Parents' Participation in Care during Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Stay in COVID-19 Era: An Observational Study.

Background: Parents play a crucial role in the care of infants during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Recent studies have reported a decrease in parental participation due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has led to restricted access policies in hospitals. The aim of this study was to describe the barriers to good parental participation during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit in the COVID-19 era.

Development of a Method for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Antibodies on Dried Blood Spot by DELFIA Immunoassay.

Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein are produced by the immune system in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, but most available vaccines developed to fight the pandemic spread target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The aim of this study was to improve the detection of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid by providing a simple and robust method applicable to a large population. For this purpose, we developed a DELFIA immunoassay on dried blood spots (DBSs) by converting a commercially available IVD ELISA assay.

SARS-CoV-2 and Immunity: Natural Infection Compared with Vaccination.

Recently, the protective and/or pathological role of virus-specific T cells in SARS-CoV-2 infection has been the focus of many studies. We investigated the anti-spike IgG levels and SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in 125 donors (90 vaccinated with four different vaccine platforms, 16 individuals with a previous natural infection, and 19 not vaccinated donors who did not report previous SARS-CoV-2 infections). Our data show that anti-spike IgG titers were similar between naturally infected subjects and those vaccinated with adenoviral vector vaccines.

Validation of the GSP/DELFIA Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG Kit Using Dried Blood Samples for High-Throughput Serosurveillance and Standardized Quantitative Measurement of Anti-Spike S1 IgG Antibody Responses Post-Vaccination.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a major global public health crisis. In response, researchers and pharmaceutical companies worked together for the rapid development of vaccines to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with viral infection. Monitoring host immunity following virus infection and/or vaccination is essential to guide vaccination intervention policy.

Passive Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 at Birth Induced by Vaccination in the First Trimester of Pregnancy.

As is well known, the COVID-19 infection is affecting the whole world, causing a serious health, social and economic crisis. The viral infection can cause a mild or severe illness, depending on how effectively the virus is countered by the immune system. In this context, the position of pregnant women remains rather unknown.

BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccination Leads to Long-Term Protection from COVID-19 Disease.

The efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-based vaccines in preventing COVID-19 disease has been extensively demonstrated; however, it is of uttermost importance to acquire knowledge on the persistence of immune-protection both in terms of levels of neutralizing antibodies and specialized memory cells. This can provide important scientific basis for decisions on the need of additional vaccine doses and on when these should be administered thus resulting in an improvement in vaccination schedules. Here, we briefly report the changes in antibody levels and cellular immunity following BNT162b2 administration.

Information obligation in surgery.

The following article aims to clarify the guidelines needed for the gaining of informed consent in surgery treatments.  Legal dispositions in the provisions of law n. 219/2017, written according to the regulatory mechanism uphold by the Italian Supreme Court and medical code of practice have been properly analyzed in order answer the questions unanswered by the law.

Evolution of Italian laws banning trafficking, use and abuse of psychotropic drugs.

The penalty system implemented by Italian law still represents a barrier against psychoactive drugs and drug addiction, especially at a time when the age of first consumption has considerably dropped. Presidential Decree n. 309 of October 9, 1990 entitled "Consolidation of the laws governing drugs and psychotropic substances, the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts", and referred to as Presidential Decree 309/90, is the reference text for the cultivation, production, trade and use of narcotics and other psychoactive substances in Italy.

Recent Medico-Legal Developments on the Issue of Epilepsy and Driver's License Requirements in the Italian and European Legislation.

Epilepsy is a condition that comprises a group of neurological disorders characterized by seizures. Forms of epilepsy that produce abrupt bouts that cause lapses in consciousness may pose a major road safety problem for drivers who, while going through a seizure, could seriously harm themselves as well as others. A fundamental strategy for the purpose of reducing the risk of car accidents caused by epileptic drivers is constituted by prevention, in addition to adequate pharmacological therapies.

No Correlation between Blood Benzene Levels and Luteinizing Hormone Plasma Values in Outdoor Workers.

Objective: The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether low-dose exposure to benzene, an environmental pollutant to which male and female traffic policemen are daily exposed to could cause alterations in plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) levels.

Methods: From an initial sample of 1594 workers, we only selected 95 workers of whom study we knew the values of late-shift benzene and LH hormone. All subjects underwent biological monitoring (final blood benzene evaluation) and luteinizing hormone dosing.

Post Vaccinal Temporary Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

In our systematic research we identified four studies concerning the onset of neurological adverse events following vaccination and two excluding this association. A 33-year-old Italian man, belonging to the Italian Army was hospitalized because he suffered from vertigo, nausea and sudden right hearing loss not classified (NDD), that set in 24 h after the administration of tetanus-diphtheria and meningococcal vaccines. Some neurological events arising after vaccination are very difficult to treat.

Ethics and/or Aesthetics? Reflections on Cosmetic Surgery for Adolescents.

Cosmetic surgery entails various ethical issues, even more so in cases involving adolescent patients. Cosmetic surgeons need to take into account how modern societies consider physical appearance an essential component of everyday life, as well as the vulnerability of youths and adolescents. For that reason, it is imperative to thoroughly assess the psychological and emotional states, in addition to the motivations, of minor patients.

Italian law n. 24/2017 on physicians’ criminal liability: a reform that does not solve the problems of the psychiatric practice.

For years psychiatrists have been facing the risk of being prosecuted for professional liability. One of the reasons for this situation depends on the fact that professionals cannot rely on clear rules of conduct. Indeed, in psychiatry, it may happen that a judge considers negligent a conduct not punishable by another court, as in cases of hospital discharges.

Volatile lipophilic substances management in case of fatal sniffing.

Death due to inhalation of aliphatic hydrocarbons such as butane and propane is a particularly serious problem worldwide, resulting in several fatal cases of sniffing these volatile substances in order to "get high". Despite the number of cases published, there is not a unique approach to case management of fatal sniffing. In this paper we illustrate the volatile lipophilic substances management in a case of a prisoner died after sniffing a butane-propane gas mixture from prefilled camping stove gas canisters, discussing the comprehensive approach of the crime scene, the autopsy, histology and toxicology.

An atypical case of trigeminal trophic syndrome: A legal medicine perspective in medical responsibility.

Background: Trigeminal trophic syndrome is a rare complication of peripheral or central damage to the trigeminal nerve characterized by anesthesia, paresthesia and a secondary persistent facial ulceration.

Methods: We describe the case of a 40-year-old woman with previous history of Le Fort I osteotomy for a class III malocclusion who developed trigeminal trophic syndrome. Atypically, the cutaneous symptoms appeared bilaterally and 8 years after surgery.

Neurocognitive Correlates in Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis.

Background & Objective: Delta (9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis and is frequently identified in blood samples from apprehended drivers suspected for driving under the influence of drugs. Changing social norms towards cannabis and higher acceptability towards the drug emphasize the need for in-depth understanding of the acute neurocognitive and psychomotor effects caused by cannabis and how these effects are correlated to driving skills and performance.

Method: In this review, PubMed, Cochrane Central, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases were used to identify and select publications up to January 2017 dealing with acute and chronic neurocognitive effects induced by cannabis and ability to drive.

Ventricular androgenic-anabolic steroid-related remodeling: an immunohistochemical study.

Background: Several fatal cases of bodybuilders, following a myocardial infarction after long exposure to androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS), are reported. In recent years, evidence has emerged of cases of heart failure related to AAS consumption, with no signs of coronary or aorta atherosclerosis. This study aims to further investigate the pathogenesis of the ventricular AAS-related remodeling performing immunohistochemistry (IHC).

The value of exfoliative cytology in the diagnostic of oral mucosa changes in diabetes mellitus.

In this study, we performed microscopic qualitative analyses of the oral epithelium cytological smears in potential early phase of diabetes and in type 1 and 2 diabetic patients versus a healthy control group. The cytological assessment of the oral changes was realized on superficial and profound smears, from jugal and ventral tongue mucosa and it was based on the comparison between three staining methods [Papanicolaou, APT (polychrome tannin blue)-Dragan and Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE)]. Cytological changes of oral cells population were correlated with the type, duration and complications of diabetes.

Variability in findings of anogenital injury in consensual and non-consensual fisting intercourse: A systematic review.

Fisting is an uncommon and potentially dangerous sexual practice. This is usually a homosexual activity, but can also be a heterosexual or an autoerotic practice. A systematic review of the forensic literature yielded 14 published studies from 8 countries between 1968 and 2016 that met the inclusion/exclusion criteria, illustrating that external anogenital (anal and/or genital) trauma due to fisting is observed in 22.

Hydraulic Resistance of Vitreous Cutters: The Impact of Blade Design and Cut Rate.

Purpose: To measure the hydraulic resistance (HR) of vitreous cutters equipped with a Regular guillotine Blade (RB) or double edge blade (DEB) at cut rates comprised between 0 and 12,000 cuts per minute (CPM) and compare it with vitreous fragment size. This was an in vitro experimental study; in vivo HR measure and vitreous sampling.

Methods: HR, defined as aspiration pressure/flow rate, was measured in balanced salt solution (BSS; Alcon, Fort Worth, TX) (in vitro) and during pars plana vitrectomy of 20 consecutive patients aged 18 to 65, undergoing macular surgery.

Ethical and legal implications of elective ventilation and organ transplantation: "medicalization" of dying versus medical mission.

A critical controversy surrounds the type of allowable interventions to be carried out in patients who are potential organ donors, in an attempt to improve organ perfusion and successful transplantation. The main goal is to transplant an organ in conditions as close as possible to its physiological live state. "Elective ventilation" (EV), that is, the use of ventilation for the sole purpose of retrieving the organs of patients close to death, is an option which offsets the shortage of organ donation.

Not only a clinical nightmare: amniotic fluid embolism in court.

Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is an uncommon obstetric condition involving usually women in labour or in the early post-partum period. Clinical consequences of this unpredictable and unpreventable pathology may be extremely serious with high morbidity and mortality rates. Data obtained from the US Amniotic Fluid Embolism Registry show that the process is more similar to anaphylaxis than to embolism, and the term anaphylactoid syndrome of pregnancy has been suggested because foetal tissue or amniotic fluid components are not universally found in women who present signs and symptoms related to AFE.