How Covid-19 changed the epidemiology of febrile urinary tract infections in children in the emergency department during the first outbreak.

Background: The first Covid-19 pandemic affected the epidemiology of several diseases. A general reduction in the emergency department (ED) accesses was observed during this period, both in adult and pediatric contexts.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on the behalf of the Italian Society of Pediatric Nephrology (SINePe) in 17 Italian pediatric EDs in March and April 2020, comparing them with data from the same periods in 2018 and 2019.

Oral steroids for reducing kidney scarring in young children with febrile urinary tract infections: the contribution of Bayesian analysis to a randomized trial not reaching its intended sample size.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of oral dexamethasone in reducing kidney scars in infants with a first febrile urinary tract infection (UTI).

Methods: Children aged between 2 and 24 months with their first presumed UTI, at high risk for kidney scarring based on procalcitonin levels (≥1 ng/mL), were randomly assigned to receive dexamethasone in addition to routine care or routine care only. Kidney scars were identified by kidney scan at 6 months after initial UTI.

Correction of hypovitaminosis D improved global longitudinal strain earlier than left ventricular ejection fraction in cardiovascular older adults after orthopaedic surgery.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases and insufficient levels of vitamin D are risk factors for adverse surgical outcomes, and they are both commonly present among older adults undergoing orthopaedic surgery. Giving the cardiovascular effects of vitamin D, pre-operative diagnosis of hypovitaminosis D would be a valuable step for the implementation of supplementation protocols. We investigated if the normalization of serum 25 [OH] D could ameliorate cardiac performance of older adults suffering from cardiovascular diseases.