The purpose of this article is to study one of the most significant causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality: neonatal sepsis. This pathology is due to a bacterial or fungal infection acquired ...during the perinatal period. Neonatal sepsis has been categorized into two groups: early onset if it occurs within 3-6 days and late onset after 4-7 days. Due to the not-specific clinical signs, along with the inaccuracy of available biomarkers, the diagnosis is still a major challenge. In this regard, the use of a combined approach based on both nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) and gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques, coupled with a multivariate statistical analysis, may help to uncover features of the disease that are still hidden. The objective of our study was to evaluate the capability of the metabolomics approach to identify a potential metabolic profile related to the neonatal septic condition. The study population included 25 neonates (15 males and 10 females): 9 (6 males and 3 females) patients had a diagnosis of sepsis and 16 were healthy controls (9 males and 7 females). This study showed a unique metabolic profile of the patients affected by sepsis compared to non-affected ones with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.05).
Abstract Background The aim of this large retrospective study was to provide a logistic risk model along an additive score to predict early mortality after surgical treatment of patients with heart ...valve or prosthesis infective endocarditis (IE). Methods From 2000 to 2015, 2715 patients with native valve endocarditis (NVE) or prosthesis valve endocarditis (PVE) were operated on in 26 Italian Cardiac Surgery Centers. The relationship between early mortality and covariates was evaluated with logistic mixed effect models. Fixed effects are parameters associated with the entire population or with certain repeatable levels of experimental factors, while random effects are associated with individual experimental units (centers). Results Early mortality was 11.0% (298/2715); At mixed effect logistic regression the following variables were found associated with early mortality: age class, female gender, LVEF, preoperative shock, COPD, creatinine value above 2 mg/dl, presence of abscess, number of treated valve/prosthesis (with respect to one treated valve/prosthesis) and the isolation of Staphylococcus aureus , Fungus spp., Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and other micro-organisms, while Streptococcus spp., Enterococcus spp. and other Staphylococci did not affect early mortality, as well as no micro-organisms isolation. LVEF was found linearly associated with outcomes while non-linear association between mortality and age was tested and the best model was found with a categorization into four classes (AUC = 0.851). Conclusions The following study provides a logistic risk model to predict early mortality in patients with heart valve or prosthesis infective endocarditis undergoing surgical treatment, called “ The EndoSCORE ”.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We described clinical–epidemiological features of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) and assessed the determinants of early surgical outcomes in multicentre design.
METHODS: ...Data regarding 2823 patients undergoing surgery for endocarditis at 19 Italian Centers between 1979 and 2015 were collected in a database. Of them, 582 had PVE: in this group, the determinants of early mortality and complications were assessed, also taking into account the different chronological eras encompassed by the study.
RESULTS: Overall hospital (30-day) mortality was 19.2% (112 patients). Postoperative complications of any type occurred in 256 patients (44%). Across 3 eras (1980–2000, 2001–08 and 2009–14), early mortality did not significantly change (20.4%, 17.1%, 20.5%, respectively, P = 0.60), whereas complication rate increased (18.5%, 38.2%, 52.8%, P < 0.001), consistent with increasing mean patient age (56 ± 14, 64 ± 15, 65 ± 14 years, respectively, P < 0.001) and median logistic EuroSCORE (14%, 21%, 23%, P = 0.025). Older age, female sex, preoperative serum creatinine >-2 mg/dl, chronic pulmonary disease, low ejection fraction, non-streptococcal aetiology, active endocarditis, preoperative intubation, preoperative shock and triple valve surgery were significantly associated with mortality. In multivariable analysis, age (OR = 1.02; P = 0.03), renal insufficiency (OR = 2.1; P = 0.05), triple valve surgery (OR = 6.9; P = 0.004) and shock (OR = 4.5; P < 0.001) were independently associated with mortality, while streptococcal aetiology, healed endocarditis and ejection fraction with survival. Adjusting for study era, preoperative shock (OR = 3; P < 0.001), Enterococcus (OR = 2.3; P = 0.01) and female sex (OR = 1.5; P = 0.03) independently predicted complications, whereas ejection fraction was protective.
CONCLUSIONS: PVE surgery remains a high-risk one. The strongest predictors of early outcome of PVE surgery are related to patient’s haemodynamic status and microbiological factors.
: The European Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) guidelines for acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHOM) have been published recently. In uncomplicated cases, an early (2-4 days) switch ...to oral empirical therapy, preferentially with flucloxacillin, is recommended in low methicillin-resistant
settings. We conducted a survey with the aim of evaluating the behaviors of Italian pediatricians at this regard.
: An open-ended questionnaire investigating the empiric therapy adopted in uncomplicated AHOM children according to age was sent by email to 31 Italian pediatric clinics taking care of children with infectious diseases, and results were analyzed.
: The preferred intravenous (IV) regimen was a penicillin plus an aminoglycoside (
= 10; 32.3%) in children aged <3 months, and a combination of a third-generation cephalosporin plus oxacillin (
= 7; 22.6%), or oxacillin alone (
= 6; 19.4%) in those ≥3 months. In every age class, amoxicillin-clavulanate was the first-choice oral antibiotic. Other antibiotics largely used orally included clindamycin, rifampicin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Flucloxacillin was never prescribed. Only 3 centers switched to oral therapy within 7 days in children ≥3 months of age. The most commonly reported reason influencing the time to switch to oral therapy concerned caregivers' adherence to oral therapy.
: Adherence to guidelines was poor, and early transition to oral therapy in the clinical practice was rarely adopted. Given the large use of potentially effective, but poorly studied, oral antibiotics such as amoxicillin/clavulanate, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and rifampicin, our data may stimulate further studies of this regard.
The purpose of this article is to study one of the most significant causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality: neonatal sepsis. This pathology is due to a bacterial or fungal infection acquired ...during the perinatal period. Neonatal sepsis has been categorized into two groups: early onset if it occurs within 3–6 days and late onset after 4–7 days. Due to the not-specific clinical signs, along with the inaccuracy of available biomarkers, the diagnosis is still a major challenge. In this regard, the use of a combined approach based on both nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) and gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques, coupled with a multivariate statistical analysis, may help to uncover features of the disease that are still hidden. The objective of our study was to evaluate the capability of the metabolomics approach to identify a potential metabolic profile related to the neonatal septic condition. The study population included 25 neonates (15 males and 10 females): 9 (6 males and 3 females) patients had a diagnosis of sepsis and 16 were healthy controls (9 males and 7 females). This study showed a unique metabolic profile of the patients affected by sepsis compared to non-affected ones with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.05).
ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to study one of the most significant causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality: neonatal sepsis. This pathology is due to a bacterial or fungal infection ...acquired during the perinatal period. Neonatal sepsis has been categorized into two groups: early onset if it occurs within 3–6 days and late onset after 4–7 days. Due to the not-specific clinical signs, along with the inaccuracy of available biomarkers, the diagnosis is still a major challenge. In this regard, the use of a combined approach based on both nuclear magnetic resonance (1 H-NMR) and gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques, coupled with a multivariate statistical analysis, may help to uncover features of the disease that are still hidden. The objective of our study was to evaluate the capability of the metabolomics approach to identify a potential metabolic profile related to the neonatal septic condition. The study population included 25 neonates (15 males and 10 females): 9 (6 males and 3 females) patients had a diagnosis of sepsis and 16 were healthy controls (9 males and 7 females). This study showed a unique metabolic profile of the patients affected by sepsis compared to non-affected ones with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.05).
The relationship between occupation and exposure to several occupational agents and Hodgkin's disease (HD) was investigated in a case-control study of 152 cases and 613 controls with acute diseases ...admitted to all hospitals in Pordenone province, north-east Italy. Among cases, there was a significant excess of individuals occupied in agriculture (odds ratio, OR for greater than 10 years = 2.2, 95% confidence interval, CI:1.3-3.7), who were exposed to livestock and meat processing (OR = 3.4, 95% CI:1.7-6.6), herbicides and pesticides (OR = 3.2, 95% CI:1.6-6.5). When the relationship between agriculture and specific exposures was assessed, it appeared that contact with some still unidentified animal-related agent involved in livestock farming and meat processing may be at least as important in determining HD risk as exposure to herbicides and pesticides and, probably, more important than occupation in agriculture per se.
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