Endoscopic ultrasonography and small‐bowel endoscopy: Present and future

Over the last decade, impressive technological advances have occurred in ultrasonography and small‐bowel endoscopy. Nowadays, endoscopic ultrasonography is an essential diagnostic tool and a therapeutic weapon for pancreatobiliary disorders. Capsule endoscopy and device‐assisted enteroscopy have quickly become the reference standard for the diagnosis of small‐bowel luminal diseases, thereby leading to radical changes in diagnostic and therapeutic pathways. We herein provide an up‐to‐date overview of the latest advances in endoscopic ultrasonography and small‐bowel endoscopy, focusing on the emerging paradigms and technological innovations that might improve clinical practice in the near future.     

Follow-Up Study of Over Three Years of Patients with Uveitis after Cataract Phacoemulsification: Outcomes and Complications

Purpose: To evaluate the rate and onset of intraoperative and postoperative complications post-phacoemulsification. Methods: One hundred sixty-two eyes of 145 patients with uveitis who underwent phacoemulsification between 2006 and 2009 were identified through surgical record review. Fifty-nine eyes of 46 patients met the inclusion criteria. Hazard ratio (HR) and Kaplan-Meier survival probability were calculated for each class of uveitis. Results: Macular edema (ME) resulted to be associated to chronic postoperative inflammation (r?=?0.6; p?=?0.00) and mostly related to patients who presented more than one postoperative relapse/year (r?=?0.2; p?=?0.02). Fuchs uveitis resulted to be a risk factor for posterior capsule opacification (PCO) (HR 3.36 IC95%1.0-10.5; p?=?0.03). Hypotony and elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) were detected in the anterior uveitis group (0.02 EY). Conclusion: The HR to develop ME was significantly related to chronic anterior uveitis. PCO and elevated IOP are most frequent in Fuchs uveitis. The postoperative visual acuity result was good among all the uveitis groups.     

Innovative immunosuppression in kidney transplantation: A challenge for unmet needs

Due to the optimal results obtained in kidney transplantation and to the lack of interest of the industries, new innovative drugs in kidney transplantation are difficult to be encountered. The best strategy to find the new drugs recently developed or under development is to search in the sections of kidney transplantation still not completely covered by the drugs on the market. These unmet needs are the prevention of delayed graft function (DGF), the protection of the graft over the long time and the desensitization of preformed anti human leukocyte antigen antibodies and the treatment of the acute antibody-mediated rejection. These needs are particularly relevant due to the expansion of some kind of kidney transplantation as transplantation from non-heart beating donor and in the case of antibody-incompatible grafts. The first are particularly exposed to DGF, the latter need a safe desensitization and a safe treatments of the antibody mediated rejections that often occur. Particular caution is needed in treating these drugs. First, they are described in very recent studies and the follow-up of their effect is of course rather short. Second, some of these drugs are still in an early phase of study, even if in well-conducted randomized controlled trials. Particular caution and a careful check need to be used in trials launched 2 or 3 years ago. Indeed, is always necessary to verify whether the study is still going on or whether and why the study itself was abandoned.     

Results From a Large,Multicenter, Retrospective Analysis On Radium223 Use in Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) in the Triveneto Italian Region

Background

Radium 223 was introduced for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer based on the results of a randomized controlled trial showing risk reduction for death and skeletal events. Our aim was to evaluate the outcome of patients receiving radium 223 in a real-world setting.

Periapical radiographic techniques during endodontic diagnosis and treatment

The objective of this article is to describe various radiographic projections which can be used during endodontic therapy. Changes to the angulation of the X-ray beam in relation to the teeth and film can help diagnosis and treatment by producing images which provide additional information not always visible on radiographs taken with standard angulations. For example, changes in angulation can be useful to determine the number and curvature of roots and canals, to identify superimposed roots and to distinguish between anatomical landmarks and apical pathology. Although use of such techniques increases the diagnostic yield of films, it must be appreciated that such views lead to images that are less distinct because of inherent image distortion. Nevertheless, use of the various techniques during endodontics can provide substantial benefit for clinicians in their daily practice.     

Nucleolin protein expression in cutaneous melanocytic lesions

Background:  Nucleolin is a major nucleolar argyrophilic protein involved in carcinogenesis. There are only few studies on its tissue expression in human cancer and none in melanoma. We aimed at exploring this protein and its prognostic impact in cutaneous melanocytic lesions.
Methods:  We studied 193 cases including benign, dysplastic and malignant melanocytic lesions. Nuclear positivity was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and quantified by automated image analysis.
Results:  Most dysplastic and malignant lesions showed high percentages of cells with abnormal patterns of nuclear positivity (Abn+N) consisting in multiple, irregular, positive dots (ID+) and a coarse, irregularly positive nucleoplasm (CNpl+) or both (ID+CNpl+). The patterns CNpl+ and/or ID+CNpl+ were never observed in benign lesions, in which ID+ were also virtually absent. Abn+N% was significantly lower in dysplastic nevi than in primary melanomas and metastases and in primary melanomas than in metastases (p < 0.05). Furthermore, Abn+N was the second powerful prognostic discriminator, after melanoma thickness, and a significantly lower survival was observed in vertical growth phase melanoma patients showing Abn+N in more than 50% of melanoma cells.
Conclusion:  An altered nuclear nucleolin expression seems to accompany melanoma progression. Further investigation on nucleolin functionality and subcellular trafficking could add information on its altered role in melanoma.