November 2020
28 ArticlesNo Section
Hyperuricaemia and gout in cardiovascular, metabolic and kidney disease
Hyperuricaemia refers to an abnormally high concentration of uric acid in serum [1], typically defined as >7 mg/dL (416 μmol/L) in men and >6 mg/dL in women [2]. Mean serum uric acid has... more
Influence of BMI and geographical region on prescription of oral anticoagulants in newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation: The GLORIA-AF Registry Program
Body mass index (BMI) is widely used for estimating adiposity and has been extensively studied across different populations for evaluating the relationships between BMI values and the risks of... more
Commentary
Performance of creatinine- and cystatin C-based formulas to estimate glomerular filtration rate
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 8-16% of the population worldwide and is a huge global health issue, given its strong association with higher cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, progression... more
Increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias with cannabis use – More studies are needed
The regulations of medical and recreational cannabis are constantly changing in recent years, both in United States and in many other countries around the world [1]. As a consequence of the changing... more
Editorial
Early diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: Closer to the goal?
Early diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is definitely a challenge. Several studies have been investigating how to achieve this goal. IPF is the most common type of idiopathic... more
Internal Medicine Flashcard
Anterior neck mass that appeared after a common cold
A 62-year-old man experienced a common cold for 7 days. He presented to the clinic with a 2-day history of anterior neck pain and swelling. His body temperature was 37.4°C, and a soft, well-defined... more
Letter to Editor
Linking hydroxychloroquine to hemolysis in a ‘suspected’ glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient patient with COVID-19 infection – a critical appraisal
We read the recent letter by De Franceschi et al. [1] attributing acute intravascular hemolysis in a patient with COVID-19 infection to intake of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). We would like to highlight... more
Letter to the Editor
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency associated hemolysis in COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine: New case reports coming out
Afra TP et al comment our recent report entitled: “acute hemolysis by hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was observed in G6PD-deficient patient with severe COVID-19 related lung injury” [1,2]. Afra et al.... more
Targeted pharmacotherapy for cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with diabetes undergoing liver transplantation: Author's reply
Dear Editor,
Serum albumin and cardiovascular disease: Does low serum albumin contribute to the emergence and worsening of some cardiovascular diseases?
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and the identification of modifiable risk factors potentially implicated in the onset and progression of cardiovascular disease... more
Targeted pharmacotherapy for cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with diabetes undergoing liver transplantation
Dear Editor,
COVID-19 and hydroxychloroquine: Let the available data speak for themselves
Dear Editor,
The rise of rules: Will the new EU regulation of medical devices make us safer?
Whenever markets fail and minimum level of quality must be guaranteed to consumers, users and the system as a whole, regulations are needed. This is undoubtedly the case for healthcare technologies,... more
Hourly variation in urine (Na+K) in chronic hyponatremia related to SIADH: Clinical implication
Dilute urine may be considered to have an isotonic portion and an electrolyte-free water portion. The proportions of electrolytes-free water and isotonic can be measured by the ratio of effective... more
Safety and efficacy of levosimendan in patients with cardiac amyloidosis
Amyloidosis is a systemic disease characterized by extracellular deposition of insoluble fibrils [1]. Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is common in both immunoglobulin light-chain (AL) and transthyretin... more
First comes the A, then the B: what we learned from the COVID-19 outbreak
The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, which has spread to many countries around the world, has hit Europe particularly hard. From our point of view, in a rural emergency department (with an annual patient census... more
Very low reporting rate of connective tissue diseases among coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients and the renin-angiotensin system – An overlooked association?
Severe cases of Covid-19 are strongly associated with pre-existing comorbidities, specifically cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, obesity and hypertension [1]. These conditions are commonly... more
Original Article
Neurological diseases of unknown etiology: Brain-biopsy diagnostic yields and safety
The contribution of brain biopsy is well-established for patients with suspected neoplastic lesions, for which its diagnostic yield approaches 95% [1,2]. For nonneoplastic neurological diseases, no... more
Quality of care after AKI development in the hospital: Consensus from the 22nd Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) conference
The short- and long-term consequences of acute kidney injury (AKI) are well-recognized [1–3]. The number of AKI episodes, their severity, and duration are critical determinants of adverse outcomes,... more
VAV3 rs7528153 and VAV3-AS1 rs1185222 polymorphisms are associated with an increased risk of developing hypertension
Cardiovascular diseases are responsible for around 17 million deaths per year, accounting for nearly one-third of the total deaths in the world. The secondary effects of hypertension account for 9.4... more
Cluster analysis based clinical profiling of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis patients according to comorbidities evident prior to diagnosis: a single-center observational study
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a progressively destructive lung disease caused by unchecked fibroblast activity and uncontrolled formation of pulmonary scar tissue,[1] has a median survival... more
Comparison of bias and accuracy using cystatin C and creatinine in CKD-EPI equations for GFR estimation
Glomerular filtrate rate (GFR) is the most useful index of kidney function. Reduction of GFR may indicate chronic kidney disease (CKD) or acute kidney injury (AKI) [1]. CKD is a growing global health... more
Anticoagulation resumption after intracranial hemorrhage in patients treated with VKA and DOACs
Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is associated with high mortality and severe functional outcome [1]. ICH is frequently associated to antithrombotic treatment and carries a substantial risk of... more
The effect of Mid-Day Sleep on blood pressure levels in patients with arterial hypertension
Life style changes represent the cornerstone of treatment in patients with arterial hypertension since not only they decrease blood pressure (BP) levels, but also reduce cardiovascular (CV) risk [1... more
Prevalence and risk factors for pulmonary embolism in patients with suspected acute exacerbation of COPD: a multi-center study.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]. Acute exacerbation of COPD is a frequent cause of admission to an emergency department and of... more
Safety and Tolerability of Neurohormonal Antagonism in Cardiac Amyloidosis
Amyloidosis is a systemic disease characterized by extracellular deposition of insoluble fibrils, deriving from proteins encoded by mutated genes or normal, misfolded proteins [1,2]. Previously... more
Use of intravenous iron in patients with iron deficiency and chronic heart failure: Real-world evidence
Iron deficiency (ID) affects up to 50% of patients with chronic heart failure (HF). ID in patients with HF has been shown to be an independent adverse prognostic factor [1,2], it is associated with... more
Higher odds and rising trends in arrhythmia among young cannabis users with comorbid depression
The high prevalence of substance abuse especially cannabis among adolescents is one of the major health care challenges of the 21st century. The permissive nature of laws regarding cannabis use has... more