Diet and nutrition against inflammatory bowel disease: Trick or treat(ment)?

Even if the relationships between nutrition and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remain underexplored, the current literature is providing, day by day, much more evidence on the effects of various diets in both prevention and treatment of such illnesses. Wrong dietary habits, together with other environmental factors such as pollution, breastfeeding, smoke, and/or antibiotics, are among the theoretical pathogenetic causes of IBD, whose multifactorial aetiology has been already confirmed. While some of these risk factors are potentially reversible, some others cannot be avoided, and efficient treatments become necessary to prevent IBD spread or recurrence. Furthermore, the drugs currently available for treatment of such disease provide low-to-no effect against the symptoms, making the illnesses still strongly disabling. Whether nutrition and specific diets will prove to effectively interrupt the course of IBD has still to be clarified and, in this sense, further research concerning the applications of such dietary interventions is still needed.     

Favourable collaterals according to the Careggi Collateral Score grading system in patients treated with thrombectomy for stroke with middle cerebral artery occlusion

Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis - The ability of the current grading systems to predict optimal outcomes in stroke patients with favourable collaterals remains unexplored. We evaluated...     

Free Bipedicled Radial Forearm and Posterior Interosseous Artery Perforator Flap Phalloplasty

IntroductionThe free radial forearm (FRFA) flap is universally still considered as the gold standard technique in penile reconstruction. Typically, a considerably large flap is required, often involving almost the entire circumference of the forearm. Partial necrosis may occur at the distal-most (dorsoradial) part of the flap as a result of insufficient perfusion.AimTo describe a new technique using the posterior interosseous artery (PIOA) to supercharge FRFA phalloplasty.MethodsIn a 12-month period, all patients having FRFA flap phalloplasty were enrolled. Perioperative, after complete flap dissection, an indocyanine green perfusion scan was performed. In case of insufficient perfusion at the distalmost part of the flap, a supramicrosurgical anastomosis was performed between the FRFA pedicle and the PIOA (artery only).Main Outcome MeasuresStudied outcomes included the rate of marginal necrosis, surgical time, postoperative posterior interosseous nerve damage and urethral complications (fistula, stenosis or necrosis).ResultsA total of 27 FRFA flap phalloplasties was performed. Anastomosis of the PIOA was needed in 15 cases. No marginal necrosis was observed in these cases. There were no cases of postoperative posterior interosseous nerve damage. There were no significant differences in urethral complications (fistula, stenosis or necrosis) between the 2 groups.Clinical ImplicationsIn selected cases where insufficient perfusion of the dorsoradial part of the flap is present, patients may benefit from arterial supercharging to prevent postoperative marginal necrosis.Strength & LimitationsStrengths include a single surgeon, thus lending continuity of skill and technique, a consecutive series, and 100% short-term follow-up. Limitations include single institution series and a limited number of patients.ConclusionArterial supercharging is effective in improving perfusion of large FRFA flaps used in phalloplasty when dorsoradial hypoperfusion is detected on an indocyanine green perfusion scan. It is a technically challenging addition to the standard technique because of the small size of the vessels, the close relationship between the PIOA and the posterior interosseous nerve, and the vulnerability of the newly constructed intra-flap anastomosis.De Wolf E, Claes K, Sommeling CE, et al. Free Bipedicled Radial Forearm and Posterior Interosseous Artery Perforator Flap Phalloplasty. J Sex Med 2019;16:1111–1117.     

Exercise Intolerance in Patients With Heart Failure: JACC State-of-the-Art Review

Exercise intolerance is the cardinal symptom of heart failure (HF) and is of crucial relevance, because it is associated with a poor quality of life and increased mortality. While impaired cardiac reserve is considered to be central in HF, reduced exercise and functional capacity are the result of key patient characteristics and multisystem dysfunction, including aging, impaired pulmonary reserve, as well as peripheral and respiratory skeletal muscle dysfunction. We herein review the different modalities to quantify exercise intolerance, the pathophysiology of HF, and comorbid conditions as they lead to reductions in exercise and functional capacity, highlighting the fact that distinct causes may coexist and variably contribute to exercise intolerance in patients with HF.     

Bail-out intracranial stenting with Solitaire AB device after unsuccessful thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke of anterior circulation

Background

Recent trials established the efficacy of mechanical stent-retriever thrombectomy for treatment of stroke patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) in the anterior circulation. However, stent-retriever thrombectomy may not accomplish successful recanalization in all patients. The aim of this study is to report the role of bail-out permanent stenting after failure of mechanical thrombectomy.

Estratificación basal de riesgo en pacientes mayores de 75 años con infarto y shock cardiogénico referidos para angioplastia primaria

Background and objectivesPatients older than 75 years with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary angioplasty in cardiogenic shock have high mortality. Identification of preprocedural predictors of short- and long-term mortality could be useful to guide decision-making and further interventions.MethodsWe analyzed a nationwide registry of primary angioplasty in the elderly (ESTROFA MI + 75) comprising 3576 patients. The characteristics and outcomes of the subgroup of patients in cardiogenic shock were analyzed to identify associated factors and prognostic predictors in order to derive a baseline risk prediction score for 1-year mortality. The score was validated in an independent cohort.ResultsA total of 332 patients were included. Baseline independent predictors of mortality were anterior myocardial infarction (HR 2.8, 95%CI, 1.4-6.0; P = .005), ejection fraction < 40% (HR 2.3, 95%CI, 1.14-4.50; P = .018), and time from symptom onset to angioplasty > 6 hours (HR 3.2, 95%CI, 1.6-7.5; P = .001). A score was designed that included these predictive factors (score “6-ANT-40”). Survival at 1 year was 54.5% for patients with score 0, 32.3% for score 1, 27.4% for score 2 and 17% for score 3 (P = .004, c-statistic 0.70). The score was validated in an independent cohort of 124 patients, showing 1-year survival rates of 64.5%, 40.0%, 28.9%, and 22.2%, respectively (P = .008, c-statistic 0.68).ConclusionsA preprocedural score based on 3 simple clinical variables (anterior location, ejection fraction < 40%, and delay time > 6 hours) may be used to estimate survival after primary angioplasty in elderly patients with cardiogenic shock and to guide preinterventional decision-making.