101,904 research outputs found
Reaction-diffusion models of crimo–taxis in a street
No full textIn this paper, two reaction-diffusion models describing the interaction among susceptible people (ordinary citizens), infective people (drug users/dealers), and law enforcement personnel are analyzed. The models here considered are a generalization of the crimo-taxis model originally proposed by Epstein in 1997. The modifications allow us to describe various scenarios. We analyze the equilibrium points, together with their stability, of the homogeneous system. Moreover, according to the Turing approach to reaction–diffusion models, we investigate the instability driven processes and the emergence of patterns in the complete models
Surgical treatment of dacryocystitis by using a venous catheter
No full textPurpose: Aim of this work is to highlight the advantages of a new surgical technique performed over 15 patients affected dacryocystitis and treated by using a venous catheter. The arrangement of a 30 mm venous catheter used at the end of a dacryocystectomy (DCT) was performed in 15 patients with dacryocystitis. The venous catheter was removed at 30 days after the surgery. The use of the venous catheter allows washing the lacrimal drainage system, reducing the risk of postoperative infections and supports the recanalization of the lacrimal drainage system 30 days after surgery. The presented cases demonstrated how the technique is easy and it reduces the possibility of the post-operative infection. It could be performed under regional anesthesia. Furthermore, after the surgery the recanalization of the lacrimal drainage system with a significant reduction of the epiphora in 6 months after surgery has been observed
Use of Lacrimal Symptoms Questionnaire After Punctoplasty Surgery: Retrospective Data of Technical Strategy
No full textThe goal of this study is to evaluate postpunctoplasty symptoms with lacrimal symptoms questionnaire (Lac-Q). A retrospective study was conducted on 31 patients (14 men and 17 woman) with a diagnosis of canalicular stenosis: 26 patients with unilateral occlusion and 5 patients with bilateral occlusion. The Lac-Q was administered preoperative and at 1, at 3, and at 6 months following the surgery. Moreover, the Lac-Q questionnaire was administered by an independent observer (SI). The mono-lateral and bilateral postoperative Lac-Q score showed a significant improvement of symptoms at 1, 3, and 6 months than the preoperative results. The Lac-Q questionnaire is a way to evaluate the quality of outcomes after punctoplasty surgery. In this study, all patients showed a significant improvement of symptoms after surgery
Valore del prelievo della zona di transizione nella diagnosi del carcinoma della prostata :nostra esperienza.
No full textUso di mezzo di contrasto ecografico di seconda generazione per identificare la pseudocapsula dei tumori renali.
No full textThe application of a venous catheter for the surgical treatment of punctal occlusion
No full textPurpose: Presentation about advantages of a new surgical technique in 20 patients with punctal occlusion with a venous catheter during punctoplasty. Methods: The arrangement of a 30-mm venous catheter used during puncoplasty surgery was performed in 10 patients with punctal occlusion. The venous catheter was removed after 15 to 45 days after surgery. Results: The use of the venous catheter supports the recanalization of the lacrimal drainage system 15 days after surgery. The venous catheter is easy to find, not expensive, and easy to use. Conclusion: The technique is performed under regional anesthesia. Furthermore, after surgery, the recanalization of the lacrimal drainage system was observed with a significant reduction of the epiphora in 6 months after surgery
Impact of enhanced recovery after surgery protocols versus standard of care on perioperative outcomes of radical cystectomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative studies
No full textNTRODUCTION: Among the measures taken in the recent years to reduce the morbidity and improve functional recovery after radical cystectomy (RC), the optimization of perioperative care pathways is gaining a prominent role. The aim of this systematic review of the literature with meta-analysis is to assess the impact of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols vs. standard of care on perioperative outcomes of patients undergoing RC.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A systematic review with meta-analysis was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines. MEDLINE, SCOPUS and Web of Science databases were searched. Only comparative studies evaluating the impact of ERAS protocols vs. standard of care on intraoperative and postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing RC were included. Cumulative analysis was conducted using Review Manager v.5.3 software. Statistical heterogeneity was tested using the chi(2) Test, and a P value <0.10 was used to indicate heterogeneity. Random-effects and fixed-effects models were used as appropriate depending on heterogeneity status.
EVIDENCECE SYNTHESIS: A total of 27 studies were included, namely 3 randomized and 24 non-randomized controlled studies, resulting in 4712 patients, 2690 (57%) participants to some ERAS protocol and 2022 (43%) controls receiving standard of care. A number of primary and secondary outcome measures were assessed in the original studies. Pooled data showed that ERAS protocols were associated with significantly faster recovery of bowel function, faster return to regular diet and shorter hospital stay with no increase in 30-day and 90-day major complication, mortality or readmission rates compared to standard of care. The magnitude of benefit of the various ERAS protocols tested had, however, a non-negligible inter-study variability.
CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review with meta-analysis of comparative studies showed that ERAS protocols applied to patients undergoing RC enabled a faster recovery of bowel function, a faster return to regular diet and a shorter hospital stay with no increase in major complication or readmission rate compared to standard perioperative care. RC with ERAS protocols should be considered the new standard of care
Prognostic value of intratumoral neutrophils in advanced gastric carcinoma in a high-risk area in northern Italy
No full textSeveral lines of evidence indicate that neutrophils act nonspecifically against tumor cells. The correlation
between tumor-infiltrating neutrophils (TINs) and clinicopathological features remains unclear
and deserves to be investigated. To analyze the prognostic influence of TINs in gastric carcinoma,
the authors selected 273 patients with advanced gastric carcinoma who underwent gastrectomy at
Cremona Hospital (Lombardia, Italy) between 1990 and 1995 and followed them for a period of 5 years.
The number of TINs was assessed in a semiquantitative manner using the mean value of 20 nonoverlapping
high-power fields (magnification, 400_;0.08 mm2). The patients were divided into two groups: patients with a moderate or extensive amount of TINs (n _ 76; >10 TINs per 20 high power fields) and patients with a minor amount of TINs (n _ 197; <10 TINs per 20 high-power fields). The Kaplan-Meier method and Greenwood formula
were used to estimate the crude survival rates in the two groups. Multivariate analyses based on the Cox
proportional hazard regression model were performed to assess the effect of the prognostic factors
on survival. Among the potential prognostic factors analyzed by univariate analysis, sex, age, location of
neoplasia, pTNM stage, TINs, and surgical curability were significantly associated with higher survival
rate. The study of the possible interaction effects of the clinical-pathological factors with TINs reveals
that female patients with a moderate or extensive amount of TINs have about a 39% reduction in their
risk of mortality, whereas male patients do not seem to be affected by the level of TINs. These results
suggest that women appear to have a better prognosis than men in advanced gastric carcinoma.
Gender differences in some host defense mechanisms and particularly in neutrophil function may
be responsible for this event. Confirmation of these findings would give valuable insights about host
reaction to gastric cancer growth and, ultimately, possibly would have implications regarding the
identification of low-risk patients who could be spared adjuvant therapy
Scleral pockets for an innovative technique of intrascleral fixation of intraocular lens
No full textThe aim of this article is to report the results of an innovative technique for a scleral fixation of a posterior chamber intraocular lens using our new modified technique. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 15 eyes of 15 patients who underwent sutureless intrascleral intraocular lens fixation using our modified technique. We used a 23-gauge knife to perform sclerotomy and create two parallel scleral pockets for the haptics. The mean follow-up period was 3 years (3 ± 1). No complications were detected during the follow-up period. The creation of two parallel scleral pockets, parallel to the limbus, greatly simplifies the introduction of intraocular lens haptics
Optical coherence tomography predictors of favorable functional response in naïve diabetic macular edema eyes treated with dexamethasone implants as a first-line agent
No full textPurpose: To evaluate efficacy and safety of intravitreal dexamethasone 0.7 mg implant in treatment-naïve DME patients and to assess the utility of OCT structural biomarkers as predictors of functional response after treatment.
Methods: Thirty-nine eyes of 39 diabetic patients with center involving DME were enrolled. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and SS-OCT (DRI SS-OCT Triton, Topcon, Japan) to evaluate central retinal thickness (CRT), serous retinal detachment (SRD), intraretinal cysts (IRC), number of hyper-reflective spots (HRS), integrity of the ellipsoid zone (EZ), disorganization of the inner retinal layers (DRIL), vitreomacular adhesion (VMA), vitreomacular traction (VMT), and posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) were evaluated at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment. Multiple logistic analysis was performed to evaluate the possible OCT biomarker as predictive factors for final visual acuity improvement at the end of treatment.
Results: At 12 months after treatment, the mean BCVA improved from 51.6 ± 17.5 to 56.9 ± 17.3 ETDRS letters (p=0.03). Furthermore, there were statistically significant changes in CRT, IRC, HRS, and SRD. Nineteen patients presented a >10-letters improvement in BCVA; the presence of SRD at baseline was a predictor of good functional treatment response at 12 months (OR 2.1; 95% C.I. 1.2-4.9; p=0.001) as well as the presence of EZ integrity preoperatively (OR 1.3; 95% C.I. 0.5-2.4; p=0.001) and the absence of vitreoretinal interface alteration (OR 1.1; 95% C.I. 0.3-2.3; p=0.02). No significant changes in the IOP and lens status were observed throughout the follow-up period.
Conclusion: This study empathized the importance of structural biomarkers as predictors of favorable response and confirmed the efficacy and safety of intravitreal dexamethasone implant in treatment-naïve DME patients showing a better functional response in the presence of SRD integrity of EZ and absence of vitreoretinal alterations
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