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Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the clinical and instrumental outcome of different treatment sessions of oxygen–ozone (O2–O3) chemodiscolysis in patients with lumbar disc herniation Methods: We evaluated 73 patients partially responders to a single session of oxygen–ozone (O2–O3) chemodiscolysis and submitted to multiple injections sessions. All patients completed a pre- and post-treatment clinical (VAS and modified McNab score) and instrumental MRI follow-up. Imaging evaluation included assessment of intervertebral disc area (IDA). Pre- and post-treatment differences were compared to evaluate differences in variation between groups. Correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between morphological and clinical parameters. Results: Based on the type and number of treatments performed, patients were divided into three groups: Group A) patients submitted to an additional periradicular anaesthetic/steroid injection; Group B) patients submitted to an additional session of intradiscal O2–O3 injection; Group C) patients submitted to two further sessions of intradiscal O2–O3 injection. The results showed an improvement of pain scores in all groups, and a smaller disc area change in group B. Comparing the differences between pre- and post-treatment features among the three different groups of patients, we did not find any statistically significant difference. Correlation analysis did not show any statistically significant correlation between the morphological changes of the intervertebral disc and the clinical output scores. Conclusions: In our retrospective observation of partially responder patients, multiple intradiscal ozone injections were not associated with a higher disc shrinkage nor superior clinical outcome compared to a single intradiscal O2–O3 application with an additional periradicular injection session. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IgG4-related disease is a recently discovered pathological entity, histologically characterised by fibrosis and IgG4-positive plasma cell infiltration. This condition may virtually involve every site of the organism, with a various range of clinical presentations. The most commonly affected organ is the pancreatic gland, but it can also involve the biliary tract, salivary and lacrimal glands, kidneys, orbital tissues, lymph nodes, lungs and many others. More recently, IgG4-related disease has been demonstrated to involve, in rare cases, also the central nervous system, with a pattern mainly characterised by hypertrophic pachymeningitis. In this paper we evaluated the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging features of the IgG4-related disease in the central nervous system, reporting a case of brain and spinal cord involvement. In our case, in fact, a 62-year-old man complaining of paresthesia, burning dysesthesia and severe hyposthenia in the lower limbs presented with inflammatory pseudotumour with orbital involvement and focal dural and spinal root thickening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intradiscal O2–O3 injections are conventionally used as a minimally invasive treatment for lumbar disc herniation in patients not responding to conservative treatments. The aim of the present study is to report data of long-term imaging follow-up (3 years) of patients treated with intradiscal O2–O3 lumbar chemiodiscolysis. We evaluated the changes of disc volume and the modifications in disc appearance (in terms of disc degeneration) and endplate changes (according to Modic), comparing the results with a control group of patients. Our results showed a stable reduction of the disc herniation volume in patients treated compared with the control group, while we did not find statistically significant differences in terms of disc degeneration and endplate changes (Modic). We concluded that the O2–O3 discolysis, despite leading to a significant shrinkage of the disc herniation, does not involve – in the long term – biomechanical changes of the spine in terms of acceleration of the disc degeneration process in comparison with the natural course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Intraabdominal hemorrhage secondary to liver and kidney injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Endovascular arterial embolization is an established interventional radiology technique used to treat active bleeding, and its role in managing abdominal hemorrhages is growing, given the increasing trend for conservative treatment. Our study aims to retrospectively evaluate the technical and clinical results and the possible complications of arterial embolization procedures performed in emergency, in post-traumatic, iatrogenic, and pathological hepatic and renal bleedings., Methods: We performed a ten-year, single-center retrospective survey (from January 2010 to December 2019) of all patients treated in emergency by intra-arterial embolization of liver and kidney bleeding. Preliminary CT angiography studies were evaluated, as well as the angiographic findings. Materials used, procedural data, and clinical outcomes, including complications, were recorded., Results: The diagnostic angiography showed a single source of bleeding in 20 cases (66.7%), two bleeding vessels in 4 cases (13.3%), and multiple hemorrhagic sources in 6 cases (20%). All bleeding sources were successfully embolized; in 12 patients (40%), complete embolization was achieved with coils and 18 patients (60%) with hemostatic sponges. In one case, a second embolization procedure was performed for the persistence of hemodynamic instability. No major post-procedural complications were recorded. The mean procedure duration was 65.1 minutes., Conclusions: Based on our experience and literature data, the treatment of endovascular embolization in acute abdominal bleeding of hepatic and renal origin represents the treatment of choice, as it can provide complete therapeutic success in hemodynamically stable patients. (www.actabiomedica.it).

Background and Aim: To establish an optimal timing for vertebroplasty in order to obtain a clinically important pain reduction and improving quality of live in patients with osteoporotic or traumatic vertebral fractures., Methods: This study includes 22 vertebroplasty procedures performed from October 2018 to July 2020 in 21 patients with traumatic or osteoporotic vertebral fractures (19 female, two men; age between 53 and 89 years). All treatments were executed under fluoroscopic guidance using 11 or 13 G needle through transpedicular or costovertebral unilateral approach. Each patient underwent conscious sedation, continuously monitored by an anesthesiologist. Preoperative MRI images, obtained by 3T or 1.5T MRI scanner, always showed bone marrow edema. The VAS scale and Roland Morris disability questionnaire (RMdq) were administered to patients before and after the treatment to evaluate pain and life quality., Results: 7 patients were treated in the first month after the injury, one was treated twice; 8 patients in the second month, 6 in the third. We observed a reduction of: 5.5 points in the vas scale, 10.3 in the RMdq in the first month; 5.6 points vas, 11.6 points RMdq in the second month; 4 points vas and 9.75 points RMdq in the third month., Conclusions: This study demostrated that, in our preliminary experience, vertebroplasty has the best outcome if performed at 2 months from injury.