Advancing healthcare through thoracic ultrasound research in older patients.

This paper reports the proceedings of a meeting convened by the Research Group on Thoracic Ultrasound in Older People of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, to discuss the current state-of-the-art of clinical research in the field of geriatric thoracic ultrasound and identify unmet research needs and potential areas of development. In the last decade, point-of-care thoracic ultrasound has entered clinical practice for diagnosis and management of several respiratory illnesses, such as bacterial and viral pneumonia, pleural effusion, acute heart failure, and pneumothorax, especially in the emergency-urgency setting. Very few studies, however, have been specifically focused on older patients with frailty and multi-morbidity, who frequently exhibit complex clinical pictures needing multidimensional evaluation.

Ticagrelor-related late-onset dyspnea as cause of emergency department visit: a 3-year outpatient study.

Introduction: The aim of the current study was to define the rate of emergency department visits for late-onset dyspnea in acute coronary syndrome patients treated with ticagrelor.

Methods: We conducted a population-based study on about 850 000 residents of Florence metropolitan area, by using data from healthcare records.

Results: Between 2012 and 2014, 1073 subjects in Florence metropolitan area had at least one prescription of ticagrelor.

Recognition of Delirium Features in Clinical Practice: Data from the "Delirium Day 2015" National Survey.

Background/objectives: Delirium is underrecognized in clinical practice. The primary aim of the present multicenter study was to compare the ability of nurses to identify delirium features with a standardized assessment. The secondary aim was to identify predictors of missed or incorrect identifications of delirium by nurses.

Trandolapril, but not verapamil nor their association, restores the physiological renal hemodynamic response to adrenergic activation in essential hypertension.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of antihypertensive drugs on renal hemodynamics in hypertensive patients during an adrenergic activation by mental stress (MS), which induces renal vasoconstriction in healthy subjects. Renal hemodynamics was assessed twice in 30 middle-aged essential hypertensive patients (57±6 years)-after 15 days of pharmacological wash-out and after 15 days of treatment with Trandolapril (T, 4 mg, n=10), Verapamil (V, 240 mg, n=10), or both (T 2 mg+V 180 mg, n=10). Each experiment consisted of 4 30-min periods (baseline, MS, recovery I and II).