies had an adequate quality. Ten trials tested one drug, and one pilot study tested a non-pharmacological treatment—the neurofeedback. Of these, 3 trials included only patients submitted to oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. Duloxetine showed moderate efficacy in 3 trials. Topical treatment with capsaicin or 10% amitriptyline was promisors in 2 single-arm trials with a few samples. Conclusion: In the last decade, there wasn’t an improvement in the treatment of chronic OIPN. The duloxetine is the unique drug with moderate efficacy on the treatment of OIPN. There is insufficient evidence to support a recommendation for any other treatment.

The Diagnostic Stability in Dual Diagnosis Study on a Sample of Patients with Opiate Addiction

It is known that in psychiatry, despite the introduction of standardized system, there is still a portion of diagnostic instability. This study aims to evaluate the stability of psychiatric diagnoses in a cohort of patients with dual diagnosis, under treatment of the Dependence Department of the Local Health Unit n.8 Veneto, Italy. 34 patients with opioid dependence, in treatment with methadone or buprenorphine, have been evaluated. They had participated to a previous study in 2006, in which psychiatric comorbidity was documented. These 34 patients have been retested with some of the tests already used in 2006： M.I.N.I. （for Axis I） and S.C.I.D. II （for Axis II）. The preceding evaluations and those current have been compared to assess the stability of psychiatric diagnosis. Almost all patients （95%） had at least a change of diagnosis. Psychoses are the most stable diagnoses. Also the substance use disorder is quite stable （80%）. Neuroses are more unstable. Personality disorders showed greater variability. Personality disorders appear more unstable in dual diagnosis. The diagnosis of personality disorder based on DSM, common in drug addicts, requires caution. Anyway, the longitudinal observation is important for a correct diagnosis.

Post-COVID-19 cholangiopathy:A systematic review

BACKGROUND The recent and still ongoing pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)entailed various long-term complications,including post-infectious cholangiopathy.AIM To identify the available studies concerning post-coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)cholangiopathy.METHODS An extensive bibliographical search was carried out in PubMed and in Cochrane Library to identify the articles(retrospective and prospective studies,cohort studies,case series and case reports)published between January 1,2020 and August 22,2022,using both MeSH terms and free-language keywords:cholangiopathy;COVID-19;post-COVID-19 cholangiopathy;SARS-CoV-2.RESULTS Thirteen studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria,which included 64 patients suffering from this condition.The patients were male in 82.8%of cases.Liver transplant was executed in 6 patients and scheduled in 7 patients,while 2 patients refused the surgical approach.Therefore in 23.4%of the cases,performing this procedure appeared to be necessary.CONCLUSION This review has revealed that generally the involvement of the liver in the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection is mild and transient,inducing cholestasis of cholangiocytes but can also be severe enough to cause organ failure in some cases.

并存疾病对急性心肌梗死后冠状动脉再灌注策略和长期死亡率的影响

背景:慢性并存疾病是ST段抬高型心肌梗死(STEMI)的预后决定因素。本研究旨在确定这种影响是否与治疗措施无关,抑或由治疗措施的不同而引起,及二者相关程度如何。方法:740例发病12h内住院的STEMI患者入选一项基于人群的注册研究,实施该研究的卫生医疗区域内有1所具有经皮冠状动脉介入(PCI)设施的教学医院和5所不具有PCI设施的地区医院。

低流行区结核病漏诊状况

背景:漏诊和漏报阻碍结核病的监测和控制。病例发现可以通过病例登记的病例关联来提高,漏报可以通过捕捉-再捕捉(CR)分析来估计。目的:评估2001年意大利Piedmont地区结核病登记系统的完成情况、结核病发病率的估计和漏报情况。方法:将“内科医生报告系统”、结核病实验室登记和医院登记记录相关联,随后进行了三样本的CR分析。结果:记录关联发现了657名结核病例,CR分析估计有47例(95%CI31-37)未登记病例。“内科医生报告系统”的漏报约为21%(95%CI20-33),总的结核发病率为16.7/100,000(95%CI16.3-17.3),不同人群有所差异:来自结核病低流行区国家者结核发病率为12.7,来自结核病高流行区国家的移民为214.1;<60和≥60岁组分别为13.1和25.8;首府Turin为32.1,其它地区为10.8。结论:当使用多重记录系统时,记录关联和CR分析可用于不同登记系统中评估结核病的发病率及完成情况,使当地的结核病流行病学监测更加准确。

Exploring conservative management for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 in organised cervical cancer screening programmes:a multicentre study in Italy

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2(CIN2)lesions may regress spontaneously,offering an alternative to immediate treatment,especially for women of childbearing age(15–45 years).We conducted a prospective multicentre study on conservative CIN2 management,with semiannual follow-up visits over 24 months,biomarkers’investigation and treatment for progression to CIN3+or CIN2 persistence for more than 12 months.Here,we assess women’s willingness to participate and adherence to the study protocol.The study was set in population-based organised cervical cancer screening.From April 2019 to October 2021,640 CIN2 cases were diagnosed in women aged 25–64 participating in the screening programmes.According to our predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria,228(35.6%)women were not eligible;93(22.6%)of the 412 eligible refused,and 319(77.4%)were enrolled.Refusal for personal reasons(ie,desire to become pregnant,anxiety,difficulty in complying with the study protocol)and external barriers(ie,residence elsewhere and language problems)accounted for 71%and 17%,respectively.Only 9%expressed a preference for treatment.The primary ineligibility factor was the upper age limit of 45 years.After enrolment,12(4%)women without evidence of progression requested treatment,125(39%)were lost to follow-up(mostly after 6–12 months)and 182(57%)remained compliant.Remarkably,40%of enrolees did not fully adhere to the protocol,whereas only 5%(20/412)of the eligible women desired treatment.Our study demonstrates a good acceptance of conservative management for CIN2 lesions by the women,supporting its implementation within cervical screening programmes.

Minimally invasive liver resection: has the time come to consider robotics a valid assistance?

Minimally invasive liver resection (MILR) has been steadily increasing worldwide. Since its introduction in the early 1990s, initially adopted in cases of wedge and minor anatomical resection for benign hepatic lesions, MILR has been extended to major liver resection and for malignant hepatic lesions (1). Laparoscopic lateral sectionectomy has progressively become a standard operation (2).