[A retrospective pharmacovigilance analysis: could decreased reporting of suspected adverse reactions generate future safety concerns?].

Background: The collection and management of spontaneous reports of suspected adverse drug reactions represents a passive pharmacovigilance method for post-marketing drug safety surveillance, as it is a practical and rapid way to detect a potential warning sign. We performed an in-depth retrospective analysis of suspected adverse reaction reports in the National Pharmacovigilance Network (RNF) for the first eight months of 2019 (pre-pandemic period), 2020 (global pandemic covid-19 onset), 2021 (first post-pandemic period due to vaccine phase).

Methods: The reports of suspected adverse drug reactions were extrapolated from the National Network of Pharmacovigilance.

Effect of the immunosuppressive regimen on the incidence of cytomegalovirus infection in 378 heart transplant recipients: A single centre, prospective cohort study.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a major complication of immunosuppression after heart transplant. Recent studies suggest the actual immunosuppressive regimen may affect the risk of CMV infection.

Objectives: To evaluate incidence, risk factors and clinical consequences of CMV infection and assess the possible differential effect of distinct immunosuppressive protocols.

[Incomplete atrioventricular block in a patient on pregabalin therapy].

The authors report on a case of incomplete atrio-ventricular block in a patient on pregabalin therapy. Pregabalin was not overdosed; renal function of the patient was normal. The effect reverted after pregabalin discontinuation.

Association between valvular surgery and mortality among patients with infective endocarditis complicated by heart failure.

Context: Heart failure (HF) is the most common complication of infective endocarditis. However, clinical characteristics of HF in patients with infective endocarditis, use of surgical therapy, and their associations with patient outcome are not well described.

Objectives: To determine the clinical, echocardiographic, and microbiological variables associated with HF in patients with definite infective endocarditis and to examine variables independently associated with in-hospital and 1-year mortality for patients with infective endocarditis and HF, including the use and association of surgery with outcome.

High-dose daptomycin for cardiac implantable electronic device-related infective endocarditis.

Background: Cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED)-related endocarditis is a growing challenge because of increasing incidence and significant mortality. Current treatment is based on complete hardware removal coupled with long-term administration of effective and safe antimicrobials. Daptomycin at the dose of 6 mg/kg/day has been found to be effective in staphylococcal endocarditis, but limited data exist on CIED endocarditis.

Heart transplantation during active infective endocarditis: case report and review of the literature.

Bacterial infections are a contraindication to organ transplantation, but infective endocarditis may require heart transplantation when otherwise untreatable. We describe a heart transplant patient with cardiomyopathy and ongoing defibrillator endocarditis due to Staphylococcus epidermidis. An initial attempt at percutaneous extraction of the 5 implanted leads was unable to eradicate the infection and was complicated by severe decompensation, requiring a new implant for biventricular pacing.

Molecular epidemiology of a clonal outbreak of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a university hospital in Italy.

This study investigated the molecular epidemiology of a clonal outbreak of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii that occurred between June 2003 and June 2004 in a tertiary-care hospital in Naples, Italy. A. baumannii was isolated from 74 patients, of whom 38 were infected and 36 were colonised.

Hepatic cryptococcosis in a heart transplant recipient.

Cryptococcosis primarily occurs in patients with impaired immune response. While pulmonary and/or cerebral involvement are more often described, there is limited experience of its presence in other sites. We present a case of hepatic cryptococcosis with possible pulmonary involvement in a 54-year-old male heart transplant recipient.

Efficacy and limitations of preemptive therapy against cytomegalovirus infections in heart transplant patients.

Objectives: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease often represents a serious complication that promotes opportunistic infections in heart transplant recipients. In this study we evaluated the impact of preemptive gancylovir therapy, guided by pp65 antigenemia on the morbidity associated with viral reactivation.

Patients And Methods: We have performed a CMV infection surveillance program since March 1999, with antigenemia pp65 determinations weekly for the first 2 months biweekly in the third months, and monthly to the sixth month.

Midterm results of a prospective randomized comparison of two different rabbit-antithymocyte globulin induction therapies after heart transplantation.

This prospective randomized study compared the effects in heart transplant recipients of thymoglobulin and ATG, two rabbit polyclonal antithymocyte antibodies available for induction therapy. Among 40 patients (29 men and 11 women, mean age: 40.7 +/- 14 years) undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation, 20 were randomly allocated to receive induction with thymoglobulin (group A) and 20 to ATG-fresenius (group B).

Genome-wide analysis of mRNAs regulated by the nonsense-mediated and 5' to 3' mRNA decay pathways in yeast.

Transcripts regulated by the yeast nonsense-mediated and 5' to 3' mRNA decay pathways were identified by expression profiling of wild-type, upf1Delta, nmd2Delta, upf3Delta, dcp1Delta, and xrn1Delta cells. This analysis revealed that inactivation of Upf1p, Nmd2p, or Upf3p has identical effects on global RNA accumulation; inactivation of Dcp1p or Xrn1p exhibits both common and unique effects on global RNA accumulation but causes upregulation of only a small fraction of transcripts; and the majority of transcripts upregulated in upf/nmd strains are also upregulated to similar extents in dcp1Delta and xrn1Delta strains. Our results define the core transcripts regulated by NMD, identify several novel structural classes of NMD substrates, demonstrate that nonsense-containing mRNAs are primarily degraded by the 5' to 3' decay pathway even in the absence of functional NMD, and indicate that 3' to 5' decay, not 5' to 3' decay, may be the major mRNA decay activity in yeast cells.

Treatment of pulmonary nocardiosis in heart-transplant patients: importance of susceptibility studies.

Pulmonary nocardiosis is an infrequent but insidious disease in transplant patients. It has occurred in our centre in 3 out of 233 heart-transplant recipients since 1988. Common clinical features were mild symptoms and a severe nodular lung involvement.