Catholic University of the Sacred Heart

About: Catholic University of the Sacred Heart is a education organization based out in Milan, Lombardia, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 13592 authors who have published 31048 publications receiving 853961 citations.

Anorexia of Aging: Risk Factors, Consequences, and Potential Treatments

Abstract: Older people frequently fail to ingest adequate amount of food to meet their essential energy and nutrient requirements. Anorexia of aging, defined by decrease in appetite and/or food intake in old age, is a major contributing factor to under-nutrition and adverse health outcomes in the geriatric population. This disorder is indeed highly prevalent and is recognized as an independent predictor of morbidity and mortality in different clinical settings. Even though anorexia is not an unavoidable consequence of aging, advancing age often promotes its development through various mechanisms. Age-related changes in life-style, disease conditions, as well as social and environmental factors have the potential to directly affect dietary behaviors and nutritional status. In spite of their importance, problems related to food intake and, more generally, nutritional status are seldom attended to in clinical practice. While this may be the result of an "ageist" approach, it should be acknowledged that simple interventions, such as oral nutritional supplementation or modified diets, could meaningfully improve the health status and quality of life of older persons.

A comparison of botulinum toxin and saline for the treatment of chronic anal fissure.

Abstract: Background Chronic anal fissure is a tear in the lower half of the anal canal that is maintained by contraction of the internal anal sphincter. Sphincterotomy, the most widely used treatment, is a surgical procedure that permanently weakens the internal sphincter and may lead to anal deformity and incontinence. Methods We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of botulinum toxin for the treatment of chronic anal fissure in 30 consecutive symptomatic adults. All the patients received two injections (total volume, 0.4 ml) into the internal anal sphincter; the treated group (15 patients) received 20 U of botulinum toxin A, and the control group (15 patients) received saline. Success was defined as healing of the fissure (formation of a scar), and symptomatic improvement was defined as the presence of a persistent fissure without symptoms. Results After two months, 11 patients in the treated group and 2 in the control group had healed fissures (P = 0.003); 13 in the treated group and 4 in the cont...

Mechanisms of Coronary Artery Spasm

Abstract: The term coronary artery spasm (CAS) refers to a sudden, intense vasoconstriction of an epicardial coronary artery that causes vessel occlusion or near occlusion. Although CAS may be involved in other coronary syndromes, it represents the usual cause of variant angina. The variant form of angina was first described in 1959 by Prinzmetal et al,1 who used this term to indicate that angina attacks, unlike the most common form of effort angina, occurred at rest and were associated with ST-segment elevation, rather than ST-segment depression, on the ECG (Figure 1). Because myocardial ischemia occurred in the absence of any change in myocardial oxygen demand, the authors hypothesized that it was caused by an increased tonus of vessels at the level of coronary stenoses.1 Figure 1. (Top) ST-segment elevation in anterior leads, with reciprocal mild ST-segment depression in inferior leads and V6, during an angina attack in a patient with variant angina. (Bottom) Normalization of the ECG after spontaneous resolution of chest pain. Some years later, in fact, coronary angiography, performed during spontaneous angina attacks, demonstrated that CAS is the usual cause of variant angina.2–4 Coronary angiography also showed that CAS could occur at the site of a stenosis (either minor or severe) or in angiographically normal coronary arteries,5 usually at a localized segment of an epicardial artery (focal spasm) (Figure 2).6 However, sometimes CAS involves 2 or more segments of the same (multifocal spasm) or of different (multivessel spasm) epicardial coronary arteries, or may also involve diffusely one or multiple coronary branches.7 Figure 2. Occlusive spasm of the left circumflex coronary artery and near occlusive spasm of the left anterior descending coronary artery (arrows) during coronary angiography (left, top), associated with dramatic ST-segment elevation at monitoring ECG leads (left, bottom). Complete resolution of spasm (right, …