High prevalence of radiological vertebral fractures in adult patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

Previous studies have reported an increased prevalence of osteoporosis in Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (EDS), but these were limited by a small number of patients and lack of information on fragility fractures. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the prevalence of radiological vertebral fractures (by quantitative morphometry) and bone mineral density (BMD, at lumbar spine, total hip and femoral neck by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) in 52 consecutive patients with EDS (10 males, 42 females; median age 41 years, range: 21–71; 12 with EDS classic type, 37 with EDS hypermobility type, 1 with classic vascular-like EDS, and 2 without specific classification) and 197 control subjects (163 females and 34 males; median age 49 years, range: 26–83) attending an outpatient bone clinic. EDS patients were also evaluated for back pain by numeric pain rating scale (NRS-11).Vertebral fractures were significantly more prevalent in EDS as compared to the control subjects (38.5% vs. 5.1%; p < 0.001) without significant differences in BMD at either skeletal sites. In EDS patients, the prevalence of vertebral fractures was not significantly (p = 0.72) different between classic and hypermobility types. BMD was not significantly different between fractured and non-fractured EDS patients either at lumbar spine (p = 0.14), total hip (p = 0.08), or femoral neck (p = 0.21). Severe back pain (≥ 7 NRS) was more frequent in EDS patients with vertebral fractures as compared to those without fractures (60% vs. 28%; p = 0.04). In conclusion, this is the first study showing high prevalence of vertebral fractures in a relatively large population of EDS patients. Vertebral fractures were associated with more severe back pain suggesting a potential involvement of skeletal fragility in determining poor quality of life. The lack of correlation between vertebral fractures and BMD is consistent with the hypothesis that bone quality may be impaired in EDS

Change in eating habits after 2 years of pandemic restrictions among adolescents living in a city in northern Italy: results of the COALESCENT Observational Study (Change amOng ItAlian adoLESCENTs)

Background:Lockdown measures during the recent pandemic, due to the novel COVID-19, affected several other aspects of lifestyle, but little is known about their long-term impact, especially among adolescents. Our study aimed to assess the long-term consequences of changes in diet, exercise and screen activity levels, sleep quality, smoke, smartphone addiction and emotional distress among a sample of Italian adolescents, 2 years after the beginning of the pandemic. Methods. We submitted an online survey to high-school students in the province of Brescia, a city in Northern Italy, investigating changes in food consumption and in physical and screen activities, cooking skills, sleep duration and quality, emotional distress, smartphone addiction and nutrition knowledge. We assigned an Eating Habit Index (EHI) score from 0 to 54, reflecting a current worsening (lower score) or improvement (higher score) in overall diet quality, compared with the pre-pandemic period. The chi(2) test or Fisher's exact probability test and Mann-Whitney test were used as appropriate; a binary logistic regression model was carried out, with EHI score >= 33 as the dependent variable. Results. We collected 1686 questionnaires. Consumption of healthy foods increased, as it was for ultraprocessed foods (UPFs). EHI score>33 (75 degrees percentile value) was associated with female gender (OR 1.81, p<0.0001), better nutrition knowledge (OR 1.54, p=0.001), better cooking skills (OR 1.43, p=0.01), lower consumption of UPFs before the pandemic (OR 2.19, p<0.0001), self-perception of healthier diet quality (OR: 4.05, p<0.0001) and no smartphone addiction (OR: 1.35, p=0.02). Conclusions. Considering the profound impact of lifestyle on both physical and mental health, our results could be relevant to understand how to promote healthy eating practices among young people

Differential Diagnosis and Clinical Management of a Case of COVID-19 in a Patient With Stage III Lung Cancer Treated With Radio-chemotherapy and Durvalumab

none14nononeGuerini A.E.; Borghetti P.; Filippi A.R.; Bonu M.L.; Tomasini D.; Greco D.; Imbrescia J.; Volpi G.; Triggiani L.; Borghesi A.; Maroldi R.; Pasinetti N.; Buglione M.; Magrini S.M.Guerini, A. E.; Borghetti, P.; Filippi, A. R.; Bonu, M. L.; Tomasini, D.; Greco, D.; Imbrescia, J.; Volpi, G.; Triggiani, L.; Borghesi, A.; Maroldi, R.; Pasinetti, N.; Buglione, M.; Magrini, S. M

Prevalence of interstitial pneumonia suggestive of COVID-19 at 18F-FDG PET/CT in oncological asymptomatic patients in a high prevalence country during pandemic period: a national multi-centric retrospective study

Purpose: To assess the presence and pattern of incidental interstitial lung alterations suspicious of COVID-19 on fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) ([18F]FDG PET/CT) in asymptomatic oncological patients during the period of active COVID-19 in a country with high prevalence of the virus. Methods: This is a multi-center retrospective observational study involving 59 Italian centers. We retrospectively reviewed the prevalence of interstitial pneumonia detected during the COVID period (between March 16 and 27, 2020) and compared to a pre-COVID period (January\u2013February 2020) and a control time (in 2019). The diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia was done considering lung alterations of CT of PET. Results: Overall, [18F]FDG PET/CT was performed on 4008 patients in the COVID period, 19,267 in the pre-COVID period, and 5513 in the control period. The rate of interstitial pneumonia suspicious for COVID-19 was significantly higher during the COVID period (7.1%) compared with that found in the pre-COVID (5.35%) and control periods (5.15%) (p&nbsp;&lt; 0.001). Instead, no significant difference among pre-COVID and control periods was present. The prevalence of interstitial pneumonia detected at PET/CT was directly associated with geographic virus diffusion, with the higher rate in Northern Italy. Among 284 interstitial pneumonia detected during COVID period, 169 (59%) were FDG-avid (average SUVmax of 4.1). Conclusions: A significant increase of interstitial pneumonia incidentally detected with [18F]FDG PET/CT has been demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. A majority of interstitial pneumonia were FDG-avid. Our results underlined the importance of paying attention to incidental CT findings of pneumonia detected at PET/CT, and these reports might help to recognize early COVID-19 cases guiding the subsequent management

How reliable is assessment of true vocal cord-arytenoid unit mobility in patients affected by laryngeal cancer? a multi-institutional study on 366 patients from the ARYFIX collaborative group

Purpose: In clinical practice the assessment of the "vocal cord-arytenoid unit" (VCAU) mobility is crucial in the staging, prognosis, and choice of treatment of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). The aim of the present study was to measure repeatability and reliability of clinical assessment of VCAU mobility and radiologic analysis of posterior laryngeal extension. Methods: In this multi-institutional retrospective study, patients with LSCC-induced impairment of VCAU mobility who received curative treatment were included; pre-treatment endoscopy and contrast-enhanced imaging were collected and evaluated by raters. According to their evaluations, concordance, number of assigned categories, and inter- and intra-rater agreement were calculated. Results: Twenty-two otorhinolaryngologists evaluated 366 videolaryngoscopies (total evaluations: 2170) and 6 radiologists evaluated 237 imaging studies (total evaluations: 477). The concordance of clinical rating was excellent in only 22.7% of cases. Overall, inter- and intra-rater agreement was weak. Supraglottic cancers and transoral endoscopy were associated with the lowest inter-observer reliability values. Radiologic inter-rater agreement was low and did not vary with imaging technique. Intra-rater reliability of radiologic evaluation was optimal. Conclusions: The current methods to assess VCAU mobility and posterior extension of LSCC are flawed by weak inter-observer agreement and reliability. Radiologic evaluation was characterized by very high intra-rater agreement, but weak inter-observer reliability. The relevance of VCAU mobility assessment in laryngeal oncology should be re-weighted. Patients affected by LSCC requiring imaging should be referred to dedicated radiologists with experience in head and neck oncology

Induction of Selective Blood-Tumor Barrier Permeability and Macromolecular Transport by a Biostable Kinin B1 Receptor Agonist in a Glioma Rat Model

Treatment of malignant glioma with chemotherapy is limited mostly because of delivery impediment related to the blood-brain tumor barrier (BTB). B1 receptors (B1R), inducible prototypical G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) can regulate permeability of vessels including possibly that of brain tumors. Here, we determine the extent of BTB permeability induced by the natural and synthetic peptide B1R agonists, LysdesArg9BK (LDBK) and SarLys[dPhe8]desArg9BK (NG29), in syngeneic F98 glioma-implanted Fischer rats. Ten days after tumor inoculation, we detected the presence of B1R on tumor cells and associated vasculature. NG29 infusion increased brain distribution volume and uptake profiles of paramagnetic probes (Magnevist and Gadomer) at tumoral sites (T1-weighted imaging). These effects were blocked by B1R antagonist and non-selective cyclooxygenase inhibitors, but not by B2R antagonist and non-selective nitric oxide synthase inhibitors. Consistent with MRI data, systemic co-administration of NG29 improved brain tumor delivery of Carboplatin chemotherapy (ICP-Mass spectrometry). We also detected elevated B1R expression in clinical samples of high-grade glioma. Our results documented a novel GPCR-signaling mechanism for promoting transient BTB disruption, involving activation of B1R and ensuing production of COX metabolites. They also underlined the potential value of synthetic biostable B1R agonists as selective BTB modulators for local delivery of different sized-therapeutics at (peri)tumoral sites