Publications by authors named "Cecilia Azzara"

Background: Whether solid organ transplant (SOT) can be safely performed in recipients with ongoing SARS-CoV-2 infection is still a debated question.

Methods: A systematic review of the literature on recipients with ongoing SARS-CoV-2 infection at the time of surgery and the associated outcomes.

Results: From 29 studies, we identified 54 recipients; their median age was 47.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A significant number of cases (around 63.7%) occurred within 100 days of transplantation, but some cases emerged at least a year later, with high mortality rates: 36.3% at 90 days and 63.4% at one year, particularly in patients with disseminated disease.
  • * Key factors influencing mortality included the use of multiple immunosuppressive drugs, the presence of diabetes, and the type of disease manifestation, suggesting a need for further research
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Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on comparing hospitalized vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 in three major hospitals in Northern Italy, investigating their clinical characteristics and outcomes.
  • Data analysis highlighted that vaccinated patients, despite having more serious underlying health issues, generally had milder COVID-19 symptoms and required less intensive care compared to non-vaccinated patients.
  • No significant difference in intra-hospital mortality rates was found between the two groups, indicating vaccination effectively reduces the likelihood of ICU admission but does not significantly impact overall survival rates in the hospital.
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Passive immunization with mAbs has been employed in COVID-19. We performed a systematic review of the literature assessing the endogenous humoral immune response against SARS-CoV-2 in patients treated with mAbs. Administration of mAbs in seronegative patients led to a reduction in both antibody titres and neutralizing activity against the virus.

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Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are drugs growingly employed in cancer immunotherapy which have significantly improved the prognosis of several tumours. ICIs act by restoring the "exhausted" immune system and increasing the number of T cells active against pathogens losing tolerogenic signalling, which has been linked to an increased risk of infectious events. We present the case of a 67-year-old man with locally advanced lung adenocarcinoma treated with the anti-PD-L1 durvalumab.

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Background: Perfusion fluid (PRF) is employed in liver transplantation (LTx) to maintain graft viability. Still, it represents a new potential way of infection transmission in LTx recipients (LTRs). Currently, no systematic research has investigated this topic.

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Objectives: Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have proven to be a valuable tool against COVID-19, mostly among subjects with risk factors for progression to severe illness. Tixagevimab/cilgavimab (TIX/CIL), a combination of two Fc-modified human monoclonal antibodies, has been recently approved to be employed as early treatment.

Methods: Two groups of immunocompromised patients exposed to different early treatments (i.

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Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are drugs growingly employed in the treatment of cancers, but there are still uncertainties about their possible role in the risk of developing nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections. To understand this, we performed a systematic review of the literature including studies published between 20 June 2012 and 20 June 2022 which described the occurrence of NTM infections among patients treated with ICIs. Overall, we included seven studies describing nine patients with NTM infection occurring during ICIs therapy.

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Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous environmental microorganisms capable of a wide range of infections that primarily involve the lymphatic system and the lower respiratory tract. In recent years, cases of lung infection sustained by NTM have been steadily increasing, due mainly to the ageing of the population with underlying lung disease, the enlargement of the cohort of patients undergoing immunosuppressive medications and the improvement in microbiologic diagnostic techniques. However, only a small proportion of individuals at risk ultimately develop the disease due to reasons that are not fully understood.

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