Professional quality of life and psychopathological symptoms among first-line healthcare workers facing COVID-19 pandemic: an exploratory study in an Italian southern hospital.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the mental health of healthcare workers, who have taken on the major problems triggered by the emergency. The mental consequences concern high levels of insomnia, anxiety, depression and burnout, which inevitably affect their professional quality of life too. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between psychopathological symptoms (tested with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, DASS-21) and professional quality of life (measured with the Professional Quality of Life Scale, ProQol) in a hospital of southern Italy. Methods: 204 healthcare workers were recruited by non-probabilistic sampling and divided by age, gender, work roles (physicians, nurses and intermediate care technicians) and clinical departments (Cardio-medicine, Infectious Diseases, Emergency Medicine, First Aid, Obstetrics and Pneumology). Results: The results showed higher levels of Secondary Traumatic Stress, Depression, Anxiety and Stress in women than in men. Physicians and nurses experienced lower levels of Compassion Satisfaction but higher Burnout than intermediate care technicians; likewise, nurses were more anxious than physicians. The Emergency Medicine had higher scores in Compassion Satisfaction than Infectious Disease, Pneumology, Obstetrics and Cardio-Medicine. Conclusion: In light of what has been said so far, it appears essential to intervene on the first mild signs of Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress, because they precede the onset of Depression, Stress and Anxiety in healthcare workers.

Conservative Management of Uncomplicated Acute Type B Intramural Hematoma of the Aorta Not Always Is the Right Solution.

The natural course of intramural hematoma (IMH) of the aorta remains unpredictable and despite an increasing amount of literature reports its treatment is still debatable. IMH typically is diagnosed by computed tomography that has permitted to identify specific images whose onset, in uncomplicated cases, appears to be associated to a dismal prognosis. We report on a case series of acute uncomplicated type B IMH in which early detection of such findings, given the expected poor prognosis associated to the aorta-related mortality, suggests the need to shift toward an aggressive endovascular aortic repair in this subset of patients.

Simultaneous Surgical Treatment of Type B Dissection Complicated With Visceral Malperfusion and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Role of Aortic Fenestration.

Aortic dissection occurs in about 5% of patients with coexistent abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA); combined type B dissection complicated with visceral malperfusion and AAA is an uncommon aortic emergency and patients presenting with complications of thoracic aortic dissection have a dismal prognosis related to difficulties in treatment strategies. Despite tremendous improvement of endovascular techniques, surgical aortic fenestration represents a quick, safe, and effective procedure able to restore flow in an otherwise malperfused aorta. This procedure has to be kept in mind because subsets of patients cannot be treated conventionally due to either prohibitive risk of aortic replacement, anatomic contraindication, or limitations of percutaneous procedures. Herein we report a case of a patient presenting with type B aortic dissection complicated by visceral malperfusion and AAA which was successfully treated simultaneously by open AAA repair and surgical fenestration. We focus on the mechanism of malperfusion and on the role of surgical fenestration.