Balance and visual reliance in post-COVID syndrome patients assessed with a robotic system: a multi-sensory integration deficit.

The symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection are not limited to the acute phase, with vertigo, peripheral neuropathies, headache, fatigue, memory loss, and depression being the most common post-acute clinical manifestations. Such post-COVID syndrome is a new clinically relevant challenge for diagnosis and therapy. Our goal was to quantify deficit in balance and proprioception related to post-COVID syndrome and, in this sense, we prospectively analyzed data of 66 post-COVID-19 outpatients (mean age 47.3 ± 11.1 years, 50 females, 25 hospitalized), evaluated using the robotic device hunova. The dynamic balance was assessed with open (OE) and closed eyes (CE) and three indexes, proportional to subject instability, were measured: the sway path and two oscillation ranges. Hospitalized group showed the worst performance with respect to non-hospitalized patients and normality range in both visual conditions for the sway path and the oscillation ranges, with the worst performance being with CE. When compared to normality ranges, post-COVID patients were significantly more distant from normality in the OE condition compared to the CE condition. These results suggest that independently from the severity of the disease experienced, post-COVID syndrome makes the elastic balance test performances more distant from the normality when the subject integrates vision, somatosensory information, and vestibular information. In the absence of visual feedback, patients seem to implement compensatory strategies, presumably seeking more significant feedback from the lower limbs, which improve their performance. These data suggest a new mechanism of the post-COVID syndrome that deserves further investigation for its potential impact on activities of daily living.

A rare case of congenital atresia of the left main coronary artery.

Congenital atresia of the left main coronary artery is a rare coronary anomaly, in which the left coronary ostium is absent and the blood supply to the entire heart is provided by the right coronary artery. We show the images of the coronary CT angiography performed by a 56-year-old man, with evidence of this vascular abnormality. Coronary CT Angiography has gained a major role in coronary anomalies assessment, thank to high spatial and temporal resolution.

The Challenges of a Children's Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Pediatric Surgeon's Point of View.

During the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) emergency, in the pediatric surgical setting, it has been essential to avoid and contain infections as well as to protect both the patients and the surgical team. During this emergency, procedures and workflow were adapted to provide the safest possible environment for both the surgical team and the patients. Pediatric surgical activities were reorganized during the COVID-19 pandemic at the "Vittore Buzzi" Children's Hospital, which is a pediatric/maternal hospital located in Milan (Lombardy Region), Italy. Resources were optimized in order to maintain high levels of care and quality of assistance. During the COVID-19 emergency, the pediatric surgical department at the "Vittore Buzzi" Children's Hospital became an acute care surgical service. For the reorganization of surgical activities, institutional protocols were adapted in order to preserve the pediatric-specific characteristics of our service; five crucial points were specifically addressed. The pediatric surgical procedures carried out during the initial two months of the Italian lockdown are also reported. Continuity of care was maintained for children affected by severe diseases, such as tumors and neurosurgical conditions, whose treatment could not be deferred. Telemedicine and telecommunication were adopted as quick-support modalities for pre- and post-operative care. This reorganization allowed us to preserve the "pediatric specificity" and all care-related procedures offered at this high-quality/high-volume surgical care referral center.

What is new in infectious diseases: Nipah virus, MERS-CoV and the Blueprint List of the World Health Organization.

Not available.