Internal and Emergency Medicine (IEM) is an independent, international, English-language, peer-reviewed journal designed for internists and emergency physicians. IEM publishes a variety of manuscript types including Original investigations, Review articles, Letters to the Editor, Editorials and Commentaries. Occasionally IEM accepts unsolicited Reviews, Commentaries or Editorials. The journal is divided into three sections, i.e., Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Clinical Evidence and Health Technology Assessment, with three separate editorial boards. In the Internal Medicine section, invited Case records and Physical examinations, devoted to underlining the role of a clinical approach in selected clinical cases, are also published. The Emergency Medicine section will include a Morbidity and Mortality Report and an Airway Forum concerning the management of difficult airway problems. As far as Critical Care is becoming an integral part of Emergency Medicine, a new sub-section will report the literature that concerns the interface not only for the care of the critical patient in the Emergency Department, but also in the Intensive Care Unit. Finally, in the Clinical Evidence and Health Technology Assessment section brief discussions of topics of evidence-based medicine (Cochrane’s corner) and Research updates are published. IEM encourages letters of rebuttal and criticism of published articles. Topics of interest include all subjects that relate to the science and practice of Internal and Emergency Medicine. IEM is the official journal of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine and is published eight times per year starting with 2013.

This journal also publishes special/guest-edited issues. The peer review process for these articles is the same as the peer review process of the journal in general. Additionally, if the guest editor(s) authors an article in their special issue, they will not handle the peer review process.

Editor-in-Chief
D. Prisco, Florence, Italy
Co-Editor
P. Rosen, Boston, USA
Advisory Board
E. Agabiti Rosei, Brescia, Italy
G. Agnelli, Perugia, Italy
M. Arici, Ankara, Turkey
C. Brugnara, Boston, USA
G. Di Minno, Naples, Italy
A.F. Dominiczack, Glasgow, UK
F. Franssen, Horn, The Netherlands
L. Gesualdo, Bari, Italy
P.H.R. Green, New York, USA
A. Iorio, Hamilton, ON, Canada
R. J. Johnson, Gainsville, FL, USA
S. Konstantinides, Mainz, Germany
R. Landolfi, Rome, Italy
M. Levi, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
G. Licata, Palermo, Italy
T. Macdonald, Dundee, UK
E. Maggi, Florence, Italy
N. Marchionni, Florence, Italy
L. Pagliaro, Palermo, Italy
G. Palareti, Bologna, Italy
N. Paolocci, Baltimore, MD, USA
G. Parati, Milan, Italy
A. Perrier, Geneve, Switzerland
M. Pinzani, London, UK
P. Prandoni, Padua, Italy
E. Ritz, Heidelberg, Germany
C. Selinger, Leeds, UK
G. Weiss, Innsbruck, Austria
EDITORIAL BOARD
Internal Medicine
Chairman
D. Prisco, Florence, Italy
Editors
W. Ageno, Varese, Italy
C. Agyemang, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
M. Averna, Palermo, Italy
E. Bargagli, Siena, Italy
C. Bartoloni, Florence, Italy
S. Basili, Rome, Italy
C. Borghi, Bologna, Italy
A. Brucato, Milano, Italy
M.D. Cappellini, Milan, Italy
A. Carolei, L'Aquila, Italy
E.M. Clini, Modena, Italy
G.R. Corazza, Pavia, Italy
M.M. d'Elios, Florence, Italy
E. De Candia, Rome, Italy
C. Di Mario, Florence, Italy
J. Douketis, Hamilton, ON, Canada
G. Emmi, Florence, Italy
D. Girelli, Verona, Italy
P. Gresele, Perugia, Italy
Z.-C. Jing, Beijing, China
A.P. Kengne, Cape Town, South Africa
G. Laffi, Florence, Italy
A. Licata, Palermo, Italy
P.M. Mannucci, Milan, Italy
E. Manzato, Padua, Italy
R. Marcucci, Florence, Italy
P. Martelletti, Rome, Italy
P.A. Modesti, Florence, Italy
N. Montano, Milan, Italy
C.M. Montecucco, Pavia, Italy
V. Pengo, Padua, Italy
F. Perticone, Catanzaro, Italy
A. Pietrangelo, Modena, Italy
P. Pignatelli, Rome, Italy
R. Polosa, Catania, Italy
R. Pontremoli, Genua, Italy
M. Porta, Turin, Italy
P. Portincasa, Bari, Italy
G. Raimondo, Messina, Italy
P. Sbraccia, Rome, Italy
R. Sequeira, Mumbai, India
G. Sesti, Catanzaro, Italy
R. Sheldon, Calgary, Canada
V. Toscano, Rome, Italy
A. Vaglio, Parma, Italy
B. Vaira, Bologna, Italy
A. Vannucchi, Florence, Italy
F. Violi, Rome, Italy
D.Q.-H. Wang, New York, USA
Emergency Medicine
Chairman
B. Adams, San Antonio, TX, USA
Editors
M. Alzetta, Venice, Italy
Y. Applebaum, Baltimore, MD, USA
A. Bastani, MI, USA
P. Biddinger, Boston, MA, USA
W. Brady, Charlottesville, PA, USA
E. Brandler, New York, USA
A. Celi, Pisa, Italy
D. Coen, Milan, Italy
G.P. Conners, Kansas City, MO, USA
S. Di Somma, Rome, Italy
F. Franceschi, Rome, Italy
J.N. Goldstein, Boston, MA, USA
J.E. Hipskind, Visalia, CA, USA
F. Innocenti, Florence, Italy
C. Kabrhel, Boston, MA, USA
L. Kass, Hershey, PA, USA
A.M. Landry, Boston, MA, USA
W.B. Lau, Philadelphia, PA, USA
D. Lauque, Toulouse, France
M. Lyon, GA, USA
C. Moroni, Rome, Italy
T. Osborn, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
R. Pini, Florence, USA
P. Rosen, Boston, MA, USA
L. Sanchez, Boston, MA, USA
R. Sbrojavacca, Udine, Italy
E. Schwarz, Washington DC, USA
S. Vanni, Florence, Italy
D. Wampler, San Antonio, TX, USA
R.E. Wolfe, Boston, MA, USA
Clinical Evidence and Health Technology Assessment
Chairman
G.F. Gensini, Florence, Italy
Deputy Chairmen
G. Costantino, Milan, Italy
G. Casazza, Milan, Italy
Editors
S. Corrao, Palermo, Italy
L. Moja, Milan, Italy
G.M. Podda, Milan, Italy
S. Ricci, Perugia, Italy
A. Squizzato, Varese, Italy
G. Tripepi, Reggio Calabria, Italy
G. Virgili, Florence, Italy