Publications by authors named "Ricci Z"

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) is a severe neurological condition that is diagnosed clinically and upon specific radiological imaging. Medical treatment of this condition is uncertain, and timing is likely very important to minimize brain damage and systemic inflammation. The present case series describes three patients suffering from ANE secondary to influenza A/H1N1 infection during a recent outbreak, treated with increasingly aggressive anti-inflammatory approach, and with significantly different outcomes.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the impact of vasopressin versus other vasopressors (like norepinephrine and epinephrine) on kidney outcomes in children and young adults undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).
  • Data was analyzed from a multicenter cohort including 1,016 patients under 25 years in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) over nearly seven years.
  • Results show that vasopressin use is linked to higher risks of major adverse kidney events (MAKE-90), especially when started later in the CRRT process, indicating potential negative effects on kidney health.
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Background: Continuous kidney replacement therapy (CKRT) is often used for acute kidney injury (AKI) or fluid overload (FO) in children ≤ 10 kg. Intensive care unit (ICU) mortality in children ≤ 10 kg reported by the prospective pediatric CRRT (ppCRRT, 2001-2003) registry was 57%. We aimed to evaluate characteristics associated with ICU mortality using a contemporary registry.

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  • Italy currently lacks a pediatric organ donation program following cardiocirculatory determination of death (pDCDD), prompting a need for research on healthcare staff attitudes before implementation.
  • An anonymous survey was conducted with pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) staff across eight Italian centers to gauge their demographics, personal views on donation, and comfort level with pDCDD practices.
  • Results showed a majority supported organ donation, with 78.2% in favor of pDCDD; however, many felt their understanding of the process was inadequate, highlighting a need for improved education on the topic.
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Background: Postoperative acute kidney injury (PO-AKI) is a frequent complication after surgery. Various tools have been proposed to identify patients at high risk for AKI, including preoperative serum creatinine or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), urinary cell cycle arrest, and tubular damage biomarkers; however, none of these can appropriately assess AKI risk before surgery. Renal functional reserve (RFR) screened by the Doppler-derived intraparenchymal renal resistive index variation (IRRIV) test has been proposed to identify patients at risk for AKI before a kidney insult.

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Article Synopsis
  • - A significant outbreak of influenza A(H1N1pdm09) affected seven young children in Tuscany, Italy, between December 2023 and January 2024, with a median age of 52 months.
  • - The children exhibited a range of symptoms, from mild encephalopathy to severe acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE), resulting in coma and multiorgan failure, with one child sadly passing away.
  • - This report emphasizes the necessity for healthcare providers to quickly recognize and treat acute encephalopathy linked to H1N1 influenza and highlights the importance of vaccination to prevent severe illness in young children.
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Purpose: Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is used for supportive management of acute kidney injury (AKI) and disorders of fluid balance (FB). Little is known about the predictors of successful liberation in children and young adults. We aimed to identify the factors associated with successful CRRT liberation.

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Importance: Continuous kidney replacement therapy (CKRT) is increasingly used in youths with critical illness, but little is known about longer-term outcomes, such as persistent kidney dysfunction, continued need for dialysis, or death.

Objective: To characterize the incidence and risk factors, including liberation patterns, associated with major adverse kidney events 90 days after CKRT initiation (MAKE-90) in children, adolescents, and young adults.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This international, multicenter cohort study was conducted among patients aged 0 to 25 years from The Worldwide Exploration of Renal Replacement Outcomes Collaborative in Kidney Disease (WE-ROCK) registry treated with CKRT for acute kidney injury or fluid overload from 2015 to 2021.

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Background: Preoperative fasting before elective pediatric surgery is a matter of ongoing debate. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the compliance to a recently implemented preoperative fasting protocol (clear fluids until 1 hour from the induction of anesthesia), to identify predictors of prolonged preoperative fasting time, and to determine whether duration of preoperative fasting was associated with adverse outcomes.

Methods: Retrospective single-center study in an operating theater of a tertiary pediatric hospital.

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Introduction: Continuous renal replacement therapies (CRRTs) require constant monitoring and periodic treatment readjustments, being applied to highly complex patients, with rapidly changing clinical needs. To promote precision medicine in the field of renal replacement therapy and encourage dynamic prescription, the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) recommends periodically measuring the solutes extracorporeal clearance with the aim of assessing the current treatment delivery and the gap from the therapeutic prescription (often intended as effluent dose). To perform this procedure, it is therefore necessary to obtain blood and effluent samples from the extracorporeal circuit to measure the concentrations of a target solute (usually represented by urea) in prefilter, postfilter, and effluent lines.

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Background: The impact of disorders of fluid balance, including the pathologic state of fluid overload in sick children has become increasingly apparent. With this understanding, there has been a shift from application of absolute thresholds of fluid accumulation to an appreciation of the intricacies of fluid balance, including the impact of timing, trajectory, and disease pathophysiology.

Methods: The 26th Acute Disease Quality Initiative was the first to be exclusively dedicated to pediatric and neonatal acute kidney injury (pADQI).

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Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is independently associated with increased morbidity and mortality across the life course, yet care for AKI remains mostly supportive. Raising awareness of this life-threatening clinical syndrome through education and advocacy efforts is the key to improving patient outcomes. Here, we describe the unique roles education and advocacy play in the care of children with AKI, discuss the importance of customizing educational outreach efforts to individual groups and contexts, and highlight the opportunities created through innovations and partnerships to optimize lifelong health outcomes.

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Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is among the most common complications following cardiac surgery in adult and pediatric patients, significantly affecting morbidity and mortality. Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Machine Learning (ML) can be used to predict outcomes. AKI diagnosis anticipation may be an ideal target of these methods.

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Background: Since many COVID-19 publications lack consensus reviews or controls, interpretive accuracy is unclear; abdominal processes unique or infrequent during the pandemic remain unknown. The incidence and nature of CT findings accounting for abdominal complaints in COVID patients, reader agreement and overcalling will be determined.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed on COVID patients with abdominal complaints from 3/15/2020-5/31/2020 and 11/1/2020-4/15/2021 including matched controls.

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Thromboelastography (TEG) is a point-of-care test (POCT) used to analyze the hemostatic properties of whole blood. TEG® 5000and TEG® 6s (Haemonetics Corp, USA) measure the same parameters describing clot viscoelasticity using different methodologies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate agreement between TEG5000 and TEG6s measurements.

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In order to develop a standardized nomenclature for the mechanisms and materials utilized during extracorporeal blood purification, a consensus expert conference was convened in November 2022. Standardized nomenclature serves as a common language for reporting research findings, new device development, and education. It is also critically important to support patient safety, allow comparisons between techniques, materials, and devices, and be essential for defining and naming innovative technologies and classifying devices for regulatory approval.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The WE-ROCK study is a multinational collaboration aimed at improving the management and outcomes of children undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) for acute kidney injury (AKI) and fluid overload (FO).
  • - Conducted over three years across 32 medical centers in seven countries, the study involves a retrospective analysis of nearly 1,000 pediatric patients to understand various factors influencing CRRT outcomes.
  • - This research represents the largest international registry of its kind and aims to shed light on practice variability and potential future interventions to enhance patient care in pediatric critical nephrology.
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Background: Increasing evidence has associated positive fluid balance of critically ill patients with poor outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the pattern of daily fluid balances and their association with outcomes in critically ill children with lower respiratory tract viral infection.

Methods: A retrospective single-center study was conducted, in children supported with high-flow nasal cannula, non-invasive ventilation, or invasive ventilation.

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Background: Monitoring anesthesia depth in children is challenging. Pediatric anesthesiologists estimate general anesthesia depth using indirect methods such as pharmacokinetic models and neurovegetative reflexes. The application of processed electroencephalography may help to identify the correct anesthesia depth (i.

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Application of extracorporeal blood purification in children is increasing with the improvement of technology and the broadening of indications in critically ill patients. Furthermore, novel devices are being made available with a miniaturized design to be applicable to pediatric machines and circuits. Current literature in the pediatric setting is essentially based on case series and observational studies.

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Sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) is common in critically ill patients and is strongly associated with adverse outcomes, including an increased risk of chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular events and death. The pathophysiology of SA-AKI remains elusive, although microcirculatory dysfunction, cellular metabolic reprogramming and dysregulated inflammatory responses have been implicated in preclinical studies. SA-AKI is best defined as the occurrence of AKI within 7 days of sepsis onset (diagnosed according to Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcome criteria and Sepsis 3 criteria, respectively).

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