Preventable pediatric hospitalizations and access to primary health care in Italy.

The aim of this study was to quantify the burden of avoidable pediatric hospital admissions for Ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSC) and to identify factors related to these preventable hospitalizations. The study was conducted by retrospectively reviewing all medical records of children admitted in a non-teaching 474-bed acute care hospital located in Catanzaro (Italy) for an avoidable hospitalization diagnosis. Two control clinical records involving children hospitalized for clinical conditions not classified as ACSC were randomly selected for each clinical record that included an ACSC.

Therapeutic monitoring of tacrolimus: aberrant results by an immunoassay with automated pretreatment.

Background And Aims: The therapeutic monitoring of Tacrolimus (FK506) is necessary since low doses may cause graft rejection while overdosage is linked to nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and many other adverse effects. Occasional notices of elevated values recorded in patients under maintenance regimen have prompted us to record all results exceeding the therapeutic range (>15 ng/mL) with no clinical signs or explanation and to compare the routine method (Siemens-Dade Dimension XPand) with other assays.

Methods: Eighty-four whole blood samples from 8 patients have been assayed by Dimension and by one or more of three other commercial assays (CMIA and MEIA, Abbott; EMIT, Siemens-Dade).

[Comments on the possibility of the use of the ND-YAG laser in chronic hypertrophic rhinopathy].

Impediment of breath through the nose because of turbinal hypertrophy is an often repeated symptom in chronic rhinitis. In the course of years several procedures for clear the nasal congestion, with more or less satisfactory outcomes, has been tested. The introduction of Nd:Yag laser has allowed a new treatment of the hypertrophic turbinates, thanks to the advantage of its conduction through the flexible optical fibers of the traditional optical devices, even connected to the video system.