Prevention of Tracheostomy-Related Pressure Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: In the critical care environment, individuals who undergo tracheostomy are highly susceptible to tracheostomy-related pressure injuries.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to reduce tracheostomy-related pressure injury in the critical care setting.

Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies of pediatric or adult patients in intensive care units conducted to evaluate interventions to reduce tracheostomy-related pressure injury.

Prevention of Endotracheal Tube-Related Pressure Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Hospital-acquired pressure injuries, including those related to airway devices, are a significant source of morbidity in critically ill patients.

Objective: To determine the incidence of endotracheal tube-related pressure injuries in critically ill patients and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions designed to prevent injury.

Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies of pediatric or adult patients in intensive care units that evaluated interventions to reduce endotracheal tube-related pressure injury.

HTA and HIV: The Case of Dual NRTI Backbones in the Italian Setting.

The aim of this study is to analyze the potential advantages of emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (FTC/TAF) introduction, creating evidence-based information to orient strategies to reduce costs, thus preserving effectiveness and appropriateness. An Health Technology Assessment (HTA) was implemented in the years 2017-2018 comparing the dual backbones available in the Italian market: FTC/TAF, FTC/TDF (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine) and ABC/3TC (abacavir/lamivudine). From an efficacy point of view, FTC/TAF ensured a higher percentage of virologic control and a better safety impact than FTC/TDF (improving the renal and bone safety profile, as well as the lipid picture).

Human Engineered Cartilage and Decellularized Matrix as an Alternative to Animal Osteoarthritis Model.

(1) Objective: to obtain a reproducible, robust, well-defined, and cost-affordable in vitro model of human cartilage degeneration, suitable for drug screening; (2) Methods: we proposed 3D models of engineered cartilage, considering two human chondrocyte sources (articular/nasal) and five culture methods (pellet, alginate beads, silk/alginate microcarriers, and decellularized cartilage). Engineered cartilages were treated with pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β to promote cartilage degradation; (3) Results: articular chondrocytes have been rejected since they exhibit low cellular doubling with respect to nasal cells, with longer culture time for cell expansion; furthermore, pellet and alginate bead cultures lead to insufficient cartilage matrix production. Decellularized cartilage resulted as good support for degeneration model, but long culture time and high cell amount are required to obtain the adequate scaffold colonization.

Radiological imaging markers predicting clinical outcome in patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma treated with regorafenib: post hoc analysis of the CORRECT phase III trial (RadioCORRECT study).

Objective: To identify imaging markers predicting clinical outcomes to regorafenib in metastatic colorectal carcinoma (mCRC).

Methods: The RadioCORRECT study is a post hoc analysis of a cohort of patients with mCRC treated within the phase III placebo-controlled CORRECT trial of regorafenib. Baseline and week 8 contrast-enhanced CT were used to assess response by RECIST 1.

Stromal Vascular Fraction Loaded Silk Fibroin Mats Effectively Support the Survival of Diabetic Mice after Pancreatic Islet Transplantation.

The aim of this study is to assess whether stromal vascular fraction (SVF)-soaked silk fibroin nonwoven mats (silk-SVF) can preserve the functionality of encapsulated pancreatic endocrine cells (alginate-PECs) after transplantation in the subcutaneous tissue of diabetic mice. Silk scaffolds are selected to create an effective 3D microenvironment for SVF delivery in the subcutaneous tissue before diabetes induction: silk-SVF is subcutaneously implanted in the dorsal area of five healthy animals; after 15 d, mice are treated with streptozotocin to induce diabetes and then alginate-PECs are implanted on the silk-SVF. All animals appear in good health, increasing weight during time, and among them, one presents euglycemia until the end of experiments.

Clinical characteristics and predictors of mortality in cirrhotic patients with candidemia and intra-abdominal candidiasis: a multicenter study.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to describe the characteristics of cirrhotic patients with candidemia and intra-abdominal candidiasis (IAC) and to evaluate the risk factors associated with 30-day mortality.

Methods: A multicenter multinational retrospective study including all consecutive episodes of candidemia and IAC in adult patients with liver cirrhosis in 14 European hospitals during the period 2011-2013 was performed.

Results: A total of 241 episodes (169 candidemia, 72 IAC) were included.

Is it still worthwhile to perform quarterly cd4+ t lymphocyte cell counts on hiv-1 infected stable patients?

Background: In the last 20 years routine T CD4+ lymphocyte (CD4+) cell count has proved to be a key factor to determine the stage of HIV infection and start or discontinue of prophylaxis for opportunistic infections. However, several studies recently showed that in stable patients on cART a quarterly CD4+ cell count monitoring results in limited (or null) clinical relevance. The research is intended to investigate whether performing quarterly CD4+ cell counts in stable HIV-1 patients is still recommendable and to provide a forecast of the cost saving that could be achieved by reducing CD4+ monitoring in such a category of patients.

Changes in cervical cancer incidence following the introduction of organized screening in Italy.

Objective: To quantify the impact of organized cervical screening programs (OCSPs) on the incidence of invasive cervical cancer (ICC), comparing rates before and after activation of OCSPs.

Methods: This population-based investigation, using individual data from cancer registries and OCSPs, included 3557 women diagnosed with ICC at age 25-74years in 1995-2008. The year of full-activation of each OCSP was defined as the year when at least 40% of target women had been invited.

Regorafenib plus modified FOLFOX6 as first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer: A phase II trial.

Background: The oral multikinase inhibitor regorafenib improves overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) for which all standard treatments have failed. This study investigated regorafenib plus modified FOLFOX (mFOLFOX6) as first-line treatment of metastatic CRC.

Methods: In this single-arm, open-label, multicentre, phase II study, patients received mFOLFOX6 on days 1 and 15, and regorafenib 160 mg orally once daily on days 4-10 and 18-24 of each 28-day cycle.

Effects of ultraprotective ventilation, extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal, and spontaneous breathing on lung morphofunction and inflammation in experimental severe acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: To investigate the role of ultraprotective mechanical ventilation (UP-MV) and extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal with and without spontaneous breathing (SB) to improve respiratory function and lung protection in experimental severe acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Methods: Severe acute respiratory distress syndrome was induced by saline lung lavage and mechanical ventilation (MV) with higher tidal volume (VT) in 28 anesthetized pigs (32.8 to 52.