Diagnostic Accuracy of Lung Ultrasound in Neonatal Diseases: A Systematized Review.

Background: Respiratory problems are frequent in newborns, and are mainly studied with chest X-rays, whereas CT scans are usually needed for the evaluation of rare malformations and diseases. Lung ultrasound (LUS] has been proposed as an alternative method of diagnosing a variety of respiratory conditions. In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in LUS studies, thanks to the ability of LUS to rapidly exclude complications and significantly reduce radiation exposure in this fragile population. We aimed to summarize the current knowledge about LUS. Methods: A literature search was conducted on the Medline and Cochrane databases using appropriate terms. The inclusion criteria were: English language and human species. Exclusion criteria were: non-English language, animal species, case reports, case series, non-systematic reviews, and editorials. Results: The search returned 360 results. No Cochrane reviews were found. Titles and abstracts were screened, and 37 were finally considered. Studies concerning the use of lung ultrasound for the following conditions were presented: neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, transient tachypnea of the newborn, pneumothorax, pulmonary hemorrhage, pneumonia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and prediction of extubation success. Conclusions: We discussed the utility of LUS for the diagnosis and treatment of neonatal diseases according to the most recent literature.

Acute Medication Use in Patients With Migraine Treated With Monoclonal Antibodies Acting on the CGRP Pathway: Results From a Multicenter Study and Proposal of a New Index.

Introduction: Assessing the impact of migraine preventive treatments on acute medication consumption is important in clinical evaluation. The number of acute medication intakes per each monthly migraine day (MMD) could provide insights on migraine burden and represent a new proxy of treatment effectiveness in clinical trials and real-life studies. We evaluated the effect of monoclonal antibodies acting on calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) pathway on the consumption of migraine acute medication in real-life. Methods: In two headache centers in Prague (CZ), we included and followed up to 6 months consecutive patients treated with MoAbs acting on CGRP (erenumab or fremanezumab). For each month of treatment, we reported monthly drug intake (MDI) in doses of any medication, migraine-specific (MS), and non-migraine-specific (non-MS) medications, and computed a ratio between MMDs and MDI, i.e., Migraine Medication Index (MMI) for MS and non-MS medications. Results: We included 90 patients (91.1% women) with a median age of 47 [interquartile range (IQR) 42-51] years; 81 (90.0%) treated with erenumab and 9 (10.0%) with fremanezumab. Median MMDs decreased from 11 (IQR 8-14) at baseline to 4 (IQR 2-5) at Month 3 (p < 0.001 vs. baseline) and 3 (IQR 2-6) at Month 6 (p < 0.001 vs. baseline). Median MDI decreased from 15 drug intakes (IQR 11-20) at baseline to four drug intakes (IQR 2-7) at Month 3 (p < 0.001) and four drug intakes (IQR 2-7) at Month 6 (p < 0.001).The corresponding MDIs for MS medications were 10 (IQR 6-14) at baseline, 3 (IQR 1-5, p < 0.001) at Month 3, and 2 (IQR 0-4, p < 0.001) at Month 6. Monthly drug intakes for non-MS medications were 4 (IQR 0-9) at baseline, 1 (IQR 0-3, p < 0.001) at Month 3 and at Month 6.Median MMI decreased from 1.32 (IQR 1.11-1.68) at baseline to 1.00 (IQR 1.00-1.50, p < 0.001) at Month 3 and 1.00 (IQR 1.00-1.34, p < 0.001) at Month 6. Conclusions: We confirmed that MoAbs acting on CGRP pathway decrease acute migraine medication consumption. We proposed a new index that can be easily applied in clinical practice to quantify migraine burden and its response to acute medication. Our index could help optimizing migraine acute treatment in clinical practice.

Gender Differences in 3-Month Outcomes of Erenumab Treatment-Study on Efficacy and Safety of Treatment With Erenumab in Men.

Objective: We reported gender-specific data on the efficacy and safety of erenumab, a monoclonal antibody antagonizing the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor. Methods: Our pooled patient-level analysis of real-world data included patients treated with erenumab and followed up for 12 weeks. We considered the following outcomes at weeks 9-12 of treatment compared with baseline: 0-29%, 30-49%, 50-75%, and ≥75% responder rates, according to the decrease in monthly headache days (MHDs), rate of treatment stopping, change in MHDs, monthly migraine days (MMDs), monthly days of acute medication and triptan use, and Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6) score from baseline to weeks 9-12. Outcomes were compared between men and women by the chi-squared test or t-test, as appropriate. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to identify factors influencing the efficacy outcomes. Results: We included 1,410 patients from 16 centers, of which 256 (18.2%) were men. Men were older than women and had a lower number of MHDs at baseline. At weeks 9-12, compared with baseline, 46 (18.0%) men had a ≥75% response, 75 (29.3%) had a 50-74% response, 35 (13.7%) had a 30-49% response, and 86 (33.6%) had a 0-29% response, while 14 (5.5%) stopped the treatment. The corresponding numbers for women were 220 (19.1%), 314 (27.2%), 139 (12.0%), 402 (34.8%), and 79 (6.8%). No gender difference was found in any of the outcomes. The ANCOVA showed that gender did not influence the efficacy of outcomes. Conclusion: We found that erenumab is equally safe and effective in men compared with women after 12 weeks.