Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Probing the transient and time-variable sky.

The study of transient and variable events, including novae, active galactic nuclei, and black hole binaries, has historically been a fruitful path for elucidating the evolutionary mechanisms of our universe. The study of such events in the millimeter and submillimeter is, however, still in its infancy. Submillimeter observations probe a variety of materials, such as optically thick dust, which are hard to study in other wavelengths.

Cardiovascular diseases, prevention and management of complications in older adults and frail patients treated for elective or post-traumatic hip orthopaedic interventions.

Due to the aging population, focusing on healthy aging has become a global priority. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and frailty, characterized by increased vulnerability to adverse stress and health events, interact synergistically in advanced age. In older adults, hip fractures are a frequent dramatic "life-transition" event.

POStoperative INTELLiVENT-adaptive support VEntilation in cardiac surgery patients (POSITiVE) II-study protocol of a randomized clinical trial.

Background: One single-center randomized clinical trial showed that INTELLiVENT-adaptive support ventilation (ASV) is superior to conventional ventilation with respect to the quality of ventilation in post-cardiac surgery patients. Other studies showed that this automated ventilation mode reduces the number of manual interventions at the ventilator in various types of critically ill patients. In this multicenter study in patients post-cardiac surgery, we test the hypothesis that INTELLiVENT-ASV is superior to conventional ventilation with respect to the quality of ventilation.

Comparison of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA)-Derived Parameters in Healthy Volunteers and Critically Ill Patients.

Objective: To compare bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)-derived parameters in healthy volunteers and critically ill patients and to assess its prognostic value in an ICU patient cohort.

Design: Retrospective, observational data analysis.

Setting: Single centre, tertiary-level ICU (Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen, ZNA Stuivenberg Hospital).

Impact of COVID-19 on incidence and outcomes of post-infarction mechanical complications in Europe.

Objectives: Post-acute myocardial infarction mechanical complications (post-AMI MCs) represent rare but life-threatening conditions, including free-wall rupture, ventricular septal rupture and papillary muscle rupture. During the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, an overwhelming pressure on healthcare systems led to delayed and potentially suboptimal treatments for time-dependent conditions. As AMI-related hospitalizations decreased, limited information is available whether higher rates of post-AMI MCs and related deaths occurred in this setting.

Safety and effectiveness of prilocaine for spinal anesthesia in day surgery setting: a retrospective study on a sample of 3291 patients.

Spinal anesthesia is considered safe and reliable for most surgical procedures involving the lower part of the body, but its use in the ambulatory setting requires drugs with rapid onset and regression of the motor and sensory block-like prilocaine.The purpose of this study is to retrospectively analyze data from 3291 procedures recorded in our institutional database, to better define the safety profile of spinal prilocaine and the incidence of complications and side effects.All clinical data, prospectively collected from 2011 to 2019 in an Italian tertiary hospital, of patients treated with spinal anesthesia performed with 40 mg of hyperbaric 2% prilocaine, according to our internal protocol of day surgery, were analyzed.

Extracorporeal life support in mitral papillary muscle rupture: Outcome of multicenter study.

Background: Post-acute myocardial infarction papillary muscle rupture (post-AMI PMR) may present variable clinical scenarios and degree of emergency due to result of cardiogenic shock. Veno-arterial extracorporeal life support (V-A ECLS) has been proposed to improve extremely poor pre- or postoperative conditions. Information in this respect is scarce.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta variants in patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission for COVID-19, Northern Italy, December 2021 to January 2022.

This multicenter observational study included 171 COVID-19 adult patients hospitalized in the ICUs of nine hospitals in Lombardy (Northern Italy) from December, 1st 2021, to February, 9th 2022. During the study period, the Delta/Omicron variant ratio of cases decreased with a delay of two weeks in ICU patients compared to that in the community; a higher proportion of COVID-19 unvaccinated patients was infected by Delta than by Omicron whereas a higher rate of COVID-19 boosted patients was Omicron-infected. A higher number of comorbidities and a higher comorbidity score in ICU critically COVID-19 inpatients was positively associated with the Omicron infection as well in vaccinated individuals.

Surgical repair of postinfarction ventricular septal rupture: current state of the art.

The incidence of postacute myocardial infarction ventricular septal rupture (post-AMI VSR) has decreased over the past two decades. Nevertheless, individuals who suffer from post-AMI VSR continue to represent a subgroup of patients with high morbidity and mortality. The care for these patients is complex and requires a multidisciplinary approach.

Lumbar plexus terminal branch block, a safe alternative for transfemoral aortic valve implantation. Case report.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation is an alternative treatment for patients with severe aortic stenosis, it is conventionally performed under general anaesthesia or local anaesthesia plus sedation. We present the first case of trans-femoral, trans-catheter aortic valve implantation, performed in our hospital in a patient with severe aortic stenosis, who was a high surgical risk. Anaesthesia consisted of a combination of bilateral selective blockade of the iliohypogastric, ilioinguinal and genitofemoral nerves with the patient awake without sedation, using an ultrasound-guided approach.

Intraoperative left atrial dissection following mitral valve surgery: Report of a case treated surgically.

Left atrial dissection (LatD) is an exceedingly rare but serious complication of cardiac surgery. Its clinical presentation is very different in individual cases. Surgical treatment for LatD is often selected when the patient is hemodynamically unstable; conservative treatments are commonly employed under stable conditions.

Association of COVID-19 Vaccinations With Intensive Care Unit Admissions and Outcome of Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia in Lombardy, Italy.

Importance: Data on the association of COVID-19 vaccination with intensive care unit (ICU) admission and outcomes of patients with SARS-CoV-2-related pneumonia are scarce.

Objective: To evaluate whether COVID-19 vaccination is associated with preventing ICU admission for COVID-19 pneumonia and to compare baseline characteristics and outcomes of vaccinated and unvaccinated patients admitted to an ICU.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study on regional data sets reports: (1) daily number of administered vaccines and (2) data of all consecutive patients admitted to an ICU in Lombardy, Italy, from August 1 to December 15, 2021 (Delta variant predominant).

Ten Rules for the Management of Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury During Pregnancy: An Expert Viewpoint.

Moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) are major causes of disability and death. In addition, when TBI occurs during pregnancy, it can lead to miscarriage, premature birth, and maternal/fetal death, engendering clinical and ethical issues. Several recommendations have been proposed for the management of TBI patients; however, none of these have been specifically applied to pregnant women, which often have been excluded from major trials.

Surgical treatment of post-infarction papillary muscle rupture: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Papillary muscle rupture (PMR) is a rare but potentially fatal complication following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Surgical treatment is considered the standard of care. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the early outcomes after surgical correction of post-AMI PMR.

Surgical repair of post-infarction ventricular free-wall rupture in the Netherlands: data from a nationwide registry.

Background: Ventricular free-wall rupture (VFWR) is an infrequent but catastrophic complication of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Most reports about outcome after surgical treatment are single-center experiences. We examined the early and mid-term outcomes after surgical repair of post-AMI VFWR using the Netherlands Heart Registration (NHR) database.

Automated Pupillometry for Prediction of Electroencephalographic Reactivity in Critically Ill Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Electroencephalography (EEG) is widely used to monitor critically ill patients. However, EEG interpretation requires the presence of an experienced neurophysiologist and is time-consuming. Aim of this study was to evaluate whether parameters derived from an automated pupillometer (AP) might help to assess the degree of cerebral dysfunction in critically ill patients.

Early paravalvular leak after conventional mitral valve replacement: A single-center analysis.

Introduction: Paravalvular leak (PVL) is a well-recognized complication after mitral valve replacement (MVR). However, there are only a few studies analyzing leak occurrence and postoperative results after surgical MVR. The aim of this study was to assess the rate and determinants of early mitral PVL and to evaluate the impact on survival.

Geo-economic variations in epidemiology, ventilation management and outcome of patients receiving intraoperative ventilation during general anesthesia- posthoc analysis of an observational study in 29 countries.

Background: The aim of this analysis is to determine geo-economic variations in epidemiology, ventilator settings and outcome in patients receiving general anesthesia for surgery.

Methods: Posthoc analysis of a worldwide study in 29 countries. Lower and upper middle-income countries (LMIC and UMIC), and high-income countries (HIC) were compared.

Time course of risk factors associated with mortality of 1260 critically ill patients with COVID-19 admitted to 24 Italian intensive care units.

Purpose: To evaluate the daily values and trends over time of relevant clinical, ventilatory and laboratory parameters during the intensive care unit (ICU) stay and their association with outcome in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19).

Methods: In this retrospective-prospective multicentric study, we enrolled COVID-19 patients admitted to Italian ICUs from February 22 to May 31, 2020. Clinical data were daily recorded.

Multimodal Approach to Predict Neurological Outcome after Cardiac Arrest: A Single-Center Experience.

The aims of this study were to assess the concordance of different tools and to describe the accuracy of a multimodal approach to predict unfavorable neurological outcome (UO) in cardiac arrest patients. Retrospective study of adult (>18 years) cardiac arrest patients who underwent multimodal monitoring; UO was defined as cerebral performance category 3-5 at 3 months. Predictors of UO were neurological pupillary index (NPi) ≤ 2 at 24 h; highly malignant patterns on EEG (HMp) within 48 h; bilateral absence of N20 waves on somato-sensory evoked potentials; and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) > 75 μg/L.

The Association of Intraoperative driving pressure with postoperative pulmonary complications in open versus closed abdominal surgery patients - a posthoc propensity score-weighted cohort analysis of the LAS VEGAS study.

Background: It is uncertain whether the association of the intraoperative driving pressure (ΔP) with postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) depends on the surgical approach during abdominal surgery. Our primary objective was to determine and compare the association of time-weighted average ΔP (ΔP) with PPCs. We also tested the association of ΔP with intraoperative adverse events.

Introduction of SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern 20h/501Y.V2 (B.1.351) from Malawi to Italy.

We report here an imported case of SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern B.1.1.