Search results for "Review article"
showing 10 items of 426 documents
ALK and crizotinib: After the honeymoon...what else? Resistance mechanisms and new therapies to overcome it
2014
The last few decades have witnessed a silent revolution in the war against NSCLC, thanks to the discovery of “oncogenic drivers” and the subsequent development of targeted therapies. The discovery of the EML4-ALK fusion gene in a subgroup of patients with NSCLC and the subsequent clinical development of crizotinib has been an amazing success story in lung cancer translational-research, and its accelerated approval [only 4 years from the discovery of ALK rearrangement in NSCLC to the approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)] marked the beginning of the new decade of targeted therapy. However, common to all targeted therapies, despite an initial benefit, patients inevitably experien…
Coronavirus Disease 2019–Associated Coagulopathy
2021
Patients with the severe form of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been frequently found to suffer from both arterial and venous thrombotic events due to the perpetuation of a hypercoagulable state. This phenomenon, termed COVID-19-associated coagulopathy (CC), is now considered a major component of the pathophysiology of this novel infectious disease, leading to widespread thrombosis. While at first, the vascular insults may be limited to the pulmonary microvasculature, as the disease progresses, systemic involvement occurs, culminating in distant organ thrombosis and multi-organ dysfunction syndrome. In this review article, we discuss recent insights into the pathophysiologic mecha…
Coronary Stent Thrombosis — Predictors and Prevention
2020
BACKGROUND: Stent thrombosis (ST) is a dreaded complication after stent implantation and is associated with a mortality between 5% and 45%. The mechanisms by which ST arises are complex. Because of the seriousness of this situation, all physicians should have at least basic knowledge of it. In this article, we present the risk factors for ST and discuss some innovative approaches to its treatment. METHODS: This review is based on pertinent articles retrieved by a selective search in PubMed, and on current international guidelines and expert recommendations. RESULTS: The frequency of ST has been markedly lowered by technical advances in coronary stenting and by the implementation of modern i…
Radiation protection in non-ionizing and ionizing body composition assessment procedures
2020
Body composition assessment (BCA) represents a valid instrument to evaluate nutritional status through the quantification of lean and fat tissue, in healthy subjects and sick patients. According to the clinical indication, body composition (BC) can be assessed by different modalities. To better analyze radiation risks for patients involved, BCA procedures can be divided into two main groups: the first based on the use of ionizing radiation (IR), involving dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and computed tomography (CT), and others based on non-ionizing radiation (NIR) [magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)]. Ultrasound (US) techniques using mechanical waves represent a separate group. The pur…
Oxidative Stress and Microvascular Alterations in Diabetic Retinopathy: Future Therapies
2019
Diabetes is a disease that can be treated with oral antidiabetic agents and/or insulin. However, patients’ metabolic control is inadequate in a high percentage of them and a major cause of chronic diseases like diabetic retinopathy. Approximately 15% of patients have some degree of diabetic retinopathy when diabetes is first diagnosed, and most will have developed this microvascular complication after 20 years. Early diagnosis of the disease is the best tool to prevent or delay vision loss and reduce the involved costs. However, diabetic retinopathy is an asymptomatic disease and its development to advanced stages reduces the effectiveness of treatments. Today, the recommended treatment for…
Potential health-related behaviors for pre-school and school-aged children during COVID-19 lockdown: A narrative review
2021
As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, different measures have been implemented by governments from each affected country. Such measures usually involve restrictions on the movement of citizens, and have had a profound effect on usual activities and timetables. As a result of school closures and strict restrictions regarding going outside home, children have been one of the most disadvantaged population groups during the lockdown period. We therefore aimed to investigate potential health risk behaviors amongst isolated pre-school and school-aged children. We retrieved relevant articles from MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Scopus databases to describe identified health-related beh…
Diabetic foot syndrome as a possible cardiovascular marker in diabetic patients
2015
Diabetic foot ulcerations have been extensively reported as vascular complications of diabetes mellitus associated with a high degree of morbidity and mortality; in fact, some authors showed a higher prevalence of major, previous and new-onset, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular events in diabetic patients with foot ulcers than in those without these complications. This is consistent with the fact that in diabetes there is a complex interplay of several variables with inflammatory metabolic disorders and their effect on the cardiovascular system that could explain previous reports of high morbidity and mortality rates in diabetic patients with amputations. Involvement of inflammatory marke…
Epilepsy in the Elderly
2009
Epilepsy is the third most common disease affecting the brain in the elderly. Current demographic trends will lead to an increased prevalence of epilepsy in the general population.A selective literature search revealed 102 relevant publications as of September 2008, 50 of which were original articles.The level of evidence was found to be very low. No guidelines, systematic reviews or meta-analyses are available, and there have been only three randomized, double-blind trials of treatment for epilepsy in the elderly. The seizures often escape clinical attention, because premonitory symptoms (aura) and secondary generalization into tonic-clonic seizures are both rarer in older patients. On the…
Electrocardiographic Diagnosis of Atrial Tachycardia: Classification, P-Wave Morphology, and Differential Diagnosis with Other Supraventricular Tachy…
2015
Atrial tachycardia is defined as a regular atrial activation from atrial areas with centrifugal spread, caused by enhanced automaticity, triggered activity or microreentry. New ECG classification differentiates between focal and macroreentrant atrial tachycardia. Macroreentrant atrial tachycardias include typical atrial flutter and other well characterized macroreentrant circuits in right and left atrium. Typical atrial flutter has been described as counterclockwise reentry within right atrial and it presents a characteristic ECG “sawtooth” pattern on the inferior leads. The foci responsible for focal atrial tachycardia do not occur randomly throughout the atria but tend to cluster at chara…
Clinical pathways for fragility fractures of the pelvic ring: personal experience and review of the literature
2014
AbstractFragility fractures of the pelvic ring (FFP) are increasing in frequency and require challenging treatment. A new comprehensive classification considers both fracture morphology and degree of instability. The classification system also provides recommendations for type and invasiveness of treatment. In this article, a literature review of treatment alternatives is presented and compared with our own experiences. Whereas FFP Type I lesions can be treated conservatively, FFP Types III and IV require surgical treatment. For FFP Type II lessions, percutaneous fixation techniques should be considered after a trial of conservative treatment. FFP Type III lesions need open reduction and in…