Case report: Rapid-onset parkinsonism after a hornet sting.

Neurological manifestations with basal ganglia involvement following Hymenoptera stings are rare and clinically ill-defined conditions. We present a patient with acute parkinsonism non-responsive to levodopa, who developed striatal lesions after a hornet sting. We report his response to immunomodulatory treatment and subsequent clinical and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-up. We also searched the literature for patients with acute extrapyramidal syndromes following an insect sting. Fourteen cases have been published; 12 of them are reviewed here. The majority of cases presented with symmetric akinetic syndrome with axial rigidity and/or gait impairment. Six patients were treated with levodopa and only two of these had a modest response to therapy. Brain MRI/computed tomography scan revealed lesions of the basal ganglia, which resulted in fatal outcome in four patients, whereas only one achieved complete recovery. Clinicians should be aware of this rare but devastating cause of acute-onset parkinsonism and specific clinical presentation of this condition, and should consider prompt and prolonged immunomodulatory treatment to prevent irreversible basal ganglia damage.

Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Study in the mpMRI of the Prostate-Unnecessary or Underutilised? A Narrative Review.

The aim of this review is to summarise recent scientific literature regarding the clinical use of DCE-MRI as a component of multiparametric resonance imaging of the prostate. This review presents the principles of DCE-MRI acquisition and analysis, the current role of DCE-MRI in clinical practice with special regard to its role in presently available categorisation systems, and an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of DCE-MRI described in the current literature. DCE-MRI is an important functional sequence that requires intravenous administration of a gadolinium-based contrast agent and gives information regarding the vascularity and capillary permeability of the lesion. Although numerous studies have confirmed that DCE-MRI has great potential in the diagnosis and monitoring of prostate cancer, its role is still inadequate in the PI-RADS categorisation. Moreover, there have been numerous scientific discussions about abandoning the intravenous application of gadolinium-based contrast as a routine part of MRI examination of the prostate. In this review, we summarised the recent literature on the advantages and disadvantages of DCE-MRI, focusing on an overview of currently available data on bpMRI and mpMRI, as well as on studies providing information on the potential better usability of DCE-MRI in improving the sensitivity and specificity of mpMRI examinations of the prostate.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS IN PEDIATRIC TRACHEOSTOMY - A NARRATIVE REVIEW.

Surgical tracheostomy is a life-saving procedure performed for emergent or expectant airway compromise. Morbidity in the pediatric population is higher than in adults due to smaller operating field, immaturity of tissues, anatomic specificities of the child's neck, or the presence of craniofacial dysmorphism. The procedure varies among surgeons regarding the position of the skin incision (vertical or horizontal), resection of the subcutaneous adipose tissue and isthmus of the thyroid gland, use of tracheal flaps, and use of maturation or stay sutures. Both early and late complications can be life-threatening, and include accidental decannulation, stomal plugging, bleeding, and difficult ventilating. Consistent tracheostomal care is crucial in avoiding complications. Primary caregivers must be included and educated about proper stomal care. Decannulation failures are common. Prerequisites for safe decannulation include non-dependence on mechanical ventilation and no recent aspiration events, positive endoscopic airway assessment, and successful daytime capping. The role of polysomnography in decannulation protocols is debated. Although seldom performed, tracheostomy is the procedure of choice in a selected group of pediatric patients. The risks and benefits of the procedure must be weighed for each patient. The education of medical personnel and caregivers is key to reducing serious complications.

Patterns of the physical, cognitive, and mental health status of older individuals in a real-life primary care setting and differences in coping styles.

Background: Physical frailty and cognitive decline are two major consequences of aging and are often in older individuals, especially in those with multimorbidity. These two disorders are known to usually coexist with each other, increasing the risk of each disorder for poor health outcomes. Mental health disorders, anxiety and depression, are common in older people with multimorbidity, in particular those with functional or sensory deficits, and frailty. Purpose: The aim of this study was to show how physical frailty, cognitive impairments and mental disorders, cluster in the real life setting of older primary care (PC) patients, and how these clusters relate to age, comorbidities, stressful events, and coping strategies. Knowing that, could improve risk stratification of older individuals and guide the action plans. Methods: Participants were older individuals (≥60, N = 263), attenders of PC, independent of care of others, and not suffering from dementia. For screening participants on physical frailty, cognitive impairment, and mental disorders, we used Fried's phenotype model, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). For testing participants on coping styles, we used the 14-scale Brief-Coping with Problems Experienced (Brief-COPE) questionnaire. To identify clusters, we used the algorithm fuzzy k-means. To further describe the clusters, we examined differences in age, gender, number of chronic diseases and medications prescribed, some diagnoses of chronic diseases, the number of life events, body mass index, renal function, expressed as the glomerular filtration rate, and coping styles. Results: The most appropriate cluster solution was the one with three clusters, that were termed as: functional (FUN; N = 139), with predominant frailty or dysfunctional (DFUN; N = 81), and with predominant cognitive impairments or cognitively impaired (COG-IMP; N = 43). Participants in two pathologic clusters, DFUN and COG-IMP, were in average older and had more somatic diseases, compared to participants in cluster FUN. Significant differences between the clusters were found in diagnoses of osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, anxiety/depression, cerebrovascular disease, and periphery artery disease. Participants in cluster FUN expressed mostly positive reframing coping style. Participants in two pathological clusters were represented with negative coping strategies. Religion and self-blame were coping mechanisms specific only for cluster DFUN; self-distraction only for cluster COG-IMP; and these two latter clusters shared the mechanisms of behavioral disengagement and denial. Conclusion: The research approach presented in this study may help PC providers in risk stratification of older individuals and in getting insights into behavioral and coping strategies of patients with similar comorbidity patterns and functional disorders, which may guide them in preparing prevention and care plans. By providing some insights into the common mechanisms and pathways of clustering frailty, cognitive impairments and mental disorders, this research approach is useful for creating new hypotheses and in accelerating geriatric research.

Dynamic Contrast Enhanced Study in Multiparametric Examination of the Prostate-Can We Make Better Use of It?

We sought to investigate whether quantitative parameters from a dynamic contrast-enhanced study can be used to differentiate cancer from normal tissue and to determine a cut-off value of specific parameters that can predict malignancy more accurately, compared to the obturator internus muscle as a reference tissue. This retrospective study included 56 patients with biopsy proven prostate cancer (PCa) after multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI), with a total of 70 lesions; 39 were located in the peripheral zone, and 31 in the transition zone. The quantitative parameters for all patients were calculated in the detected lesion, morphologically normal prostate tissue and the obturator internus muscle. Increase in the Ktrans value was determined in lesion-to-muscle ratio by 3.974368, which is a cut-off value to differentiate between prostate cancer and normal prostate tissue, with specificity of 72.86% and sensitivity of 91.43%. We introduced a model to detect prostate cancer that combines Ktrans lesion-to-muscle ratio value and iAUC lesion-to-muscle ratio value, which is of higher accuracy compared to individual variables. Based on this model, we identified the optimal cut-off value with 100% sensitivity and 64.28% specificity. The use of quantitative DCE pharmacokinetic parameters compared to the obturator internus muscle as reference tissue leads to higher diagnostic accuracy for prostate cancer detection.

Low Psychological Resilience in Older Individuals: An Association with Increased Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and the Presence of Chronic Medical Conditions.

The term resilience, which has been present in science for almost half a century, stands for the capacity of some system needed to overcome an amount of disturbance from the environment in order to avoid a change to another stable state. In medicine, the concept of resilience means the ability to deal with daily stress and disturbance to our homeostasis with the intention of protecting it from disturbance. With aging, the organism becomes more sensitive to environmental impacts and more susceptible to changes. Mental disturbances and a decline in psychological resilience in older people are potentiated with many social and environmental factors along with a subjective perception of decreasing health. Distinct from findings in younger age groups, mental and physical medical conditions in older people are closely associated with each other, sharing common mechanisms and potentiating each other's development. Increased inflammation and oxidative stress have been recognized as the main driving mechanisms in the development of aging diseases. This paper aims to reveal, through a translational approach, physiological and molecular mechanisms of emotional distress and low psychological resilience in older individuals as driving mechanisms for the accelerated development of chronic aging diseases, and to systematize the available information sources on strategies for mitigation of low resilience in order to prevent chronic diseases.

Lack of Informations about COVID-19 Vaccine: From Implications to Intervention for Supporting Public Health Communications in COVID-19 Pandemic.

Lack of knowledge and mistrust towards vaccines represent a challenge in achieving the vaccination coverage required for population immunity. The aim of this study is to examine the opinion that specific demographic groups have about COVID-19 vaccination, in order to detect potential fears and reasons for negative attitudes towards vaccination, and to gain knowledge on how to prepare strategies to eliminate possible misinformation that could affect vaccine hesitancy. The data collection approach was based on online questionnaire surveys, divided into three groups of questions that followed the main postulates of the health belief theory-a theory that helps understanding a behaviour of the public in some concrete surrounding in receiving preventive measures. Ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to examine the influence of individual factors on refusing the vaccine, and to provide information on the perception of participants on the danger of COVID-19 infection, and on potential barriers that could retard the vaccine utility. There was an equal proportion of participants (total number 276) who planned on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine (37%), and of those who did not (36.3%). The rest (26.7%) of participants were still indecisive. Our results indicated that attitudes on whether to receive the vaccine, on how serious consequences might be if getting the infection, as well as a suspicious towards the vaccine efficacy and the fear of the vaccine potential side effects, may depend on participants' age (<40 vs. >40 years) and on whether they are healthcare workers or not. The barriers that make participants' unsure about of receiving the vaccine, such as a distrust in the vaccine efficacy and safety, may vary in different socio-demographic groups and depending on which is the point of time in the course of the pandemic development, as well as on the vaccine availability and experience in using certain vaccine formulas. There is a pressing need for health services to continuously provide information to the general population, and to address the root causes of mistrust through improved communication, using a wide range of policies, interventions and technologies.

Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Cardiovascular Risk Marker May Be Less Efficient in Women Than in Men.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women, although traditionally, it has been considered as a male dominated disease. Chronic inflammation plays a crucial role in the development of insulin resistance, diabetes type 2 and CVD. Since studies on women were scarce, in order to improve diagnosis and treatment of CVD, there is a need to improve understanding of the role of inflammation in the development of CVD in women. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an inexpensive and widely available marker of inflammation, and has been studied in cardio-metabolic disorders. There is a paucity of data on sex specific differences in the lifetime course of NLR. Men and women differ to each other in sex hormones and characteristics of immune reaction and the expression of CVD. These factors can determine NLR values and their variations along the life course. In particular, menopause in women is a period associated with profound physiological and hormonal changes, and is coincidental with aging. An emergence of CV risk factors with aging, and age-related changes in the immune system, are factors that are associated with an increase in prevalence of CVD in both sexes. The aim of this review is to comprehend the available evidence on this issue, and to discuss sex specific differences in the lifetime course of NLR in the light of immune and inflammation mechanisms.