0000000000358374
AUTHOR
Adele Rosalia Capitano
A questionable diagnosis in a woman with drowsiness
A 60-year-old caucasian woman was admitted to our Division of Internal Medicine for a 10-day history of drowsiness, irritability, dysphasia, weakness and difficulties in the maintenance of an upright position with numerous falls, with a traumatic lumbar spine injury and on the left shoulder. Then, while general clinical conditions were getting worse with drowsiness and hyposthenia of the right side of the body, after neurological evaluation, she was recovered in hospital. Pathological history includes a 20-year epilepsy and depression with emotional lability, behavior’s disorders and attempted suicide. For such reason, she was followed in a mental health institute, treated with phenobarbita…
Hepatic and circulating levels of PCSK9 in morbidly obese patients: Relation with severity of liver steatosis
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming the main cause of liver disease in Western countries, especially in morbidly obese patients (MOPs). The proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) has been recently studied because of its possible involvement in the pathogenesis of NAFLD, but its role, at least in MOPs, is still controversial. The aim of this study was to clarify the correlation between the circulating levels of the PCSK9 protein (cPCSK9) and its hepatic expression with the severity of liver damage in a population of MOPs with NAFLD undergoing bariatric surgery. PCSK9 mRNA was positively correlated with FASN, PPARγ and PPARα mRNAs, while no significant differe…
Platelet changes in patients with hepatitis C virus-related liver cirrhosis after directly acting antiviral therapy
Background and Purpose of the study:Thrombocytopenia is the most common haematological abnormality in patients with Liver Cirrhosis and it is caused by multiple factors. This study evaluated platelets (PLT) count changes in patients with HCV related LC after DAAs therapy. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 83 patients with LC. In all patients were evaluated liver function tests and PLT count at baseline (BL), at end of therapy (ET) and three months post treatment (PostT), Elastography and ultrasound (US) at BL, and US at PostT. LC diagnosis was histological in 13 patients, in 71 with liver stiffness >12 kPa. All patients were SVR (58 patients had DAAs therapy without, 25 with Ribavirin).…