Search results for "Minireview"
showing 9 items of 29 documents
Surgical management of moderate ischemic mitral valve regurgitation: Where do we stand?
2014
Ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) represents a common complication after myocardial infarction. The valve is anatomically normal and the incompetence is the result of papillary muscles displacement and annular dilatation, causing leaflets tethering. Functionally the leaflets present a restricted systolic motion due to tethering forces that displaces the coaptation surface toward the left ventricle apex. The patients present poor left ventricular function at the time of surgery and the severity of the mitral regurgitation increases the risk of mortality. Currently there is general agreement to treat surgically severe IMR nevertheless strong evidences for patient with moderate insufficiency…
Direct antiviral agents in hepatitis C virus related liver disease: Don’t count the chickens before they’re hatched
2021
Since molecules with direct-acting antiviral (DAA) became available, the landscape of the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has completely changed. The new drugs are extremely effective in eradicating infection, and treatment is very well tolerated with a duration of 8-12 wk. This review aims to report the outstanding clinical benefits of DAA and to highlight their critical disadvantages, identifying some clinically relevant hot topics. First, do the rates of virological response remain as high when patients with more advanced cirrhosis are considered? Large studies have shown slightly lower but still satisfactory rates of response in these patients. Nevertheless, modified sche…
Imaging appearance of treated hepatocellular carcinoma
2013
Surgical resection and imaging guided treatments play a crucial role in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although the primary end point of treatment of HCC is survival, radiological response could be a surrogate end point of survival, and has a key role in HCC decision-making process. However, radiological assessment of HCC treatment efficacy is often controversial. There are few doubts on the evaluation of surgical resection; in fact, all known tumor sites should be removed. However, an unenhancing partial linear peripheral halo, in most cases, surrounding a fluid collection reducing in size during follow-up is demonstrated in successfully resected tumor with bipolar radio…
New advances in radiomics of gastrointestinal stromal tumors
2020
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are uncommon neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract with peculiar clinical, genetic, and imaging characteristics. Preoperative knowledge of risk stratification and mutational status is crucial to guide the appropriate patients' treatment. Predicting the clinical behavior and biological aggressiveness of GISTs based on conventional computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation is challenging, unless the lesions have already metastasized at the time of diagnosis. Radiomics is emerging as a promising tool for the quantification of lesion heterogeneity on radiological images, extracting additional data that cannot be assessed b…
Type 2 diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease
2014
Epidemiological and biological evidences support a link between type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Persons with diabetes have a higher incidence of cognitive decline and an increased risk of developing all types of dementia. Cognitive deficits in persons with diabetes mainly affect the areas of psychomotor efficiency, attention, learning and memory, mental flexibility and speed, and executive function. The strong epidemiological association has suggested the existence of a physiopathological link. The determinants of the accelerated cognitive decline in DM2, however, are less clear. Increased cortical and subcortical atrophy have been evidenced after controlling fo…
Hepatitis C virus resistance to new specifically-targeted antiviral therapy: A public health perspective
2012
Until very recently, treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been based on the combination of two non-viral specific drugs: pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin, which is effective in, overall, about 40%-50% of cases. To improve the response to treatment, novel drugs have been designed to specifically block viral proteins. Multiple compounds are under development, and the approval for clinical use of the first of such direct-acting antivirals in 2011 (Telaprevir and Boceprevir), represents a milestone in HCV treatment. HCV therapeutics is entering a new expanding era, and a highly-effective cure is envisioned for the first time since the discovery of the virus in 1989. H…
Reproducibility in Electroorganic Synthesis—Myths and Misunderstandings
2021
Abstract The use of electric current as a traceless activator and reagent is experiencing a renaissance. This sustainable synthetic method is evolving into a hot topic in contemporary organic chemistry. Since researchers with various scientific backgrounds are entering this interdisciplinary field, different parameters and methods are reported to describe the experiments. The variation in the reported parameters can lead to problems with the reproducibility of the reported electroorganic syntheses. As an example, parameters such as current density or electrode distance are in some cases more significant than often anticipated. This Minireview provides guidelines on reporting electrosyntheti…
Structural Motifs of Alkali Metal Superbases in Non‐coordinating Solvents
2020
Abstract Lochmann–Schlosser superbases (LSB) are a standard reagent in synthetic chemistry to achieve an exchange of a proton on an organic framework with an alkali metal cation, which in turn can be replaced by a wide range of electrophilic groups. In standard examples, the deprotonating reagent consists of an equimolar mixture of n‐butyllithium and potassium t‐butoxide. However, the nature of the reactive species could not be pinned down either for this composition or for similar mixtures with comparable high reactivity. Despite the poor solubility and the fierce reactivity, some insights into this mixture were achieved by some indirect results, comparison with chemically related systems,…
The interplay between the host microbiome and pathogenic viral infections
2021
The microorganisms associated with an organism, the microbiome, have a strong and wide impact in their host biology. In particular, the microbiome modulates both the host defense responses and immunity, thus influencing the fate of infections by pathogens. Indeed, this immune modulation and/or interaction with pathogenic viruses can be essential to define the outcome of viral infections. Understanding the interplay between the microbiome and pathogenic viruses opens future venues to fight viral infections and enhance the efficacy of antiviral therapies. An increasing number of researchers are focusing on microbiome-virus interactions, studying diverse combinations of microbial communities, …