Evaluation of COVID-19 impact on DELAYing diagnostic-therapeutic pathways of lung cancer patients in Italy (COVID-DELAY study): fewer cases and higher stages from a real-world scenario.

Introduction: COVID-19 has disrupted the global health care system since March 2020. Lung cancer (LC) patients (pts) represent a vulnerable population highly affected by the pandemic. This multicenter Italian study aimed to evaluate whether the COVID-19 outbreak had an impact on access to cancer diagnosis and treatment of LC pts compared with pre-pandemic time.

COVID-19-Related Pericarditis with Pericardial Clotting as a Hallmark: Two Cases and a Review.

The prevalence of pericardial effusion and its clinical significance is not well understood in COVID-19 patients. We report two cases of COVID-19-related pericardial effusion complicated by intrapericardial clot formation. The final outcome was favorable, but intrapericardial clot remained mostly unchanged at 6-month follow-up.

Constraints on Cosmic Strings Using Data from the Third Advanced LIGO-Virgo Observing Run.

We search for gravitational-wave signals produced by cosmic strings in the Advanced LIGO and Virgo full O3 dataset. Search results are presented for gravitational waves produced by cosmic string loop features such as cusps, kinks, and, for the first time, kink-kink collisions. A template-based search for short-duration transient signals does not yield a detection.

Does transbronchial lung cryobiopsy give useful information in asthmatic patients?

Introduction: Lung biopsy in asthmatic patients is justified in case of atypical presentations of asthma, when other differential diagnoses, such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis or eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, could be possible or for research purposes.

Aim: We aim to describe the utility and the safety of TBLC (transbronchial lung cryobiopsy) in asthmatic patients, providing data on the pathological changes occurring in the airways and in the lung parenchyma.

Methods: We reviewed asthmatic patients that underwent TBLC, that eventually had only a final diagnosis of asthma.

Usefulness of Medical Thoracoscopy in the Management of Pleural Effusion Caused by Chronic Renal Failure.

Introduction: Although pleural effusion (PE) can be caused by several pathologies like congestive heart failure, infections, malignancies, and pulmonary embolism, it is also a common finding in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Diagnostic thoracentesis is of limited value in the differential diagnosis, and the role of more invasive investigations like medical thoracoscopy (MT) is still unclear.

Aim: To evaluate the usefulness of MT in unexplained PE in CKD.

An unusual thoracic localizations of Erdheim- Chester disease: A case report.

Erdheim- Chester disease is a rare non- Langerhans cell histiocytosis that usually involves the bones, heart, central nervous system, retroperitoneum, eyes, kidneys, skin and adrenals. Lungs are affected in up to one-half cases; at CT scan various patterns are described: interstitial disease, consolidations, micronodules and microcysts, with or without pleural involvement. We presented a case of a 59 year-old man with unusual intrathoracic manifestation of Erdheim- Chester disease.

The INTER-ROMA project--a survey among Italian radiation oncologists on their approach to the treatment of bone metastases.

Aims And Background: Radiotherapy has an established palliative role for bone metastases but despite the large number of patients treated there is still controversy surrounding the optimal radiotherapy schedule to prescribe. The aim of this survey was to determine the decision patterns of Italian radiation oncologists in four different clinical cases of patients with bone metastases.

Methods And Study Design: During the latest national meeting of the Italian Association of Radiation Oncology (AIRO), four clinical cases were presented to attending radiation oncologists.