Fetal aortic isthmus Doppler assessment to predict the adverse perinatal outcomes associated with fetal growth restriction: systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Fetal growth restriction (FGR) management and delivery planning is based on a multimodal approach. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the prognostic accuracies of the aortic isthmus Doppler to predict adverse perinatal outcomes in singleton pregnancies with FGR. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov and Google scholar were searched from inception to May 2021, for studies on the prognostic accuracy of anterograde aortic isthmus flow compared with retrograde aortic isthmus flow in singleton pregnancy with FGR. The meta-analysis was registered on PROSPERO and was assessed according to PRISMA and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. DerSimonian and Laird's random-effect model was used for relative risks, Freeman-Tukey Double Arcsine for pooled estimates and exact method to stabilize variances and CIs. Heterogeneity was quantified using I2 statistics. RESULTS: A total of 2933 articles were identified through the electronic search, of which 6 studies (involving 240 women) were included. The quality evaluation of studies revealed an overall acceptable score for study group selection and comparability and substantial heterogeneity. The risk of perinatal death was significantly greater in fetuses with retrograde Aortic Isthmus blood flow, with a RR of 5.17 (p value 0.00001). Similarly, the stillbirth rate was found to have a RR of 5.39 (p value 0.00001). Respiratory distress syndrome had a RR of 2.64 (p value = 0.03) in the group of fetuses with retrograde Aortic Isthmus blood flow. CONCLUSION: Aortic Isthmus Doppler study may add information for FGR management. However, additional clinical trial are required to assess its applicability in clinical practice.

Multicentric data analysis of the learning curve for laparoscopic Shull's repair of pelvic floor defects.

Introduction: Pelvic organs prolapse remains a significant health concern affecting millions of women worldwide. The use of native tissues to suspend the apex has acquired relevance in urogynecologic surgery. One of the most commonly used procedures performed without mesh is the technique described by Shull, consisting of suturing the vaginal apex to the uterosacral ligaments. The objective of the study is to evaluate the learning curve of laparoscopic Shull's repair for the correction of pelvic floor defects, including the surgery time and surgical outcomes. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective study conducted at the Policlinico G. Martino, University of Messina, Messina, Italy, and Policlinico Vanvitelli, Vanvitelli University, Naples, Italy. All patients affected by grade I-IV POP, consisting of apical prolapse with or without cystocele, and who underwent laparoscopic Shull's technique for prolapse correction were enrolled. The endpoints to estimate the learning curve for the procedure were the percentage of laparoscopic procedures completed, operative time, and the early complication rate. Results: A total of 31 laparoscopic Shull repairs were collected for the study. To evaluate the learning curve of the technique, we divided the 31 cases into three different groups: Procedures 0-10; 11-20; 21-31. The parameter for evaluating technique learning was the operative time. Group 21-31 demonstrated an operative time of 97 min (SD 20), compared with 121 min (SD 23) in group 0-10 and 120 min (SD 13) in group 11-20. A comparison of these means through ANOVA showed a p-value of 0.01 for the entire system, and 0.95 for the comparison between 0 and 10 and 11-20, 0.04 for 0-10 vs. 21-31, and 0.02 between 11 and 20 and 21-31. Conclusions: The rate of surgical improvement in terms of time became effective after an average of 20 procedures. However, the improvement seems to be effective case by case for surgeons skilled in basic endoscopy.

[Pneumotorax and cannabis]. / Pneumotorace e cannabis.

AIM: After having read the articles by Treasure and Beshay about the particular incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) in patients with daily consumption of Cannabis the authors took a strictly control of these subjects reviewing their personal experience in the treatment of this condition. In particular, the prevalence of SP has been evaluated through genomic assay of monocorial twins. The strong impact of the inflammatory phenomena that have always supported the emphysema burning is 10 time higher among worldwide population and patients with SP. METHODS: In order to determine the real incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax in patients with proved daily assumption of Cannabis a retrospective analysis of patients with history of Cannabis drug abuse has been performed. In the period from January 2002 and June 2007,12 consecutive patients with SP and history of Cannabis abuse were enrolled. Selection criteria were: 1) age <16 years; 2) single-sided spontaneous pneumothorax; 3) history of daily Cannabis assumption. Patients with previous thoracic surgery/trauma and positive anamnesis for other drug assumption (ODA), snorkelling or work exposition to pollutions were excluded. In order to avoid the clinical overlapping of pathology and clinical symptoms due to other factors, patients with pleural effusion and documented similar episodes were excluded. This series focused on particular on twins. In all the patients an endopleuric drainage tube was inserted, and 3 patients underwent toracostomy. RESULTS: No operatory mortality and/or complications were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The role of the thoracic surgeon is important to sensitize on the problem of the circulation of light drugs among young people and their effects on the lung activity.

Healthcare-associated Clostridium difficile infection: role of correct hand hygiene in cross-infection control.

INTRODUCTION: Clostridium difficile (CD) is the most common cause of health-care-associated infectious diarrhea with increasing incidence and severity in recent years. The main cause of hospital's acquired cross infections can be attributed to incorrect hand hygiene. We described the epidemiology of CD infection (CDI) in a teaching hospital in Southern Italy during a two years surveillance period and evaluated the health-care workers compliance to hand hygiene. METHODS: CDI Incidence rates were calculated as the number of patients with positive C. difficile toxin assay per 10,000 patient-days. Compliance with hand hygiene was the ratio of the number of performed actions to the number of opportunities observed. Approximately 400 Hand Hygiene (HH) opportunities/year /ward were observed. We finally checked out if any correlation could be found. RESULTS: From January 2015 to December 2016 a total number of 854 CD determinations were performed in patients with clinical symptoms of diarrhea. The search for toxins A and B was positive in 175 cases (21,2%), confirming the diagnosis of CDI. Compliance to hand hygiene was significantly inversely associated with the number of CDIs: the lower the compliance of health-care workers with hand hygiene the higher was the number of cases of CDIs (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: According to our results proper handwashing of health-care workers appears to be a key intervention in interrupting CD cross infections regardless of age and type of department in which the patient is admitted.

Patrones de personalidad en sujetos con úlcera duodenal

Después de un recorrido histórico por las distintas civilizaciones en busca de los orígenes de la concepción psicosomática de la medicina, se discute el enfoque actual de la misma, así como el enfoque psicosomático de las enfermedades gastrointestinales en lo general y de la enfermedad ulcerosa péptica en lo particular