Usefulness of Combined Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibitors and Diuretic Treatment In Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19.

Antecedent use of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASi) prevents clinical deterioration and protects against cardiovascular/thrombotic complications of COVID-19, for indicated patients. Uncertainty exists regarding treatment continuation throughout infection and doing so with concomitant medications. Hence, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the differential effect of RASi continuation in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 according to diuretic use.

Moral Distress (MD) and burnout in mental health nurses: a multicenter survey.

Introduction: Moral Distress (MD) is a common experience among nurses and if it is not recognised and treated, it may lead to serious consequences on nurses' health and quality of care. MD has been studied in several healthcare contexts. However, there are only few studies on MD in psychiatry and in Italy there are no data in this field.

Relationship between swallowing-related quality of life and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing in patients who underwent open partial horizontal laryngectomy.

Background: Several studies have previously analyzed the relationship between QOL and signs of dysphagia in patients treated for head and neck cancer and have reported heterogeneous findings. To the best of our knowledge, no study has previously investigated this relationship among patients who underwent open partial horizontal laryngectomy (OPHL). The aim of the study is to determine if patient-reported swallowing-related QOL can discriminate between safe and unsafe swallowing in OPHL patients.

Burden of illness in fibromyalgia patients with comorbid depression.

Objectives: To assess the burden of fibromyalgia (FM) in patients with FM taking antidepressant medication for comorbid depression.

Methods: Symptom burden, impact on work and activity, and healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU) was examined at randomisation in patients enrolled in a clinical trial. Symptom burden was estimated based on self-reported health status measures.

[Nurses' attitudes towards nutritional care and malnutrition in hospitalised older people: A Survey in the Liguria Region].

Aim: Evaluate nurses' attitudes towards nutritional assistance in elderly hospitalized individuals, using the scale "The Staff Attitudes To Nutritional Geriatric Nursing Care Scale (SANN-G Scale)", recently validated in Italian.

Methods: A descriptive survey was carried out, involving all head nurses and nurses of wards within University Hospital San Martino Hospital in Genoa and ASL3 Genovese Villa Scassi. A comparison was carried out using the Kruscall-Wallis test between wards, in order to determine whether there were significant differences in attitudes with respect to nutritional assistance.

Efficacy and Safety of Pregabalin in Patients with Fibromyalgia and Comorbid Depression Taking Concurrent Antidepressant Medication: A Randomized, Placebo-controlled Study.

Objective: To assess pregabalin efficacy and safety in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) with comorbid depression taking concurrent antidepressant medication.

Methods: This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, 2-period, 2-way crossover study was composed of two 6-week treatment periods separated by a 2-week taper/washout phase. Patients with FM (aged ≥ 18 yrs) taking a stable dose of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or a serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) for depression were randomized 1:1 to receive pregabalin/placebo or placebo/pregabalin (optimized to 300 or 450 mg/day).

[Reception and integration of novice nurses: a study in ICU's in 10 hospitals in Milan].

Goal: this article examined the socialization tactics implemented by the organizational system in intensive care units of ten Hospitals of Milan, in order to help novice nurses to better start their new job.

Design: descriptive.

Setting: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in ten hospitals in Milan.

[Mentor and neophyte relationship: a phenomenological study about novice nurses' socialization in intensive care unit].

Goal: this article is aimed at examining the relationship and experience between expert and novice nurses in intensive care unit; it also assesses the implementation of mentorship functions by expert nurses.

Design: phenomenological.

Setting: three university hospitals, in Milan.

[Early rheumatoid arthritis].

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the synovial joints damage and loss of the function. The ultimate goal in managing RA is to prevent joint damage and to maintain functional ability. Consequently, early diagnosis and treatment is important, but predictive markers for RA are still confined to autoantibodies and also magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and sonography do not appear to sufficiently distinguish between early RA and non RA.

Antiretroviral treatment and age-related comorbidities in a cohort of older HIV-infected patients.

Background: The availability of several therapeutic regimens has transformed HIV infection from a life-threatening disease into a chronic condition. Older patients (>50 years old) with HIV infection constitute a new treatment challenge in terms of the cumulative effects of ageing and antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: The immunovirological effects and metabolic interactions of 48 weeks of ART in older patients followed up in three Infectious Diseases Units in Milan, Italy since 1994 were compared with those in younger controls aged 25-35 years.

Extracorporeal lithotripsy for salivary calculi: a long-term clinical experience.

Objectives/hypothesis: The objective was to assess in a large series of patients with a long-term clinical follow-up the validity of extracorporeal electromagnetic shock wave lithotripsy as a minimally invasive therapy for sialolithiasis.

Study Design: Consecutive patient series.

Methods: Three hundred twenty-two consecutive symptomatic outpatients with single or multiple calculi in the submandibular (234 patients) or parotid (88 patients) gland underwent a complete extracorporeal electromagnetic shock wave lithotripsy treatment.

Perianal fistulae following infliximab treatment: clinical and endosonographic outcome.

Background: Management of perianal and rectovaginal fistulae complicating Crohn's disease (CD) is unsatisfactory. Infliximab is effective in the treatment of fistulating CD. However, reopening of fistulae is frequent, suggesting the persistence of deep fistula tracts despite superficial healing.

Argon plasma coagulation in the treatment of nonallergic hypertrophic inferior nasal turbinates.

Purpose: Various surgical procedures have been recently proposed for the treatment of hypertrophic inferior nasal turbinates as a result of the advances made in medical technology and growing public demand for minimally invasive therapies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the argon plasma coagulation technique for inferior turbinate reduction in a homogeneous series of patients with nonallergic inferior turbinate hypertrophy.

Material And Methods: Twenty symptomatic patients underwent argon plasma coagulation surgical treatment under local anesthesia and were clinically followed up after 1 month and then every 3 months (anterior rhinoscopy and nasal endoscopy).

[Cardiovascular risk factors in systemic lupus erythematosus and in antiphospholipid syndrome].

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder affecting multiple organ systems. Treatment of the disease has contributed dramatically in the long-term survival of the patients and now SLE has become a chronic inflammatory disorder. Present data suggest 5, 10 and 20-year survival rates of 93%, 85% and 68% respectively.

[Borderline indications for renal biopsy].

The Authors report 3 cases with clinical renal manifestations where the indication to perform a renal biopsy was defined as borderline. The uncertain indication was related to the clinical presentation, with a pattern of urinary abnormalities, such as isolated microscopic hematuria, microscopic hematuria associated with mild proteinuria, and isolated proteinuria. In addition, similar questions on biopsy are raised for chronic renal failure and elderly patients.

Hypersomnolence in fibromyalgia syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate hypersomnolence in patients affected by fibromyalgia syndrome.

Methods: Thirty consecutive patients affected by fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) (28 F) completed a sleep questionnaire and underwent the following evaluations: lung function tests; polysomnography; the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), which measures sleep complaints and daytime hypersomnolence; and the visual analogical scale (VAS) to detect subjective pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression.

Results: The FMS patients were divided into two groups based on their ESS score.

Oral type II collagen in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. A six-month double blind placebo-controlled study.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of oral chicken type II collagen (CII) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Sixty patients with clinically active RA of long duration (mean 7.2 +/- 5.

Periodic breathing during sleep in patients affected by fibromyalgia syndrome.

Seventeen patients affected by fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) (16 females and one male) and 17 matched healthy subjects underwent formal polysomnography, a sleep questionnaire and lung function tests. FMS patients slept significantly less efficiently than the healthy controls (p<0.01), had a higher proportion of stage 1 sleep (mean+/-SD, 21+/-6% versus 11+/-4%; p<0.