Rejected

This narrative review sought to explore the main critical issues in the assessment of depression in chronic pain and to identify self-report tools that can be reliably used for measuring it.

Diagnosis of pheochromocytoma can be simple when classic manifestations are present. It can also be challenging and complicated in some cases because of its wide array of faces and presentations. We present a case of a 30-year-old female patient who came with acute respiratory distress, chest pain, hemoptysis, asthenia, anorexia, weight loss of 20kg, and paresthesia in her lower limbs. Clinical examination found high blood pressure, accelerated heart and respiratory rates, signs of acute right heart failure with jugular venous distention and ankle edema, reticularis livedo in the four limbs, ulcers in both knees and in the 3rd metacarpo-phalangeal articulations and necrotic lesions in both calcaneal tendons and in the right toes. Further investigations concluded on myocarditis associated with alveolar hemorrhage, pericardic and pleuritic effusions and a segmental pulmonary embolism of the right inferior lobe. Neuro-muscular biopsy was suggestive of myositis. Cutaneous biopsy found nonspecific chronic dermatitis. ANCA antibodies were tested twice and were negative. Cryoglobulinemia was also negative. Thoraco-abdomino-pelvic scan was performed showing a large right adrenal mass suggestive of pheochromocytoma. Diagnosis of right adrenal pheochromocytoma was confirmed by MIBG-I123 hyperfixation findings and urinary normetanephrin levels. The patient was treated surgically. Postoperative outcomes were remarkably favorable with a complete regression of the cutaneous lesions and normalization of the blood pressure. Paresthesia significantly decreased. Control echocardiography at 3 months showed an improved heart function with a persistent apical and septal akinesis.

Medicinal therapies such as systemic retinoids and antibiotics have shown efficacy in the treatment of dissecting cellulitis of the scalp (DCS), but refractory cases are common. 5-Aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) has been successfully used in medicine-resistant cases in recent years.

We aimed to compare the choroidal thickness (CT), peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (pRNFLT) and macular ganglion cell complex thickness (mGCCT) by using spectral domain optic coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in patients with migraine with aura (MWA), migraine without aura (MWoA), and healthy controls.

Learning to evaluate and treat chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is an established curriculum objective within the Fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (FMIGS). Our aim was to investigate current educational experiences related to the evaluation and management of CPP and the impacts of those experiences on FMIGS fellows and recent fellowship graduates, including satisfaction, confidence in management, and clinical interest in CPP.

To examine the utility of a modified spermatic cord block (MSCB) that targets known contributors to refractory chronic scrotal content pain (CSCP) at predicting postoperative pain relief following a microscopic spermatic cord denervation (MSCD).

Opioids are the first-line treatment for cancer pain. Incomplete pain relief and the high rate of adverse effects of these compounds bring a need to combine them with other drugs acting on different targets.

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission has a significant impact on the proper functioning of the central nervous system. Numerous studies have indicated that inhibitors of the GABA transporters mGAT1-4 offer a promising strategy for the treatment of several neurological disorders, including epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and depression. Following our previous results, herein, we report the synthesis, biological evaluation, and structure-activity relationship studies supported by molecular docking and molecular dynamics of a new series of N-benzyl-4-hydroxybutanamide derivatives regarding their inhibitory potency toward mGAT1-4. This study allowed us to identify compound 23a (N-benzyl-4-hydroxybutanamide bearing a dibenzocycloheptatriene moiety), a nonselective GAT inhibitor with a slight preference toward mGAT4 (pIC = 5.02 ± 0.11), and compound 24e (4-hydroxy-N-[(4-methylphenyl)-methyl]butanamide bearing a dibenzocycloheptadiene moiety) with relatively high inhibitory activity toward mGAT2 (pIC = 5.34 ± 0.09). In a set of in vivo experiments, compound 24e successively showed predominant anticonvulsant activity and antinociception in the formalin model of tonic pain. In contrast, compound 23a showed significant antidepressant-like properties in mice. These results were consistent with the available literature data, which indicates that, apart from seizure control, GABAergic neurotransmission is also involved in the pathophysiology of several psychiatric diseases, however alternative mechanisms underlying this action cannot be excluded. Finally, it is worth noting that the selected compounds showed unimpaired locomotor skills that have been indicated to give reliable results in behavioral assays.

Gamification is increasingly being used to promote healthy behaviors. However, it has not been well tested among patients with chronic conditions and over longer durations.

Convergence insufficiency (CI) is characterized by abnormal vergence eye movement frequently accompanied by abnormal accommodation and subjective symptoms, such as headache, blurred vision, and diplopia. CI is treated with vergence and accommodation exercises that are integrated so that the relative contributions of vergence and accommodation exercises to the outcome are concealed. The purpose of the present study was to determine the individual contributions of vergence and accommodation exercises for the treatment of CI in school children.