August 2022
27 ArticlesCommentary
Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone inhibition in chronic heart failure: From theory into practice
Heart failure (HF) is an extremely relevant chronic disease impacting on quality of life and prognosis. Furthermore, the increasing prevalence of HF leads to a huge number of admissions and entails... more
High risk of complications and mortality in cirrhotic patients with acute pancreatitis
Acute pancreatitis is one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases requiring acute hospital admission. Gallstones (50%) and alcohol (20%) are the most frequent underlying causes. Medication,... more
Lights and shadows on JAK inhibitors for Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the spine and sacroiliac joints, historically described in young males with progressive structural damage of the... more
Internal Medicine Flashcard
An unusual cause of severe watery diarrhea
A 75-year-old man presented to the gastroenterology department with a 4-week history of severe watery diarrhea (at least 20 times a day) and appetite loss. He had been taking amlodipine 5 mg once... more
A HIV-positive subject with dermatomal and generalized vesicular skin lesions
A 58-year old man with HIV infection diagnosed in 2018 presented in July 2021 with a 7-day history of vesicular skin lesions localized to the right side of abdomen and diffuse vesicular lesions on... more
Skin rash following amoxicillin treatment
A 26-year-old woman presented with a chief complaint of nausea for 2 days. On the previous day, she had been diagnosed with tonsilitis by her previous doctor because of fever and sore throat, and had... more
Letter to the Editor
The Omicron wave and the waning of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. Influence of vaccine booster and age on confirmed infection incidence
Dear Editor,
Personal protective equipment portraits in the era of COVID-19
Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) aims to prevent SARS CoV-2 transmission in the healthcare setting. However, PPE limits human connection and non-verbal communication by masking individuals... more
Efficacy and safety of molnupiravir for COVID-19 patients
Dear Editor,
Disease phenotype and outcomes of very early-onset inflammatory bowel disease
Dear Editor,
Risk factors for chronic thromboemboli after pulmonary thromboembolism
Pulmonary thromboembolism is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death, after coronary artery disease and stroke [1].
General practitioner agreement and adherence to the Swiss Choosing wisely top 5 list: A cross-sectional survey
Choosing Wisely (CW) campaigns have spread around the world to stimulate conversations between physicians and patients about unnecessary tests, treatments, and procedures that account for up to 20%... more
Serum-ascites albumin gradient – A false dichotomy in the approach to ascites
Ascites is a clinical scenario frequently encountered in primary care, internal medicine and gastroenterology. Formal guidelines on its approach and management exist and recommend measuring the serum... more
Experience with procalcitonin use during the COVID-19 pandemic
Procalcitonin (PCT) is a protein precursor of calcitonin that has been proposed to differentiate systemic inflammation of bacterial origin from viral. The lack of rise in viral infections may be due... more
Hospitalized patients are needlessly over-tested for heparin induced thrombocytopenia
Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an immune complication of heparin therapy caused by antibodies to complexes of platelet factor 4 (PF4) and heparin. Patients with HIT present with a decline... more
Original Article
External validation of risk scores to predict in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized due to coronavirus disease 2019
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, which started in early December 2019, presents an important threat to global health. As of October 18th 2021, the number of patients confirmed to... more
High risk of complications and acute-on-chronic liver failure in cirrhosis patients with acute pancreatitis
Lay summary: Acute pancreatitis (AP) and advanced chronic liver disease are severe and increasingly prevalent disorders with overlapping risk factors. We demonstrate for the first time that the... more
T-cell immune response predicts the risk of critical SARS-Cov2 infection in hospitalized COVID-19 patients
Assessment of Th17 cells could help target patients in need of anti-IL6R therapy.
Diagnostic approaches to syncope in Internal Medicine Departments and their effect on mortality
Syncope is defined as a transient loss of consciousness (TLOC) due to cerebral hypoperfusion, characterized by a rapid onset, short duration, and spontaneous complete recovery [1]. The main... more
Impact of cardiac amyloidosis on outcomes of patients hospitalized with heart failure
Amyloidosis is a multi-systemic disease resulting from deposition of misfolded proteins as insoluble fibrils in the interstitium of affected organs, subsequently leading to organ failure. Cardiac... more
Developing a simple and practical decision model to predict the risk of incident type 2 diabetes among the general population: The Di@bet.es Study
The prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are increasing worldwide, and an estimated 50% of patients remain unaware of their disease [1]. T2DM is a highly prevalent chronic... more
Atrial cardiomyopathy markers and new-onset atrial fibrillation risk in patients with acute myocardial infarction
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains one of the leading causes of mortality globally, new-onset AF (NOAF) after AMI is a common complication of AMI, with an incidence of 6% to 21% [1], which is... more
Efficacy and safety of Janus kinase inhibitors in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS), also known as radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, is the advanced disease stage of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) [1]. It was characterized by enthesitis involving the... more
Review Article
Treatment strategies of COVID-19: A rheumatology perspective
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2), the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), emerged in China at the end of 2019 and has developed into a pandemic. The disease has... more
Low serum albumin: A neglected predictor in patients with cardiovascular disease
Albumin, the most abundant circulating protein in blood (accounting for 50% of the plasma proteins), composed of 585 amino acids with a molecular weight of 66 kDa, binds and transports various drugs... more
Sarcomere protein modulation: The new frontier in cardiovascular medicine and beyond
In recent years, constant progress in science and technology has resulted in innovative molecules addressing core mechanisms of myocardial disease affecting millions worldwide [1]. A targeted... more
Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibition in patients affected by heart failure: efficacy, mechanistic effects and practical use of sacubitril/valsartan. Position Paper of the Italian Society of Cardiology
Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) activation is one the main pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the development and progression of heart failure (HF) and its inhibition is a mainstay... more