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This case report describes a case of acute necrotic-hemorrhagic pancreatitis complicated by Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) and stresses the importance of a correct dietetic regimen. A 39-year-old Chinese male patient with negative remote pathological anamnesis was hospitalized in the Medical Department with a diagnosis of gallstones. The clinical course was complicated with the onset of acute pancreatitis. Enteral fasting was imposed with intravenous feeding without vitamin supplementation. The progressive worsening of the clinical, radiodiagnostic and laboratory profile combined with deterioration in the state of consciousness promoted, on the 36th day exploratory laparotomy revealed necrotic-hemorrhagic pancreatitis. The patient was, therefore, admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in a deep coma. The recent medical history, neurological examination, and encephalic computed tomography suggested a revealing diagnosis of WE combined with pancreatic encephalopathy.

Bovine lactoferrin catalyzes the hydrolysis of synthetic substrates (i.e., Z-aminoacyl-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin). Values of K-m and k(cat) for the bovine lactoferrin catalyzed hydrolysis of Z-Phe-Arg-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin are 50 muM and 0.03 s(-1), respectively, the optimum pH value is 7.5 at 25 degreesC. The bovine lactoferrin substrate specificity is similar to that of trypsin, while the hydrolysis rate is several orders of magnitude lower than that of trypsin. The bovine lactoferrin catalytic activity is irreversibly inhibited by the serine-protease inhibitors PMSF and Pefabloc. Moreover, both iron-saturation of the protein and LPS addition strongly inhibit the bovine lactoferrin activity. Interestingly, bovine lactoferrin undergoes partial auto-proteolytic cleavage at positions Arg415-Lys 416 and Lys440-Lys441.pK(a) shift calculations indicate that several Ser residues of bovine lactoferrin display the high nucleophilicity required to potentially catalyze substrate cleavage. However, a definitive identification of the active site awaits further studies.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a chronic and progressive deterioration of memory and other cognitive domains, is the most common form of dementia. Because of related health and social impact, there is growing interest in assessing potential relationship between anesthesia and the onset and progression of chronic neurodegenerative disorders, including AD. Currently, preclinical and clinical research is addressed to identify underlying pathomechanisms, patient risk factors, and the use of the least provocative drugs and techniques, to minimize the incidence of chronic neurodegenerative disorders. Preclinical studies are providing an increasing body of evidences on some of the mechanisms that link anesthetics to neuronal programmed cell death (apoptosis) and accumulation of misfolded proteins in the aging brain. Therefore, risk factors and pathomechanisms of chronic neurodegenerative disorders, including AD, and persistent postoperative-postanesthesia cognitive dysfunction may overlap.

INTRODUCTION: Despite opioids' recognized role in the treatment of moderate/severe musculoskeletal chronic pain, their long-term benefits need investigation. We explored the lasting analgesic efficacy, tolerability, influence on life quality, and chronicity stage of the novel prolonged release (PR) opioid, tapentadol, in 30 outpatients. METHODS: We evaluated patients' pain intensity and relief (Numerical Rating Scale; NRS), adverse effects, sleep quality, treatment satisfaction, health status (12-questions Health-Survey; SF-12), chronicity stage (Italian Mainz Pain-Staging System; I-MPSS) at 10, 30, 60, and 90 days after tapentadol prescription. RESULTS: At follow-ups, the investigated outcomes showed an overall statistically significant (Wilcoxon signed-rank test) improvement and remained stable over time, as did the health status and chronicity stage. Adverse effects were limited, transitory, and tolerable. CONCLUSIONS: Twelve weeks of PR tapentadol in outpatients with moderate/severe chronic musculoskeletal pain showed satisfactory analgesic efficacy and tolerability, and had a positive influence on life quality and chronicity stage. The results are robust enough to warrant a subsequent study with a larger sample and a longer observation period. PMID:25558866

Objective: We investigated the possible role of hypotension and related autonomic phenomena in the pathogenic mechanism of sudden sensorineural hearing loss.Methods: Forty-nine patients belonging to the ASA I-II classes of anaesthesiological risk and submitted to a non-otological surgical procedure were examined. Each operation was performed under general anaesthesia by controlled hypotension technique. Hearing function of the patients was evaluated before and after surgery by means of a pure tone audiometry recorded by the same clinician with the same instrument.Results: No cases of bilateral hearing worsening were recorded after surgery.Conclusions: An induced and controlled steady hypotension under general anaesthesia did not affect the hearing function of any of the patients. It may be supposed, therefore, that an adverse effect on the cochlear oxygenation is more likely to be caused by the sympathetic changes induced by a consistent decrease of blood pressure rather than to hypotension itself.

Rationale, aims and objectivesIndications are lacking on which patient to refer to pain facilities. Pain-chronicity stage and outcome prognosis may be used for such aims. The Mainz pain-staging system (MPSS) classifies pain patients in three chronicity stages that respectively require more extensive management. We explored the psychometric and validation properties of its Italian version towards its application as screening/referral tool. MethodsI-MPSS was administered to n=120 mixed non-cancer-pain outpatients. Psychometric analyses and formal validation included: content validity, by assessing the hypothesis of an existing relationship between the I-MPSS classes and criteria derived from an operational case definition of chronic pain; construct validity, by principle component analysis (PCA); the autonomous construct of the I-MPSS was assessed by the strength of the Spearman correlation between its classes and the brief pain inventory (BPI) items; and reliability, by applying Cronbach's alpha statistics. Associations between psychosocial moderators and the I-MPSS were assessed applying (2) analyses. ResultsQuantitative and qualitative analyses showed significant differences between I-MPSS classes for health care and drug utilization; BPI item scores significantly differed between the classes; Spearman correlation between I-MPSS classes and BPI items was mostly moderate or mild. PCA and scree test identified four components accounting for 63.7% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha was 0.842. ConclusionsThe I-MPSS showed satisfactory psychometric and validation properties. With adequate feasibility, it enabled the screening of mixed non-cancer-pain outpatients in three chronicity/prognostic stages. Results are sufficient to warrant its use for a subsequent impact study as a prognostic model and screening tool for referring pain patients.

Study Objective To evaluate the analgesic efficacy and safety of ropivacaine 0.2% when administered continuously via elastomeric pump after appendectomy. Design Prospective, randomized, double-blinded study. Setting Surgical ward of a university hospital. Patients 96 ASA physical status I and II patients of at least 14 years of age, undergoing appendectomy through a McBurney incision. Interventions Patients were randomly assigned into two groups: 500 mg of ropivacaine in 48 hours (10 mL of 0.2% ropivacaine 20 mg, starter dose plus 5 mL/h continuous wound infusion via elastomeric pump device; n=48) in the experimental group and 250 mL of normal saline, as placebo, in the control group. Measurements Postappendectomy pain, measured either with a simple verbal scale or with a visual analog scale, parenteral analgesic consumption, and global satisfaction were all measured. Main Results A reduction in postoperative pain was observed in the ropivacaine group. Degree of pain, with a simple verbal scale measurement of severe and unbearable, was significantly lower in the ropivacaine group than in the normal saline group from time 0 to 24 hours at rest and from time 0 to 36 hours on coughing. A significant lower pain intensity (visual analog scale) was found in the ropivacaine group both at rest and on coughing, beginning at three hours and continuing to 36 hours postoperatively. The mean number of rescue analgesic doses was significantly lower in the ropivacaine group. There were no statistically significant differences in the frequency of adverse events between the two groups. Conclusions Wound instillation with ropivacaine 0.2% is a useful, practical, and safe method for management of postoperative pain after appendectomy.

Pain prevalence among inpatients is an important indicator of quality care; it may reach over 80% in various clinical settings. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a teaching hospital to depict benchmark data regarding pain prevalence and predictors among the entire inpatient population. Overall 892 patients, 6 years old and hospitalized for at least 24 h in 57 hospital wards were interviewed using an internationally applied questionnaire. Patients self-reported their pain intensity at the time of the interview (T(0)) and worst pain perceived during the previous 24 h (T(-1)), using a numerical rating scale (NRS) and indicated current pain duration. Specific pain predictor data (hospital stay, gender, age and marital status) were obtained from patient medical charts. Pain prevalence at T(0) was 38% and 52% at T(-1). Pain was moderate to severe (NRS4) in approximately 25% of the patients at T(0) and in 40% at T(-1). High pain prevalence was found (at T(0) and T(-1), respectively) in Radiotherapy (63%;77%), Obstetrics (68%;54%), and Surgery (59%;45%) wards. Gender was a prominent determinant as pain was significantly associated with females. Pain prevalence was high among young adults or divorced/separated individuals and low among pediatric patients ( approximately 20%). Protracted hospitalization and prolonged pain duration were associated with major pain severity. Results yield Quality Assurance interventions to ameliorate pain undertreatment. Predictor analysis suggests that attention should be paid to pain management in young adults, socially vulnerable patients and those with protracted hospitalization and pain.

Bovine lactoferrin catalyzes the hydrolysis of synthetic substrates (i.e., Z-aminoacyl-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin). Values of Km and kcat for the bovine lactoferrin catalyzed hydrolysis of Z-Phe-Arg-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin are 50 microM and 0.03 s(-1), respectively, the optimum pH value is 7.5 at 25 degrees C. The bovine lactoferrin substrate specificity is similar to that of trypsin, while the hydrolysis rate is several orders of magnitude lower than that of trypsin. The bovine lactoferrin catalytic activity is irreversibly inhibited by the serine-protease inhibitors PMSF and Pefabloc. Moreover, both iron-saturation of the protein and LPS addition strongly inhibit the bovine lactoferrin activity. Interestingly, bovine lactoferrin undergoes partial auto-proteolytic cleavage at positions Arg415-Lys416 and Lys440-Lys441. pKa shift calculations indicate that several Ser residues of bovine lactoferrin display the high nucleophilicity required to potentially catalyze substrate cleavage. However, a definitive identification of the active site awaits further studies.

Background Delirum is common in hospitalized elderly patients and may be associated with increased morbidity, length of stay and patient care costs. Delirium (acute confusional state) is defined as an acute disorder of attention and cognition. In elderly patients, delirium is often an early indicator of patho-physiological disturbances. Despite landmark studies dating back to the 1940s, the pathogenesis of Delirium remains poorly understood. Early investigators noted that Delirium was characterized by global cortical dysfunction that was associated predominantly with specific electroencephalographic changes. It's important to understand the risk factors and incidence of Delirium. Some of the risk factors are already identified in literature and can be summarized in the word "VINDICATE" which stands for: Vascular, Infections, Nutrition, Drugs, Injury, Cardiac, Autoimmune, Tumors, Endocrine. Aims of this study are: to re-evaluate the above mentioned clinical risk factors, adding some others selected from literature, and to test, as risk factors, a pattern of some genes associated to cognitive dysfunction and inflammation possibly related to postoperative Delirium. Design All patients admitted to our Emergency Unit who are meet our inclusion/exclusion criteria will be recruited. The arising of postoperative Delirium will select incidentally two groups (Delirium/non Delirium) and the forward analysis of correlate risk factors will be performed. As in a typical observational case/control study we will consider all the exposure factors to which our population are submitted towards the outcome (presence of Delirium). Our exposures are the following: ASA, Pain (SVS; VAS), Blood gas analysis (pH; Hb; pO2; pCO2), Residence pharmacological therapy (BDZ; hypnotics; narcotic drugs; alcohol; nitrous derivates), Body temperature, Arterial pressure, Heart frequency, Breath frequency, Na, K, Creatinin, Glicemia, Albumin, Hct, White blood cells, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Cognitive state (SPMSQ), Functional state (ADL and IADL), Psychological Distress (HADS), Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS), Hypotension (classified in: light; moderate and severe and duration), Blood loss (classified in: < 2 lt and > 2 lt), Blood transfusions (< 2 lt and > 2 lt), Quantity of red cells and plasma transfusions, Visual VAS / SVS (timing: I-II-III post-operative day), Red cells and Plasma transfusions, Blood count evaluation and Saturation (O2%), Postoperative analgesia (Emilia-Romagna protocol), Presence of malignant tumoral disease, APACHE Score II. Moreover the presence of some relevant genetic polymorphisms will be studied in different genes such as IL-6, IL-10, TNF-alpha, and IL-1 cluster.