Identification of harmful drinking in subjects who have had their driving license suspended due to alcohol use: a retrospective Italian study.

OBJECTIVE: Early identification of Harmful Drinking (HD) is difficult, and underestimated. The aim of our retrospective study was to investigate the presence of HD in a population of subjects who had their driving license suspended due to driving under the influence of alcohol. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively recruited 979 subjects. During the first appointment (T0), clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients were evaluated, and the AUDIT questionnaire was administered. Two groups were then defined: Harmful Drinking (HD) and non-HD, and all subjects underwent a brief interview for 5-10 minutes before being assigned to a group. RESULTS: 95.9% of our sample were identified as non-HD, whereas 4.1% of them were HD; twenty-one (2.1%) of the HD underwent a control appointment (T1), and 17 (1.7%) of them were diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD); there was a statistically significant reduction in mean daily alcohol intake (p<0.009), and in the mean values of the blood markers of HD between T0 and T1 in HD. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that 4.1%, and 1.7% of subjects presented a diagnosis of HD and AUD, respectively, and their entry in a protocol of drinking monitoring proved beneficial in reducing alcohol intake. Thus, the implementation of strict surveillance of subjects found driving under the influence of alcohol involving a network of professional figures (from police forces to specialists in alcohol addiction treatment) may help to detect and to treat subjects with HD and AUD, and to monitor their alcohol use over time.

Chart for renal tumor microwave ablation from human study.

PURPOSE: To define microwave ablation (MWA) charts according to time and power in human renal tumors and to compare them to the charts given by the HS AMICA manufacturer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 54 patients with 54 renal cancers who underwent MWA were included. There were 36 men and 18 women with a mean age of 72.5±10[SD] years (range: 40-91years). The system used for MWA was HS AMICA with the Amica-probe V4 applicator. The following variables (antero-posterior diameter, transverse diameter, cranio-caudal diameter and volume were measured on computed tomography examinations performed one month after MWA. The dimensions of the ablation zone were correlated with power (40 or 60W) and exposure time (5, 10 and 15min) used for MWA. Actual ablation dimensions were compared to the manufacturer's data. RESULTS: The variation of diameters, with a longer ablation time, was linear at 40W with a volume increase of 30% for each additional 5minutes. At 60W, a more pronounced variation (volume increase of 112%) was observed. Compared to the manufacturer's chart, significantly larger ablation zones were obtained (P<0.05), the differences being mainly marked for the antero-posterior diameter (≥1cm). CONCLUSION: MWA using AMICA generator produces reproducible ablation area for given time and power in renal tumor ablation. The charts presented here should be used instead of the manufacturer's chart, which is based on porcine liver and is significantly different.

[The role of the factory doctor in the health promotion of workers: the experience of the "WHP Bergamo" network]. / Il ruolo del medico competente nella promozione della salute dei lavoratori: l'esperienza della rete WHP Bergamasca.

In Bergamo there is a huge network of 46 "health promoting companies" following an accreditation system which requires the implementation of best practices on health promotion in the workplace. For some of these practices, Company Doctor are involved: management of smokers and workers with alcohol consumption; courses for employees about WHP, use of SMS and web-based systems. Local Public Health Authority has created an annual training which also provided tools to Doctors for their activities in the project. Nowadays 55 doctors have been trained. For Accreditation 2012 eight companies will declare as good practice the training of its CD about smoking and three companies their activities on alcohol abuse prevention and control.