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Introduction and Purpose of the study: The sensitivity of genomic tests to identify SARS-CoV2 is around 65-75%. It is very common to find clinical and radiological pictures suggestive of infection but with a negative nasopharyngeal swab. The aim of our study was to use BAL fibrobronchoscopy in subjects with negative swab but with clinical and radiological signs suggesting SARS-CoV2 infection. Materials and Methods: 52 subjects admitted to the observation area (gray area) Covid of the F. Miulli Hospital in 2020 were examined. All had negative nasopharyngeal swab (even in several determinations), also performed on sputum, but a clinical and radiological picture (Ground Glass Opacity with or without consolidations) suggestive of infection. In all subjects a fibrobronchoscopy with BAL was performed with the microbiological research also of bacteria and other viruses (pneumo plus film array). The examination was performed about 10 days after the onset of symptoms. Results: The BAL allowed microbiological diagnosis (Covid and non-Covid) in 30.8% of cases, while the positivity rate for SARSCoV 2 was 11.5%. Conclusions: Our data shows that the negativity of BAL in the search for the SARS-CoV 2 virus agrees with the outcome of the nasopharyngeal and sputum swab (89.5%), highlighting 11.5% of positive subjects. However, BAL negativity does not exclude SARS-CoV2 etiology, especially in typical radiological cases. The time interval between the onset of infection and BAL may have allowed the clearance of the virus.
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Background: Little is known about the long-term re-hospitalization of patients with confirmed infection by SARS CoV 2 discharged from hospital. Aim: The aim of our retrospective cohort study was to identify death and re-hospitalization outcomes in a 16-month follow-up in a population of subjects already hospitalized for Covid-19. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the metropolitan area of Bari (population: 472,385 inhabitants) by examining the patients hospitalized from 17/03/2020 to 28/05/2021 at the Covid Unit of the F. Miulli hospital in Acquaviva delle Fonti. Results: 1238 patients (754 males, 60.9%, median 70 years) were hospitalized in Covid Unit: 1060 (85.6%) (M 60.1% median 71 years) were hospitalized in non-intensive wards, while 178 (14.4%) (M 65.7%, median 69 aa), passed through the IT. At follow-up, 922 subjects were still alive;66 deceased (7.2% of the total, 37.8% males, median 80 years). Analyzing only the data of patients residing in the metropolitan area, where the hospital is the reference, 780 patients discharged alive were examined. Of these, 11.2% were rehospitalized at least once, 30 died (4.3%). Mortality on re-admission to hospital was 17.2%. A third of the re-admissions were unrelated to Covid. Infections, pneumonia and cardiovascular disease were the most represented reason for hospitalization. Conclusions: Data show that at a follow-up of 16 months 92.8% of the subjects were still alive, while 7.2% had died, mainly elderly women. 11.2% of those discharged from the Covid ward have been re-admitted to the hospital at least once.
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Introduction and Purpose of the study: SARS-CoV2 infection is characterized by massive involvement of the respiratory system. During the various waves, the patients admitted to the Covid wards presented different degrees of pulmonary involvement and numerous comorbidities. Administration of oxygen therapy was the prevalent measure in almost all subjects. The aim of our study was to verify the level of severity and ventilation procedures in a group of subjects hospitalized for SARS-CoV2 infection. Materials and Methods: 388 subjects admitted to the semi-intensive Covid Unit of the F. Miulli Hospital in 2020 were retrospectively analyzed, by examining the SDOs. The main diagnoses and procedures performed were identified. A severity cluster was identified characterized by death, ventilation and hospitalization in the semi-intensive area (cut off at 14 days). Results: 82 were the deceased (21.1%). The main diagnoses most represented were: 84.2% respiratory failure, 3.3% heart failure, 2.5% pulmonary embolism and 1.5% septicemia. Regarding the procedures, 31.9% underwent C-PAP ventilation, while 0.7% underwent non-invasive mechanical ventilation. 64% of the subjects had a severe degree of disease evidenced by the composite cluster of deaths, ventilation and at least 14 nights in semi-intensive care. Conclusions: Our data shows that in the face of almost all patients with respiratory failure, about one third underwent ventilation procedures (C-PAP and NIV). More than half of the subjects had a severe degree of disease.
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Introduction: In our country, the percentage of subjects infected with HCV is about 2% of the general population, with a gradient that increases from the North to the South and the islands. The decline in hepatitis C treatments is sensationally evident. The WHO had set the goal of its elimination by 2030, a result made achievable thanks to the new direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAA), which allow the virus to be eradicated in definitively, quickly and without side effects. The pandemic has slowed both screening and treatment. Purpose of the study: Evaluate the prevalence of subjects positive for hepatitis C antigen (HCV +) in all hospitalized for Covid-19. Materials and Methods: 839 subjects admitted to the Covid Unit of the F. Miulli Hospital in Acquaviva delle Fonti were retrospectively assessed. Results: The prevalence of HCV+subjects was 4.7%. No statistically significant differences were found when comparing the main laboratory tests. No difference emerged regarding the outcomes (length of hospitalization and death) which are similar in the two groups. Conclusions: The prevalence of HCV+subjects in the Covid-19 population is double that of the general population. A project is underway in our hospital which provides for the screening of all over 50 year olds hospitalized in order to bring out HCV+subjects and direct them to an outpatient diagnostic confirmation path and any specific eradicating therapy.
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Background and Aim:We currently do not have a specific therapy for SARS-CoV-2 infection;experimental therapies have been improved with various drugs such as lopinavir/ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine, tocilizumab with controversial data about efficacy. The aim of the study is to highlight any gender differences in the response to the aforementioned therapies. Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of 234 patients, 96 F and 138 M, referring to our CoViD UNIT from March 2020 to April 2021, divided into groups based on the administered drug. Results: Lopinavir/ritonavir: in the overall cohort (M+F) the drug reduces the risk of death/ICU admission (p=0.01);this impact on the outcome is not significant in the individual groups M and F when analyzed separately. On the other hand, considering mortality alone, in the collective group this was lower in treated patients, an efficacy figure that does not differ in the two sexes after stratification by gender. Hydroxychloroquine: considering the whole cohort there is a reduced mortality in the treated (p <0.001). The impact of the drug on the risk of death/intensive care admission is comparable in the two sexes. Tocilizumab: the drug does not change the risk of death/ICU admission in the overall group;the subgroup analysis is lacking due to the small number of samples. Conclusions: The gender difference does not show a significant impact on the efficacy of the drugs considered. New studies, on larger cohorts, are needed to confirm or refute these preliminary data.
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Background and Aim: In January 2021, vaccination against CoViD-19 was started in Italy. F. Miulli Regional Hospital, in Acquaviva delle Fonti (BA), has prepared a vaccination plan in order to cover the entire health care population which, starting from January 6, 2021, led to the vaccination of 1,700 subjects. Purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination on healthcare personnel. Primary outcomes were: the number of infections detected after vaccination and hospitalizations for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Materials and Methods: Nasopharyngeal swabs were analyzed with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction techniques. Vaccination campaign was carried out in the period January-February 2021. The data were compared according to three periods: time 0: March-April 2020;time 1: October2020-January 2021;time 2 (post vaccine): February-April 2021. Results: The swabs analyzed were respectively: Time 0: 1.077;Time 1: 9.043;Time 2: 4.013. The positive tests and their percentage, relative to the swabs examined in the three times, are: Time 0: 17 cases (1.57%);Time 1: 137 cases (1.51%);Time 2: 15 cases (0.37%). Furthermore, none of the positive subjects at time 2 required hospitalization, compared to 3.2% of hospitalizations which occurred between time 0 and time 1. Conclusions: Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 resulted in a 75.3% reduction in infections in vaccinated subjects and a 100% reduction in hospitalizations, indicating a high protective effect for both infection and disease expression.
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Background and Aim of the study: CoViD-19 pandemic required to the physicians the necessity to gain effective treatments against this infectious disease;one of the tried drugs is remdesivir. The aim of our study is to analyze clinical and laboratory features of a cohort of CoViD-19 patients treated with remdesivir. Materials and Methods:We evaluated retrospectively data of 22 patients (18 men and 4 women), considering two main items: the trend of inflammation markers (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, Creactive protein, interleukin-6, D-dimers, lymphocyte count, ferritin) and the severity of respiratory failure, comparing data between admission and discharge. Results: At admission, 85,7% of patients showed signs of acute respiratory failure (P/F ratio <300) and needed oxygen therapy but only 9,1% of them had this condition at discharge. Moreover, ESR, CRP and IL-6 levels were high at admission but showed a significant reduction at discharge;lymphocyte count was instead reduced at the beginning of the disease and increased after treatment;no significative variations were observed for D-dimer and ferritin levels. Finally average hospital stay was 4 days lower than the one of the cohort of patients non treated with remdesivir. Conclusions: Our results indicate that patients treated with remdesivir showed a good outcome in terms of respiratory function and reduction of inflammation state. However, a larger cohort of patients and the comparison with control patients are necessary to better investigate potential benefits of remdesivir.
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Background and Aim: The CoViD-19 pandemic experienced two main waves: February-June 2020 and October 2020-February 2021 respectively. The F. Miulli Hospital has activated intensive and semi-intensive care, pulmonology and infectious disease departments, for a total of 240 beds. Aim of the study was to evaluate differences between the two waves, in relation to the length of hospitalization and mortality. Materials and Methods: We collected data from 1005 subjects (619 men). Age, gender, length of hospital stay, and deaths were analyzed. Results: In the second wave we found a higher percentage of deaths (25.8 vs 19.4%;p=0.043) and among these a higher prevalence of males (66 vs 44.7%;p=0.007);furthermore, in the subjects hospitalized during the second wave, we observed a lower average age of the deceased (78±13 vs 82±8 years;p=0.019) and a shorter duration of hospitalization (18±13 vs 21±14 days;p=0.004). No significant difference was observed in the prevalence of males, however most affected (62.4% second wave vs 59.1% first wave), and in mean age (69±15 seconds vs 68±18 first wave). Conclusions: The second wave showed greater lethality especially for males and younger subjects. Despite this, the duration of hospitalization was shorter, a condition probably linked to the experience acquired by the health professionals involved in the assistance and to a wider network of local structures capable of welcoming CoViD patients. The impact of the variants on the severity of the disease remains to be assessed.
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Background and aims: Erenumab proved to be safe and well tolerated in a 5-year continuation of a 1-year double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Aim: to assess >48-week erenumab tolerability and safety in a real-world setting. Methods: In this long term (>48-week), multicenter (n = 15), longitudinal cohort real life study, we monitored all the adverse events emerged in consecutive adult patients with high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM) or chronic migraine (CM) treated with monthly erenumab 70 mg or 140 mg from 20 December 2018 to 15 December 2020. Results: 442 patients (HFEM: 115;CM: 327) were treated with erenumab for >48 weeks: 209 (47.3%) patients were treated for 49–60 weeks, 132 (29.9%) for 61–72 weeks;73 (16.5%) for 73–84 weeks;21 (4.7%) for 85–100 weeks. Overall, >1 treatment emergent adverse event (TEAE) was reported by 136 (30.8%) [HFEM: 43 (37.4%);CM: 93 (28.4%)]. Most common TEAE were constipation (n = 66;14.9%), injection site erythema (n = 15;3.4%), and influenza (n = 7;1.6%). Serious adverse events (SAE) were reported by 8 patients (1.8%) and led to treatment discontinuation: severe constipation (n = 3), abdominal pain (n = 1), NSTEMI (n = 3), Covid-19 infection (n = 1). Only severe constipation was considered treatment-related SAE (0.45%). Conclusions: Conclusion: Erenumab is safe and well tolerated also in long-term treatment (>48 weeks) in real life.