ECG Markers of Cardiovascular Toxicity in Adult and Pediatric Cancer Treatment.

When a cardiologist is asked to evaluate the cardiac toxic effects of chemotherapy, he/she can use several tools: ECG, echocardiography, coronary angiography, ventriculography, and cardiac MRI. Of all these, the fastest and easiest to use is the ECG, which can provide information on the occurrence of cardiac toxic effects and can show early signs of subclinical cardiac damage. These warning signs are the most desired to be recognized by the cardiologist, because the dose of chemotherapeutics can be adjusted so that the clinical side effects do not occur, or the therapy can be stopped in time, before irreversible side effects. This review addresses the problem of early detection of cardiotoxicity in adult and pediatric cancer treatment, by using simple ECG recordings.

Vitamin D and Its Role in the Lipid Metabolism and the Development of Atherosclerosis.

Vitamin D, a crucial hormone in the homeostasis and metabolism of calcium bone, has lately been found to produce effects on other physiological and pathological processes genomically and non-genomically, including the cardiovascular system. While lower baseline vitamin D levels have been correlated with atherogenic blood lipid profiles, 25(OH)D supplementation influences the levels of serum lipids in that it lowers the levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL-cholesterol and increases the levels of HDL-cholesterol, all of which are known risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Vitamin D is also involved in the development of atherosclerosis at the site of the blood vessels. Deficiency of this vitamin has been found to increase adhesion molecules or endothelial activation and, at the same time, supplementation is linked to the lowering presence of adhesion surrogates. Vitamin D can also influence the vascular tone by increasing endothelial nitric oxide production, as seen in supplementation studies. Deficiency can lead, at the same time, to oxidative stress and an increase in inflammation as well as the expression of particular immune cells that play a pivotal role in the development of atherosclerosis in the intima of the blood vessels, i.e., monocytes and macrophages. Vitamin D is also involved in atherogenesis through inhibition of vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. Furthermore, vitamin D deficiency is consistently associated with cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction, STEMI, NSTEMI, unstable angina, ischemic stroke, cardiovascular death, and increased mortality after acute stroke. Conversely, vitamin D supplementation does not seem to produce beneficial effects in cohorts with intermediate baseline vitamin D levels.

Oral Anticoagulants Preference in Hospitalized Patients with Acute Deep Vein Thrombosis or Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation.

(1) Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the preferences of oral anticoagulants (OA) in patients diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of lower limbs or non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) requiring anticoagulation for medium/long term. (2) Materials and methods: the study included consecutive patients admitted with a diagnosis of either acute DVT of lower limbs (without signs of pulmonary embolism) or non-valvular AF who required oral anticoagulation, in a time frame of 18 months from January 2017 until June 2018. The following data were recorded: demographic variables, comorbidities (ischemic heart disease, arterial hypertension, heart failure, stroke, peripheral artery disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity), type and dose of OA (acenocoumarol, dabigatran, apixaban, rivaroxaban), complications due to the use of OA. (3) Results: AF patients were older and had considerably more cardiovascular comorbidities than DVT patients. Vitamin K antagonists (VKA) were more likely to be administered in patients with AF, as they had indication for indefinite anticoagulation. VKA were more frequently prescribed in patients with ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and diabetes compared with DVT patients. Moreover, complications related to OA use were more frequent in the VKA group. Almost half of patients with acute DVT (48.5%) were treated with direct OA (DOAC) rather than VKA, and only a quarter of AF patients (24.8%) were treated with DOACs.

Fatal Whipple's disease with severe mental manifestations on relapse - case report and brief advances update.

We present the case of a 51-year-old male admitted for asthenia, fatigability, nausea, inappetence, weight loss, watery diarrhea, lower limb paresthesia and diagnosed after further investigations with Whipple's disease (WD). The evolution was favorable under antibiotic therapy but after a period of time the patient was no longer compliant to the treatment and psychotic manifestations, general status alteration and finally the decease occurred. WD is a condition caused by Tropheryma whipplei (TW) bacterium in people with altered macrophage degrading capacity and it is lethal without early treatment.

Health Related Quality of life in bladder cancer. Current approach and future perspectives.

Bladder cancer is a real health problem due to its increased incidence, high recurrence rate and the fact that usually it is detected in advanced stages with limited number of diagnostic tools and different therapy response rates to current therapeutic strategies. Because of these issues we must develop screening programs and sensitive diagnostic strategies capable of detecting the disease during its early stages but also for characterizing evolution, prognosis and therapeutic response. Issues of great importance are those related to health quality of life of patients from the moment of diagnosis till the use of existing therapeutic approaches. This paper reviews some facets of life quality in patients diagnosed with bladder cancer stressing upon some proposed questionnaires and some new cell and molecular biology and genomic acquisitions (molecular biomarkers) that may become indicators of prognosis, therapeutic response and life quality but also essential tools in guiding therapeutic strategies.

Novel non invasive diagnostic strategies in bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed malignancies worldwide, derived from the urothelium of the urinary bladder and defined by long asymptomatic and atypical clinical picture. Its complex etiopathogenesis is dependent on numerous risk factors that can be divided into three distinct categories: genetic and molecular abnormalities, chemical or environmental exposure and previous genitourinary disorders and family history of different malignancies. Various genetic polymorphisms and microRNA might represent useful diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers. Genetic and molecular abnormalities - risk factors are represented by miRNA or genetic polymorphisms proved to be part of bladder carcinogenesis such as: genetic mutations of oncogenes TP53, Ras, Rb1 or p21 oncoproteins, cyclin D or genetic polymorhisms of XPD,ERCC1, CYP1B1, NQO1C609T, MDM2SNP309, CHEK2, ERCC6, NRF2, NQO1Pro187Ser polymorphism and microRNA (miR-143, -145, -222, -210, -10b, 576-3p). The aim of our article is to highlight the most recent acquisitions via molecular biomarkers (miRNAs and genetic polymorphisms) involved in bladder cancer in order to provide early diagnosis, precise therapy according to the molecular profile of bladder tumors, as well as to improve clinical outcome, survival rates and life quality of oncological patients. These molecular biomarkers play a key role in bladder carcinogenesis, clinical evolution, prognosis and therapeutic response and explain the molecular mechanisms involved in bladder carcinogenesis; they can also be selected as therapeutic targets in developing novel therapeutic strategies in bladder malignancies. Moreover, the purpose in defining these molecular non invasive biomarkers is also to develop non invasive screening programs in bladder malignancies with the result of decreasing bladder cancer incidence in risk population.

Hyperechogenic liver lesion.

Current paper focuses on an ultrasonography image representing a hyperechogenic liver lesion that appeared in less than a year time in a patient with clinical alarm signs. There are also described the steps for the final diagnosis, that proved to be geographical map steatosis and possible differential diagnoses together with brief literature correlations.

Ocular changes and approaches of ophthalmopathy in basedow - graves- parry- flajani disease.

Basedow-Graves disease is an autoimmune condition with multiple local and systemic aspects. Among these, oculopathy has a major impact on patient's life from both functional and esthetic point of view. Basedow-Graves oculopathy requires an appropriate positive and differential diagnosis using clinical and imagistic approaches. Treatment is always required in moderate or severe forms and it begins with simple general points and continues with medical and surgical therapies. Current article stresses upon the most characteristic clinical signs of thyroidian ophthalmopathy and the required current therapeutic approaches.