European journal of internal medicine
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Apr 2023
Long-term lung ultrasound follow-up in patients after COVID-19 pneumonia hospitalization: A prospective comparative study with chest computed tomography.
During COVID-19 pandemic, lung ultrasound (LUS) proved to be of great value in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with pneumonia. However, limited data exist regarding its use to assess aeration changes during follow-up (FU). Our study aims to prospectively evaluate 232 subjects who underwent a 3-month-FU program after hospitalization for COVID-19 at the University Hospital of Pisa. ⋯ LUS and chest CT showed a high agreement in identifying residual pathological findings, using both cut-off scores of 3 (OR 14,7; CL 3,6-64,5, Sensitivity 91%, Specificity 49%) and 7 (OR 5,8; CL 2,3-14,3, Sensitivity 65%, Specificity 79%). Our data suggest that LUS is very sensitive in identifying pathological findings at FU after a hospitalization for COVID-19 pneumonia, compared to CT. Given its low cost and safety, LUS could replace CT in selected cases, such as in contexts with limited resources or it could be used as a gate-keeper examination before more advanced techniques.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Apr 2023
Multicenter StudyComparison of missed adenomas in deep-sedated and unsedated colonoscopy: A multicenter retrospective study.
Deep-sedated colonoscopy with propofol is widely used in China. However, its impact on quality metrics remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the effects of deep-sedated colonoscopy on missed adenomas, specifically in each colorectal segment. ⋯ AMR was higher in deep-sedated colonoscopy than in unsedated colonoscopy. Furthermore, adenomas in the splenic flexure and descending colon were more frequently missed in deep-sedated colonoscopy than in unsedated colonoscopy, particularly when performed by less experienced endoscopists.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Apr 2023
Functional outcome after cardiac rehabilitation and its association with survival in heart failure across the spectrum of ejection fraction.
There is limited evidence regarding the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). ⋯ Our data suggest that patients with HFpEF or HFmrEF are as likely as those with HFrEF to benefit from CR in terms of functional improvement. Functional improvement was independently associated with improved long-term survival, regardless of EF.