Alessandro Feola

Iatrogenic splenic injury: review of the literature and medico-legal issues

Abstract Introduction Iatrogenic splenic injury is a recognized complication in abdominal surgery. The aim of this paper is to understand the medico-legal issues of iatrogenic splenic injuries. We performed a literature review on PubMed and Scopus using iatrogenic splenic or spleen injury and iatrogenic splenic rupture as keywords. Iatrogenic splenic injury cases were identified. Most cases were related to colonoscopy, but we also identified cases related to upper gastrointestinal procedures, colonic surgery, ERCP, left nephrectomy and/or adrenalectomy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, vascular operations involving the abdominal aorta, gynecological operation, left lung biopsy, chest drain, very rarely spinal surgery and even cardiopulmonary resuscitation. There are several surgical procedures that can lead to a splenic injury. However, from a medico-legal point of view, it is important to assess whether the cause can be attributed to a technical error of the operator rather than being an unpredictable and unpreventable complication. It is important for the medico-legal expert to have great knowledge on iatrogenic splenic injuries because it is important to evaluate every step of the first procedure performed, how a splenic injury is produced, and whether the correct treatment for the splenic injury was administered in a judgment.

Ethical Implications in Vaccine Pharmacotherapy for Treatment and Prevention of Drug of Abuse Dependence

Different immunotherapeutic approaches are in the pipeline for the treatment of drug dependence. “Drug vaccines” aim to induce the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to drugs and prevent them from inducing rewarding effects in the brain. Drugs of abuse currently being tested using these new approaches are opioids, nicotine, cocaine, and methamphetamine. In human clinical trials, “cocaine and nicotine vaccines” have been shown to induce sufficient antibody levels while producing few side effects. Studies in humans, determining how these vaccines interact in combination with their target drug, are underway. However, although vaccines can become a reasonable treatment option for drugs of abuse, there are several disadvantages that must be considered. These include i) great individual variability in the formation of antibodies, ii) the lack of protection against a structurally dissimilar drug that produces the same effects as the drug of choice, and iii) the lack of an effect on the drug desire that may predispose an addict to relapse. In addition, a comprehensive overview of several crucial ethical issues has not yet been widely discussed in order to have not only a biological approach to immunotherapy of addiction. Overall, immunotherapy offers a range of possible treatment options: the pharmacological treatment of addiction, the treatment of overdoses, the prevention of toxicity to the brain or the heart, and the protection of the fetus during pregnancy. So far, the results obtained from a small-scale experiment using vaccines against cocaine and nicotine suggest that a number of important technical challenges still need to be overcome before such vaccines can be approved for clinical use.

Pericarditis Epistenocardica or Dressler Syndrome? An Autopsy Case

Postinfarction pericarditis can be classified as “early,” referred to as pericarditis epistenocardica, or “delayed,” referred to as Dressler syndrome. The incidence of postinfarction pericarditis has decreased to <5% since the introduction of reperfusion therapies and limitation of infarct size. We report on a 57-year-old man who suffered sudden cardiac death as a result of acute myocardial infarction. Autopsy revealed an area of previous infarction and fibrinous pericarditis related to the previous infarction, leading to a diagnosis of Dressler syndrome.

Medical Liability: The Current State of Italian Legislation.

The professional liability of healthcare professionals is a decidedly current issue. In the past decade, litigation for alleged medical malpractice incidents has increased exponentially in Europe. In Italy, the last 20 years have been witness to significant upheavals in this sense. In this article, we analyse the evolution of professional liability legislation in Italy, as well as addressing, in some detail, the changes introduced by Law 189/2012, with which the Italian legislators radically revolutionized the medical liability sector. Particular attention is dedicated to the jurisprudential developments most affected by this reform.