Vitamin D: A Role Also in Long COVID-19?

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has quickly become a global pandemic. Reports from different parts of the world indicate that a significant proportion of people who have recovered from COVID-19 are suffering from various health problems collectively referred to as "long COVID-19". Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, joint pain, chest pain, muscle aches, headaches, and so on. Vitamin D is an immunomodulatory hormone with proven efficacy against various upper respiratory tract infections. Vitamin D can inhibit hyperinflammatory reactions and accelerate the healing process in the affected areas, especially in lung tissue. Moreover, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with the severity and mortality of COVID-19 cases, with a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D found in patients with COVID-19 and acute respiratory failure. Thus, there are promising reasons to promote research into the effects of vitamin D supplementation in COVID-19 patients. However, no studies to date have found that vitamin D affects post-COVID-19 symptoms or biomarkers. Based on this scenario, this review aims to provide an up-to-date overview of the potential role of vitamin D in long COVID-19 and of the current literature on this topic

Non-Standard Errors

In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: Non-standard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for better reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants

Leiomyosarcoma arising from the inferior mesenteric vein

Leyomiosarcomas arising from the portal/mesenteric venous system are very rare tumours, and only a few cases have been reported in the global literature. As the other leyomiosarcomas of vascular origin, they are associated with a poor prognosis. The present report describes the case of a 66-year-old woman with a leyomiosarcoma of the inferior mesenteric vein, unexpectedly found during a CT scan performed for another indication. A brief review of the literature is also given. The patient underwent radical surgical excision and enjoys a good health, without radiological signs of recurrence, 24 months after surgery. In this case, an early incidental diagnosis determined an early treatment and, probably, a favourable prognosis. This is the second case of leyomiosarcoma of the inferior mesenteric vein reported in the literature

Twisted Gastric Tube after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy—An Unusual but Effective Surgical Approach to Achieve Full Recovery

Sleeve gastrectomy is at present the most practiced bariatric intervention for patients suffering from severe obesity. Although rare, post-operative complications such as leakages and strictures may represent a challenging issue for bariatric surgeons and cause impaired quality of life for patients. Gastric twist is even more rare. This complication is a functional obstruction rather than a stricture of the gastric remnant most likely due to technical mistakes at index surgery. If endoscopy usually allows diagnosis and constitutes the first-line treatment for this condition, surgery is mandatory when endoscopy is not successful. The conversion of the sleeve to a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is the usually chosen intervention but a wide range of reconstruction has been proposed. In this report, we discuss the surgical technique we employed to achieve a full resolution of a gastric twist

Electronic clinical challenges and images in GI. Giant gastric polyp prolapsing into the duodenum

No Abstrac

Does Time Matter in Deficit of Calcium after Total Thyroidectomy in Subjects with Previous Bariatric Surgery?

Background: Hypoparathyroidism-related hypocalcemia is a common complication after total thyroidectomy (TT), particularly if there is a history of prior bariatric surgery. However, it is still unknown if it is the surgery timing or the type of bariatric intervention that increases the risk of developing this complication. Methods: We compared the risk of hypocalcemia (serum calcium levels < 8 mg/dL) and hypoparathyroidism (both transient and permanent) between patients with restrictive procedures (LSG and GB) and patients without a history of obesity surgery in the immediate post-operative period and after 12 months. Hypoparathyroidism was considered permanent if the plasma parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels at 6 months were less than 15 pg/mL and the patient still required oral calcium (calcium carbonate) and vitamin D supplementation, in addition to the supplements that were taken routinely before thyroidectomy. Results: From the 96 patients who underwent TT, 50% had a history of bariatric surgery: 36 LSG and 12 GB. The risk of hypocalcemia was similar in patients with a history of restrictive procedures (31.35%) and in controls (25%) (p = 0.49). Furthermore, hypocalcemia risk was similar between patients with a history of LSG (30.5%) and GB (33%) (p = 0.85). The prevalences of transient and permanent hypoparathyroidism were similar between patients with a history of restrictive procedures and in controls; similarly, no differences were detected between subjects undergoing LSG and GB. Conclusions: Restrictive bariatric surgery (LSG and GB) is not a risk factor for post-thyroidectomy hypocalcemia and hypoparathyroidism and thus did not require a different perioperative supplementation protocol compared to subjects without history of bariatric surgery undergoing TT

Clinical Impact of Enteral Protein Nutritional Therapy on Patients with Obesity Scheduled for Bariatric Surgery: A Focus on Safety, Efficacy, and Pathophysiological Changes

Background: Ketogenic diet-induced weight loss before bariatric surgery (BS) has beneficial effects on the reduction in the liver volume, metabolic profile, and intra- and post-operative complications. However, these beneficial effects can be limited by poor dietary adherence. A potential solution in patients showing a poor adherence in following the prescribed diet could be represented by enteral nutrition strategies. To date, no studies describe the protocol to use for the efficacy and the safety of pre-operative enteral ketogenic nutrition-based dietary protocols in terms of weight reduction, metabolic efficacy, and safety in patients with obesity scheduled for BS. Aims and scope: To assess the clinical impact, efficacy, and safety of ketogenic nutrition enteral protein (NEP) vs. nutritional enteral hypocaloric (NEI) protocols on patients with obesity candidate to BS. Patients and methods: 31 NEP were compared to 29 NEI patients through a 1:1 randomization. The body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and neck circumference (NC) were assessed at the baseline and at the 4-week follow-up. Furthermore, clinical parameters were assessed by blood tests, and patients were asked daily to report any side effects, using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Compared to the baseline, the BW, BMI, WC, HC, and NC were significantly reduced in both groups studied (p < 0.001). However, we did not find any significative difference between the NEP and NEI groups in terms of weight loss (p = 0.559), BMI (p= 0.383), WC (p = 0.779), and HC (p = 0.559), while a statistically significant difference was found in terms of the NC (NEP, -7.1% vs. NEI, -4%, p = 0.011). Furthermore, we found a significant amelioration of the general clinical status in both groups. However, a statistically significant difference was found in terms of glycemia (NEP, -16% vs. NEI, -8.5%, p < 0.001), insulin (NEP, -49.6% vs. NEI, -17.8%, p < 0.0028), HOMA index (NEP, -57.7% vs. NEI, -24.9%, p < 0.001), total cholesterol (NEP, -24.3% vs. NEI, -2.8%, p < 0.001), low-density lipoprotein (NEP, -30.9% vs. NEI, 1.96%, p < 0.001), apolipoprotein A1 (NEP, -24.2% vs. NEI, -7%, p < 0.001), and apolipoprotein B (NEP, -23.1% vs. NEI, -2.3%, p < 0.001), whereas we did not find any significative difference between the NEP and NEI groups in terms of aortomesenteric fat thickness (p = 0.332), triglyceride levels (p = 0.534), degree of steatosis (p = 0.616), and left hepatic lobe volume (p = 0.264). Furthermore, the NEP and NEI treatments were well tolerated, and no major side effects were registered. Conclusions: Enteral feeding is an effective and safe treatment before BS, with NEP leading to better clinical results than NEI on the glycemic and lipid profiles. Further and larger randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm these preliminary data

New-onset diabetes mellitus: predictive factors and impact on the outcome of patients undergoing liver transplantation

: Liver transplantation (LT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the treatment of choice for patients with tumor characteristics within the Milan criteria associated with Child B or C cirrhosis. LT provides the best cure for both the tumor and the cirrhosis. There have been several emerging reports that new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) after transplantation (NODAT) is one of the most negative predictive factors for low survival rate and related co-morbidities. Little is known about the onset of NODM in post-transplant patients and, overall, whether the pathogenesis of NODM differs from that known for the general population. Principally, it is still unknown whether NODAT is related to the primary hepatic disease, the surgical procedures, immunosuppressive treatments, or is it due to the donor liver. This review will focus on the identification of factors, in the setting of LT, which may lead to the development of NODM. Early prevention of these factors may abate the incidence of NODM and positively impact survival rate, and thus ameliorate the worsening of cardiovascular risk factors which usually occur after LT