September 2024
No Section
Artificial intelligence in scientific medical writing: Legitimate and deceptive uses and ethical concerns
The ghost-writer potential of ChatGPT and related AI tools has been widely discussed in many editorials and essays. Yet, general AI models to-date have failed to fully utilize medical language and... more
Commentary
Commentary on Efficacy and Safety of Low dose ondansetron as a prospective precision medicine to treat alcohol use disorder phenotypes
In this issue of the European Journal of Internal Medicine, Johnson, Addolorato and colleagues [1,2] report the efficacy and safety results of a phase 3, multicenter double-blind placebo-controlled... more
Up and down in gastrointestinal cancer and bleeding with direct oral anticoagulants
Although direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been established as an effective option for cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT), there are still concerns about their safety in patients with... more
B-cell depletion works in IgG4-related disease. What else?
In this volume, Liu et al. perform a rigorous meta-analysis aimed to cover three clinically relevant questions regarding the use of rituximab in patients with IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) [1]. Is... more
Internal Medicine Flashcard
Blue-gray pigmentation on the lower legs
An 81-year-old woman presented to our clinic with painless hyperpigmented blue-gray patches on both lower legs (Fig. 1), without associated pruritis. She had been diagnosed with vertebral... more
Acrocyanosis and edema in a male with thrombocytosis, polyneuropathy and monoclonal gammopathy
A 77-year-old male consulted for edema, skin changes, asthenia, anorexia, weight loss and leg corkiness of more than one year of evolution. About two years earlier, primary hypothyroidism was... more
Letter to the Editor
Evaluating cognitive impairment in emergency department: Challenges with screening tools. Authors’ reply
We appreciate the thoughtful feedback provided by Khenhrani et al. [1] regarding our article "Prognostic value of cognitive impairment, assessed by the Clock Drawing Test, in emergency department... more
Pioneering the future: CRISPR-Cas9 gene therapy for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Author's reply
We read the recent innovative Letter by James and Sehgal, commenting on our article published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine and advocating for the development of a CRISPR-Cas9 gene... more
Autonomic dysfunction in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in over 750 million confirmed cases since its emergence. There has been growing attention towards long-COVID or post-acute sequelae of... more
Pitfalls in the detection of anti-Nucleolar Organizer Region 90 (NOR90) antibodies
Dear Editor,
Pioneering the future: CRISPR-Cas9 gene therapy for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia
We read with great interest the article titled “New genetic drivers in hemorrhagic hereditary telangiectasia’, recently published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine. Cerdà and colleagues... more
The role of age in recognizing cognitive impairment in the emergency department
I read with interest the study by Espejo et al. published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine. In this study, patients presenting to the emergency department with vague symptoms who met the... more
Evaluating cognitive impairment in emergency department: Challenges with screening tools
We read the article by Tanguy Espejo et al. with great interest [1]. The authors have performed admirably in achieving the purpose of the research. The article concludes that Clock Drawing Test (CDT... more
Comparison of factor X inhibitors versus vitamin K antagonists in atrial fibrillation patients on dialysis
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common heart rhythm disorder that occurs in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Recent studies have shown that the incidence of AF increases in patients... more
Stenting improves cardiovascular clinical outcomes in patients with middle aortic syndrome caused by aortoarteritis: Long-term results
Takayasu arteritis (TA), also known as aortoarteritis, often involves the middle aorta and manifests as middle aortic syndrome (MAS) [1]. Owing to persistent and severe hypertension attributed to... more
Nitrous oxide toxicity in adult patients with sickle cell disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited autosomal recessive disorder that confers atypical haemoglobin called haemoglobin S, which can distort red blood cells in sickle-shaped cells and modifies... more
Monkeypox: A risk factor for inflammatory diseases?
I read with interest the article by Patauner and colleagues [1]. Even though most cases have a full recovery without significant sequelae, little is known about the mid- and long-term outcome of... more
The new nomenclature SLD and categories provided better classification for elderly Chinese with liver steatosis
We were inspired by the recent article by van Erpecum and Dalekos [1], which proposed new horizons in the diagnosis and management of patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver... more
Original Article
Low-dose ondansetron: A candidate prospective precision medicine to treat alcohol use disorder endophenotypes
Alcohol is an addictive substance that contributes to millions of deaths and disabilities worldwide [1]. Excessive alcohol use accounts for 5.1 % of the global disease burden and is the primary risk... more
Efficacy and safety of rituximab induction therapy and effect of rituximab maintenance for IgG4-related disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis
IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a rare systemic fibro-inflammatory condition characterized by widespread lesions that exhibit specific histological characteristics [1]. This disease is typically... more
Combining loop with thiazide diuretics in patients discharged home after a heart failure decompensation: Association with 30-day outcomes
Heart failure (HF) is a highly prevalent cardiovascular condition in people over 65 years old [1]. Mortality associated with HF decompensations (acute HF; AHF) is high, with 30-day and 1-year all-... more
Acute kidney injury predicts mortality in very elderly critically-ill patients
The age of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) has witnessed a significant increase in the last decades. Recent statistics reveal that ten to fifteen percent of ICU-admitted patients are... more
Effects of a medical admission unit on in-hospital patient flow and clinical outcomes
In the last decades the epidemiological transition has brought to several acute complex (elderly, frail and poli-pathological) patients that access to Emergency Departments (ED) and require... more
Development and validation of a novel sleep health score in the sleep heart health study
Sleep is closely related to health [1]. Middle-aged and elderly people, especially the elderly, often suffer from sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea and insomnia [2]. These sleep disorders likely... more
Cardiovascular events after exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Results from the EXAcerbations of COPD and their OutcomeS in CardioVascular diseases study in Italy
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic progressive disorder of the lungs with high global morbidity and mortality [1]. The burden and prevalence of COPD are increasing likely due... more
C-reactive protein is more suitable than Serum Amyloid A to monitor crises and attack-free periods in Systemic Auto-Inflammatory Diseases.
Systemic Auto-Inflammatory Diseases (SAID) are diseases with a deregulation of the innate inflammatory response characterized by recurrent fever episodes with systemic inflammation without infectious... more
Hepatic T1-time, cardiac structure and function and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy
Liver damage frequently occurs in patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease and predicts worse clinical outcomes [1,2]. In this context, liver damage may be mainly caused by elevated hepatic venous... more
Direct oral anticoagulant-associated bleeding complications in patients with gastrointestinal cancer and venous thromboembolism
Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), constitutes the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer besides the... more
Safety and compliance of long-term low-dose ondansetron in alcohol use disorder treatment.
There are geographical differences regarding alcohol-associated morbidity and mortality, the WHO European Region being the most affected area [1]. Europe leads globally in per capita alcohol... more
Review Article
Ischemia with non-obstructive coronary artery (INOCA): Non-invasive versus invasive techniques for diagnosis and the role of #FullPhysiology
Coronary angiography (CA) has historically represented the backbone of the diagnostic algorithm of chronic coronary syndromes. Yet, in more than 50 % of patients complaining of anginal-sounding chest... more
Exploring the nexus: The place of kidney diseases within the cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome spectrum
Metabolic syndrome (MS) or Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) syndrome, the global epidemic with prevalence increasing from 25.3 % in 1988–1994 to 34.2 % in 2007–2012 in the adult population of... more
East meets West: Bringing the ESH 2023 hypertension guidelines into Asia
Hypertension remains a major problem worldwide, especially across the Asia-Pacific region. According to The NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, which analysed data from 1990 to 2019 on people aged 30–79... more