Maxillary Sinusitis as a Complication of Zygomatic Implants Placement: A Narrative Review

Aims: The aim of this review is to consider maxillary sinusitis as a complication of zygomatic implants placements. Maxillary sinusitis a common complication but in the literature there are no reviews that focus only on this condition and its possible treatment. This review was carried out with to highlight the main findings of the literature on this topic and to improve knowledge in this field. Methods: The search strategy resulted in 155 papers. After selection of the inclusion criteria only 11 papers were examined. From the papers these, 12.3% patients presented maxillary sinusitis but only four studies evaluated sinusitis (both clinical and radiological evaluation). The most common treatment used by the authors were antibiotics alone or combined with functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Results: The literature shows an absence of precise and shared guidelines diagnosis and post-operative follow-up, and of the treatment of maxillary sinusitis following zygomatic implantology. It has not been determined if the surgical placement of ZIs is better than the other techniques for treatment of the onset of maxillary sinusitis in the post-operative period. Conclusion: To date there are no shared protocols for maxillary sinusitis treatment. In our experience, and according to the literature in the presence of risk factors such as age, comorbidities, smoking, nasal septal deviation or other anatomical variants, we suggested that FESS is performed at the same time as placement of zygomatic implants

Geographic Variation in Pneumonia and Influenza in Long-Term Care Facilities:A National Study

There is large county-level geographic variation in pneumonia and influenza hospitalizations among short-stay and long-stay long-term care facility residents in the United States. Long-term care facilities in counties in the Southern and Midwestern regions had the highest rates of pneumonia and influenza from 2013 to 2015. Future research should identify reasons for these geographic differences

Serum DU-PAN-2 in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic cancer: influence of jaundice and liver dysfunction.

The usefulness of serum DU-PAN-2 in diagnosing pancreatic cancer and in distinguishing between this cancer and other benign and malignant diseases, and to assess the role of liver dysfunction in altering the serum levels of this marker were investigated. DU-PAN-2 was measured in the sera of 31 patients with pancreatic cancer, 32 with chronic pancreatitis, 20 with benign and 21 with malignant extra-pancreatic diseases. DU-PAN-2 was found to be above 300 U ml-1 in 21/31 patients with pancreatic cancer (sensitivity 68%). Only 3/32 patients with chronic pancreatitis had abnormal values. A substantial number of patients with both benign and malignant extra-pancreatic diseases had an elevated serum DU-PAN-2 (9/20 and 15/21, respectively). Correlations were found between DU-PAN-2 and (1) total bilirubin, (2) alanine-amino-transferase and (3) alkaline phosphatase. Of the patients with high DU-PAN-2 values, jaundice was found in: 2/3 with chronic pancreatitis, 9/10 with benign and 12/14 with malignant extra-pancreatic diseases. In conclusion, the serum DU-PAN-2 test for pancreatic malignancy is not completely satisfactory, because it is not sensitive enough. While the test for chronic pancreatitis has an acceptable specificity, the assay cannot distinguish between pancreatic cancer and other extra-pancreatic diseases, mainly of the liver and biliary tract. Liver dysfunction as well as jaundice seem to considerable affect the levels of this marker, as reported elsewhere for CA 19-9

HIV transcription is induced in dying cells

Using HeLa cells stably transfected with an HIV-LTR-CAT construct, we demonstrated a peak in CAT induction that occurs in viable (but not necessarily cell-division-competent) cells 24 h following exposure to some cell-killing agents. {gamma} rays were the only cell-killing agent which did not induce HIV transcription; this can be attributed to the fact that {gamma}-ray-induced apoptotic death requires functional p53, which is not present in HeLa cells. For all other agents, HIV-LTR induction was dose-dependent and correlated with the amount of cell killing that occurred in the culture. Doses which caused over 99% cell killing induced HIV-LTR transcription maximally, demonstrating that cells that will go on to die by 14 days are the cells expressing HIV-LTR-CAT

Workshop on the design and use of clinical trials with multiple endpoints, with a focus on prevention of RSV

A meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal, in February 2023 focused on critical aspects of clinical trial design for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) preventative therapies. The meeting addressed two primary areas: enhancing the efficiency and success of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for RSV preventative therapies and designing RCTs to better inform post-licensure decision-making. Topics included the selection of primary endpoints, innovative approaches to incorporating multiple endpoints and historical data, and the challenges and benefits of sequential trial designs. The discussion also touched on meta-regression models for obtaining more robust, context-specific estimates of vaccine efficacy. Overall, the meeting underscored the importance of balancing efficiency and robustness in RSV vaccine trial design, while recognizing the need for further discussions involving regulatory and advisory bodies