PREVES: A Population-Based Survey Focused on Cancer and Nutrition.

INTRODUCTION: Approximately a third of cancer-related deaths are attributable to modifiable factors. METHODS: As a pilot experience, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in 8,000 citizens residing in four different municipalities of the Salerno province (Sarno, Pagani, San Valentino Torio, and San Marzano sul Sarno) to investigate key lifestyle and dietary habits. RESULTS: A total of 703 of participants (8.7%) reported a history of malignancy. Alarmingly, 30.5% declared to be a current smoker, while 78.8% did not report any kind of physical activity. Encouragingly, 64.5% declared to be abstemious, and 83.0% declared to consume fruit and vegetables every day, while 4.7% and 31.9% declared not to consume meat and fried food, respectively, at any time. Never-consumers of fruit and vegetables had higher odds of having a history of colorectal cancer (OR = 5.01; 95% CI = 1.46-17.15; p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The PREVES study has served to prove the validity of an operational model allowing to integrate hospital and territorial healthcare services, which we expect to be applied at a larger scale. Key information regarding dietary and lifestyle habits of the investigated population was obtained. Larger studies conducted using more accurate approaches to investigate diet, such as 24-h recalls and food frequency questionnaires, are warranted.

The Telecardiology Revolution: From Emergency Management to Daily Clinical Practice.

AIMS: Telecardiology is one of the most widespread applications of telemedicine. We aimed to report the design and development of a telecardiology system in the sanitary district of Cosenza, one of the largest in Italy, with a complex orography, and healthcare reorganization needs, for the management of the emergency network and daily clinical practice. METHODS: Our telecardiology network connects 8 hospitals, 9 first aid centers, 20 local 118-EMS stations, 1 helicopter station, 8 hospital emergency departments, 59 hospital departments, and 3 catheterization laboratories. All data are centralized on a dedicated server, accessible from any location for real-time assessment. The quality, source, and timing of the electrocardiograms transmitted were evaluated. RESULTS: From October 2015 to December 2019, a total of 389,970 ECGs were transmitted. The quality of ECGs was optimal in 52%, acceptable in 42%, and poor in 6% of the cases. The number of poor-quality ECGs was only 3% in the last 2 years. Out of the total, 145,097 (37.2%) were transmitted from the emergency departments and 5318 (1.4%) from the 118-EMS. Of interest, a sizable part of the ECG was related to routine clinical practice, comprising 110,556 (28.3%) from the cardiology department and 79,256 (20.3%) from other noncardiovascular departments. Finally, the average reporting time was significantly decreased compared to reporting times without a telecardiology system (5-10 vs. 45-90 min). CONCLUSION: Our telecardiology system provides efficient cardiology assistance for all types, settings, and phases of cardiovascular diseases.

Lean approach to the management of patients undergoing intravitreal injections during COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: To introduce Lean approach principles in the management of patients undergoing intravitreal injections (IVIs) for wet age-related macular degeneration. METHODS: Retrospective single-centre cohort study. Services location, IVIs scheduling, utilization of staff, data recording methods, ophthalmic examination and surgical procedures were analysed; a new Intravitreal Injection Centre (IVIC) was developed according to Lean principles. Mean number of daily IVIs performed, mean time between registration and discharge, mean turnover time in between patients, percentages of performed IVIs on the monthly scheduled IVIs and of patients rating their experience ⩾8/10 via standardized feedback questionnaires were retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: The mean IVIs number per day increased from 20 ± 4.08 to 50 ± 7.07, and the mean time between registration and discharge of a patient decreased from 240 ± 14.14 to 60 ± 8.16 min (p = 0.00057 and p < 0.00001, respectively). Mean turnover time in between patients decreased from 10 ± 1.41 to 8 ± 2 min (p = 0.055). The percentage of monthly IVIs performed on the total of scheduled IVIs increased from 60% to 100%, and the percentage of satisfied patients who rated IVIC ⩾8/10 increased from 45% to 95% (p = 0.0177 and p < 0.00105, respectively). CONCLUSION: The IVIC improved the quality, efficiency, speed of the overall procedures and clinical capacity of the IVI service through a fast one-way route for patients, limiting time wasted and total distance travelled. This model facilitates the creation of a one-stop clinic through the just-in-time management principle and may be relevant to other ophthalmology services.

COVID-19 and STEMI: The role of telecardiology in the management of STEMI diagnosis during COVID 19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Telecardiology has the advantage of reducing patient's access time to the hemodynamics units. Data from literature show a reduction in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) during COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is a low number of studies on the impact of telecardiology during the pandemic. METHODS: Our telecardiology system is composed of a Hub-and-Spoke network of hospitals and ambulances that ensures a rapid exchange of information allowing STEMI patients to be treated in the shortest time possible. We compared data from electrocardiograms (ECGs) transmissions and STEMI diagnosis collected between February and April 2020 with the data from the same period of 2019. RESULTS: Despite a significant reduction of ECGs transmissions from the telecardiology network was observed, the number of diagnosed STEMI during 2020 was stable and did not show any significant difference compared to 2019. The total number of STEMI diagnosis in the months under examination during 2019 were 47 out of 7463 ECGs (0.63%), while in 2020 were 48 out of 5797 ECGs (0.83%). CONCLUSIONS: The efficiency of our telecardiology system along with the low spread of the infection in our region contributed to maintaining the number of STEMI diagnosis and patient's care in line with the past even during the pandemic.

Peptidome profiles and bioactivity elucidation of buffalo-milk dairy products after gastrointestinal digestion.

Buffalo milk is highly appreciated for its nutritive properties and highly employed in dairy products, despite this the release of bioactive peptides has not been investigated thoroughly. The aim of this work was to characterize in detail the bioaccesible peptides from buffalo-milk dairy products. Six products were subjected to in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion and then analyzed by LC-HRMS. The identified peptides were 165 in Yoghurt, 152 in Scamorza, 146 in Mozzarella, 136 in Grana and Ricotta, 120 in Ice Cream samples, belonging to both buffalo caseins (αs1-, ß-, k-CN) and whey proteins (α-LA, ß-LG). The identified peptide sequences were subjected to a database driven bioactivity search. Results highlighted a wide range of potential bioactive peptides, including antihypertensive, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anticancer and antioxidant activity. These data evidence the content of healthy peptides released from buffalo-milk dairy products and suggest that the specific technological process influence their bioaccessibility.