Training and Competition Loads in Women's Rugby Sevens Athletes: Are There Implications for Cardiovascular Health?

National- and international-level rugby sevens athletes are exposed to high training and competition loads over the course of a competitive season. Research on load monitoring and body-system responses is widespread; however, the primary focus has been on optimizing performance rather than investigating or improving cardiovascular health. There is a degree of cardiovascular remodeling, as well as local and systemic inflammation, in response to excessive exercise. These responses are moderated by many factors including previous exercise exposure, current exercise intensity and duration, age, race, and gender, as well as sport-specific physiology. For these reasons, high-performing female rugby sevens athletes may have a unique cardiovascular risk profile different from males and other rugby codes. This review aimed to characterize the training and competition loads, as well as the anthropometric and physiological profiles, of female rugby sevens athletes; discuss the potential impacts these may have on the cardiovascular system; and provide recommendations on future research regarding the relationship between rugby sevens training and competition loads and cardiovascular health. Movement demands, competition formatting, and training routines could all contribute to adverse cardiovascular adaptations. Anthropometric data and physiological characteristics may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Future research needs to adopt measures of cardiovascular health to obtain a greater understanding of cardiovascular profiles and risk factors in female rugby sevens athletes.

A rare case of endophthalmitis after bleb needle revision for glaucoma Xen® gel stent.

PURPOSE: To describe the first case of endophthalmitis caused by Sphingobacterium spiritivorum, a glucose non-fermenting Gram-negative rod, in a patient previously implanted with a Xen® gel stent. CASE REPORT DESCRIPTION: An 83-year-old patient, affected by open-angle glaucoma and with a previous surgery of combined cataract extraction and Xen gel stent implantation, developed endophthalmitis 1 month after bleb needle revision with 5-fluorouracil injection. At presentation, best corrected visual acuity was hand movement, hypopyon was evident into the anterior chamber and a flat bleb with no sign of leakage was present over the Xen gel implant. OUTCOME: Immediate pars plana vitrectomy was performed, with intravitreal antibiotic administration and silicon oil tamponade. S. spiritivorum was isolated from vitreous bacterial culture. According to the antibiogram, patient was treated with topical fortified ceftazidime eyedrops and appropriate systemic antibiotics (intravenous meropenem, 500 mg every 8 h for 7 days, followed by oral cotrimoxazole, 160 + 800 mg, twice a day for 10 days). After 2 weeks of treatment, ocular inflammation was resolved, best corrected visual acuity was 0.1 (Snellen chart) and intraocular pressure was 18 mm Hg without topical hypotensive therapy. CONCLUSION: S. spiritivorum was isolated for the first time as a causative agent of endophthalmitis in humans. Bleb needle revision in patients with Xen gel implant is not free of complications, and an attentive follow-up is required.

[Atypical Kawasaki disease with acute cholestasis and early coronary involvement at onset in an adolescent]. / Malattia di Kawasaki atipica esordita con colestasi acuta ed interessamento coronarico precoce in un adolescente.

Kawasaki disease is an acute febrile illness of childhood that affects usually children younger than 5 years of age. The diagnosis is based on typical clinical features. Atypical or incomplete forms of Kawasaki disease can be observed in almost 20% of patients and at onset is a clinical challenge leading to diagnostic and therapeutic delays with higher risk of coronary abnormalities. We report the case of a 13-year-old boy who presented with febrile cholestasis, abdominal pain and early coronary anomalies that was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. Atypical findings of our case at onset were the age, the clinical presentation and the timing of appearance of coronary anomalies. A high index of suspicion of Kawasaki disease should be maintained in patients presenting with febrile cholestatic jaundice.

Metagenomics in ophthalmology: current findings and future prospectives.

Less than 1% of all microorganisms of the available environmental microbiota can be cultured with the currently available techniques. Metagenomics is a new methodology of high-throughput DNA sequencing, able to provide taxonomic and functional profiles of microbial communities without the necessity to culture microbes in the laboratory. Metagenomics opens to a 'hypothesis-free' approach, giving important details for future research and treatment of ocular diseases in ophthalmology, such as ocular infection and ocular surface diseases.