Pancytopenia in a Case of Aplastic Anaemia/Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria Unmasked by SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Case Report.

During an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, a diagnosis of Aplastic Anaemia associated with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria (AA/PNH) was made in a 78-year-old woman who had presented to the emergency department with severe pancytopenia. It is possible that she had subclinical AA/PNH that was unmasked during the acute COVID-19 infection, but we can also suspect a direct role of the virus in the pathogenesis of the disease, or we can hypothesize that COVID-19 infection changed the phosphatidylinositol glycan class A (PIGA) gene pathway.

Haematological Drugs Affecting Lipid Metabolism and Vascular Health.

Many drugs affect lipid metabolism and have side effects which promote atherosclerosis. The prevalence of cancer-therapy-related cardiovascular (CV) disease is increasing due to development of new drugs and improved survival of patients: cardio-oncology is a new field of interest and research. Moreover, drugs used in transplanted patients frequently have metabolic implications.

Dynamics and management of oral anticoagulant treatment in chronic hepatitis C patients undergoing therapy with direct antiviral agents.

Current regimens of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAA) are effective and safe for chronic hepatitis C (CHC). However, DAA often interfere with concomitant medications. We treated seven CHC patients with DAA who were on chronic anticoagulant treatment with warfarin, and describe the dynamics of prothrombin time, providing novel data, useful for the clinician.

Liver histopathological findings in advanced heart failure: a reappraisal of cardiac cirrhosis concept.

Cardiogenic liver disease is a common yet poorly characterized complication of advanced heart failure (HF), and may impact clinical management in the setting of heart transplant evaluation. In this retrospective study, we describe clinical and histopathological features of liver injury in advanced HF, with a focus on the role of liver biopsy. Included were 45 HF patients, assessed for possible heart transplant, who underwent liver biopsy for suspected liver disease.

Hepatitis B virus reactivation after heart transplant: Incidence and clinical impact.

Background: Occult hepatitis B infection consists of persistence of HBV genomes in hepatocytes,absence of serum HBsAg, low/undetectable serum HBVDNA. Reactivation of HBV infection may occur during immunosuppression, but few data are available in heart transplant.

Objectives: We followed-up heart recipients with or without markers of previous HBV infection,evaluating prevalence of HBV markers, incidence of HBV reactivation and its virological and clinical features.

Can we go for a shorter treatment course in chronic hepatitis C? More inspiring cases.

Current interest in HCV therapy with direct acting antivirals is focused on shortening treatment length. We managed two cirrhotics who achieved virological cure after 4 weeks of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir, dasabuvir, ribavirin treatment. Analysis to identify potential predictive factors for a successful outcome with a shorter treatment course was conducted.

Electrophysiological Adverse Effects of Direct Acting Antivirals in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C.

Recently, several cases of symptomatic, sometimes fatal bradycardia during the first days of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) (eg, sofosbuvir [SOF]) administration have been reported. We analyzed in detail electrocardiographic (ECG) changes during SOF- or non-SOF-based chronic hepatitis C (CHC) treatment, specifically focusing on bradyarrhythmias. All 39 consecutive patients treated at our center with any interferon-free regimen between June and December 2015 were included in this study (26 SOF-based therapy vs 13 no-SOF interferon-free regimens).

Clinical significance of hyperhomocysteinemia in infective endocarditis: A case-control study.

Blood coagulation plays a key role in the pathogenesis of infective endocarditis (IE). Conditions associated with thrombophilia could enhance IE vegetation formation and promote embolic complications.In this study, we assessed prevalence, correlates, and clinical consequences of hyper-homocysteinemia (h-Hcy) in IE.

Viability of pegIFNα-RBV for CHC in the direct acting antiviral era: a practical algorithm between efficacy and cost containment.

The classical pegylated interferon α (peg-IFNα) and ribavirin (RBV) treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is progressively being replaced by new direct acting antivirals, whose costs remain a major barrier to widespread use. Using baseline data and viral kinetics, we developed a predictive algorithm to allocate to DAA patients who are not going to respond to peg-IFNα/RBV. This prospective study evaluated 205 CHC patients treated with peg-IFNα/RBV.

Safety of treatment with high-dose daptomycin in 102 patients with infective endocarditis.

Daptomycin is commonly used at doses >6 mg/kg/day for various indications, including infective endocarditis (IE). A systematic assessment of skeletal muscle, renal, haematological, hepatic and pulmonary toxicity of high-dose daptomycin (HDD) in IE is lacking. A total of 102 IE patients treated with HDD were included in this non-comparative, observational, single-centre cohort study conducted from 2007 to 2014.

Differential antiviral effects of pegylated interferon-α2a and pegylated interferon-α2b in chronic hepatitis C.

Background And Objectives: Pegylated interferon (peg-IFN)-α2a and -α2b show different pharmacokinetic properties but are used interchangeably for hepatitis C treatment in traditional dual combinations and with newer agents. We assessed whether peg-IFN antiviral effects vary with peg-IFN subtype, affecting viral response in a differential manner.

Methods: Chronic hepatitis C patients treated with ribavirin combined with peg-IFN-α2a (N = 109) or -α2b (N = 114) were studied.