Return to Work After Release From Prison.

Work preservation is crucial for the reintegration of ex-prisoners and the prevention of recidivism. We describe the application of an interdisciplinary diagnostic protocol (occupational health visit, psychiatric interview, psychological counselling and testing) in the case of a dairy industry worker (female, 45-year-old), released on half-freedom after approximately a year of detention in prison for attempted murder. This crime can seriously hamper job resumption.

Work resumption after invasive heart procedures, rehabilitation and ergonomic evaluation: from the hospital to the workplace.

Our Institute adopts a multidisciplinary protocol named "CardioWork" for work resumption after invasive cardiac procedures and subsequent rehabilitation: after evaluation of the cardiac functional profile, the occupational physician analyzes the work activity prior to the cardiopathological event, identifies the presumed task energy requirement (from specific, published tables), and compares it with the exercise test results. Indications regarding the timing and modality of returning to work are formulated accordingly. To verify the reliability of the indications thus provided, we carried out a clinical-functional follow-up study in the workplace with Holter electrocardiography (ECG) and armband measurement of actual energy expenditure.

Brugada syndrome and job fitness: report of three cases.

Brugada syndrome (BrS) is an inherited arrhythmogenic disorder predisposing patients to a high risk of sudden cardiac death. Specific guidelines on the health surveillance of BrS workers are lacking. We report here three cases requiring assessment of specific job capacity, investigated with an interdisciplinary protocol including 24-h Holter electrocardiography with modified precordial leads, pharmacological test with ajmaline, molecular genetic analysis, electrophysiological study with ventricular stimulation, risk stratification, and occupational medicine evaluation: (1) a female 42-yr-old company manager with positive ajmaline test and CACNA1C gene mutation (judged fit for the job with limitations regarding work-related stress); (2) a male 44-yr-old welder with positive ajmaline test, SCN5A gene mutation, and associated OSAS (obstructive sleep apnea syndrome), who was advised to refrain from night shifts and driving company vehicles; (3) a male 45-yr-old electrical technician with inducible ventricular tachyarrhythmia, who was implanted with a biventricular cardioverter defibrillator, and therefore recommended to avoid exposure to electromagnetic fields and working at heights.

[The new Maugeri diagnostic protocol for work-related stress and mobbing (MASD-2)].

Occupational stress can exceed the workers' individual capacity to adapt, and cause psychopathological conditions, including adjustment disorder (AD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for which medico-legal reporting is mandatory by law. Since the early 2000s, an interdisciplinary diagnostic protocol has been in use at our Institute to address patients towards an appropriate therapeutic path, in order to promote their psychological well-being and work reintegration. In 2017, the protocol was updated and expanded.