Medicina
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Background and Objectives: 68Ga-DOTA peptides positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is usually applied for the study of neuroendocrine tumours, but other tumours such as meningioma may also have an increased radiopharmaceutical uptake. The aim of this retrospective study was to establish the prevalence and the meaning of brain incidental uptake among patients who performed 68Ga-DOTA peptides PET/CT for other reasons. Materials and Methods: Overall, 510 68Ga-DOTA peptides PET/CT scans performed between January 2018 and February 2022 from 430 patients were reviewed for the analysis of incidental brain radiopharmaceutical uptake. ⋯ The remaining 10 had a final diagnosis different from meningioma (5 as brain metastases and 2 as venous anomalies) or were lost during the follow-up without performing MRI (n = 3). The average maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of the suspected meningioma was 16.5 (range 5-33), and the average lesion to brain SUVmax ratio was 351 (range 80-550). Conclusions: Brain incidental uptake from the 68Ga-DOTA peptides PET/CT is not so rare, and meningioma is the most frequent cause.
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Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate choroidal structure and vascularity indices in patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Materials and Methods: Sixty-three eyes from sixty-three patients were evaluated: 21 from healthy subjects, 20 with diabetes mellitus (DM) and no diabetic retinopathy (DR), and 22 with DM and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy without diabetic macular edema (DME). Each patient underwent ocular examination, macular swept-source ocular coherence tomography (SS-OCT) imaging, glycemic control, and systemic high blood pressure (HBP) evaluation. ⋯ No association of choroidal parameters with glycemic control, DM duration and HBP was found significant (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Choroidal assessment by SS-OCT and image binarization in healthy subjects, subjects with DM without DR, and subjects with DM and NPDR indicated that CVI changes were identifiable and significant in early DR. The lack of association with ocular and systemic factors suggest that CVIs are reliable assessment parameters of choroidal vascular structure.
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The dysfunctionality of the protective skin barrier in psoriasis allows easier cutaneous penetration of various contact haptens; thus, such patients can develop allergic contact hypersensitivity as a comorbidity. Both skin conditions involve T-cell-mediated mechanisms. Dermatologists and allergists should consider assessing allergic contact cell-mediated hypersensitivity in selected psoriasis patients, especially those with palmoplantar psoriasis and who are refractory to topical treatments, and in patients with psoriasis, with or without arthritis, treated with biologics that present skin lesions clinically suggestive of contact dermatitis.
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Background and Objectives: Burn wound healing and management continues to be a major challenge for patients and health care providers resulting in a considerable socio-economic burden. Recent advances in the development of applicable xenografts as an alternative to split-thickness skin grafts have allowed for the development of acellular fish skin. Acellular fish skin acts as a skin substitute, reducing inflammatory responses and advancing proinflammatory cytokines that promote wound healing. ⋯ Conclusions: Acellular fish skin xenografts may represent an effective, low-cost alternative in treatment of superficial- and partial-thickness burns. However, results mainly originate from preclinical and small cohort studies. Future larger cohort studies are warranted to elucidate the full potential of this promising approach.
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(1) Background and Objectives: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is strongly associated with cancer, and may be the first event revealing occult neoplasia. Nonetheless, the reasonable extent of the etiological assessment after an unprovoked VTE event remains debated. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of occult neoplasia one year after an episode of VTE, in consecutively hospitalized patients for VTE from the REMOTEV registry. ⋯ Admission pulmonary CT scans as well as (thoracic)-abdomino-pelvic CT scans (when performed) were responsible for the majority of detected cancers. Age over 65 years and the concomitant presence of an unusual site and lower-limb deep vein thrombosis were the only factors associated with occult neoplasia in this cohort. After 1-year FU, mortality was higher in cancer patients (HR 6.0 (CI 95% 3.5−10.3, p < 0.0001)), and cancer evolution was the leading cause of death in the cancer group. (4) Conclusions: In REMOTEV, VTE-revealed occult cancer prevalence was low, but similar to recent reports and associated with higher age, multiple thrombotic sites and worse prognosis.