Background: Accurately selecting hypertensive candidates for renal denervation (RDN) therapy is required, as one-third of patients who undergo RDN are non-responders. We aimed to systematically review the literature on RDN response prediction using arterial stiffness assessment, optimizing the selection of patients referred for interventional blood pressure lowering procedures. Methods: A literature search was performed in MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane databases to retrieve potential eligible studies from the inception to 30 June 2022. Results: Ten studies were finally included in this systematic review. Studies consistently documented that invasive pulse wave velocity (PWV) was correlated with RDN’s significant success. Nevertheless, non-invasive ambulatory arterial stiffness index and PWV derived from ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were independent predictors of blood pressure response (p = 0.04 and p < 0.0001). In some studies, magnetic resonance imaging parameters of arterial stiffness (ascending aortic distensibility, total arterial compliance) were correlated with blood pressure reduction (AUC = 0.828, p = 0.006). Conclusions: Assessing arterial stiffness prior to RDN predicted procedural success, since stiffness parameters were strongly correlated with a significant blood pressure response. Our endeavor should be tackled as a step forward in selecting appropriate hypertensive patients scheduled for RDN therapy. Non-invasive measurements could be an alternative to invasive parameters for response prediction.

(1) Objective: Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an important tool in medicine in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment evaluation, and its role will increase over time, along with the improvement and validation of AI models. We evaluated the applicability of AI in predicting the depth of myometrial invasion in MRI studies in women with endometrial cancer. (2) Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase, and clinicaltrials.gov databases for research papers from inception to May 2023. As keywords, we used: “endometrial cancer artificial intelligence”, “endometrial cancer AI”, “endometrial cancer MRI artificial intelligence”, “endometrial cancer machine learning”, and “endometrial cancer machine learning MRI”. We excluded studies that did not evaluate myometrial invasion. (3) Results: Of 1651 screened records, eight were eligible. The size of the dataset was between 50 and 530 participants among the studies. We evaluated the models by accuracy scores, area under the curve, and sensitivity/specificity. A quantitative analysis was not appropriate for this study due to the high heterogeneity among studies. (4) Conclusions: High accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity rates were obtained among studies using different AI systems. Overall, the existing studies suggest that they have the potential to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the myometrial invasion evaluation of MRI images in endometrial cancer patients.

(1) Background. Hepatitis C infection often leads to extrahepatic manifestations, including cryoglobulinemic vasculitis. This systematic review aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of rituximab in treating hepatitis C-associated cryoglobulinemic vasculitis. (2) Methods. Following PRISMA guidelines, databases were searched for relevant studies. Eligibility criteria included studies on hepatitis C-associated cryoglobulinemic vasculitis treated with rituximab. (3) Results. Nine studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in this analysis. Rituximab was commonly administered at 375 mg/m² weekly for one month. The results consistently demonstrated the efficacy of rituximab, whether as a standalone treatment or as part of a therapeutic regimen. The combination of rituximab with Peg-IFN-α and ribavirin significantly increased the complete response rate compared to Peg-IFN-α and ribavirin alone (54.5% vs. 33.3%, p < 0.05). The 3-year sustained response rate was notably higher in the rituximab combination group (83.3% vs. 40%). In another trial, rituximab achieved remission in 83.3% of patients at 6 months, compared to only 8.3% in the control group. The efficacy of rituximab was supported by long-term experience, with clinical benefits in patients with severe cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, including those resistant to standard therapies. Mild adverse events were generally reported, with rare severe reactions in some studies. (4) Conclusions: In conclusion, rituximab appeared to be effective and safe in managing hepatitis C-associated cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, either alone or with antiviral therapy.

Background: Gut microbiota plays a critical role in host metabolism, immunity, and intestinal barrier integrity. Both chronic kidney disease (CKD) and kidney transplantation (KTR) are associated with gut dysbiosis, driven by uremic toxins, comorbidities, and immunosuppressive therapy. However, direct comparisons between hemodialysis (HD), KTR, and healthy controls (HC), while accounting for dietary factors, remain limited. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study including 48 HD patients, 75 KTR patients, and 13 HC. Stool patient samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing targeting the V4-V4 region to assess microbial composition and diversity. Data on clinical status, laboratory parameters, and dietary intake were collected and integrated with microbiome profiling. Results: Firmicutes and Bacteroidota dominated all groups, with Akkermansia enriched in HD and SCFA-producing genera (Faecalibacterium, Roseburia) more abundant in KTR. LEfSe and sPLS-DA analyses identified Akkermansia and Clostridia-related taxa as discriminants of HD, while Acidaminococcus and Megasphaera characterized KTR. HD patients exhibited higher alpha diversity (Faith’s PD and Chao1) than KTR (p < 0.05). Dietary intake differed across groups, but explained only a small proportion of microbial variance. Conclusions: Both HD and KTR patients display persistent gut dysbiosis with distinct microbial signatures. While transplantation partially restores SCFA producers, immunosuppression and diet shape new ecological shifts. These findings underscore the potential of microbiota as a biomarker and therapeutic target in renal replacement therapies.

Background and hypothesis. Mortality in hemodialysis (HD) remains high and cannot be entirely clarified by tradi-tional risk factors. The interplay between arterial stiffness, cardiac remodeling, and biomarker activation, such as galectin-3 and NT-proBNP, may be a potential driver of adverse outcomes in this setting. Combining biomarker profiling with NT-proBNP and galectin-3 may improve risk stratification. Methods. This was an observational study of 173 stable, asymptomatic HD patients, followed for more than 10 years. Patients were classified into four groups based on baseline NT-proBNP and galectin-3 medians (4,234 pg/mL and 28.1 ng/mL, respectively). Pri-mary outcomes were all-cause mortality, major cardiovascular events (MACE), and an exploratory outcome: all-cause mortality stratified by pulse wave velocity (PWV). Results. The overall mortality rate was 76.9% in our cohort: 21.1% died from cardiovascular causes, 21.1% from sepsis, and 22.6% of patients died from other causes. 31.6% of pa-tients were coded as sudden death. High NT-proBNP (Groups 3–4) was associated with the poorest survival (adjusted HR 2.58 and 1.93 vs. Group 1, p< 0.05). Age and PVW were independently associated with higher mortality risk. Each one-year increase in age was associated with a 4% higher risk of death, and each 1m/s increase in PVW corresponded to a 6% increase in mortality risk. MACE occurred in 26.8% and did not differ among biomarker groups. Conclusion. In this long-term HD cohort, biomarker profiles that included high NT-proBNP, pre-dicted all-cause mortality. Raised PWV further augmented risk, underlying the inter-play between cardiac stretch and vascular stiffness.