The impact of Covid-19 healthcare emergency on the psychological well-being of health professionals: a review of literature.

Introduction: The Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) was first identified in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China, and later caused a severe health crisis, causing massive disruptions to most healthcare sy-stems worldwide. The Covid-19 health emergency has seen healthcare workers in the front line facing all the difficulties related to the care burden. One of the most significant and probably underinvestigated aspects is the psychological stress of the healthcare staff managing the emergency. The aim of the paper is to analyze the literature on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the psychological well-being of health professionals. Methodology: We conducted a systematic review of articles published on this topic during the months from January 2020 to December 2020, searching on Pub Med, Scopus and Web of Science databases. Results: Most of the issues can be summarized into five conceptual categories: Stress, Depression and Infec-tion Anxiety, Anguish, Insomnia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Suicide. The literature identifies many factors contributing to the onset of anxiety, depression, and stress, like the fear of contracting the disease and transmitting it to family members and friends, stressful shifts, and little rest among several others. The literature highlights the needs for adequate measures, including proper psychological support. Conclusion: The conducted review suggests that the behaviours of healthcare professionals during the emer-gency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic show psychological disorders that can compromise mental health. Therefore, there is a call for those in chief like hospital managers and policymakers to take action, promoting measures like surveillance, monitoring, and psychological support among others, to increase the resilience of healthcare workers, limiting stress and anxiety and allowing them to keep their performance at work.

Ultrasound changes in abdominal echinococcosis treated with albendazole.

Fifty patients with 81 abdominal hydatid cysts were followed with ultrasound during and after treatment with albendazole. In 61 cysts (75%), regressive changes were observed after treatment. Detachment of the membrane and change to a solid pattern in anechoic cysts were observed. Disappearance of septa or change to a solid pattern in anechoic cysts with intracystic septation were also found. There was an increase of hyperechoic structures in cysts with a mixed pattern. Follow-up ultrasound examination showed disappearance of 7 cysts, while anechoic structures reappeared in five cases. In anechoic cysts, regressive changes due to albendazole seem to be permanent, but in cysts with a mixed pattern recurrences are sometimes observed.

A clinical and neurophysiological trial on nootropic drugs in patients with mental decline.

The different expressions of mental decline in elderly people, from simple senile benign forgetfulness to SDAT, can be evaluated by psychometric and neurophysiological tests. In the present study, the effects of oxiracetam, piracetam and placebo were compared in a group of elderly subjects. The results of the trial, structured as single blind, clearly showed that nootropics positively effect both clinical and neurophysiological performances and that oxiracetam produces a more pronounced effect when compared to piracetam. In fact, oxiracetam was found more effective in improving psychometric scales such as GDS (clinical performances) as well as the amplitude and the latency of the P300 (neurophysiological performances), which reflect a functional recovery of the cerebral pathways related to attention and memory.

Influence of cimetidine in low doses (less than ED50) on prostanoid production by human gastric mucosa in vitro.

Cimetidine has been defined as a cytoprotective agent and numerous studies have reported that it is able to influence prostaglandin production as well as mechanisms which protect the surface epithelium of the gastric mucosa. However, results have been contradictory and high drug concentrations contrasting the cytoprotection concept have been utilized. The present study tried to evaluate whether low concentrations (less than ED50) of cimetidine in vitro are able to modify prostanoids produced by gastric mucosa fragments. Thirteen patients without histological lesions were examined. Five mucosal biopsy specimens were obtained from the antrum in seven patients and from the body in another six patients. One biopsy was utilized for histological examination, while the remaining four specimens were incubated in the absence or in the presence of 5, 50 and 500 ng/ml of cimetidine, respectively. Concentrations of PGE2, 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha, PGF2 alpha and TXB2 in the incubate were determined by radioimmunoassay. Cimetidine at 50 ng/ml increased PGE2 production at the antrum level while 500 ng/ml of cimetidine increased PGF 2 alpha and TXB2 production at the body level. Furthermore, the drug dose was directly related to PGE2 production (at the antrum level) and TXB2 (at the body level). The differences in prostanoid production between the antrum and body could be due to the different cell composition of the two anatomical areas, and suggest that the effects of cimetidine are mediated through binding to H2-receptors. The authors conclude that cimetidine in low doses stimulates the net production of some but not all prostanoids, the observed effects varying with anatomical site.