The gender role in the publishing of Authorships in high-impact orthopedic journals.

To evidence the existence of a gender gap in the orthopedic scientific literature by including also differences between some specific orthopedic surgery specialities, such as hands and feet. Then, we also considered gender role in the Authorship linked with the economic wealth of each country belonging to each Author. The gender of the first Authors of journals on orthopedics and sports medicine indexing in the Scopus database with the highest impact factor (IF) related to the year 2019, for the period from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020, were considered. A total of 11 journals were considered, including a total of 5474 articles, 1087 (19.86%) had a woman as the first Author and 4387 (80.14%) a man. During the studied period, the trend seems to be the same (p = 0.906): Men were significantly more producing than women in the orthopedic field both by considering the topic of the journal (p = .003), all the most impacted orthopedic journals (p < 0.001) and economies (p < 0.001). There was therefore a strong significance: In the orthopedic field, there were significantly more male researchers who presented their first name in scientific publications compared to females in all orthopedic subspecialties. The economically poorer countries published less and the role of women became almost absent.

Variations in erythropoiesis and serum ferritin during erythropoietin therapy for anaemia of end-stage renal disease.

In order to study the relationship between erythropoiesis and serum ferritin (SF) during erythropoietin (rHuEPO) therapy in the anaemia of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), 19 patients were followed without iron supplementation and at a fixed dose of the drug (40 U/kg). Twelve patients failed to attain the target haemoglobin (Hb) value, 7 of whom due to the appearance of iron deficiency. Erythropoiesis, as measured by the serum transferrin receptor concentration, increased from 12 to 120% of the basal value. This increment was not constantly associated with a proportional rise of Hb or reticulocyte count. SF decreased exponentially from a median value of 221 micrograms/dl (range 42-470) to a median value of 54 micrograms/dl (range 20-172). Halving of the basal SF value (SF-T50) was reached at the 18th-95th day of therapy (median = 43), representing a iron shift of 3.4-11.6 mg/day (median = 5.4). SF-T50 was not correlated with the Hb increase, but with that of erythropoiesis (r = 0.78; p = 0.003). The minimum SF (MSF) value attained was not correlated with the appearance of iron deficiency. The conclusion is that the rate of SF decrease during rHuEPO in ESRD is a reliable measure of iron mobilisation for erythropoiesis, but not for haematologic response. The MSF value reached during therapy is not representative of available iron for erythropoiesis.

Induction and maintenance alpha-interferon therapy in myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia.

In 12 patients having myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia (MMM), recombinant- alpha interferon (r-alpha INF) was given for 16 weeks at an initial dose of 3 x 10(6) U/day as a cytoreductive agent. At the end of the 16th wk, Hb showed minor changes; WBC were reduced from 43 x 10(9)/l, range 6.4-69.4, to 16 x 10(9)/l, range 5-39 (p = 0.05); platelets decreased from 845 x 10(9)/l, range 215-1748, to 370 x 10(9)/l, range 96-730 (p = 0.005). 2 cases responded at the starting dose, while the effective dose was 5 x 10(6) U/d in the others. Minor changes in spleen size were noted, while no significant changes in bone marrow fibrosis occurred. After induction therapy, 3 patients were allocated to maintenance therapy (from 10 up to 34 months). To maintain platelet count lower than 500 x 10(9)/l, the required r-alpha-INF dose was constantly 10 MU/wk, while the same result was not achieved in 1 case with hydroxyurea, 1 g/die. The association with hydroxyurea, 500 mg/die, allowed reduction of the r-alpha INF dose to 6 MU/die in 1 other case.

Aspergillus endocarditis and myocarditis in a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). A review of the literature.

We report the post-mortem findings of the case of a 31-year-old male who, through sexual contacts with a female drug addict, was found to be HIV-positive and developed the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) 2 years later. He was treated for various opportunistic infections over the next 7 years when he presented with cardiac abnormalities and multiple cerebral lesions which were responsible for his death. The results revealed Aspergillus fumigatus endocarditis and myocarditis with mycotic thromboembolic extension to the brain, spleen, kidney and pancreas. We review the literature of Aspergillus infection in patients with AIDS and more specifically cardiac involvement with this pathogen.