Tunneled hemodialysis central venous catheters prevalence and bloodstream infection rates in Northern Italy: A survey of the "East Lombardy Nephrological Network".

Background: Tunneled central venous catheter (tCVCs) is a vascular access frequently employed in hemodialysis patients. Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) are potentially life-threatening complications.

Methods: We performed a retrospective survey regarding tCVCs prevalence as well as the CRBSI incidence and management within five hospitals in the Brescia province belonging to the "East Lombardy Nephrological Network"; this study was based upon 18 queries regarding the years 2020 and 2021.

Kidney transplant patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection: The Brescia Renal COVID task force experience.

The outcome of kidney transplant patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is still unclear. Here we describe the clinical characteristics, disease outcome, and risk factors for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death of a cohort of 53 kidney transplant patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Eight of 53 have been handled as outpatients because of mild disease, on average with immunosuppression reduction and the addition of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin; no patients required admission, developed ARDS, or died.

A report from the Brescia Renal COVID Task Force on the clinical characteristics and short-term outcome of hemodialysis patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic is pressuring healthcare systems worldwide. Disease outcomes in certain subgroups of patients are still scarce, and data are needed. Therefore, we describe here the experience of four dialysis centers of the Brescia Renal COVID Task Force.

A single center observational study of the clinical characteristics and short-term outcome of 20 kidney transplant patients admitted for SARS-CoV2 pneumonia.

The outcome of SARS-CoV2 infection in patients who have received a kidney allograft and are being treated with immunosuppression is unclear. We describe 20 kidney transplant recipients (median age 59 years [inter quartile range 51-64 years], median age of transplant 13 years [9-20 years], baseline eGFR 36.5 [23-47.

Management of Patients on Dialysis and With Kidney Transplantation During the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Pandemic in Brescia, Italy.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), also known as coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is a major pandemic challenging health care systems around the world. The optimal management of patients infected with COVID-19 is still unclear, although the consensus is moving toward the need of a biphasic approach. During the first phase of the disease (from onset of the symptoms up to 7-10 days) viral-induced effects are prominent, with the opportunity to institute antiviral therapy.

[Managing patients in dialysis and with kidney transplant infected with Covid-19].

We are in the midst of a health emergency that is totally new for us all and that requires a concerted effort, especially when it comes to safeguarding patients on hemodialysis, and kidney transplant recipients. Brescia is currently a very active cluster of infections (2918 cases on the 17/03/2020), second only to Bergamo. The way our structure is organised has allowed us to treat nephropathic patients directly within the Nephrology Unit, following of course a great deal of reshuffling; at the moment, we are treating 21 transplanted patients and 17 on hemodialysis.

West Nile virus outbreak in the Lombardy region, northern Italy, summer 2013.

In the summer of 2013, an outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) infection occurred in the Lombardy, a region of northern Italy to the west of districts affected by WNV in previous years. Eighteen cases of human WNV infection were diagnosed--10 cases of acute WNV neuroinvasive disease and eight of WNV fever. In the same period, WNV was detected in birds (one crow) in horses (11 cases) and from mosquitoes (six pools).

Recurrent exercise-induced acute renal failure in a young Pakistani man with severe renal hypouricemia and SLC2A9 compound heterozygosity.

Background: Familial renal hypouricemia (RHUC) is a hereditary disease characterized by hypouricemia, high renal fractional excretion of uric acid (FE-UA) and can be complicated by acute kidney failure and nephrolithiasis. Loss-of-function mutations in the SLC22A12 gene cause renal hypouricemia type 1 (RHUC1), whereas renal hypouricemia type 2 (RHUC2) is caused by mutations in the SLC2A9 gene.

Case Presentation: We describe a 24-year-old Pakistani man who was admitted twice to our hospital for severe exercise-induced acute renal failure (EIARF), abdominal pain and fever; he had very low serum UA levels (0.

PTPN22 R620W polymorphism in the ANCA-associated vasculitides.

Objectives: PTPN22 is involved in T-cell activation and its R620W single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) has been shown to predispose to different autoimmune diseases. The aims of this study were to investigate the role of the PTPN22 R620W SNP in conferring susceptibility to the ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAVs), and to explore potential associations between the PTPN22 genotype and the disease manifestations.

Methods: PTPN22 R620W SNP was genotyped in a cohort of 344 AAV patients [143 with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (GPA), 102 with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and 99 with Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS)] and in 945 healthy controls.

F-18 FDG-PET/CT in aseptic abscesses with recurrent febrile abdominal pain.

Objective: Mendelian and complex autoinflammatory disorders frequently manifest as recurrent abdominal pain and fever. Diagnosis may be difficult and scant data are available about the interest of 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in such conditions, particularly aseptic abscesses (AA).

Material And Methods: We analyzed five cases of AA in which FDG-PET/CT was performed at diagnosis (n = 2) and after a suspected relapse (n = 5).