Early echocardiographic findings in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia: a prospective, single center study.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac dysfunction, mainly assessed by biomarker alterations, has been described in COVID-19 infection. However, there are still areas of uncertainty regarding its effective role in disease evolution. Aim of this study was to evaluate early echocardiographic parameters in COVID pneumonia and their association with severity disease and prognosis. METHODS: An echocardiographic examination was performed within 72 h from admission in 64 consecutive patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia in our medium-intensity care unit, from March 30th to May 15th 2020. Six patients were excluded for inadequate acoustic window. RESULTS: Fifty-eight consecutive patients were finally enrolled, with a median age of 58 years. Twenty-two (38%) were classifiable as severe COVID-19 disease. Eight out of 58 patients experienced adverse evolution (six died, two were admitted to ICU and received mechanical ventilation), all of them in the severe pneumonia group. Severe pneumonia patients showed higher troponin, IL-6 and D-Dimer values. No significant new onset alterations of left and right ventricular systolic function parameters were observed. Patients with severe pneumonia showed higher mean estimated systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) (30.7 ± 5.2 mmHg vs 26.2 ± 4.3 mmHg, p = 0.006), even if in the normality range values. No differences in echocardiographic parameters were retrieved in patients with adverse events with respect to those with favorable clinical course. CONCLUSION: A mild sPAP increase in severe pneumonia patients with respect to those with milder disease was the only significant finding at early echocardiographic examination, without other signs of new onset major cardiac dysfunction. Future studies are needed to deepen the knowledge regarding minor cardiac functional perturbation in the evolution of a complex systemic disorder, in which the respiratory involvement appears as the main character, at least in non-ICU patients.

Severity of respiratory failure at admission and in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19: a prospective observational multicentre study.

OBJECTIVES: COVID-19 causes lung parenchymal and endothelial damage that lead to hypoxic acute respiratory failure (hARF). The influence of hARF severity on patients' outcomes is still poorly understood. DESIGN: Observational, prospective, multicentre study. SETTING: Three academic hospitals in Milan (Italy) involving three respiratory high dependency units and three general wards. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive adult hospitalised patients with a virologically confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. Patients aged <18 years or unable to provide informed consent were excluded. INTERVENTIONS: Anthropometrical, clinical characteristics and blood biomarkers were assessed within the first 24 hours from admission. hARF was graded as follows: severe (partial pressure of oxygen to fraction of inspired oxygen ratio (PaO2/FiO2) <100 mm Hg); moderate (PaO2/FiO2 101-200 mm Hg); mild (PaO2/FiO2 201-300 mm Hg) and normal (PaO2/FiO2 >300 mm Hg). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the assessment of clinical characteristics and in-hospital mortality based on the severity of respiratory failure. Secondary outcomes were intubation rate and application of continuous positive airway pressure during hospital stay. RESULTS: 412 patients were enrolled (280 males, 68%). Median (IQR) age was 66 (55-76) years with a PaO2/FiO2 at admission of 262 (140-343) mm Hg. 50.2% had a cardiovascular disease. Prevalence of mild, moderate and severe hARF was 24.4%, 21.9% and 15.5%, respectively. In-hospital mortality proportionally increased with increasing impairment of gas exchange (p<0.001). The only independent risk factors for mortality were age ≥65 years (HR 3.41; 95% CI 2.00 to 5.78, p<0.0001), PaO2/FiO2 ratio ≤200 mm Hg (HR 3.57; 95% CI 2.20 to 5.77, p<0.0001) and respiratory failure at admission (HR 3.58; 95% CI 1.05 to 12.18, p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: A moderate-to-severe impairment in PaO2/FiO2 was independently associated with a threefold increase in risk of in-hospital mortality. Severity of respiratory failure is useful to identify patients at higher risk of mortality. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04307459.

Pocket-size ultrasound device in cholelithiasis: diagnostic accuracy and efficacy of short-term training.

Pocket-size ultrasound devices (PSUD) are now widely available becoming a useful tool for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. We aim to investigate the accuracy of PSUD in diagnosing cholelithiasis as compared to traditional ultrasonography. Moreover, we tested the reliability of PSUD when performed by inexperienced internal medicine residents after a short-term training. We consecutively enrolled inpatients and outpatients referred to undergo abdominal ultrasonography for signs or symptoms of gallbladder diseases in two different hospitals. Every patient underwent two independent examinations with PSUD by both expert (EXPPSUD) and nonexpert operators (N-EXPPSUD), and a conventional examination with traditional abdominal ultrasound (AUS). Every naive operator underwent a short-term training with a 2-h theoretical lesson, and a practical training focused on gallbladder under expert operator supervision. Overall, 146 patients were consecutively enrolled. Considering conventional AUS as the reference standard, sensitivity and specificity of EXPPSUD were, respectively, 93.75 and 100%. Sensitivity and specificity of N-EXPPSUD were, respectively, 75 and 91.25%. Nevertheless, when considering outpatients, PSUD has a high diagnostic accuracy even when performed by N-EXPPSUD with sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 88%. PSUD is a reliable tool for the diagnosis of cholelithiasis when used by expert operators potentially reducing the need for further diagnostic tests. It can even be successfully used by non-expert operators in outpatients setting after a short focussed training.

Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile-associated disease in internal medicine wards in northern Italy.

Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) is a growing health care problem. Elderly patients with multiple comorbidities and repeated hospitalization are at high risk for developing the disease. Few data are available on epidemiology of CDAD in Italy and no studies have focused on CDAD burden in internal medicine wards. We retrospectively analysed all CDAD cases in four internal medicine wards of a city hospital in northern Italy and reviewed the medical records of patients who developed CDAD during hospitalization. We identified 146 newly acquired cases, yielding a cumulative incidence of 2.56 per 100 hospitalizations and an incidence rate of 23.3 per 10,000 patient-days. Main risk factors were advanced age and length of hospitalization. A high proportion of CDAD patients had several comorbidities and had been treated with more than one antibiotic. The incidence is among the highest previously reported, this may be due to the characteristics of patients admitted to internal medicine wards and to the wards per se. We conclude that efforts are needed to reduce CDAD's burden in this setting, paying attention to logistics, patients care and antibiotic use.

[Treatment of advanced heart failure in women: heart transplantation and ventricular assist devices]. / Il trattamento dello scompenso cardiaco avanzato nella donna: trapianto cardiaco e assistenza ventricolare.

Women candidates for heart transplantation are definitely less than men, just 20% of all patients transplanted; even in the INTERMACS registry they represent only 21% of all ventricular assist devices (VAD) implanted. The reasons for this big difference are discussed in this article. Why women are less frequently assessed for unconventional therapies? Are they sicker or just less regarded? Our experience and the literature show us clear epidemiological, clinical and treatment differences that could lead to a lower prevalence of end-stage disease in women of an age suitable for unconventional therapies. Once on the transplant list, women wait less than men for a heart transplant, because they present with more severe disease, have a lower body mass index and undergo less VAD implants. After transplantation women's survival is comparable to men's, although they usually complain of a lower quality of life. Females receive less often a VAD than men. The main reasons for this include presentation with advanced heart failure at an older age than men, worse outcomes related to small body surface area, and lower survival rates on VAD when implanted as bridge to heart transplantation.

Eligibility criteria in heart failure randomized controlled trials: a gap between evidence and clinical practice.

The aim of the present study was to compare the characteristics of patients referred to our heart failure outpatient clinic with those of patients enrolled in clinical trials on heart failure pharmacological treatment. Thus, we estimated the proportion of patients admitted to our heart failure outpatient clinic who would have been included in randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of medical treatments on heart failure mortality, published over a 10 years period (1993-2003). Sixteen studies (n = 45276) and 299 consecutive outpatients, were included. On average, only 34% of the outpatients would have been included in at least one of the 16 trials (8-71%). The main reasons for exclusion were: NYHA class (70% were in NYHA class II), ejection fraction (29% had EF > 35%), co-morbidity (51% had co-morbidity, mainly renal failure, COPD, and disthyroidism), age (22% were older than 80 years), and occurrence of a recent acute event (50% experienced an ischemic coronary syndrome, revascularization, pulmonary edema, or stroke in the prior 6 months). These results underline the crucial role of patient selection in clinical trials, raising uncertainties about the complete applicability of trial results to clinical practice.