Laparoscopic posterior vaginal plication plus sacral colpopexy for severe posterior vaginal prolapse: A randomized clinical trial.

AIM: A randomized clinical trial proposing a new laparoscopic prosthetic and fascial approach to severe posterior vaginal prolapse. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the objective and subjective outcomes of our laparoscopic posterior plication (LPP) combined to "two-mesh" sacral colpopexy (laparoscopic sacral colpopexy [LSC]) in severe posterior vaginal prolapse, with a 1-year follow-up. The secondary endpoint was to evaluate the safety of this surgical procedure. METHODS: This is single-center prospective randomized double-blinded clinical trial. A total of 130 consecutive patients with anterior and/or apical pelvic organ prolapse (POP) (POP-Q stage ≥II) and severe posterior vaginal prolapse (posterior POP-Q stage ≥III) were prospectively assessed for inclusion into the study from November 2018 to January 2020. Patients underwent "two-meshes" LSC and were randomized in Group A (LSC plus LPP) and Group A (LSC alone). Of the 130 included subjects, 8 were excluded, not meeting inclusion criteria. Cure rate was evaluated objectively, using POP-Q study, and subjectively using PGI-I, POPDI-6, and FSDS questionnaires. Complications were assessed intra-, peri-, and postoperatively. Twelve-month follow-ups were analyzed for the study. RESULTS: We found in LSC plus LPP Group a significant improvement of Ap and genital hiatus POP-Q points. Our subjective study showed, at 12 months, a statistical difference in PGI-I successful outcomes rate in favor of LPP. Also the FSDS resulted significantly much more improved in Group A. We observed no statistical differences in terms of postoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS: Our LPP approach to LSC could be considered an effective and safe technique to POP patients with severe posterior prolapse.

Local anesthesia for Altis® single incision sling in women with stress urinary incontinence.

OBJECTIVE: Local anesthesia for single incision slings has shown a good objective and subjective cure rate in women with stress urinary incontinence. The aim of the present study was to verify the efficacy and safety of local anesthesia during Altis® single incision placement. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred sixty-six consecutive patients (83 patients for each group: local resp. spinal anesthesia) were selected from our database for this retrospective study among women who underwent an Altis® implantation for SUI from September 2016 to June 2021, after unsuccessful previous conservative treatment. Primary endpoints were objective and subjective cure rates; secondary endpoint was the evaluation of complications linked to this procedure. RESULTS: A total of 155 included patients completed our 12 months follow-up. Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups. Operative time (percentage difference of 50%; p < 0.05) and the Intraoperative Difficulty Scale resulted lower in spinal patients. No differences were found between populations in terms of objective (cough stress test and urodynamics) and subjective (PGI-I and FSDS questionnaires) cure rate and postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: Local anesthesia for Altis® implantation could be considered a safe alternative to spinal anesthesia and an effective opportunity to avoid general anesthesia, increasing the possibility of outpatient implantation of this sling system.

Laparoscopic ventral rectopexy plus sacral colpopexy: continuous locked suture for mesh fixation. A randomized clinical trial.

PURPOSE: Laparoscopic ventral rectopexy (LVR) plus sacral colpopexy (LSC) is a high-complexity surgical procedure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a new approach to rectal-mesh fixation during LVR with continuous locked suture. METHODS: This is a prospective randomized double-blinded clinical trial enrolling 80 patients with severe POP and obstructed defecation syndrome (ODS) from November 2016 to January 2021. Patients underwent a "two-meshes" LSC plus LVR and were randomized, regarding rectal mesh fixation, in Group A (extracorporeal interrupted 0 delayed absorbable sutures) and Group B ("U-shaped" running locked 0 delayed absorbable suture). Our primary endpoints were the operative times (OT); the secondary endpoints were the incidence of anatomical failures, vaginal mesh erosions and surgical complications. RESULTS: A total of 75 patients completed the study. Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups. Overall OT (156 vs 138 min; p < 0.05; treatment reduction of 11.5%) and LVR mesh fixation time (29 vs 16 min; p < 0.05; treatment reduction of 44%), resulted in significantly lower in Group B. No differences were found in terms of anatomic failure, vaginal mesh erosion or intra- or post-operative complications. PGI-I, FSDS and Wexner questionnaires resulted significantly improved after surgery, without statistical differences between the studied surgical procedures. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic continuous locked 0 absorbable suture for LVR mesh fixation guaranteed a faster and effective alternative to multiple interrupted sutures. The significant OT reduction linked to this technique should be considered even more helpful when performing a highly complex surgery such as LVR. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT05254860 (13/02/2017).

Fungal Endocarditis Due to Aspergillus oryzae: The First Case Reported in the Literature.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a severe disease with high mortality and morbidity. Prosthetic valve endocarditis is a life-threatening complication which can occur in less than 10% of patients with valve prosthesis. A fungal etiology of IE is rare and accounts for only 2-4% of all case of endocarditis, but is associated with a higher mortality and morbidity. Herein is reported the first case of fungal endocarditis of aortic valve prosthesis due to Aspergillus oryzae in a 67-year-old caucasian man who nine years previously underwent mitral and aortic valve replacement with mechanical prostheses, and tricuspid annuloplasty for acute IE due to Enterococcus spp. Seven months previously, the patient also underwent a redo cardiac procedure to replace a mitral valve prosthesis with a new mechanical device due to a leakage. Aspergillus oryzae showed impressive growth with strong and unexpected virulence in both local and systemic settings.

Antifungal susceptibility profiles of bloodstream yeast isolates by Sensititre YeastOne over nine years at a large Italian teaching hospital.

Sensititre YeastOne (SYO) is an affordable alternative to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) reference method for antifungal susceptibility testing. In this study, the MICs of yeast isolates from 1,214 bloodstream infection episodes, generated by SYO during hospital laboratory activity (January 2005 to December 2013), were reanalyzed using current CLSI clinical breakpoints/epidemiological cutoff values to assign susceptibility (or the wild-type [WT] phenotype) to systemic antifungal agents. Excluding Candida albicans (57.4% of all isolates [n = 1,250]), the most predominant species were Candida parapsilosis complex (20.9%), Candida tropicalis (8.2%), Candida glabrata (6.4%), Candida guilliermondii (1.6%), and Candida krusei (1.3%). Among the non-Candida species (1.9%), 7 were Cryptococcus neoformans and 17 were other species, mainly Rhodotorula species. Over 97% of Candida isolates were susceptible (WT phenotype) to amphotericin B and flucytosine. Rates of susceptibility (WT phenotype) to fluconazole, itraconazole, and voriconazole were 98.7% in C. albicans, 92.3% in the C. parapsilosis complex, 96.1% in C. tropicalis, 92.5% in C. glabrata, 100% in C. guilliermondii, and 100% (excluding fluconazole) in C. krusei. The fluconazole-resistant isolates consisted of 6 C. parapsilosis complex isolates, 3 C. glabrata isolates, 2 C. albicans isolates, 2 C. tropicalis isolates, and 1 Candida lusitaniae isolate. Of the non-Candida isolates, 2 C. neoformans isolates had the non-WT phenotype for susceptibility to fluconazole, whereas Rhodotorula isolates had elevated azole MICs. Overall, 99.7% to 99.8% of Candida isolates were susceptible (WT phenotype) to echinocandins, but 3 isolates were nonsusceptible (either intermediate or resistant) to caspofungin (C. albicans, C. guilliermondii, and C. krusei), anidulafungin (C. albicans and C. guilliermondii), and micafungin (C. albicans). However, when the intrinsically resistant non-Candida isolates were included, the rate of echinocandin nonsusceptibility reached 1.8%. In summary, the SYO method proved to be able to detect yeast species showing antifungal resistance or reduced susceptibility.

Performance of two resin-containing blood culture media in detection of bloodstream infections and in direct matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) broth assays for isolate identification: clinical comparison of the BacT/Alert Plus and Bactec Plus systems.

We compared the clinical performances of the BacT/Alert Plus (bioMérieux) and Bactec Plus (Becton Dickinson) aerobic and anaerobic blood culture (BC) media with adsorbent polymeric beads. Patients ≥ 16 years old with suspected bloodstream infections (BSIs) were enrolled in intensive care units and infectious disease wards. A single 40-ml blood sample was collected from each and used to inoculate (10 ml/bottle) one set of BacT/Alert Plus cultures and one set of Bactec Plus cultures, each set consisting of one aerobic and one anaerobic bottle. Cultures were incubated ≤ 5 days in the BacT/Alert 3D and Bactec FX instruments, respectively. A total of 128 unique BSI episodes were identified based on the recovery of clinically significant growth in 212 aerobic cultures (106 BacT/Alert and 106 Bactec) and 151 anaerobic cultures (82 BacT/Alert and 69 Bactec). The BacT/Alert aerobic medium had higher recovery rates for Gram-positive cocci (P = 0.024), whereas the Bactec aerobic medium was superior for recovery of Gram-negative bacilli (P = 0.006). BacT/Alert anaerobic medium recovery rates exceeded those of the Bactec anaerobic medium for total organisms (P = 0.003), Gram-positive cocci (P = 0.013), and Escherichia coli (P = 0.030). In terms of capacity for diagnosing the 128 septic episodes, the BacT/Alert and Bactec sets were comparable, although the former sets diagnosed more BSIs caused by Gram-positive cocci (P = 0.008). They also allowed earlier identification of coagulase-negative staphylococcal growth (mean, 2.8 h; P = 0.003) and growth in samples from patients not on antimicrobial therapy that yielded positive results (mean, 1.3 h; P < 0.001). Similarly high percentages of microorganisms in BacT/Alert and Bactec cultures (93.8% and 93.3%, respectively) were identified by direct matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry assay of BC broths. The BacT/Alert Plus media line appears to be a reliable, timesaving tool for routine detection of BSIs in the population we studied, although further studies are needed to evaluate their performance in other settings.

Altis® Adjustable Single Incision Sling System for Treatment of Intrinsic Sphincteric Deficiency: A 3-Year Follow-up Observational Study.

IMPORTANCE: This article is a long-term follow-up study on the Altis adjustable single incision sling (Coloplast Corp.) in patients with isolated intrinsic sphincteric deficiency (ISD). OBJECTIVES: The primary end-points were to evaluate the subjective and objective outcomes of the Altis for the treatment of ISD, with a 3-year follow-up. The secondary end-point was to evaluate the safety of this surgical procedure. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective single-arm study. A total of 123 consecutive patients with ISD were selected from our database among women who underwent an Altis implantation for ISD from March 2015 to June 2017, after unsuccessful previous conservative treatment. Of the 123 included patients, 16 were excluded, not meeting inclusion criteria. Cure rate was evaluated objectively, using a standardized cough stress test and urodynamics, and subjectively using the Patient Global Impression of Improvement. Complications were assessed intraoperatively, perioperatively, and postoperatively. Six, 12, and 36 months of follow-ups were analyzed for the study. RESULTS: The 3-year objective cure rate was 86.9%, and the subjective cure rate was 81.5%. We observed no intraoperative complications. No women were obstructed. Ten patients reported postoperative complications, although most of them were Clavien-Dindo grade I and self-limited. CONCLUSIONS: Altis system could be considered an effective and safe alternative to traditional midurethral slings as treatment for women with ISD.

Neuropeptide S inhibits stress-stimulated faecal output in the rat.

Neuropeptide S (NPS) is a recently identified bioactive peptide that activates an orphan G-protein coupled receptor, called the NPS receptor (NPSR). In rats, NPS and NPSR constitute a novel neuropeptide system expressed both in the central nervous system and in peripheral tissues, controlling visceromotor, neuroendocrine, nociceptive and behavioural responses. To improve the knowledge of the role of the NPS-NPSR system in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, we investigated: 1- the supraspinal effect of NPS on motor functions of the upper (gastric emptying and gastrointestinal transit) and lower (distal colonic transit and faecal output) GI tract under basal conditions, 2- during pathological states (restraint stress and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF)-induced defecation) in the rat, and 3- the receptor type involved in treatment with NPS using NPS, tachykinin NK(3) and opioid receptor antagonists (([D-Cys(tBu)5]NPS), SR142801 and naloxone, respectively). Intracerebroventricular injection of NPS failed to modify basal gastric emptying, gastrointestinal transit and distal colon propulsion, but significantly and dose-dependently reduced faecal pellet excretion and weight stimulated by restraint stress and CRF. The inhibitory effect of NPS on stress-induced defecation was unmodified by pre-treatment with either the tachykinin or opioid receptor antagonists, but was counteracted by a NPSR antagonist. The present study demonstrates, for the first time, that the supraspinal NPS system, which does not participate in the physiological control of GI motility, plays an inhibitory role on defecation stimulated by restraint stress and CRF. The combination of the ability of NPS to inhibit faecal output together with its known anxiolytic effect may be promising, especially in pathological conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, where stress and the hyperactivity of the CRF system contribute to the co-morbidity of anxiety with colonic motor symptoms such as diarrhoea.

Catheter-related bacteremia by Cupriavidus metallidurans.

Cupriavidus bacteremia is a rare infection and identification of the pathogen is difficult. We present four cases of bacteremia by Cupriavidus metallidurans that were initially identified to the genus level by both Bruker and Vitek matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry and later identified to the species level by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. To our knowledge, these are the first cases of C. metallidurans catheter-related infections. Patients were successfully treated with antibiotic therapy and catheter removal.