Hippokratia
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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitudes and behavior of surgeons regarding preoperative smoking cessation. ⋯ The surgeons who participated in the questionnaire were aware that smoking cessation improves outcome, but most of them did not appreciate that providing brief advice, referring to cessation services, or prescribing nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) may be of benefit in helping patients to quit. It is necessary to educate surgeons about the scale of the benefit and the efficacy of smoking cessation interventions or to set up systematic frameworks to offer smoking cessation advice to preoperative patients who smoke.
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Congenital chylous ascites is a rare condition that constitutes a challenge for the physician. It is defined as the accumulation of chyle into the peritoneal cavity in infants younger than 3 months. This condition is often refractory to therapy and it is responsible for serious malnutrition and immunological deficiency because of the loss of proteins and lymphocytes. ⋯ Congenital chylous ascites is a complex condition. Its diagnostic evaluation is difficult and its therapy of long duration. Conservative treatment is in most cases the initial choice, but when it fails, exploratory laparotomy could provide a successful alternative.
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Endometriosis is a common disorder in women of reproductive age. A rare localization is the appendix, which, in most cases, is an incidental finding during appendectomies. The incidence of symptomatic appendiceal endometriosis or endometrial appendicitis might be increased in pregnancy. Moreover, endometrial appendicitis in pregnancy is more likely to present in an advanced stage, given the physiologic changes characterizing the gravid abdomen. ⋯ The laparotomy revealed perforated appendicitis. The histopathology report described acute endometrial appendicitis.
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The recent advances in the biological research have produced new biological disciplines with clinical applications in medicine and cardiology. The integration of multilevel biological data and the connection with the clinical practice reveal the potential of personalized medicine and nanotechnology with future implications for prognosis, diagnosis and management. ⋯ These disciplines, with their predictive, preventive and therapeutic potential, are formulating the concept of personalized management, with patient's energetic involvement and participation in the diagnosis and treatment. Personalized medicine and cardiology, using biomarkers as health and disease indicators, encourage drug development and direct towards a better molecular comprehension of disease processes.