Publications by authors named "Lara Pisani"

High flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) is recommended as a first-line respiratory support during acute hypoxic respiratory failure (AHRF) and represents a proportionate treatment option for patients with do not intubate (DNI) orders. The aim of the study is to assess the effect of HFNO on inspiratory effort as assessed by esophageal manometry in a population of DNI patients suffering from AHRF. Patients with AHRF and DNI orders admitted to Respiratory intermediate Care Unit between January 1st, 2018 and May 31st, 2023 to receive HFNO and subjected to esophageal manometry were enrolled.

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Nighttime and non-working days are characterized by a shortage of dedicated staff and available resources. Previous studies have highlighted that patients admitted during the weekend had higher mortality than patients admitted on weekdays ("weekend effect"). However, most studies have focused on specific conditions and controversial results were reported.

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High-flow therapy (HFT) is the administration of gas flows above 15 L/min. It is a non-invasive respiratory support that delivers heated (up to 38 °C), humidified (100% Relative Humidity, RH; 44 mg HO/L Absolute Humidity, AH), oxygen-enriched air when necessary, through a nasal cannula or a tracheostomy interface. Over the last few years, the use of HFT in critically ill hypoxemic adults has increased.

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This rapid practice guideline provides evidence-based recommendations for the use of awake proning in adult patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure due to COVID-19. The panel included 20 experts from 12 countries, including one patient representative, and used a strict conflict of interest policy for potential financial and intellectual conflicts of interest. Methodological support was provided by the guidelines in intensive care, development, and evaluation (GUIDE) group.

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Background: Environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 from patients with COVID-19 undergoing noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in the ICU is still under investigation. This study set out to investigate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces near subjects receiving NIV in the ICU under controlled conditions (ie, use of dual-limb circuits, filters, adequate room ventilation).

Methods: This was a single-center, prospective, observational study in the ICU of a tertiary teaching hospital.

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Background: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) still has high failure rate when used for de novo acute respiratory failure (ARF). Delirium may impact the outcome, however data regarding its incidence, timing of occurrence and clinical predictors in this subset of patients are scarce.

Methods: Consecutive patients with de novo ARF subjected to NIV were recruited in 10 Italian Respiratory Intensive Care Units (RICUs) and Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

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Rationale And Objective: Various forms of Non-invasive respiratory support (NRS) have been used during COVID-19, to treat Hypoxemic Acute Respiratory Failure (HARF), but it has been suggested that the occurrence of strenuous inspiratory efforts may cause Self Induced Lung Injury(P-SILI). The aim of this investigation was to record esophageal pressure, when starting NRS application, so as to better understand the potential risk of the patients in terms of P-SILI and ventilator induced lung injury (VILI).

Methods And Measurements: 21 patients with early de-novo respiratory failure due to COVID-19, underwent three 30 min trials applied in random order: high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC), continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), and non-invasive ventilation (NIV).

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Article Synopsis
  • The "Berlin definition" of ARDS currently excludes patients on high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO), but there's ongoing debate about expanding the criteria to include them.
  • Researchers studied COVID-19 patients using HFNO and noninvasive ventilation (NIV) to compare ARDS severity and 28-day mortality before and after transitioning to invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV).
  • The study found that patients who remained on HFNO had significantly lower 28-day mortality rates compared to those who transitioned to IMV, suggesting that including HFNO patients in the ARDS definition could help identify those at earlier stages of the disease with better survival outcomes.
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Background: Hypercapnic exacerbations are severe complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), characterized by negative impact on prognosis, quality of life and healthcare costs. The present standard of care for acute exacerbations of COPD is non-invasive ventilation; when it fails, the use of invasive mechanical ventilation is inevitable, but is associated with extremely poor prognosis. Extracorporeal circuits designed to remove CO (ECCOR) may enhance the efficacy of NIV to remove CO and avoid the worsening of respiratory acidosis, which inevitably leads to failure of non-invasive ventilation.

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Background: High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) has become a frequently used noninvasive form of respiratory support in acute settings; however, evidence supporting its use has only recently emerged. These guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the use of HFNC alongside other noninvasive forms of respiratory support in adults with acute respiratory failure (ARF).

Materials And Methodology: The European Respiratory Society task force panel included expert clinicians and methodologists in pulmonology and intensive care medicine.

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During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, noninvasive respiratory support has played a central role in managing patients affected by moderate-to-severe acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, despite inadequate scientific evidence to support its usage. High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) treatment has gained popularity because of its effectiveness in delivering a high fraction of humidified oxygen, which improves ventilatory efficiency and the respiratory pattern, as well as its reported high tolerability, ease of use, and application outside of ICUs. Nevertheless, the risk of infection transmission to health-care workers has raised some concerns about its use in the first wave of the pandemic outbreak, with controversial recommendations provided by different scientific societies.

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Introduction: Up to fifteen percent of patients with novel pandemic coronavirus disease (Covid-19) have acute respiratory failure (ARF). Ratio between arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) and fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), P/F, is currently used as a marker of ARF severity in Covid-19. P/F does not reflect the respiratory efforts made by patients to maintain arterial blood oxygenation, such as tachypnea and hyperpnea, leading to hypocapnia.

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Unlabelled: High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is used to treat acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) even outside the ICU and the ROX index (pulse oximetry/fraction of inspired oxygen/respiratory rate) may predict HFNC failure.

Objective: The purpose of this investigation was therefore to verify whether the ROX index is an accurate predictor of HFNC failure for COVID-19 patients treated outside the intensive care unit (ICU) and to evaluate the validity of the previously suggested threshold.

Design: Multicenter study.

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Background/materials And Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in two teaching hospitals over a 3-month period (March 2010-June 2020) comparing severe and critical COVID-19 patients admitted to Respiratory Intensive Care Unit for non-invasive respiratory support (NRS) and subjected to awake prone position (PP) with those receiving standard care (SC). Primary outcome was endotracheal intubation (ETI) rate. In-hospital mortality, time to ETI, tracheostomy, length of RICU and hospital stay served as secondary outcomes.

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Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a devastating critical illness that can be triggered by a wide range of insults and remains associated with a high mortality of around 40%. The search for targeted treatment for ARDS has been disappointing, possibly due to the enormous heterogeneity within the syndrome. In this perspective from the European Respiratory Society research seminar on "Precision medicine in ARDS", we will summarise the current evidence for heterogeneity, explore the evidence in favour of precision medicine and provide a roadmap for further research in ARDS.

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Domiciliary non-invasive ventilation (NIV) effectively reduces arterial carbon dioxide pressure (PaCO) in patients with stable hypercapnic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but a consistent percentage of them may remain hypercapnic. We hypothesised that extracorporeal CO removal (ECCOR) may lower their PaCO Ten patients hypercapnic despite ≥6 months of NIV underwent a 24-hour trial of ECCOR. Six patients completed the ECCOR-trial with a PaCO drop ranging between 23% and 47%.

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Introduction: The severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 outbreak spread rapidly in Italy and the lack of intensive care unit (ICU) beds soon became evident, forcing the application of noninvasive respiratory support (NRS) outside the ICU, raising concerns over staff contamination. We aimed to analyse the safety of the hospital staff and the feasibility and outcomes of NRS applied to patients outside the ICU.

Methods: In this observational study, data from 670 consecutive patients with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 referred to pulmonology units in nine hospitals between March 1 and May 10, 2020 were analysed.

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We report the longest follow-up of clinical and biochemical features of two previously reported adult mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy (MNGIE) patients treated with liver transplantation (LT), adding information on a third, recently transplanted, patient. All three patients overcame the early post-operative period and tolerated immunosuppressive therapy. Plasma nucleoside levels dramatically decreased, with evidence of clinical improvement of ambulation and neuropathy.

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The role of inspiratory effort still has to be determined as a potential predictor of noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) failure in acute hypoxic respiratory failure. To explore the hypothesis that inspiratory effort might be a major determinant of NIV failure in these patients. Thirty consecutive patients with acute hypoxic respiratory failure admitted to a single center and candidates for a 24-hour NIV trial were enrolled.

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The World Health Organization has recently defined the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection a pandemic. The infection, that may cause a potentially very severe respiratory disease, now called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has airborne transmission droplets. The rate of transmission is quite high, higher than common influenza.

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Background: Persistent hypercapnia after COPD exacerbation is associated with excess mortality and early rehospitalization. High Flow Nasal cannula (HFNC), may be theoretically an alternative to long-term noninvasive ventilation (NIV), since physiological studies have shown a reduction in PaCO2 level after few hours of treatment. In this clinical study we assessed the acceptability of HFNC and its effectiveness in reducing the level of PaCO in patients recovering from an Acute Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure (AHRF) episode.

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