Telemedicine in the treatment of gestational diabetes: An observational cohort study on pregnancy outcomes and maternal satisfaction.

AIMS: Gestational diabetes treatment requires several outpatient consultations from diagnosis until delivery in order to prevent hyperglycaemia, which is associated with maternal and fetal complications. There is limited evidence in the literature about telemedicine superiority in improving pregnancy outcomes for women with gestational diabetes. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate maternal and fetal outcomes, while the secondary aim was to estimate the degree of satisfaction with gestational diabetes treatment, comparing telemedicine versus outpatient care. METHODS: This observational cohort study involved 60 consecutive women with gestational diabetes treated at the Diabetology Unit of Ferrara: 27 were followed up through a weekly remote control method (telemedicine group) and 33 in ambulatory clinics every 2 or 3 weeks (conventional group). After giving birth, 56 women responded to the modified Oxford Maternity Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire to assess their satisfaction with diabetes care. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were found in most of the maternal and neonatal parameters evaluated in both groups. The questionnaire scores were positive in all areas investigated. Telemedicine follow-up made women feel more controlled (p = 0.045) and fit better with their lifestyle (p = 0.005). It also emerged that almost all women treated with telemedicine would recommend this method to a relative or a friend. CONCLUSIONS: Telemedicine follow-up proved to be safe both in terms of metabolic control and pregnancy outcomes; furthermore, it significantly decreased the need for outpatient consultations and increased women's satisfaction. Studying the impact of telemedicine is also necessary, considering the current difficulties associated with the Sars-COV-2 pandemic.

Phased strabismus surgery under topical anesthesia.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of phased strabismus surgery under topical anesthesia, with intraoperative comparison of ocular alignment in supine and seated positions. METHODS: This retrospective clinical investigation analyzed the data of patients who underwent phased strabismus surgery with fixed sutures under topical anesthesia. The technique consisted of 2 phases, spaced out with an intraoperative alternate prism cover test (performed in supine and seated positions): (1) surgery on one or two muscles, as defined by a preoperative surgical plan; (2) if judged necessary, a further one-muscle surgery. Surgical success was defined as a residual angle of horizontal and vertical deviation ≤±8Δ and ≤5Δ, respectively, and the presence of single binocular vision in primary position in patients with preoperative diplopia. Follow-up visits were scheduled 1 day, 1 month, and 6 months after surgery. RESULTS: The review identified 38 patients (age range: 10-80 years). Surgery was well tolerated by all patients. Twelve (32%) required a second phase. No statistically significant differences were found for intraoperative angles of deviation in supine and seated positions. Surgical success was reached, respectively, in 88% and 87% of cases with horizontal and vertical deviation 6 months after surgery. No patients were reoperated during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Phased strabismus surgery is a feasible technique for various types of strabismus in adults and children. Secondly, intraoperative evaluation of ocular alignment can be performed either with the patient seated or supine, with the same accuracy in terms of surgical success.

Markers of liver function as potential prognostic indicators of SARS-CoV-2 infection: A retrospective analysis during the first and second waves of COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is known to cause a predominant respiratory disease, although extrapulmonary manifestations can also occur. One of the targets of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the hepatobiliary system. The present study aims to describe the correlation between the increase of liver damage markers (i.e. alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST], total bilirubin [TB]) and COVID-19 outcomes (i.e., in-hospital mortality [IHM] and intensive care unit [ICU] transfer). Methods: All patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted to the Infectious Diseases Unit of the St. Anna University-Hospital of Ferrara from March 2020 to October 2021 were retrospectively included in this single-centre study. ALT, AST and TB levels were tested in all patients and IHM or ICU transfer were considered as main outcomes. Co-morbidities were assessed using Charlson Comorbidity Index. Results: A total of 106 patients were retrieved. No hepatic marker was able to predict IHM, whereas all of them negatively predicted ICU transfer (ALT: OR 1.005, 95%CI 1.001-1.009, p= 0.011; AST: OR 1.018, 95%CI 1.006-1.030, p= 0.003; TB: OR 1.329, 95%CI 1.025-1.724, p= 0.032). Age was the only parameter significantly related to mortality. Conclusions: The present study, by correlating liver damage markers with COVID-19 outcome, showed that an increase of ALT, AST and TB predicted patients' severity, although not mortality.

Diagnostic anticipation to reduce emergency department length of stay: a retrospective cohort study in Ferrara University hospital, Italy.

BACKGROUND: Emergency Department (ED) crowding reduces staff satisfaction and healthcare quality and safety, which in turn increase costs. Despite a number of proposed solutions, ED length of stay (LOS) - a main cause of overcrowding - remains a major issue worldwide. This retrospective cohort study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness on ED LOS of a procedure called "Diagnostic Anticipation" (DA), which consisted in anticipating the ordering of blood tests by nurses, at triage, following a diagnostic algorithm approved by physicians. METHODS: In the second half of 2019, the ED of the University Hospital of Ferrara, Italy, adopted the DA protocol on alternate weeks for all patients with chest pain, abdominal pain, and non-traumatic bleeding. A retrospective cohort study on DA impact was conducted. Using ED electronic data, LOS independent predictors (age, sex, NEDOCS and Priority Color Code, imaging tests, specialistic consultations, hospital admission) were evaluated through multiple regression. RESULTS: During the weeks when DA was adopted, as compared to control weeks, the mean LOS was shorter by 18.2 min for chest pain, but longer by 15.7 min for abdominal pain, and 33.3 for non-traumatic bleeding. At multivariate analysis, adjusting for age, gender, triage priority, specialist consultations, imaging test, hospitalization and ED crowding, the difference in visit time was significant for chest pain only (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The impact of DA varied by patients' condition, being significant for chest pain only. Further research is needed before the implementation, estimating the potential proportion of inappropriate blood tests and ED crowding status.

[Economic impact of kidney patients with sepsis in hospital setting].

Introduction: Over the last decades, sepsis has become a real medical emergency, with a high mortality rate and often requiring admission to an intensive care unit. An increasing number of CKD patients contracts sepsis due to several clinical risk factors (use of catheters, immunosuppressive therapy, comorbidity, etc.) and is treated in Nephrology wards, generating additional costs that are not covered by hospital Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) reimbursement. The aim of the study is to evaluate the costs of sepsis in one Nephrology Unit and to detect the mortality rate of CKD patients with sepsis. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on a cohort of CKD patients admitted into one Nephrology Unit in 2017. CKD inpatients were divided in two groups: patients with sepsis (SP) and without (control group). Socio-demographic, clinical and therapeutic data, as well as routine biochemistry, were collected through a "sepsis form". SP were identified thanks to hospital discharge records (HDR). The hospital-related costs of a SP were obtained by summing up: (1) the average cost of an inpatient day of care for the average length of stay in the Nephrology Unit; (2) the average cost of the antimicrobial therapy, as recorded on the clinical folder. Results: Among the 408 CKD inpatients, 61 were septic. The overall average cost of a SP was 23.087,57 €; the average cost of the hospital stay and of the antimicrobial therapy was 19.364,98 € and 3.722,60 € respectively. The average length of stay in the Nephrology Unit was 16.7 days. The in-hospital mortality rate was 41.7%, with a 312% additional mortality rate. Conclusions: SP had an overall average cost three times higher than CKD inpatients without sepsis (9.290,79 €). This additional cost was due to a longer hospital stay (8.7 days more on average) and a higher cost of antimicrobial therapy per case (€ 221,24). A national multi-centre study is needed to confirm our data and to promote an adjustment of reimbursement tariff for DRG-sepsis, which is now applicable only to an ICU setting.

Evaluation on prognostic efficacy of lymph nodes ratio (LNR) and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) in complicated colon cancer: the first study in emergency surgery.

BACKGROUND: Lymph node involvement is one of the most important prognostic factors in colon cancer. Twelve is considered the minimum number of lymph nodes necessary to retain reliable tumour staging, but several factors can potentially influence the lymph node harvesting. Emergent surgery for complicated colon cancer (perforation, occlusion, bleeding) could represent an obstacle to reach the benchmark of 12 nodes with an accurate lymphadenectomy. So, an efficient classification system of lymphatic involvement is crucial to define the prognosis, the indication to adjuvant therapy and the follow-up. This is the first study with the aim to evaluate the efficacy of lymph nodes ratio (LNR) and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) in the prognostic assessment of patients who undergo to urgent surgery for complicated colonic cancer. METHODS: This is a retrospective study carried out on patients who underwent urgent colonic resection for complicated cancer (occlusion, perforation, bleeding, sepsis). We collected clinical, pathological and follow-up data of 320 patients. Two hundred two patients met the inclusion criteria and were distributed into three groups according to parameter N of TNM, LNR and LODDS. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier curves, investigating both overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: The median number of harvested lymph nodes was 17. In 78.71% (n = 159) of cases, at least 12 lymph nodes were examined. Regarding OS, significant differences from survival curves emerged for ASA score, surgical indication, tumour grading, T parameter, tumour stage, N parameter, LNR and LODDS. In multivariate analysis, only LODDS was found to be an independent prognostic factor. Concerning DFS, we found significant differences between survival curves of sex, surgical indication, T parameter, tumour stage, N parameter, LNR and LODDS, but none of these confirmed its prognostic power in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: We found that N, LNR and LODDS are all related to 5-year OS and DFS with statistical significance, but only LODDS was found to be an independent prognostic factor for OS in multivariate analysis.

Preoperative endoscopic tattooing to mark the tumour site does not improve lymph node retrieval in colorectal cancer: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: A direct correlation between number of lymph nodes retrieved and evaluated after a colectomy for colorectal cancer and survival of the patient has been reported, and consensus guidelines recommend to assess at least 12 lymph nodes for adequate staging. Many factors (i.e., patients' and tumour characteristics, surgeon, and pathologist) may influence the evaluation of the presence of neoplastic disease in lymph nodes as well as the total number of lymph nodes examined. Preoperative endoscopic tattooing to mark the site of the tumour has recently been suggested to facilitate the retrieval of lymph nodes in colorectal specimens. The aim of this study was to investigate its association with adequate lymphadenectomy (≥12 nodes) after colorectal resection for cancer. RESULTS: All patients undergoing elective colorectal resection for cancer between 2009 and 2011 at the S. Anna University Hospital in Ferrara, Italy (N = 250) were retrospectively divided into two cohorts according to whether ink tattooing to mark the tumour site was performed during preoperative colonoscopy. The two cohorts were comparable regarding age, gender, body mass index, tumour location and size, TNM staging, and DNA microsatellite instability-high status. No difference between the tattoo (N = 107) and control (N = 143) groups could be detected in the rate of adequate lymphadenectomies performed (78% vs. 79%, p = 0.40). All factors known to influence lymph nodes retrieval from colorectal specimen were specifically evaluated. Rectal and colonic cancers were analysed together and separately. Full adjusted logistic regression analysis in patients who underwent colonic resection showed that right hemicolectomy (OR 4.72; CI95% 1.09-20.36) was the only factor associated to adequate lymphadenectomy. No association between ink tattooing performed preoperatively to mark the site of the tumour and adequate lymphadenectomy after colorectal resection was found with logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: This study shows that preoperative ink tattooing utilized to mark the site of the tumour does not improve adequate lymphadenectomy and lymph nodes yield from colorectal cancer specimens. Further studies are therefore needed to determine if preoperative colonoscopic tattooing to mark the tumour site can refine staging.

Radio-guided selective compartment neck dissection improves staging in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a prospective study on 345 patients with a 3-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Prospective uncontrolled study to investigate in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients: (1) Distribution of lymph node metastases within the neck compartments, (2) factors predicting lymph nodes metastases, and (3) disease recurrence after thyroidectomy associated with radio-guided selective compartment neck dissection (RSCND). METHODS: We studied 345 consecutive PTC patients operated on between February 2004 and October 2011 at the S. Anna University Hospital, Ferrara (Italy). Patients with cervical lymph node metastases on preoperative ultrasonography and fine needle aspiration cytology were excluded. All patients underwent total thyroidectomy associated with SLN identification followed by RSCND in the SLN compartment, without SLN frozen section. RESULTS: In patients with lymph node metastases, metastatic nodes were not in the central neck compartment in 22.6% of the cases. The presence of infiltrating or multifocal PTC was a predicting factor for lymph nodes metastases. The median follow-up was 35.5 months. RSCND was associated with a false-negative rate of 1.1%, a persistent disease rate of 0.6%, and a recurrent disease rate of 0.9%. The permanent dysphonia rate was 1.3%. CONCLUSION: RSCND associated with total thyroidectomy may improve: (1) the locoregional lymph node staging, and (2) the identification of the site of lymphatic drainage within the neck compartments. Thus, considering the high false-negative rate of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), a radio-guided technique in PTC patients may guide the lymphadenectomy (ie, RSCND) to increase the metastatic yield and improve staging of the disease rather than avoid prophylactic lymphadenectomy (ie, SLNB).

[Management of children with headache in a Pediatric Emergency Department before and after the introduction of the Second International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II)]. / Il percorso dei pazienti con cefalea in Pronto Soccorso pediatrico prima e dopo la seconda classificazione internazionale delle cefalee.

The aim of this study was to evaluate how the management of children admitted with headache to a Pediatric Emergency Department, was modified by the introduction of the Second International Classification of Headache Disorders ( ICHD-II) published in 2004. The complexity and average costs of the services provided to patients in 2002 and 2011 were compared. The results revealed a decrease in the number of tests performed and in-hospital admissions. However, tests were more complex, and an increase in requests of specialist advice was observed. We hypothesized that this change may be related to the introduction of ICHD-II, which suggests a more rational approach to the child with headache and a better use of hospital resources.

Correlation of transcranial color Doppler to n20 somatosensory evoked potential detects ischemic penumbra in subarachnoid hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Normal subjects present interhemispheric symmetry of middle cerebral artery (MCA) mean flow velocity and N20 cortical somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP). Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) can modify this pattern, since high regional brain vascular resistances increase blood flow velocity, and impaired regional brain perfusion reduces N20 amplitude. The aim of the study is to investigate the variability of MCA resistances and N20 amplitude between hemispheres in SAH. METHODS: Measurements of MCA blood flow velocity (vMCA) by transcranial color-Doppler and median nerve SSEP were bilaterally performed in sixteen patients. MCA vascular changes on the compromised hemisphere were calculated as a ratio of the reciprocal of mean flow velocity (1/vMCA) to contralateral value and correlated to the simultaneous variations of interhemispheric ratio of N20 amplitude, within each subject. Data were analysed with respect to neuroimaging of MCA supplied areas. RESULTS: Both interhemispheric ratios of 1/vMCA and N20 amplitude were detected >0.65 (p <0,01) in patients without neuroimages of injury. Both ratios became <0.65 (p <0.01) when patients showed unilateral images of ischemic penumbra and returned >0.65 if penumbra disappeared. The two ratios no longer correlated after structural lesion developed, as N20 detected in the damaged side remained pathological (ratio <0.65), whereas 1/vMCA reverted to symmetric interhemispheric state (ratio >0.65), suggesting a luxury perfusion. CONCLUSION: Variations of interhemispheric ratios of MCA resistance and cortical N20 amplitude correlate closely in SAH and allow identification of the reversible ischemic penumbra threshold, when both ratios become <0.65. The correlation is lost when structural damage develops.

Ill-lighting syndrome: prevalence in shift-work personnel in the anaesthesiology and intensive care department of three Italian hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Light is one of the most important factors in our interaction with the environment; it is indispensable to visual function and neuroendocrine regulation, and is essential to our emotional perception and evaluation of the environment. Previous studies have focussed on the effects of prolonged anomalous exposure to artificial light and, in the field of work-related illness. Studies have been carried out on shift-work personnel, who are obliged to experience alterations in the physiological alternation of day and night, with anomalous exposure to light stimuli in hours normally reserved for sleep. In order to identify any signs and symptoms of the so-called ill-lighting syndrome, we carried out a study on a sample of anaesthesiologists and nurses employed in the operating theatres and Intensive Care Departments of three Italian hospitals. We measured the subjective emotional discomfort (stress) experienced by these subjects, and its correlation with environmental discomfort factors, in particular the level of lighting, in their workplace. METHODS: We used a questionnaire developed by the Scandinavian teams who investigated Sick-Building Syndrome, that was self-administered on one day in the environments where the degree of illumination was measured according to UNIEN12464-1 regulations. RESULTS: Upon comparison of the types of exposure with the horizontal luminance values (lux) measured (< 700 lux, between 1000-1500 lux, > 1500 lux) and the degree of stress reported, (Intensive Care: mean stress = 55.8%, high stress = 34.6%; Operating Theatres: mean stress = 51.5%, high stress = 33.8%), it can be observed that the percentage of high stress was reduced as the exposure to luminance was increased, although this finding was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: We cannot share other authors' enthusiasm regarding the effects on workers well-being correlated to the use of fluorescent lighting. The stress level of our workers was found to be more heavily influenced by their familial and working conditions, irrespective of the ambient light stimulus.

[The Day Service: a novel structure for the outpatient]. / L'introduzione nell'attività clinica del Day Service ambulatoriale come nuovo modello assistenziale: dalle fondamenta teoriche all'esperienza pratica.

In our hospitals, diagnostic and therapeutic unbloody technologies allow the development of day care services in substitution for usual hospitalization. The Day Service, as like other daily services, is an organization of the outpatient structure, combining day care and simple services, into a complex clinical situation. A complex outpatient treatment (profile) identifies an "outpatient standard package" in accordance to a specific pathology or diagnostic symptomatology. The hospital clinician is responsible of the possible path as patient's occasion may require. Facilitation of burocratic procedure and more clinical appropriatness for outpatient care represent the best model of welfare practice. Reduction of many medically "improper" cases is another goal reached in this project. The Day Service model, nowadays present in the National Health Service as well, has been born in the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria of Ferrara, from diagnostic-therapeutic and economic uniform criteria of procedure packages to complex patients.