Clinical and Electrophysiological Changes in Pediatric Spinal Muscular Atrophy after 2 Years of Nusinersen Treatment.

In the new therapeutic era, disease-modifying treatment (nusinersen) has changed the natural evolution of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), creating new phenotypes. The main purpose of the retrospective observational study was to explore changes in clinical evolution and electrophysiological data after 2 years of nusinersen treatment. We assessed distal compound motor action potential (CMAP) on the ulnar nerve and motor abilities in 34 SMA patients, aged between 1 and 16 years old, under nusinersen treatment, using specific motor scales for types 1, 2 and 3. The evaluations were performed at treatment initiation and 26 months later. There were registered increased values for CMAP amplitudes after 2 years of nusinersen, significantly correlated with motor function evolution in SMA type 1 patients (p < 0.005, r = 0.667). In total, 45% of non-sitters became sitters and 25% of sitters became walkers. For SMA types 1 and 2, the age at the treatment initialization is highly significant (p < 0.0001) and correlated with treatment yield. A strong negative correlation (r = −0.633) was observed for SMA type 1 and a very strong negative correlation (r = −0.813) for SMA type 2. In treated SMA cases, the distal amplitude of the CMAP and motor functional scales are important prognostic factors, and early diagnosis and treatment are essential for a better outcome.

Polypharmacy in the Management of Arterial Hypertension-Friend or Foe?

Background and Objectives: Polypharmacy is associated with drug-drug or food-drug interactions that may pose treatment difficulties. The objective of the study was to investigate the use of polypharmacy in hypertensive patients hospitalized in the Internal Medicine Clinic of a European referral hospital. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review study on patients identified by a database search of discharge diagnoses to assess the use of polypharmacy and identify potential drug-drug and food-drug interactions. Results: In total, 166 hypertensive patients (68.46 ± 12.70 years, range 42-94 years) were compared to 83 normotensive subjects (67.82 ± 14.47 years, range 22-94 years) who were hospitalized in the clinic during the same period. Polypharmacy was more common in hypertensive versus normotensive subjects (p = 0.007). There were no differences in terms of age, as well as major (0.44 ± 0.77 versus 0.37 ± 0.73 interactions/patient, p = 0.52) and minor (1.25 ± 1.50 versus 1.08 ± 1.84 interactions/patient, p = 0.46) drug-drug interactions between patients with and without hypertension. The mean number of drug-drug interactions (6.55 ± 5.82 versus 4.93 ± 5.59 interactions/patient, p = 0.03), moderate drug-drug interactions (4.94 ± 4.75 versus 3.54 ± 4.17, p = 0.02) and food-drug interactions (2.64 ± 1.29 versus 2.02 ± 1.73, p = 0.00) was higher in patients with hypertension versus their counterparts. Conclusions: The present study reinforces that polypharmacy is a serious concern in hypertensive patients, as reflected by the high number of potentially harmful drug-drug or food-drug interactions. We recorded higher numbers of comorbidities, prescribed drugs, and moderate drug-drug/food-drug interactions in hypertensive versus normotensive patients. A strategy to evaluate the number of discharge medications and reduce drug-drug interactions is essential for the safety of hypertensive patients.

Antimicrobial resistance development following surgical site infections.

Surgical site infections (SSIs) determine an increase in hospitalization time and antibiotic therapy costs. The aim of this study was to identify the germs involved in SSIs in patients from the Clinical Emergency County Hospital of Craiova (SCJUC) and to assess their resistance to antimicrobials, with comparisons between surgical wards and the intensive care unit (ICU). The biological samples were subjected to classical bacteriological diagnostics. Antibiotic resistance was tested by disc diffusion. We used hierarchical clustering as a method to group the isolates based upon the antibiotic resistance profile. The most prevalent bacterial species isolated were Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus; 50.72%), followed by Escherichia coli (E. coli; 17.22%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; 10.05%). In addition, at lower percentages, we isolated glucose-non-fermenting, Gram-negative bacteria and other Enterobacteriaceae. The antibiotic resistance varied greatly between species; the most resistant were the non-fermenting Gram­negative rods. E. coli exhibited lower resistance to third generation cephalosporins, quinolones and carbapenems. By contrast, Klebsiella was resistant to many cephalosporins and penicillins, and to a certain extent to carbapenems due to carbapenemase production. The non-fermenting bacteria were highly resistant to antibiotics, but were generally sensitive to colistin. S. aureus was resistant to ceftriaxone (100%), penicillin (91.36%), amoxicillin/clavulanate (87.50%), amikacin (80.00%) and was sensitive to levofloxacin, doxycycline, gentamycin, tigecycline and teicoplanin. The Enterobacteriaceae resistance was only slightly higher in the ICU, particularly to carbapenems (imipenem, 31.20% in the ICU vs. 14.30% in the surgical wards; risk ratio = 2.182). As regards Staphylococcus species, but for non-fermenting bacteria, even if the median was almost the same, the antibiotic resistance index values were confined to the upper limit in the ICU. The data gathered from this study may help infection control teams to establish effective guidelines for antibiotic therapies in various surgical procedures, in order to minimize the risk of developing SSIs by the efficient application of the anti-infection armamentarium.