Bronchial Progenitor Cells in Obstructive and Neoplastic Lung Disease: A Pilot Study.

The alteration of progenitor/stem cells present in the airway epithelium has been observed in patients with COPD. Smoking exposure induces remodeling patterns in bronchial progenitor cells (BPCs), encompassing squamous metaplasia, hyperplasia of basal and of mucus-secreting cells, and the depletion of ciliated and non-mucous secretory cells. Our aim was to assess the expression of p63 and vimentin as potential markers of airway remodeling and the regulation of stem cell populations in obstructive and neoplastic lung disease patients.

Lung Involvement in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: Relationship between Exhaled Nitric Oxide and Lung Function.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by immune system dysregulation with frequent extraintestinal manifestations, including airway involvement. A reduction in CO diffusing capacity and functional alterations in small airways have been described. An extended analysis of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) may distinguish the sites of production, and the presence of small airway inflammation may be a useful, non-invasive marker for patient follow-up.

Estimate of the prevalence of subjects with chronic diseases in a province of Northern Italy: a retrospective study based on administrative databases.

Objective: To find a definition of chronic disease based on literature review and to estimate the population-based prevalence rate of chronicity in a province in Northern Italy.

Design: Retrospective observational study based on administrative databases.

Data Sources/setting: Archives of the National Health Service that contain demographic and administrative information linked with the archives of ticket exemptions (2000-2019), the hospital discharge and drug prescriptions (2016-2019).

Pneumothorax in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory failure: Risk factors and outcome.

PNX was described as an uncommon complication in COVID-19 patients but clinical risk predictors and the potential role in patient's outcome are still unclear. We assessed prevalence, risk predictors and mortality of PNX in hospitalized COVID- 19 with severe respiratory failure performing a retrospective observational analysis of 184 patients admitted to our COVID-19 Respiratory Unit in Vercelli from October 2020 to March 2021. We compared patients with and without PNX reporting prevalence, clinical and radiological features, comorbidities, and outcomes.

Evaluation of the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalization in vaccinated and previously infected subjects based on real world data.

The objective of our study was to determine the joint protective effect of a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination on the risk of a new infection and hospitalization. Two case-control studies nested in a cohort of COVID-19 patients cared for by the Local Health Unit (LHU) of Vercelli, Italy, were performed, one to estimate the risk of infection and the second to estimate the risk of hospitalization. Each new infection and hospitalization was matched with up to 4 disease-free subjects who were the same age, sex and index date (i.

Rate advancement measurement for lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma in asbestos-exposed workers.

Introduction: Exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Few studies quantified the premature occurrence of these diseases in asbestos-exposed workers. Focus on premature disease onset (rate advancement or acceleration) can be useful in risk communication and for the evaluation of exposure impact.

The pattern of TSH and fT4 levels across different BMI ranges in a large cohort of euthyroid patients with obesity.

Purpose: A multifold association relates the hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid axis to body weight. The potential underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Further, the mild severity of obesity and the small proportion of individuals with obesity in so far published cohort studies provide little insights on metabolic correlates of thyroid function in obesity.

Mental Health Impact and Burnout in Critical Care Staff During Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak.

Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak exposed intensive care unit health care workers to a psychological burden. The aim of the study was to assess burnout, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms in the intensive care unit staff during the pandemic period and to focus on the factors that contributed to psychological discomfort by using validated psychometric tools.

Methods: This was a monocentric study developed at the end of the first emergency crisis period (May 2020).

Predictors of intubation and mortality in COVID-19 patients: a retrospective study.

Background: Estimating the risk of intubation and mortality among COVID-19 patients can help clinicians triage these patients and allocate resources more efficiently. Thus, here we sought to identify the risk factors associated with intubation and intra-hospital mortality in a cohort of COVID-19 patients hospitalized due to hypoxemic acute respiratory failure (ARF).

Results: We included retrospectively a total of 187 patients admitted to the subintensive and intensive care units of the University Hospital "Maggiore della Carità" of Novara between March 1st and April 30th, 2020.

A Simon's two-stage design trial evaluating the potential role of a kind of honey in preventing chemotherapy-hematopoietic toxicities.

Background And Aim: Hematopoietic toxicities are a serious consequence of myelosuppressive CT that may result in dose reductions, delays or even discontinuation of CT, which, in turn, may compromise patient outcomes. Concerns about tolerability and costs of CSFs are still ongoing, therefore the potential use of supportive therapeutics agents are still of interest.

Experimental Procedure: We performed a monocentric, phase II study using Simon's two-stage design.

An Outbreak of COVID-19 among mRNA-Vaccinated Nursing Home Residents.

An outbreak was described among the guests of a Long-Term Care Facility in the North of Italy. Among 23 guests, 20 of whom were fully vaccinated with BNT162b2 vaccine, the outbreak led to a final count of 11 positive guests, 9 of whom were vaccinated, and 4 positive healthcare workers, of whom only 1 was vaccinated. Eight of the positive guests (six vaccinated and two unvaccinated) had symptoms that in five cases (three vaccinated and two unvaccinated) led to death.

Assessing anaesthesiology and intensive care specialty physicians: An Italian language multisource feedback system.

Background: Physician professionalism, including anaesthesiologists and intensive care doctors, should be continuously assessed during training and subsequent clinical practice. Multi-source feedback (MSF) is an assessment system in which healthcare professionals are assessed on several constructs (e.g.

Outcomes of COVID-19 patients treated with continuous positive airway pressure outside the intensive care unit.

Aim: We aimed to characterise a large population of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with moderate-to-severe hypoxaemic acute respiratory failure (ARF) receiving continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) outside the intensive care unit (ICU), and to ascertain whether the duration of CPAP application increased the risk of mortality for patients requiring intubation.

Methods: In this retrospective, multicentre cohort study, we included adult COVID-19 patients, treated with CPAP outside ICU for hypoxaemic ARF from 1 March to 15 April, 2020. We collected demographic and clinical data, including CPAP therapeutic goal, hospital length of stay and 60-day in-hospital mortality.

[Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibodies in Borgosesia (Piedmont Region, Northern Italy) population: a surveillance strategy in post-lockdown period?].

Background: to avoid a new spread of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, the post lockdown period requires the implementation of effective strategies for the case finding and contact tracing. The presence of asymptomatic subjects in the population, that are responsible for about 30% of the new infections, may complicate this phase. Serological tests for the measurement of immune response could represent an effective tool for the rapid monitoring of the population with asymptomatic infections and for estimating the proportion of immune in a territory, too.

Cerebral nervous system vasculitis in a Covid-19 patient with pneumonia.

We describe a patient affected by Covid-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome with a cerebral nervous system vasculitis triggered by SARS-Cov-2, managed at the University hospital, in Novara, Italy in the area most impacted by the pandemic and where 749 Covid-19 positive patients were admitted from March 1st until April 25th, 2020.

Italian pool of asbestos workers cohorts: asbestos related mortality by industrial sector and cumulative exposure.

Objective: Italy has been a large user of asbestos and asbestos containing materials until the 1992 ban. We present a pooled cohort study on long-term mortality in exposed workers.

Methods: Pool of 43 Italian asbestos cohorts (asbestos cement, rolling stock, shipbuilding, glasswork, harbors, insulation and other industries).

Inferior Vena Cava Filter in a Patient with COVID-19 Pneumonia to Prevent a Massive Pulmonary Embolism.

COVID 19 predispose to deep vein thrombosis. We describe an early placement of inferior vena cava filter added to the therapeutic anticoagulation to prevent a massive pulmonary embolism.

Factors Affecting Asbestosis Mortality Among Asbestos-Cement Workers in Italy.

Objectives: This study was performed with the aim of investigating the temporal patterns and determinants associated with mortality from asbestosis among 21 cohorts of Asbestos-Cement (AC) workers who were heavily exposed to asbestos fibres.

Methods: Mortality for asbestosis was analysed for a cohort of 13 076 Italian AC workers (18.1% women).

Radiotherapy in the treatment of extracranial hemangiopericytoma/solitary fibrous tumor: Study from the Rare Cancer Network.

Background And Purpose: The role of radiotherapy (RT) in the treatment of hemangiopericytoma/solitary fibrous tumor (HPC/SFT) is still under debate. We aimed at investigating whether radiotherapy can improve the results in patients operated for extracranial HPC/SFT.

Materials And Methods: Data from patients with HPC/SFT, treated from 1982 to 2012, were retrospectively reviewed within the Rare Cancer Network framework.

Cannabis-Related Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage in a 16-Year-Old Patient: A Case Report.

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a clinical condition characterized by the rapid onset of dyspnea, hemoptysis and acute respiratory failure (ARF). It is commonly caused by autoimmune systemic vasculitis, pulmonary infections, drugs and tumors. Here, we report a case of DAH caused by frequent cannabis smoking.

Role of asbestos clearance in explaining long-term risk of pleural and peritoneal cancer: a pooled analysis of cohort studies.

Objectives: Models based on the multistage theory of cancer predict that rates of malignant mesothelioma continuously increase with time since first exposure (TSFE) to asbestos, even after the end of external exposure. However, recent epidemiological studies suggest that mesothelioma rates level off many years after first exposure to asbestos. A gradual clearance of asbestos from the lungs has been suggested as a possible explanation for this phenomenon.

Cumulative asbestos exposure and mortality from asbestos related diseases in a pooled analysis of 21 asbestos cement cohorts in Italy.

Background: Despite the available information on cancer risk, asbestos is used in large areas in the world, mostly in the production of asbestos cement. Moreover, questions are raised regarding the shape of the dose response relation, the relation with time since exposure and the association with neoplasms in various organs. We conducted a study on the relationship between cumulative asbestos exposure and mortality from asbestos related diseases in a large Italian pool of 21 cohorts of asbestos-cement workers with protracted exposure to both chrysotile and amphibole asbestos.

Implications on pathogenesis and risk of oral lichen planus neoplastic transformation: an ex-vivo retrospective immunohistochemical study.

Aims: To evaluate OPN, MCM7, Ki-67, p53, Bcl-2 and 53BP1 presence, together with the abnormal adaptive CD4 and CD8 T-cell response markers expression in a series of oral lichen planus (OLP) affected patients and assess their combined contribution for a more objective disease classification.

Methods And Results: In this ex-vivo retrospective analysis, biopsy specimens from 28 adults with a clinical diagnosis of OLP at different progression degree (16 reticular, 2 plaque-like, 1 erosive and 9 mixed type) were collected. Sections were immunohistochemically investigated for the proinflammatory cytokine osteopontin (OPN), alpha-beta CD4 and CD8 positive T cells, DNA replication licensing factor (MCM7), proliferating cell marker (Ki-67), apoptotic and tumor antigen (p53), apoptosis modulator (Bcl-2) and cellular response regulator to double-strand breaks tumor suppressor p53-binding protein 1 expression.

Use of administrative health databases to estimate incidence and prevalence of acromegaly in Piedmont Region, Italy.

Purpose: Recent studies from national registries have described changing patterns in epidemiology of acromegaly. Our retrospective study used administrative databases to estimate prevalence and incidence of acromegaly in the Piedmont Region, Italy.

Methods: This study was conducted in Piedmont between 2012 and 2016 on administrative health databases for inpatients and outpatients of any age.