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Alveolar osteitis (AO) is one of the complications that occur after tooth extraction. The aim of this study has been to evaluate the efficacy of Advanced Platelet-rich Fibrin (A-PRF) in the management of pain and the acceleration of wound healing in the treatment of AO. Consecutive patients who were diagnosed with AO, recruited from patients referred to the Oral Surgery Department of the University of Naples Federico II, were enrolled. After local anesthesia, the dry socket was curetted and irrigated with saline. The Platelet-rich Fibrin (PRF) clot was placed in the socket and then covered with an A-PRF membrane. Clinical parameters, such as the degree of pain and rate of granulation tissue (GT) formation, were measured before treatment and after 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 days. The Friedman test for dependent samples was used to detect the treatment and time effect. Four patients with established AO were included. On all the examination days, the post-operative recovery was uneventful. The pain scores progressively reduced, from an average of 8.5 before treatment to 0.25 on the third day, and the GT formation improved over time. The use of A-PRF in the treatment of AO significantly reduced the pain level and enhanced the wound-healing process.

Tumor resistance to chemotherapy represents an important challenge in modern oncology. Although platinum (Pt)-based drugs have demonstrated excellent therapeutic potential, their effectiveness in a wide range of tumors is limited by the development of resistance mechanisms. One of these mechanisms includes increased cisplatin sequestration/efflux by the copper-transporting ATPase, ATP7B. However, targeting ATP7B to reduce Pt tolerance in tumors could represent a serious risk because suppression of ATP7B might compromise copper homeostasis, as happens in Wilson disease. To circumvent ATP7B-mediated Pt tolerance we employed a high-throughput screen (HTS) of an FDA/EMA-approved drug library to detect safe therapeutic molecules that promote cisplatin toxicity in the IGROV-CP20 ovarian carcinoma cells, whose resistance significantly relies on ATP7B. Using a synthetic lethality approach, we identified and validated three hits (Tranilast, Telmisartan, and Amphotericin B) that reduced cisplatin resistance. All three drugs induced Pt-mediated DNA damage and inhibited either expression or trafficking of ATP7B in a tumor-specific manner. Global transcriptome analyses showed that Tranilast and Amphotericin B affect expression of genes operating in several pathways that confer tolerance to cisplatin. In the case of Tranilast, these comprised key Pt-transporting proteins, including ATOX1, whose suppression affected ability of ATP7B to traffic in response to cisplatin. In summary, our findings reveal Tranilast, Telmisartan, and Amphotericin B as effective drugs that selectively promote cisplatin toxicity in Pt-resistant ovarian cancer cells and underscore the efficiency of HTS strategy for identification of biosafe compounds, which might be rapidly repurposed to overcome resistance of tumors to Pt-based chemotherapy.

We evaluated the accuracy of a new scale of surgical difficulty for the extraction of impacted mandibular third molars, which includes consideration of previously underestimated variables. Two hundred patients with impacted third molars were enrolled, and a preoperative clinical and radiographic assessment of difficulty was made by an oral surgeon using the new index. Five oral surgeons with similar degrees of experience then evaluated the surgical difficulty during operation. The kappa test and weighted kappa were used to evaluate the level of agreement between the preoperative and postoperative evaluations. This was 0.73, which indicated a substantial concordance between the preoperative and postoperative assessments of difficulty indicated by the new scale. The linear weight of kappa was 0.8 and the quadratic weight 0.87. We recommend this new scale of surgical difficulty for the extraction of impacted third molars for use in clinical practice.

To compare corneal thickness (CT) measurements obtained with SP3000P specular microscope and Pentacam in eyes screened to undergo refractive surgery (RS).In this prospective study, a non-randomized consecutive series of 73 healthy eyes (age range: 14-78 years; mean=38.4±14.9) underwent CT measurement with both Oculus Pentacam and Topcon SP3000P specular microscope to assess their suitability to undergo corneal RS.CT measurements with SP3000P ranged from 451 to 609 μs (mean 523.1±34.4 μs). The measurements obtained with Pentacam ranged at the corneal apex from 477 to 672 μs (mean 558.9±38.9 μs), at the pupil center from 477 to 672 μs (mean 557.9±38.9 μs) and at the thinnest point from 474 to 669 μs (mean 551.1±39.4 μs). CT measurements showed a good correlation but a statistically significant difference at the pupil center (mean -34.9±14.6 μs, R(2)=0.860, p0.001), at the apex (mean -35.9±14.9 μs, R(2)=0.856, p0.001) and at the thinnest point (mean -32±14.8 μs, R(2)=0.862, p0.001). The calculated regression formulas were: y=0.816x+66.94 for the apex, y=0.819x+66.07 for the pupil center and y=0.810x+73.13 for the thinnest point; where y is the CT measured with the SP3000P and x is the measurement obtained with the Oculus Pentacam.Our results suggest that SP3000P measures thinner corneas compared to the Pentacam and that the correcting factor we identified should be applied to make comparisons between these two devices.

Purpose The aim of this study was to assess the anatomy of the mandibular lingual foramen (MLF) and its linked canals (mandibular lingual vascular canals – MLVC), describing their frequency, diameter, location, and course. Materials and methods One hundred and fourteen computed tomography (CT) images of the mandible (57 male and 57 female; mean age 44.70 ± 12.53; age range 13–75 years, were evaluated. The CT sections were obtained on axial plane by using a bone reconstruction algorithm and then processed with dedicated software (Dentascan), with a standard protocol. Results 103 patients (90.35%) had at least one lingual vascular canal and 52 (45.61%) had multiple (two or three) canals. The typical locations of MLVC were the midline of the mandible (median lingual canal [MLC]). The mean diameter of the lingual canals in the midline (MLC) was 0.8 mm ± 0. The direction of MLC progresses in an anterior and slightly caudal sense. Conclusions Dental CT examination easily demonstrates the presence, position, direction and size of the lingual foramen and of the lingual vascular canals of the mandible. Radiologists and oral surgeons should be aware of these canals and their importance, in order to prevent bleeding complications during implants placement and other surgical procedures.