International journal of clinical practice
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Int. J. Clin. Pract. · Oct 2020
Iron deficiency and safety of ferric carboxymaltose in patients with acute heart failure. AHF-ID study.
The presence of iron deficiency (ID) in patients with acute heart failure (AHF) is high. There are few studies on the characteristics of these patients and the safety of ferric carboxymaltose administration (FCM). ⋯ There are scarce differences between the presence and the type of ID in patients with AHF. The administration of FCM in patients with ID and AHF is safe.
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Int. J. Clin. Pract. · Oct 2020
"Preventive" pacing in patients with tachy-brady syndrome (TBS): Confirming a common practice.
Many tachy-brady syndrome (TBS) patients, are implanted a permanent pacemaker (PPM) to allow continuation of anti-arrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy to maintain sinus rhythm. Many of these PPM's are implanted as a preventive measure, in absence of symptomatic bradycardia. Our primary aim was to evaluate pacing use among these patients and find predictors for PPM use. Our secondary aim was to appreciate the portion of these patients who progress to permanent atrial fibrillation (AF). ⋯ Our study reveals most TBS patients succeed to maintain sinus rhythm using an AAD with a significant pacing use, suggesting preventive PPM implantation might be advantageous in these cases. Pre-implant severe sinus bradycardia (<40 bpm) is a possible predictor for major pacing use in this population.
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Int. J. Clin. Pract. · Oct 2020
Plasma levels of soluble HLA-G and cytokines in papillary thyroid carcinoma before and after thyroidectomy.
Increasing evidence shows that chronic inflammation plays an important role in thyroid tumorigenesis. Cytokines as central mediators in inflammatory microenvironment can present both pro-tumour and anti-tumour effects and cytokine release may be influenced by soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G), an immune checkpoint molecule whose expression can also be induced by certain cytokines. ⋯ There are significant changes in the cytokine profile after surgical removal of the thyroid tumour, and IFN-α e TGF-β1 showed to be promising cytokines for discriminating PTC patients from controls. We also found that different cytokines are associated with clinicohistopathological characteristics of PTC related to poor prognosis, suggesting that cytokines seem to play an important role in PTC development and management.
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In 2020 during the CoronaVirus Disease19 (COVID19) pandemic caused by da SARS-CoV-2, the weakness of e-health (electronic health) (ie the lack of direct contact between physician and patient) may prove to be a strength, given the high contagiousness and relative lethality of the virus. In Italy the lack of preparation for supporting the patient load (shortage of personal protection devices, shortage of Intensive Care Unit) beds in comparison with other European Countries, and the poor early diagnostic and therapeutic activity has led us to suggest a project that uses an online platform between General Practitioners and patients in order to reduce moving infected individuals and to perform the diagnosis and treatment early on.