Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-2951/1410018

Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Diet and Lifestyle among a Group of Italian Young Adults Students

Gregoriana Zanini, Elio Gorga, Francesca Del Magro, Bola Okunuga, Federica Pasini and Gian Franco Pasini

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: January 06, 2015

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease has shown a marked increase over the last decade, representing the leading cause of death in the United States of America but also in Italy. Cardiovascular diseases recognize a multifactorial etiology: age, obesity, distribution of body fat, cigarette smoking, sedentary lifestyle, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia. In recent years has been paid particular attention to the cardiovascular risk factors prevention particularly in adulthood (> 30 years old). T...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3001/2/1/1018

Does the Benefit of Therapeutic Hypothermia in Refractory Status Epilepticus Depend on Seizure Etiology?

Jessica R. Fesler, Ryan Hakimi, Emmaculate M. Fields and Andrea S. Hakimi

Article Type: Original Article | First Published: January 19, 2015

Introduction : Refractory status epilepticus (RSE) is seizure activity that persists despite acute administration of standard anticonvulsant therapy. It often occurs after cardiac arrest, indicating a poor prognosis. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) reduces neurological injury in this patient population, and post cardiac arrest protocols now incorporate TH into the treatment algorithm. However, TH is not routinely used in RSE from other etiologies and little is known about the appropriate role of TH...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3419/2/1/1011

Primitive Fallopian Tube Carcinosarcoma: Three Cases with Immunohistochemical Profiling

Mira Akiki, Fereshteh Farkhondeh, Virginie Fourchotte and Xavier Sastre-Garau

Article Type: Case Report | First Published: January 22, 2015

Most carcinosarcoma, formerly designed as Malignant Mixed Mullerian Tumors are found in the uterus or the ovary, but rarely in the fallopian tube. The histogenesis of this type of tumor and its place regarding serous or poorly differentiated carcinoma are discussed. We document here three typical cases primarily developed in the fallopian tube. The patients were 69, 70 and 82 years old. They all presented with abdominal pain and large unilateral adnexal mass apparently confined to the ovary. Bil...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3419/2/1/1010

Smac13-Tat Fusion Peptide Induces Cell Death and Sensitizes HeLa Cells to Chemotherapeutic Drugs

Yoshinori Mano, Toshihiko Torigoe, Hiroko Asanuma, Yoshihiko Hirohashi and Noriyuki Sato

Article Type: Original Article | First Published: January 19, 2015

Background: The inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) are overexpressed in a variety of cancer cells and play an important role in the inhibition of caspases, thereby suppressing programed cell death and leading to chemoresistance of cancer cells. However, the anti-apoptotic function of IAPs could be suppressed by Smac, the second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase through its direct interaction with IAPs. Smac can interact with IAPs through the N-terminal Ala-Val-Pro-Ile tetrapeptide do...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3419/2/1/1009

A Cross-Disciplinary Look at Shoulder Pain and Dysfunction after Treatment for Breast Cancer

Delva Shamley

Article Type: Opinion | First Published: January 15, 2015

Shoulder morbidity is a well-documented consequence of treatment for breast cancer. Despite less invasive surgery, a subset of breast cancer survivors present with decreased shoulder complex mobility, tightness, oedema, weakness, pain and numbness after treatment. Additional considerations are connective tissue changes such as scarring and Axillary Web Syndrome (cording), which are known contributory factors to arm dysfunction and pain after treatment. Patients experiencing shoulder and arm prob...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-346X/1410007

Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Based Alterations in Macular Thickness and Inner Segment Ellipsoidare Associated with Severity of Diabetic Retinopathy

Sandeep Saxena, Khushboo Srivastav and Levent Akduman

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: January 14, 2015

Objective: To study the association of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) based alterations in macular thickness and inner segment-ellipsoid band (ISel) with severity of retinopathy in cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Method: Two hundred thirty eight consecutive cases and seventy nine healthy controls were included. Eyes of cases were divided into three groups according to ETDRS classification: diabetes without retinopathy (No DR) (n=79), non-proliferative diabetic retinopat...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-346X/1410006

Biweekly Bevacizumab for Refractory Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration

Ryan B. Rush and Sloan W. Rush

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: January 13, 2015

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of biweekly (twice-permonth) bevacizumab for treatment-resistant neovascular agerelated macular degeneration (nAMD). Methods: The charts of nAMD subjects treated with biweekly bevacizumab injections because of persistent retinal edema on optical coherence tomography (OCT) despite consecutive monthly anti-vascular endothelial factor (VEGF) therapy were retrospectively reviewed. Results: There were 17 subjects included in the analysis. An average of 10.8 (+/-...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3516/1410010

Pulmonary Capillary Wedge Pressure Measurement: A Challenge for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

F. Zoreka, H. Bouvaist, E. Vautrin, S. Marliere, R. Guerbaai, J. Labarere, G. Vanzetto and C. Pison

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: January 11, 2015

Background: International registries report an aging population suffering from PAH (Pulmonary Artery Hypertension) engendering diagnosis difficulties linked with growing cases of group 2 related to left heart failure with preserved Ejection Fraction (PH-HFpE). Pulmonary Capillary Wedge Pressure (PCWP) measurement by right heart catheterization remains a technical challenge for patient classification; many centers still use digital PCWP given by cath lab software. Here, we have tried to demonstra...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3516/1410009

Halotherapy in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis: A Pilot Study

Morhaf AlAchkar, David E. Geller, Amanshe Perera Slaney and Daniel T Layish

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: January 04, 2015

Objectives: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a complex genetic disorder of the lower and upper respiratory tract. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of Halotherapy on sinusitis symptoms, dyspnea, pulmonary function tests, and quality of life in CF patients. Study design: This was a pilot open-label before-and-after-study. Settings: The study was performed at the Orlando Salt Room. Participants were from a single CF care center, and were enrolled in the study between January and June, 201...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3516/1410008

Continuous Abstinence Rates at 3, 6, 9 and 12 Months in a Smoking Cessation Unit at the Albacete University Hospital Over 2 Years

Callejas Gonzalez FJ, Genoves Crespo M, Cruz Ruiz J, Tornero Molina AI, Esquinas Lopez C, Bermejo Lopez P, Garcia Castillo S, Martinez Garcia AJ, Rodriguez Montes JA5 and Tarraga Lopez PJ

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: January 04, 2015

838 patients referred 559 attended to and only 278 treated (33%); 55.4% males and 44.6% females; mean age of 46.4 years. The most important comorbidities were psychiatric (36.3%), cardiovascular (dyslipidemia 30.2%, hypertension 19.1%, diabetes 9.4%) and respiratory (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 15.1%; Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS), 11.9%; asthma, 7.6%). Treatments included varenicline (VRN), 36.7%, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), 43.4%, bupropion, 13.3%, and psych...