Trends in Hospital Admissions for Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Insights from a Retrospective Cohort Study in a Province in Northern Italy.

ALS is characterized by a highly heterogeneous course, ranging from slow and uncomplicated to rapid progression with severe extra-motor manifestations. This study investigated ALS-related hospitalizations and their connection to clinical aspects, comorbidities, and prognosis. We performed a retrospective cohort study including patients residing in Modena, Italy, newly diagnosed between 2007 and 2017 and followed up until 31 December 2022.

Effect of tauroursodeoxycholic acid on survival and safety in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a retrospective population-based cohort study.

Background: Oral tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is a commercial drug currently tested in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) both singly and combined with sodium phenylbutyrate. This retrospective study aimed to investigate, in a real-world setting, whether TUDCA had an impact on the overall survival of patients with ALS who were treated with this drug compared to those patients who received standard care only.

Methods: This propensity score-matched study was conducted in the Emilia Romagna Region (Italy), which has had an ALS regional registry since 2009.

Insight into Elderly ALS Patients in the Emilia Romagna Region: Epidemiological and Clinical Features of Late-Onset ALS in a Prospective, Population-Based Study.

Few studies have focused on elderly (>80 years) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, who represent a fragile subgroup generally not included in clinical trials and often neglected because they are more difficult to diagnose and manage. We analyzed the clinical and genetic features of very late-onset ALS patients through a prospective, population-based study in the Emilia Romagna Region of Italy. From 2009 to 2019, 222 (13.

Causes and length of stay of readmission among individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury: a prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Secondary conditions may reduce function and participation in individuals with chronic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). The knowledge of reasons for readmission to the hospital may be enlightening to prevent them and remodel the health services.

Study Design: Multicenter prospective observational study of all consecutive readmissions of persons with SCI after rehabilitation completion.

Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approach to Children and Adolescents with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSA): Recommendations in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSA) in paediatrics is a rather frequent pathology caused by pathophysiological alterations leading to partial and prolonged obstruction (hypoventilation) and/or intermittent partial (hypopnoea) or complete (apnoea) obstruction of the upper airways. Paediatric OSA is characterised by daytime and night-time symptoms. Unfortunately, there are few data on shared diagnostic-therapeutic pathways that address OSA with a multidisciplinary approach in paediatric age.

Epidemiological, Clinical and Genetic Features of ALS in the Last Decade: A Prospective Population-Based Study in the Emilia Romagna Region of Italy.

Increased incidence rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been recently reported across various Western countries, although geographic and temporal variations in terms of incidence, clinical features and genetics are not fully elucidated. This study aimed to describe demographic, clinical feature and genotype-phenotype correlations of ALS cases over the last decade in the Emilia Romagna Region (ERR). From 2009 to 2019, our prospective population-based registry of ALS in the ERR of Northern Italy recorded 1613 patients receiving a diagnosis of ALS.

Remodulation of neurosurgical activities in an Italian region (Emilia-Romagna) under COVID-19 emergency: maintaining the standard of care during the crisis.

Background: The impact of COVID-19 outbreak in the neurosurgical practice has been dramatic, imposing several limitations. The aim of this study is to present how the neurosurgical departments of Emilia-Romagna, a northern Italian region, have re-set their organization to maintain the higher standard of care as possible.

Methods: All operative room and outpatient activities performed during the COVID-19 emergency in the neurosurgical department of Emilia-Romagna have been collected and compared to the means of the same timeframe in 2018 and 2019.

Traumatic spinal cord injury in Italy 20 years later: current epidemiological trend and early predictors of rehabilitation outcome.

Study Design: Multicenter prospective observational study of people with acute traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) admitted to rehabilitation.

Objectives: To update epidemiological characteristics of a TSCI Italian population and verify the impact of patient characteristics at admission on two outcomes: functional gain (SCIM III) and discharge destination.

Setting: Thirty-one SCI centers for comprehensive rehabilitation in 13 Italian regions.

Efficacy and Tolerability of Tremelimumab in Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma Patients Who Have Failed First-Line Platinum-Based Chemotherapy.

Purpose: Patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma who fail platinum-containing chemotherapy (treatment fails) have a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Recent approvals of immune-checkpoint inhibitors confirmed the value of immunomodulatory therapy in urothelial carcinoma. Tremelimumab is a selective human immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2) monoclonal antibody against cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 with demonstrated durable response rate in metastatic melanoma.

Effect of Rehabilitation Treatments on Disability in Persons With Disorders of Consciousness: A Propensity Score Study.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of rehabilitation (physical and cognitive) treatments on the diagnosis severity and Disability Rating Scale (DRS) scores, adjusted for a number of potential confounders measured at baseline, in a large cohort of patients with disorders of consciousness across time.

Design And Setting: An observational, longitudinal (2 evaluations), multicenter project was made in 90 Italian centers.

Participants: Patients (N=364) with a diagnosis of disorders of consciousness.

Community ambulation of stroke survivors at 6 months follow-up: an observational study on sociodemographic and sub-acute clinical indicators.

Background: Despite the importance of walking recovery in real life contexts, only 7% of stroke survivors at discharge from neuro-rehabilitation units recover independent walking in the community. However, studies on outcome indicators of walking ability restoration following stroke rarely regard the community ambulation.

Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate how sociodemographic and sub-acute clinical characteristics of stroke survivors at admission and at discharge may predict a good participation in community walking activity 6 months post-stroke.

Impact of acute-phase complications and interventions on 6-month survival after stroke. A prospective observational study.

The outcome of stroke patients is complex and multidimensional. We evaluated the impact of acute-phase variables, including clinical state, complications, resource use and interventions, on 6-month survival after first-ever stroke, taking into account baseline conditions exerting a possible effect on outcome. As part of a National Research Program, we performed a prospective observational study of acute stroke patients in four Italian Regions.

Riluzole and other prognostic factors in ALS: a population-based registry study in Italy.

Objective: In this prospective population-based registry study on ALS survival, we investigated the role of riluzole treatment, together with other clinical factors, on the prognosis in incident ALS cases in Emilia Romagna Region (ERR), Italy.

Methods: A registry for ALS has been collecting all incident cases in ERR since 2009. Detailed clinical data from all patients diagnosed with ALS between 1.

Acute Phase Predictors of 6-Month Functional Outcome in Italian Stroke Patients Eligible for In-Hospital Rehabilitation.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess early poststroke prognostic factors in patients admitted for postacute phase rehabilitation.

Methods: A 1-yr multicenter prospective project was conducted in four Italian regions on 352 patients who were hospitalized after a first stroke and were eligible for postacute rehabilitation. Clinical data were collected in the stroke or acute care units (acute phase), then in rehabilitation units (postacute phase), and, subsequently, after a 6-mo poststroke period (follow-up).

Care pathways models and clinical outcomes in Disorders of consciousness.

Objective: Patients with Disorders of consciousness, are persons with extremely low functioning levels and represent a challenge for health care systems due to their high needs of facilitating environmental factors. Despite a common Italian health care pathway for these patients, no studies have analyzed information on how each region have implemented it in its welfare system correlating data with patients' clinical outcomes.

Materials And Methods: A multicenter observational pilot study was realized.

Incidence of neuroepithelial primary brain tumors among adult population of Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy.

Incidence of neuroepithelial Primary Brain Tumors (nPBT) varies, ranging from 7.3 to 11.6 cases/100,000/year across Europe.

Heterogeneity in ALSFRS-R decline and survival: a population-based study in Italy.

Very few studies examined trend over time of the revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) and factors influencing it; previous studies, then, included only patients attending tertiary ALS Centres. We studied ALSFRS-R decline, factors influencing this trend and survival in a population-based setting. From 2009 onwards, a prospective registry records all incident ALS cases among residents in Emilia Romagna (population: 4.

A further Rasch study confirms that ALSFRS-R does not conform to fundamental measurement requirements.

Our objective was to verify and expand previous evidence of psychometric inadequacies in the ALSFRS-R, in a different sample of subjects suffering from ALS. Since 2009, a prospective registry records all incident cases of ALS in Emilia Romagna Region, Italy (4.4 million inhabitants) referred to its 17 neurological departments.

Epidemiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Emilia Romagna Region (Italy): A population based study.

Our objective was to describe incidence and clinical features of ALS from a prospective population-based study in Emilia Romagna Region (ERR). From 2009 onwards, a prospective registry recorded all incident cases of ALS among residents in the ERR (population, 4.4 million inhabitants), involving 17 neurological departments.

Quality indicators in acute stroke care: a prospective observational survey in 13 Italian regions.

Background And Aims: Quality monitoring has great relevance in stroke care. The Project "How to guarantee adherence to effective interventions in stroke care" aimed to estimate adherence to acute-phase guidelines in stroke care in Italy.

Methods: A prospective observational study was performed in 27 hospitals of 13 Italian Regions.

Monitoring the implementation of the State-Regional Council agreement 03/02/2005 as to the management of acute stroke events: a comparison of the Italian regional legislations.

Access to effective acute stroke services is a crucial factor to reduce stroke-related death and disability, but is limited in different parts of Italy. Our study addresses this inequality across the Italian regions by examining the regional legislations issued to adopt and implement the State-Regional Council agreement 03/02/2005 as to the acute stroke management. All decrees and resolutions as to acute stroke were collected from each region and examined by the means of a check list including quantitative and qualitative characteristics, selected in accordance with the recommendations from the State-Regional Council document.

The incidence of narcolepsy in Europe: before, during, and after the influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic and vaccination campaigns.

Background: In August 2010 reports of a possible association between exposure to AS03 adjuvanted pandemic A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine and occurrence of narcolepsy in children and adolescents emerged in Sweden and Finland. In response to this signal, the background rates of narcolepsy in Europe were assessed to rapidly provide information for signal verification.

Methods: We used a dynamic retrospective cohort study to assess the narcolepsy diagnosis rates during the period 2000-2010 using large linked automated health care databases in six countries: Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Decompressive craniectomies, facts and fiction: a retrospective analysis of 526 cases.

Background: The aim of this article was to review the clinical practice of "bone flap decompression" in Regional Neurosurgical Units with no particular protocol in use.

Methods: From January 2005 to December 2008, a retrospective and multicentre study was conducted on patients who were treated with decompressive craniectomy (DC) in seven departments of neurosurgery in Italy. This study included patients with traumatic brain injury, stroke, aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage and cerebral arteriovenous malformations.