The increase in urinary albumin excretion rate (AER), a hallmark of both diabetic nephropathy and hypertension, has also been described in patients affected with diffuse psoriasis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether such an increase is independent of the coexistence of diabetes or hypertension and whether it may be related to the extension and severity of skin lesions. Median AER, determined by radioimmunoassay, was significantly higher in a group of 32 normotensive nondiabetic psoriatic patients than in 36 age- and sex-matched controls (9.6 vs. 5.3 μg/min; p = 0.0006). AER was related with grading of skin involvement (r = 0.65; p = 0.001); patients with the most widespread skin lesions (psoriasis area and severity index: PASI > 11) were characterized by a significantly raised median AER (14.9 μg/min) compared with those with PASI scores between 4 and 11 (9.8 μg/min) or less (5.6 μg/min) and controls (F = 10.58; p = 0.0001), independent of other covariates such as age, sex and blood pressure (p = 0.0001). This latter finding was confirmed by the prevalence of microalbuminuria (AER > 20 μg/min) which was present in 2 out of 8 patients with PASI < 4, 0 out of 12 patients with PASI ranging between 4 and 11 and in 5 out of 12 psoriatics with PASI > 11 (p = 0.038 by two-tailed Fisher’s exact test).

CB-PVI for paroxysmal AF shows a 12-month success rate of 76.5% after one single procedure, as assessed by continuous cardiac rhythm monitoring. Within-blanking recurrences predict the ablation failure in more than 80% of patients.

The non-fluoroscopic approach is a feasible and safe alternative to fluoroscopy for arrhythmias ablation. This method ensures low complications rates, high acute procedural success rates, and comparable long-term outcomes with clinical benefits for both patients and physicians. The complete elimination of fluoroscopy during catheter ablation is advantageous and does not reduce patient safety.

A 43-year-old man, affected with alopecia universalis and vitiligo since his childhood, developed erythrodermic pityriasis rubra pilaris followed then by lichen planus; chronic viral hepatitis C was diagnosed. This appears to be a unique constellation of cutaneous diseases implying both autoimm unity and hepatitis C virus.

No abstract

Lichen planus (LP) is an inflammatory disease that may involve multiple skin sites as well as mucous membranes, hair follicles and nails. It rarely occurs on the lips and usually then in association with oral lesions. We report a 43-year-old man with a 7-month history of inflammation and erosive lesions of the lower lip. Histopathological and immunofluorescence studies showed features of LP. Local treatment with betamethasone dipropionate 0.5% ointment led to complete resolution within 1 month. Four months later, the patient developed typical cutaneous LP. Isolated LP of the lip is unusual, although this condition may be underestimated and therefore under-reported in the literature.

No abstract

There have been substantial progresses in the technology of cardiac implantable electric devices (CIEDs) during the past decades. One of the progresses is represented by the development of a hemodynamic sensor embedded at the tip of a pacing lead that measures myocardial contractility by the analysis of myocardial mechanical vibrations occurring during the cardiac cycle. This sensor, providing continuous hemodynamic monitoring, could play an important role in clinical practice because of several clinical applications in CIEDs recipients. The objectives of this work are to report how this sensor operates and to review the main findings about its clinical applications.