Minerva medica
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Heart rate is a parameter that is very easy to measure and is widely used both in clinic and during daily life activities. Its value gained more relevance with the evidence, in prospective studies and meta-analysis, of association between elevated heart rate values and diseases and outcomes. The increased knowledge of physiological mechanisms of heart rate control and the pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for its dysfunction allows to identify the cut-off value of normalcy providing info for non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments to reduce the cardiovascular risk both in general population and in pathophysiological conditions. This paper overviews the knowledges of the role of resting heart rate as predictor of cardiovascular risk.
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Review Comparative Study
Gynecological cancers and urinary dysfunction: a comparison between endometrial cancer and other gynecological malignancies.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a narrative overview of the available literature about voiding dysfunction in women with gynecological cancer before and after surgical, chemo- and radiotherapy treatments. Radical surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy may cause lower urinary tract dysfunction such as stress and urge urinary incontinence, and voiding difficulties. ⋯ Pelvic floor muscle physiotherapy and training with biofeedback and urethral bulking agents represent some additional therapies that can be used in oncologically treated patients with urinary symptoms in order to improve a significant aspect of their quality of life. Considering the important impact on the patients' quality of life, a full urogynecological evaluation should be considered as an important part of oncological treatment and follow-up.
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Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy and in two thirds of patients it is apparently uterine confined at presentation. Lymph nodal status represents one of the main prognostic factors. Nodal evaluation with sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping has gained more ground in clinical practice after the publication of different studies demonstrating the feasibility and accuracy of this technique. However, at the moment there are no RCTs available evaluating the long-term oncologic safety of SLN technique compared to LND. This review aims at summarizing the available evidence on oncologic outcomes between SLN mapping alone and LND. Differences in operative complications and long-term complications were also analyzed. ⋯ SLN mapping in apparently uterine confined disease has been demonstrated to be a feasible and accurate technique for nodal evaluation and high-quality evidence support this. Moreover, SLN mapping resulted to be associated with less major postoperative and long-term complications when compared to LDN. Conversely, high-quality evidence is not available on long-term oncologic safety of this technique compared to the standard LND. Randomized trials are requested to provide reliable data on this aspect.
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Thanks to timely diagnosis and medical advancement the number of endometrial cancer (EC) patients achieving long term survival is constantly increasing and here comes the necessity to move forward with the understanding of post-treatment sexual adjustment and with the strategies to enhance sexual functioning (SF) and quality of life (QoL) in this population. In this scenario we designed this study aiming to summarize and analyze the available scientific evidence regarding QoL and especially SF in patients affected by EC who underwent surgical and adjuvant treatment. ⋯ Considering the widespread diffusion of female sexual dysfunction among EC patients and the relatively good prognosis, especially in early stage disease, it undoubtedly looms the need for proactive countermeasures to maximize the sexual well-being and QoL of these patients. A wide range of intervention in a multi-modal physical and mental perspective should be considered.
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Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most frequent gynecological cancer. Transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) plays a leading role in the preoperative workup and often is the first diagnostic instrumental examination. Despite expert hands' ultrasound is recommended to assess myometrial invasion in early stage EC, this method is a strictly operator-dependent examination, and varying degrees of sensitivity and specificity have been reported. The present review aims to provide an update of ultrasound imaging in the preoperative work-up for EC patients. ⋯ TVU sensitivity and specificity in myometrial infiltration and cervical invasion is comparable to MRI but has lower costs, greater patient tolerability, and does not require contrast agents. An expert operator should perform the ultrasound examination in patients with suspected EC The presence of myometrial lesions, such as leiomyomas, could lower the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound, so special attention should be paid to patients with concomitant uterine lesions.