Small airway dysfunction mediates the relationship between FeNO and asthma control.

Background: Most of the Fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO)'s physiological production occurs in small airways, but the relationship between FeNO and small airway disease (SAD) in asthma is scant.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between asthma control, changes of FeNO in relation to airway bronchodilation (BD), and SAD.

Methods: Baseline conventional spirometry, impulse oscillometry (IOS), and FeNO pre- and post-bronchodilation (salbutamol 400 mcg) were tested on consecutive community-treated adult asthmatic patients.

Clinical characteristics, use and switch of drugs for obstructive airway diseases among patients with COPD experiencing an exacerbation: a retrospective analysis of Italian administrative healthcare data.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represents an important health challenge, despite being preventable and manageable thanks to up-to-date recommendations. In Italy, the pharmaceutical care of COPD patients is still ill-timed and inaccurate. This study aimed to describe the treatment of COPD patients in Italy and possible switches following an exacerbation.

Perception and knowledge of general practitioners on COPD management according to the GOLD23 document and reimbursement criteria for drugs prescription: an e-Delphi study.

Background: COPD management and therapy have been periodically revised to support a more patient-specific approach. Several concerns remain in primary care, such as the proper choice of initial treatment, medication adherence, and missing values for spirometry investigations. These concerns may be exacerbated by inconsistencies between the GOLD23 report and reimbursement criteria, as per the Italian NOTA99, especially for what concerns the assessment of disease severity and related treatment choice.

Mechanical power during robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: an observational study.

Background: Robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) requires pneumoperitoneum and steep Trendelenburg position. Our aim was to investigate the influence of the combination of pneumoperitoneum and Trendelenburg position on mechanical power and its components during RALP.

Methods: Sixty-one prospectively enrolled patients scheduled for RALP were studied in supine position before surgery, during pneumoperitoneum and Trendelenburg position and in supine position after surgery at constant ventilatory setting.

Asthma remission one, none and one-hundred thousand: the relevance of the patient's view.

Objective: Achieving remission in severe asthma holds paramount importance in elevating patient quality of life and reducing both individual and societal burdens associated with this chronic condition. This study centers on identifying pivotal patient-relevant endpoints through standardized, reproducible methods, while also developing a patient-centric definition of remission, essential for effective disease management.

Methods: A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted to assess patients' perceptions on the four primary criteria for defining severe asthma remission, as outlined by the SANI survey.

Development and validation of a prediction score to assess the risk of incurring in COPD-related exacerbations: a population-based study in primary care.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth most important cause of death in high-income countries. Inappropriate use of COPD inhaled therapy, including the low adherence (only 10 %-40 % of patients reporting an adequate compliance) may shrink or even nullify the proven benefits of these medications. As such, an accurate prediction algorithm to assess at national level the risk of COPD exacerbation might be relevant for general practictioners (GPs) to improve patient's therapy.

Living Donor Lung Transplantation After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation From the Same Donor: A Risk Worth Taking.

Living donor (LD) lung transplantation (LT) represents an exceptional procedure in Western countries. However, in selected situations, it could be a source of unique advantages, besides addressing organ shortage. We report a successful case of father-to-child single-lobe LT, because of the complications of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from the same donor, with initial low-dose immunosuppressive therapy and subsequent early discontinuation.

Gas exchange abnormalities in Long COVID are driven by the alteration of the vascular component.

Background: There are uncertainties whether the impairment of lung diffusing capacity in COVID-19 is due to an alteration in the diffusive conductance of the alveolar membrane (Dm), or an alteration of the alveolar capillary volume (Vc), or a combination of both. The combined measurement DLNO and DLCO diffusion, owing to NO higher affinity and faster reaction rate with haemoglobin compared to CO, enables the simultaneous and rapid determination of both Vc and Dm. The aim of the present study was to better identify the precise cause of post-COVID-19 diffusion impairment.

Sustained Effectiveness of Benralizumab in Naïve and Biologics-Experienced Severe Eosinophilic Asthma Patients: Results from the ANANKE Study.

Purpose: Severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) patients often present overlapping inflammatory features rendering them eligible for multiple biologic therapies; switching biologic treatment is a strategy adopted to optimize asthma control when patients show partial or no response to previous biologics.

Patients And Methods: ANANKE is a retrospective, multicenter Italian study (NCT04272463). Here, we outline the characteristics and long-term clinical outcomes in naïve-to-biologics and biologics-experienced patients treated with benralizumab for up to 96 weeks.

Exacerbation Burden in COPD and Occurrence of Mortality in a Cohort of Italian Patients: Results of the Gulp Study.

Objective: To describe the burden of moderate to severe exacerbations and all-cause mortality; the secondary objectives were to analyze treatment patterns and changes over follow-up.

Design: Observational, multicenter, retrospective, cohort study with a three year follow-up period.

Setting: Ten Italian academic secondary- and tertiary-care centers.

Vaccination Recommendations in Solid Organ Transplant Adult Candidates and Recipients.

Prevention of infections is crucial in solid organ transplant (SOT) candidates and recipients. These patients are exposed to an increased infectious risk due to previous organ insufficiency and to pharmacologic immunosuppression. Besides infectious-related morbidity and mortality, this vulnerable group of patients is also exposed to the risk of acute decompensation and organ rejection or failure in the pre- and post-transplant period, respectively, since antimicrobial treatments are less effective than in the immunocompetent patients.

Oscillometry in severe asthma: the state of the art and future perspectives.

Introduction: Approximately 3-10% of people with asthma have severe asthma (SA). Patients with SA have greater impairment in daily life and much higher costs. Even if asthma affects the entire bronchial tree, small airways have been recognized as the major site of airflow limitation.

SARS-CoV-2 infection sequelae on exercise response: persistent or reversible? A 2-year perspective.

https://bit.ly/3qFd97x.

Long-term effectiveness of benralizumab in severe eosinophilic asthma patients treated for 96-weeks: data from the ANANKE study.

Background: The efficacy of benralizumab has been broadly demonstrated in severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA), but only few real-life studies evaluated its long-term effects. Here we present novel data from the ANANKE study in which a large cohort of SEA patients was treated for up to 96 weeks.

Methods: ANANKE (NCT04272463) is an observational retrospective Italian study investigating the key characteristics of SEA patients (collected during the 12 months prior to benralizumab initiation) and the clinical outcomes during benralizumab treatment (annual exacerbation rate [AER], lung function, asthma control, OCS use, healthcare resource utilization).

Italian good practice recommendations on management of persons with Long-COVID.

A significant number of people, following acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, report persistent symptoms or new symptoms that are sustained over time, often affecting different body systems. This condition, commonly referred to as Long-COVID, requires a complex clinical management. In Italy new health facilities specifically dedicated to the diagnosis and care of Long-COVID were implemented.

Home monitoring of lung mechanics by oscillometry before, during and after severe COVID-19 disease: a case study.

https://bit.ly/3WCpWC0.

Interventional pulmonology techniques in lung transplantation.

Lung transplantation is a key therapeutic option for several end-stage lung diseases. Interventional pulmonology techniques, mostly bronchoscopy, play a key role throughout the whole path of lung transplantation, from donor evaluation to diagnosis and management of post-transplant complications. We carried out a non-systematic, narrative literature review aimed at describing the main indications, contraindications, performance characteristics and safety profile of interventional pulmonology techniques in the context of lung transplantation.

Successful Lung Transplantation From a Donor With Previous Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia.

Lungs from donors with previous COVID-19 could become a precious resource if proved safe. So far, only 3 successful lung transplantations from donors with previous mild COVID-19 have been reported. We describe a successful bilateral sequential lung transplantation from a donor who, 10 months before, had developed severe COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome.

One-year mortality in COVID-19 is associated with patients' comorbidities rather than pneumonia severity.

Background: In patients with pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome who survived hospitalization, one-year mortality can affect up to one third of discharged patients. Therefore, significant long-term mortality after COVID-19 respiratory failure could be expected. The primary outcome of the present study was one-year all-cause mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.