Publications by authors named "Tessa Mazzarone"

Purpose: Sarcopenia is a potentially reversible syndrome that increases the risk of cardiogenic cachexia and adverse outcomes in older patients with heart failure (HF). Despite its clinical significance, sarcopenia remains underdiagnosed due to the complexities of comprehensive assessment in patients with acute HF. This study aimed to evaluate whether the SARC-F questionnaire, its inviduals components, and the handgrip strength test (HGS) can predict short-term prognostic risk in very old patients recently discharged after acute HF.

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The decompensation trajectory check is a basic step to assess the clinical course and to plan future therapy in hospitalized patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Due to the atypical presentation and clinical complexity, trajectory checks can be challenging in older patients with acute HF. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has proved to be helpful in the clinical decision-making of patients with dyspnea; however, to date, no study has attempted to verify its role in predicting determinants of ADHF in-hospital worsening.

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This paper reports the proceedings of a meeting convened by the Research Group on Thoracic Ultrasound in Older People of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, to discuss the current state-of-the-art of clinical research in the field of geriatric thoracic ultrasound and identify unmet research needs and potential areas of development. In the last decade, point-of-care thoracic ultrasound has entered clinical practice for diagnosis and management of several respiratory illnesses, such as bacterial and viral pneumonia, pleural effusion, acute heart failure, and pneumothorax, especially in the emergency-urgency setting. Very few studies, however, have been specifically focused on older patients with frailty and multi-morbidity, who frequently exhibit complex clinical pictures needing multidimensional evaluation.

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Article Synopsis
  • Machine-learning techniques were used to predict poor outcomes in elderly heart failure patients by including factors like frailty and comorbidity, which previous studies hadn’t considered.
  • The study analyzed data from 571 older patients discharged for acute heart failure, using random forest analysis and clustering methods to identify distinct groups based on their frailty and comorbidity levels.
  • Four phenogroups were identified, with patients in certain clusters showing a significantly higher risk of death or readmission within six months, indicating the need for personalized care strategies in this population.
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Article Synopsis
  • Loop diuretics (LDs) are key for treating pulmonary congestion in heart failure (HF) patients, effectively reducing fluid retention in the short term.
  • However, their long-term use may negatively affect outcomes due to neurohumoral activation, particularly in older, frail individuals.
  • A review of studies suggests that discontinuing LDs may be safe for patients with stable HF, but more extensive research focused on older adults is needed to further validate this approach.
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The incidence of "Long COVID" syndrome appears to be increasing, particularly in the geriatric population. At present, there are few data regarding the relationship between long COVID and the risk of re-hospitalization in the oldest old survivors. Patients older than 80 years consecutively hospitalized for COVID-19 in our tertiary care hospital were enrolled and followed after discharge in a 12-month ambulatory program.

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Corticosteroids have been widely used for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but their role in the early phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection is controversial. Our study aimed to determine the effectiveness of early corticosteroid therapy (ECT) in preventing the progression of disease, reducing the escalation of care and improving clinical outcome in older patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia. A total of 90 subjects (47.

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