Vulvodinia e sessualità: uno studio comparativo sugli aspetti emotivi e psicologici

La vulvodinia è una sindrome complessa e multifattoriale che colpisce circa il 16% della popolazione femminile (Harlow et al., 2014) caratterizzata da disagio vulvare spesso descritto come bruciore/dolore che si verifica in assenza di rilevanti cause osservabili. Anche se numerosi progressi sono stati fatti nello studio di que-sta sindrome, esistono ancora oggi delle problematiche relative all'eziologia, che possono ulteriormente ostacolare il processo diagnostico e terapeutico. L'obiettivo del presente studio è stato quello di esplorare il funzionamento sessuale, emotivo e psicopatologico di donne affette da vulvodinia, ponendole a confronto con donne prive di patologie genito-pelviche. Lo studio è stato condotto su 69 donne che hanno compilato un questionario socio-anagrafico, il Female Sexual Function In-dex (FSFI), il Symptom Checklist -90- Revised (SCL-90-R), il Positive and Negati-ve Affect Schedule (PANAS) e lo Short Form McGill Questionnaire (SF-MGQ). I risultati emersi suggeriscono nelle donne vulvodiniche la presenza di un ridotto funzionamento sessuale (maggior dolore e ridotta lubrificazione); un livello maggiore di disagio psichico (soprattutto nelle dimensioni: ossessività-compulsività, psicoticismo e depressione) ed un'affettività più negativa rispetto al gruppo di con-trollo. Approfondimenti futuri potrebbero contribuire ad una migliore comprensio-ne dell'impatto che tale sindrome produce sul benessere sessuale e sulla qualità della vita delle donne che ne sono affette, indirizzando gli specialisti verso forme d'intervento multidisciplinare, che secondo il modello bio-psico-sociale, potrebbero essere più appropriate ed efficaci

Worse Disease Prognosis Is Associated to an Increase of Platelet-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 Patients

Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PLT-EVs), the most abundant circulating EVs, have been found to be increased in several human diseases, including viral infections. Recently, we documented that PLT-EV counts are higher in SARS-CoV-2+ patients, enrolled during the first two waves of COVID-19, occurred in Italy last year, and we suggested PLT-EVs as a biomarker of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The present study is aimed at testing the ability of PLT-EV levels, measured at hospital admission and within one week of hospitalization, to predict patient's outcome. We applied an easy, fast, and reliable method, based on flow cytometry, for the detection of PLT-EVs in unmanipulated blood samples. In a cohort of SARS-CoV-2 patients, enrolled during the third wave of COVID-19 in Italy, we confirmed that PLT-EV counts are higher in comparison to healthy controls. Moreover, their number is not affected by prehospitalization treatment neither with heparin nor with steroids that are recommended by WHO guidelines. Noteworthy, we identified two pattern of patients, those who increased their PTL-EV level during first week and those reducing it. The former group representented more compromised patients, with higher 4C score, and unfavorable outcome. In conclusion, our new findings would suggest that a worse evolution of the disease is linked with increasing PLT-EV levels in the week after hospital admission

Improvement of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patient Survival: Single Institution Experience

The survival rates of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) have improved in recent years. We analysed the survival of mCRC patients followed at a single institution over the last 17 years. We retrospectively collected data from 899 mCRC patients treated from 2001 to 2016. Patients were divided into two groups based on the year of diagnosis: Cohort A (2001–2006) and Cohort B (2007–2014). A total of 788 patients were analysed. The median survival of the whole population was 32.0 months with a significant difference between Cohort A and B (29.2 vs. 33.5 months; p = 0.041). Surgical procedures significantly increased in Cohort B, however, no significant changes in survival were observed in patients undergoing surgery (58.9 months Cohort A vs. 58.2 months Cohort B, p = 0.822). Similarly, we did not demonstrate survival improvement in patients treated with systemic therapy alone (18.9 months Cohort A vs. 20.7 months Cohort B; p = 0.948). At the multivariate analysis, right-sided primary and synchronous metastatic tumour were found to be independent unfavorable prognostic factors. Improvements of mCRC patient survival might relate to integrated approach, with more patients undergoing extra-hepatic surgery. The medical approach seems to have had a more favourable impact on subgroups characterized by a worse prognosis