Patient safety implications of wearing a face mask for prevention in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and consensus recommendations.

In the past, the use of face masks in western countries was essentially limited to occupational health. Now, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, mask-wearing has been recommended as a public health intervention. As potential side effects and some contraindications are emerging, we reviewed the literature to assess the impact of them in daily life on patient safety and to provide appropriate guidelines and recommendations.

Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Lineage 20I/501Y.V1 in a Nursing Home Underlines the Crucial Role of Vaccination in Both Residents and Staff.

Elderly residents in nursing homes are at very high risk of life-threatening COVID-19-related outcomes. In this report, an epidemiological and serological investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in an Italian nursing home is described. Among the residents, all but one (19/20) were regularly vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.

Padua prediction score and IMPROVE score do predict in-hospital mortality in Internal Medicine patients.

Padua prediction score (PPS) and IMPROVE bleeding score are validated tools for venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessment recommended by guidelines, albeit not frequently used. Some data suggest that a positive PPS and IMPROVE score may be were associated with early mortality in Internal Medicine patients. Aim of the study was to characterize the predictive ability on mortality of the two scores using two different populations, respectively, as derivation and validation cohort.

What Quality and Safety of Care for Patients Admitted to Clinically Inappropriate Wards: a Systematic Review.

Background: In countries with public health system, hospital bed reductions and increasing social and medical frailty have led to the phenomenon of "outliers" or "outlying hospital in-patients." They are often medical patients who, because of unavailability of beds in their clinically appropriate ward, are admitted wherever unoccupied beds are. The present work is aimed to systematically review literature about quality and safety of care for patients admitted to clinically inappropriate wards.

Prevalence of erectile dysfunction in a cohort of Italian hypertensive subjects.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in a cohort of Italian hypertensive men and the association with clinical and biochemical data. The study involved 270 consecutive hypertensive subjects aged 40-70 years evaluated in Italian Hypertension Centers of six hospitals from Liguria and Piedmont. ED was assessed through the self-administered questionnaire of the International Index of Erectile Function.

Gender Difference in Efficacy and Safety of Nonvitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants in Patients with Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation or Venous Thromboembolism: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis of the Literature.

Introduction: Limited information exists on gender-related differences in the safety and efficacy of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs).

Aim Of The Study: To assess the safety and efficacy of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs)/NOACs in men and women pooling data from randomized controlled trials on the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) and on the acute and extended treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched up to June 2014.

Combined assessment of thrombotic and haemorrhagic risk in acute medical patients.

Acute medical patients have a high risk of venous thromboembolic events (VTE). Unfortunately, the fear of bleeding complications limits the use of antithrombotic prophylaxis in this setting. To stratify the VTE and haemorrhagic risk, two clinical scores (PADUA, IMPROVE) have recently been developed.

Acute Complex Care Model: An organizational approach for the medical care of hospitalized acute complex patients.

Background: Chronic diseases are the major cause of death (59%) and disability worldwide, representing 46% of global disease burden. According to the Future Hospital Commission of the Royal College of Physicians, Medical Division (MD) will be responsible for all hospital medical services, from emergency to specialist wards. The Hospital Acute Care Hub will bring together the clinical areas of the MD that focus on the management of acute medical patients.

Autoinflammatory diseases: a possible cause of thrombosis?

Autoinflammatory diseases are a group of disorders due to acquired or hereditary disfunction of innate immune system and characterized by systemic or localized manifestations. The prototype is Familial Mediterranean Fever, a monogenic hereditary disorder, whose causing gene (MeFV gene) was identified in 1997 and opened the way to a new fascinanting chapter of rheumatology. A growing body of monogenic and poligenic autoinflammatory disorders has been described since then.

Thromboprophylaxis in acutely ill medical patients: results of a survey among Italian physicians.

Aims: acutely ill medical patients are at increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and often require thromboprophylaxis, but patient selection and adequate therapeutic decisions may be difficult due to the heterogeneity and the complexity of this population. We conducted a survey among a large cohort of Italian physicians to assess their approach to some important "grey" areas of VTE prevention in this setting.

Methods: a questionnaire was distributed during the meeting of a national society of Internal Medicine (FADOI), held in May 2013.

Homocysteine in vascular Behcet disease: a meta-analysis.

Objective: Behçet disease (BD) is a vasculitis of unknown etiology, characterized by oral or genital aphtosis and uveitis. Homocysteine (hcy) is an independent risk factor for venous and arterial thrombosis. The association between hyperhomocysteinemia and thrombosis has been investigated in some studies in BD patients.

Behçet's Disease as a Model of Venous Thrombosis.

Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown aetiology characterized by recurrent oral, genital aphthous ulcerations, uveitis, skin lesions and other multisystem affections associated with vasculitis. Different types of vessels, predominantly veins, can be affected in BD. The frequency of vascular lesions in BD, such as superficial and deep venous thromboses, arterial aneurysms and occlusions, ranges between 7-29%.

Early improvement in cardiac function detected by tissue Doppler and strain imaging after melphalan-dexamethasone therapy in a 51-year old subject with severe cardiac amyloidosis.

We report the case of a 51-year old man with symptoms of heart failure due to severe cardiac amyloidosis, in whom treatment with melphalan and dexamethasone yielded significant improvement in clinical status and both systolic and diastolic left ventricular (LV) function over a 12-week follow-up. The improvement in LV performance was detected by Tissue Doppler (TD) and strain analysis, despite no changes in standard indices such as ejection fraction and Doppler pattern of mitral inflow. Color TD-derived myocardial velocity and deformation indices also revealed a reduction in intra-ventricular early diastolic asynchrony after therapy.