94 research outputs found
Walking with a Posterior Cruciate Ligament Injury: A Musculoskeletal Model Study
The understanding of the changes induced in the knee’s kinematics by a Posterior Cruciate
Ligament (PCL) injury is still rather incomplete. This computational study aimed to analyze how the
internal loads are redistributed among the remaining ligaments when the PCL is lesioned at different
degrees and to understand if there is a possibility to compensate for a PCL lesion by changing the
hamstring’s contraction in the second half of the swing phase. A musculoskeletal model of the knee
joint was used for simulating a progressive PCL injury by gradually reducing the ligament stiffness.
Then, in the model with a PCL residual stiffness at 15%, further dynamic simulations of walking were
performed by progressively reducing the hamstring’s force. In each condition, the ligaments tension,
contact force and knee kinematics were analyzed. In the simulated PCL-injured knee, the Medial
Collateral Ligament (MCL) became the main passive stabilizer of the tibial posterior translation, with
synergistic recruitment of the Lateral Collateral Ligament. This resulted in an enhancement of the
tibial–femoral contact force with respect to the intact knee. The reduction in the hamstring’s force
limited the tibial posterior sliding and, consequently, the tension of the ligaments compensating for
PCL injury decreased, as did the tibiofemoral contact force. This study does not pretend to represent
any specific population, since our musculoskeletal model represents a single subject. However, the
implemented model could allow the non-invasive estimation of load redistribution in cases of PCL
injury. Understanding the changes in the knee joint biomechanics could help clinicians to restore
patients’ joint stability and prevent joint degeneration
The Different Pathways of Epicardial Adipose Tissue across the Heart Failure Phenotypes: From Pathophysiology to Therapeutic Target
Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is an endocrine and paracrine organ constituted by a layer of adipose tissue directly located between the myocardium and visceral pericardium. Under physiological conditions, EAT exerts protective effects of brown-like fat characteristics, metabolizing excess fatty acids, and secreting anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic cytokines. In certain pathological conditions, EAT acquires a proatherogenic transcriptional profile resulting in increased synthesis of biologically active adipocytokines with proinflammatory properties, promoting oxidative stress, and finally causing endothelial damage. The role of EAT in heart failure (HF) has been mainly limited to HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and related to the HFpEF obese phenotype. In HFpEF, EAT seems to acquire a proinflammatory profile and higher EAT values have been related to worse outcomes. Less data are available about the role of EAT in HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Conversely, in HFrEF, EAT seems to play a nutritive role and lower values may correspond to the expression of a catabolic, adverse phenotype. As of now, there is evidence that the beneficial systemic cardiovascular effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 receptors-inhibitors (SGLT2-i) might be partially mediated by inducing favorable modifications on EAT. As such, EAT may represent a promising target organ for the development of new drugs to improve cardiovascular prognosis. Thus, an approach based on detailed phenotyping of cardiac structural alterations and distinctive biomolecular pathways may change the current scenario, leading towards a precision medicine model with specific therapeutic targets considering different individual profiles. The aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge about the biomolecular pathway of EAT in HF across the whole spectrum of ejection fraction, and to describe the potential of EAT as a therapeutic target in HF
The Management of Psychomotor Agitation Associated with Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder. A Brief Review
The early and correct assessment of psychomotor agitation (PMA) is essential to ensure prompt intervention by healthcare professionals to improve the patient's condition, protect healthcare staff, and facilitate future management. Proper training for recognizing and managing agitation in all care settings is desirable to improve patient outcomes. The best approach is one that is ethical, non-invasive, and respectful of the patient's dignity. When deemed necessary, pharmacological interventions must be administered rapidly and avoid producing an excessive state of sedation, except in cases of severe and imminent danger to the patient or others. The purpose of this brief review is to raise awareness about best practices for the management of PMA in emergency care situations and consider the role of new pharmacological interventions in patients with agitation associated with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia
The Management of Psychomotor Agitation Associated with Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder: A Brief Review
The early and correct assessment of psychomotor agitation (PMA) is essential to ensure prompt intervention by healthcare professionals to improve the patient’s condition, protect healthcare staff, and facilitate future management. Proper training for recognizing and managing agitation in all care settings is desirable to improve patient outcomes. The best approach is one that is ethical, non-invasive, and respectful of the patient’s dignity. When deemed necessary, pharmacological interventions must be administered rapidly and avoid producing an excessive state of sedation, except in cases of severe and imminent danger to the patient or others. The purpose of this brief review is to raise awareness about best practices for the management of PMA in emergency care situations and consider the role of new pharmacological interventions in patients with agitation associated with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia
Clinical and metabolic effects of first-line treatment with somatostatin analogues or surgery in acromegaly: a retrospective and comparative study
To evaluate the metabolic effects of first-line somatostatin analogues or surgery in acromegaly. Retrospective, comparative, 12-month follow-up. Two hundred and thirty one patients (123 men, age 47.32 ± 14.63 years) with active acromegaly, first line treatments were somatostatin analogues in 151 (65.4%) and surgery in 80 (34.6%). Metabolic syndrome (MS) parameters, glucose, insulin and GH during oral glucose tolerance test, stimulated insulin sensitivity by insulin sensitivity index (ISI Matsuda), early and total insulin-secretion rate by insulinogenic index and AUC(INS), visceral adiposity function, expressed by visceral adipose index (VAI). Somatostatin analogues treatment improved all MS parameters and significantly reduced fasting glucose (P < 0.001), HbA1c (P = 0.014) and the prevalence of DM (P = 0.003) when disease control was achieved. Both somatostatin analogues and surgery improved ISI Matsuda (P < 0.001) and reduced AUC(INS) (P < 0.001) and VAI (P < 0.001 and P = 0.003, respectively). Only in controlled somatostatin analogues-treated patients a significant reduction in insulinogenic index (P = 0.010) was observed. ISI Matsuda showed a significant independent correlation with IGF-1 levels (β = -0.258; P = 0.001) and VAI score (β = -0.430; P < 0.001). VAI was independently correlated with IGF-1 (β = 0.183; P = 0.004). Both somatostatin analogues and surgery can safely be used as first-line therapy in acromegaly, without any untoward effects on glucose tolerance. The control of acromegaly is the main determinant of beneficial effects on general features of insulin sensitivity. VAI could represent an additional link between disease control and insulin sensitivity
Multimodality Imaging in Sarcomeric Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Get It Right…on Time
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) follows highly variable paradigms and disease-specific patterns of progression towards heart failure, arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Therefore, a generalized standard approach, shared with other cardiomyopathies, can be misleading in this setting. A multimodality imaging approach facilitates differential diagnosis of phenocopies and improves clinical and therapeutic management of the disease. However, only a profound knowledge of the progression patterns, including clinical features and imaging data, enables an appropriate use of all these resources in clinical practice. Combinations of various imaging tools and novel techniques of artificial intelligence have a potentially relevant role in diagnosis, clinical management and definition of prognosis. Nonetheless, several barriers persist such as unclear appropriate timing of imaging or universal standardization of measures and normal reference limits. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge on multimodality imaging and potentialities of novel tools, including artificial intelligence, in the management of patients with sarcomeric HCM, highlighting the importance of specific "red alerts" to understand the phenotype-genotype linkage
OCT is not useful for detection of minimal diabetic retinopathy in type 1 diabetes.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been proven useful in measuring retinal thickness (RT) in patients with diabetes, although with discordant results in different studies. We examined RT in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) with or without minimal diabetic retinopathy (MDR) to test whether OCT is able to identify early retinal changes and potential correlations with metabolic parameters. RT of 102 patients with T1D (53 females, 49 males, aged 27.03 +/- 7.4 years) and of 42 healthy controls was examined, with analysis of nine different sectors (fovea, four pericentral and four peripheral sectors). According to the results of basal fundus photography, patients were divided into two groups, without MDR (48 cases) and with MDR (54 cases). Patients with proliferative DR or macular edema were excluded. No difference was found between patients with or without MDR and the control group for all OCT parameters investigated. Mean HbA1c of the last 5 years (P < 0.001), microalbuminuria (P = 0.002), total (P = 0.046) and LDL cholesterol (P = 0.007) and triglyceride (P < 0.001) levels were higher in patients with MDR, along with higher prevalence of hypertension (P = 0.013), younger age at diagnosis (P = 0.018) and longer diabetes duration (P < 0.001) with regard to the patients without MDR and controls, although no significant correlation between these parameters and RT was found. Our study suggests that MDR without macular edema in patients with T1D cannot be detected with OCT. Therefore, the conventional diagnostic methods are mandatory to detect early DR
Predictors of microvascular complications in type 1 diabetic patients at onset: The role of metabolic memory
Background
Several epidemiological studies showed a close association between metabolic control and microvascular complications in type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM). The aim of our longitudinal observational study was to evaluate the predictive role of the main clinical and biochemical parameters in determining microvascular complications.
Methods
376 T1DM patients, hospitalized in our division from 1991 to 2005 (mean follow-up = 10.93 ± 4.26 years) were studied. Stepwise Cox regression analysis was used to identify the influence of residual ß-cell function, ß-cell autoimmunity, HbA1c levels and other clinical and laboratory parameters in the development of microalbuminuria and retinopathy.
Results
The probability of developing microalbuminuria was higher in males than in females (HR 1.82; 95% CI 1.01–3.28; p = 0.044), in patients with higher mean HbA1c values (HR 2.80; 95% CI 1.63–4.83; p < 0.001), longer duration of disease (HR 1.98; 95% CI 1.10–3.57; p = 0.022) and younger age of diabetes onset (HR 0.53; 95% CI 0.03–0.92; p = 0.026). An increased probability of developing retinopathy was found in patients with higher mean HbA1c levels during follow-up (HR 2.35; 95% CI 1.34–4.12, p = 0.003), as well as at onset (HR 1.85; 95% CI 1.06–3.24; p = 0.030).
Conclusions
Our study suggests that among the clinical, metabolic, immunological and biochemical factors evaluated at onset, only HbA1c is predictive for the microangiopathy development in T1DM
Prognostic impact of MitraClip in patients with left ventricular dysfunction and functional mitral valve regurgitation: A comprehensive meta-analysis of RCTs and adjusted observational studies
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