BackgroundNew Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (NDM-Kp) represents a growing challenge for modern medicine.ObjectivesTo assess real-life clinical outcomes in patients adequately treated in Internal medicine units (IMUs) for bloodstream infections (BSI) caused by NDM-Kp.MethodsA two-years retrospective study was conducted recruiting 30 consecutive adult patients with NDM-Kp BSI treated with an adequate definitive antibiotic therapy (27 aztreonam plus ceftazidime/avibactam; 3 cefiderocol) in three Italian IMUs located in a highly endemic area.ResultsMean age of patients was 75.3 years, mean Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) 7.5. All the patients had rectal colonization. Thirty-day mortality rate was 46.7%; 78.6% of patients who died received an adequate empiric therapy. Non-survivors had mean age, CCI and SOFA score significantly higher compared to survivors (80.1 vs. 71.2, p = 0.036; 8.6 vs. 6.6, p = 0.047; 5.9 vs. 4, p = 0.043, respectively). The percentage of survivors was significantly higher among the 13 cases with community-acquired than in the 17 with hospital-acquired BSI (76.9% vs. 35.3%, p = 0.024). In the multivariate penalized logistic regression analysis, age, CCI, SOFA score and hospital-acquired BSI onset were identified as independent predictors of mortality.ConclusionThis study provides real-life data on clinical outcomes regarding old and highly multimorbid patients hospitalized in IMU for BSI caused by NDM-Kp, showing a very high 30-day mortality even in case of adequate treatment.

New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (NDM-Kp) represents a growing challenge for modern medicine. To assess real-life clinical outcomes in patients adequately treated in Internal medicine units (IMUs) for bloodstream infections (BSI) caused by NDM-Kp. A two-years retrospective study was conducted recruiting 30 consecutive adult patients with NDM-Kp BSI treated with an adequate definitive antibiotic therapy (27 aztreonam plus ceftazidime/avibactam; 3 cefiderocol) in three Italian IMUs located in a highly endemic area. Mean age of patients was 75.3 years, mean Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) 7.5. All the patients had rectal colonization. Thirty-day mortality rate was 46.7

BACKGROUND: Coagulation plays a crucial role in innate immune response to invasive infections. Coagulative biomarkers might predict clinical outcomes differently, depending on etiology. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted during a 79-month period, recruiting 90 patients with meningitis or bloodstream infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis (n = 47) or Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 43), median age 19 and 58 years, respectively. Biomarkers were assessed within 24 hours. RESULTS: For N. meningitidis: in univariate analysis, increasing D-dimer was associated with in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.360; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.063-1.889); in multivariate regression, increasing Ddimer was predictive (OR 1.037; 95% CI, 1.001-1.074) of the composite outcome (in-hospital mortality or amputations or hearing loss or neurological sequelae); protein C showed a clear trend toward lower levels in nonsurvivors (26% vs 48%) and in patients with the composite outcome (32% vs 51%); activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) was significantly prolonged in nonsurvivors (51.3 vs 35.3 seconds, P = .003), confirmed in univariate analysis (OR 1.122; 95% CI, 1.031-1.253). For S. pneumoniae: antithrombin was significantly lower in non- survivors (70% vs 81%, P = .038), confirmed in univariate analysis (OR 0.961; 95% CI, 0.921-0.997). For overall population: in multivariate regression, increasing age was associated with mortality (OR 1.043; 95% CI, 1.010-1.077), and S. pneumoniae etiology with the composite outcome (OR 6.024; 95% CI, 1.798-20.180). CONCLUSIONS: For invasive infections caused by N. meningitidis, D-dimer is a biomarker capable of predicting unfavorable clinical outcomes; a potential role is suggested for aPTT prolongation and protein C decrease, and, in case of S. pneumoniae infections, for antithrombin decrease. (c) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) center dot The American Journal of Medicine (2025) 138:504-512

Calciphylaxis is a rare but highly disabling disease, occurring both in chronic kidney disease (CKD) with renal replacement therapy (RRT) and in normal renal function. Given the frequent coexistence of atrial fibrillation (AF) and CKD, anticoagulation is often required. Warfarin, as a promoter of vascular calcification, is frequently reported as a triggering factor of calciphylaxis. Here, we present the case of a 71-year old male patient with a history of AF and a previous ischaemic stroke, on RRT for three years and warfarin therapy. The patient presented with two painful necrotic skin ulcers over the right leg and a skin biopsy confirmed calciphylaxis. After discontinuation of warfarin, the lesions completely healed with sodium thiosulfate intravenous infusion and local wound treatment. A literature search was performed up to 1 September 2022 through PubMed. The following terms were searched in different combinations: ‘calciphylaxis’; ‘VKA’ [vitamin K antagonist]; ‘warfarin’; ‘haemodialysis’; ‘end-stage renal disease’; and ‘ulcer’. In our opinion, in patients requiring anticoagulant therapy, the introduction or continuation of vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) should be carefully balanced when calciphylaxis develops, and other options, such as enoxaparin or apixaban, should be considered. Clinical decisions for patients requiring haemodialysis and requiring anticoagulant therapy should take into account the possible risk of warfarin-induced calciphylaxis. Further studies are needed to clarify the safety, tolerability profile and outcomes of each currently available treatment in this patient population.

Real-life outcomes data for elderly patients with infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae producing New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-Kp) are lacking. We conducted a retrospective cohort study enrolling 33 consecutive adult patients (mean age 77.4 years; 48.5% males; mean Charlson Comorbidity Index—CCI 5.9) hospitalized for NDM-Kp infections during a 24-month period in an Italian highly endemic area. 78.8% were admitted to Internal Medicine ward. 45.4% of patients had bloodstream infections (BSI), 39.4% urinary tract infections (UTI) without BSI, 9.1% respiratory tract infections and 6.1% intra-abdominal infections. 93.9% had rectal colonization. Adequate definitive antibiotic therapy (mainly represented by aztreonam plus ceftazidime/avibactam) was provided to 36.4% of cases. Mean age and CCI of patients adequately treated were significantly lower than those inadequately treated (71.2 vs 80.9 years, p = 0.041, and 4.6 vs 6.7, p = 0.040, respectively). Patients adequately treated had a mean hospitalization length significantly higher (28 vs 15 days, p = 0.016). The overall 30-day survival rate of patients adequately and inadequately treated was 83.3% and 57.1%, respectively: this difference was not statistically significant. Mean age and CCI of 22 patients who survived at 30 days were lower than those of 11 patients who died (73.7 vs 84.8 years, p = 0.003, and 5.3 vs 7.2, p = 0.049, respectively). Twelve survivors received an inadequate therapy: 8/12 had UTI. Six of nine patients inadequately treated who died within 30 days, died before microbiological diagnosis. Our study provides real-life data on outcomes of elderly and multimorbid patients hospitalized for infections caused by NDM-Kp. Further studies with larger sample size are warranted.

This study retrospectively analyzes all consecutive patients who underwent during a year hospital readmissions, defined as an admission to a hospital within 30 days of discharge, to an Italian Internal Medicine ward. All these data were compared with those from patients who underwent only 1 hospital admission in the same period. The aim of this study was to identify potential novel risk factors for hospital readmissions. In 2018, a total of 3012 patients were hospitalized. Among these, 14.1% (n = 426; mean age, 79.7 ± 11.9; range, 23-100) were defined as readmissions; data were compared with controls (n = 420; 13.9%; mean age, 75.9 ± 14.7; range, 22-99) who had only 1 hospitalization. Cases showed a significantly higher prevalence than controls regarding cerebrovascular disease (77.2% vs 48.1%), cognitive impairment (51.8% vs 26.9%), congestive heart failure (47.6% vs 20.2%), chronic kidney disease (31.7% vs 13.1%), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (23.0% vs 14.5%). Skin ulcers were significantly more prevalent among cases (45.1% vs 17.6%). Diagnosis-related group (DRG) analysis showed a higher proportion of "infectious disease" (24.4% vs 15.0%) among the cases than in controls. Despite skin ulcers were very frequent among cases and controls (45.1% vs 17.6%), they were codified as "skin wound" DRG only in 1.4% and 0.2%, respectively. At the DRGs analysis, sepsis (31.6% vs 19.1%), pneumonia (17.1% vs 7.6%), and kidney failure (9.6% vs 3.8%) represented the main significant cause of death in cases compared to controls. Our study confirms that readmissions to Internal Medicine departments are related to the severity of chronic diseases affecting patients. Skin ulcers are present in about half of patients who will be early readmitted within 30 days, but they are almost never reported in DRGs, so more accurate coding is needed. Key challenges for the future are sepsis prevention measures and investing resources in chronic disease assistance, including skin ulcer chronic management.

Chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) represents an unfavorable evolution of peripheral artery disease, characterized by pain at rest, ulceration, and gangrene and also by an increased risk of cardiovascular events, amputations, and death. According to scientific literature, in almost one third of cases affected by CLTI, defined as no-option CLTI patients, revascularization strategies are not feasible. In the past decade, several studies investigated the role of therapeutic angiogenesis through cell autologous therapy, administered through intramuscular injections or multiple local intralesional and perilesional injections. In this article, we report the case of a necrotizing inflammatory reaction in a patient affected by CLTI and chronic leg wounds that occurred on the multiple injection sites after autologous peripheral blood-derived mononuclear cells (PB-TNCs) transplantation. Since the patient was affected by corticosteroid-induced skin atrophy and rheumatoid arthritis, we hypothesize that an increased skin fragility and a mechanism of immune-mediated pathergy could have been main factors leading to worsening of wounds. This case report strongly suggests the urgent need to better define the indications and contraindications of cell therapy, and further studies of adequate methodology are required to definitively assess the efficacy and safety of autologous cell therapy by local injections of PB-TNCs in patients with chronic inflammatory disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis, especially in case of concomitant marked skin atrophy. Pending definitive evidence from literature, a strong caution is needed in patients affected by chronic systemic inflammatory diseases, since multiple injections, acting as mechanical stimulus and pathergy trigger, might exacerbate a severe and uncontrolled inflammatory response.

Transcranial color-coded duplex sonography (TCCS) allows to study intracranial vessels through the intact skull, but the visualization of normal and pathologic brain structures in adults is often suboptimal due to inadequate acoustic window. The full potential of TCCS for clinical practice remains unfulfilled. Here, we describe the ability of TCCS to detect a non-functioning pituitary macroadenoma in a 58-year-old man affected by headache. The macroadenoma was visualized as a roundish, well-defined mass, mildly hyperechogenic compared to the hypoechogenic mesencephalic brainstem but mainly hypoechogenic compared to the surrounding intracranial structures. Intracranial vessels represented useful landmarks. Using tissue harmonic imaging mode, the borders of the macroadenoma were visualized more clearly. Macroadenoma characteristics were confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging. Neurosonologists should be aware of the possibility to incidentally find, during routinary TCCS, pituitary macroadenomas or other brain tumors (as incidentalomas), worthy to be recognized and referred for further investigations.

Primary meningococcal arthritis (PMA) represents an uncommon clinical presentation of meningococcal infection, mainly reported among young people. Herein, a case of PMA of the knee in an elderly patient is described.On January 2022, an 87-year-old patient arrived at hospital with continuous fever persisting for three days and a picture of pain, swelling, redness, and warmth of her left knee. An arthrocentesis was promptly performed and the inoculated synovial fluid turned positive with numerous Gram-negative diplococci at the microscopic examination. The identification of bacteria was done in 48 h using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) MS systems (VITEK®MS-bioMérieux) and standard microbiological procedures (VITEK®2 NH ID card-bioMérieux). Both methods identified the strain as N. meningitidis. The meningococcal isolate belonged to the serogroup B (MenB), Sequence type (ST)-162/clonal complex (cc)162. Two grams of ceftriaxone twice a day were administered for 21 days; than cefditoren pivoxil 400 mg twice a day for further 6 weeks after discharge. In Italy, from 2018 to January 2022, among 135 MenB, 31 MenB/cc162 were identified, of which only the case here reported was associated with an atypical clinical presentation.A total of 41 cases of PMA caused by N. meningitidis was reported in the literature, but only four occurred in elderly. To our knowledgements, no cases of PMA caused by MenB were previously reported among patients of more than 65 years of age.

Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) represent the gold standard for evaluating intracranial tumours, such as meningiomas; most meningiomas can be managed by surveillance and clinical follow-up, therefore, the ideal technology should be cheap, non-invasive, safe and able to reduce radiation exposure. Transcranial colour-coded duplex sonography (TCCS) can detect space-occupying lesions, but its full potential for clinical practice is still unexpressed.We describe the ability of TCCS to directly and accurately image, in a 77-year-old woman hospitalised for septic shock and coma, a suprasellar meningioma with a spatial resolution very similar to CT.The meningioma was clearly visualised as a roundish mass, with well-defined borders, heterogeneously hyperechogenic compared with the surrounding brain structures; multiple intralesional calcifications were detectable as highly echogenic spots. Latero-lateral and antero-posterior diameters were well measurable.TCCS should not be considered as an alternative to CT and MR imaging, but it might have a complementary role, useful for use at the bedside in uncooperative or non-transportable patients and for follow-up, when an adequate acoustic window is guaranteed. Neurologists and neuroradiologists should further explore the full potential of this technology.

Sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection; no current clinical measure adequately reflects the concept of dysregulated response. Coagulation plays a pivotal role in the normal response to pathogens (immunothrombosis), thus the evolution toward sepsis-induced coagulopathy could be individuate through coagulation/fibrinolysis-related biomarkers. We focused on the role of D-dimer assessed within 24 h after admission in predicting clinical outcomes in a cohort of 270 patients hospitalized in a 79 months period for meningitis and/or bloodstream infections due to Streptococcus pneumoniae ( n = 162) or Neisseria meningitidis ( n = 108). Comparisons were performed with unpaired t -test, Mann-Whitney-test or chi-squared-test with continuity correction, as appropriate, and multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed with Bayesian model averaging. In-hospital mortality was 14.8% for the overall population, significantly higher in S. pneumoniae than in N. meningitidis patients: 19.1 vs. 8.3%, respectively ( p = 0.014). At univariable logistic regression analysis the following variables were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality: pneumococcal etiology, female sex, age, ICU admission, SOFA score, septic shock, MODS, and D-dimer levels. At multivariable analysis D-dimer showed an effect only in N. meningitidis subgroup: as 500 ng/mL of D-dimer increased, the probability of unfavorable outcome increased on average by 4%. Median D-dimer was significantly higher in N. meningitidis than in S. pneumoniae patients (1,314 vs. 1,055 ng/mL, p = 0.009). For N. meningitidis in-hospital mortality was 0% for D-dimer <500 ng/mL, very low (3.5%) for D-dimer <7,000 ng/mL, and increased to 26.1% for D-dimer >7,000 ng/mL. Kaplan-Meier analysis of in-hospital mortality showed for N. meningitidis infections a statistically significant difference for D-dimer >7,000 ng/mL compared to values <500 ng/mL ( p = 0.021) and 500–3,000 ng/mL ( p = 0.002). For S. pneumoniae the mortality risk resulted always high, over 10%, irrespective by D-dimer values. In conclusion, D-dimer is rapid to be obtained, at low cost and available everywhere, and can help stratify the risk of in-hospital mortality and complications in patients with invasive infections due to N. meningitidis : D-dimer <500 ng/mL excludes any further complications, and a cut-off of 7,000 ng/mL seems able to predict a significantly increased mortality risk from much <10% to over 25%.

INTRODUCTION:The duration of immunity after infection from SARS-CoV-2 conferring protection from subsequent COVID-19 episodes is not yet fully understood. We reviewed the literature for cases of documented reinfection. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A comprehensive computerized search in PubMed, through 15 December 2020, using the following terms in combination: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, reinfection, reactivation, recurrence. To exclude cases due to prolonged viral shedding or protracted infection, only cases occurring at least 12 weeks apart or confirmed as being sustained by genetically different viruses by viral genome analysis were included. RESULTS:We identified 23 cases globally, for which viral genome analysis was performed in 10 cases and serology in 19 cases. The mean interval between the two episodes was 15 weeks. Mean age of cases was 44.5 years, and 10 (43.5%) were women. In 17/23 cases, no comorbidity was observed. In 10 cases, the first episode was more severe than the ensuing episode, whereas in seven cases the ensuing episode was more severe. In four cases, there was no difference in severity and in two cases both episodes were asymptomatic. CONCLUSIONS:From this sample of 23 cases, a clear pattern of the second episode being less or more severe did not emerge. A better understanding of immunity to SARS-CoV-2, necessary to assess the probability of a second infection and the durability of protection conferred by vaccination, is warranted.

Introduction: COVID-19, a respiratory illness due to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, was first described in December 2019 in Wuhan, rapidly evolving into a pandemic. Smoking increases the risk of respiratory infections; thus, cessation represents a huge opportunity for public health. However, there is scarce evidence about if and how smoking affects the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: We performed an observational case-control study, assessing the single-day point prevalence of smoking among 218 COVID-19 adult patients hospitalized in seven Italian nonintensive care wards and in a control group of 243 patients admitted for other conditions to seven COVID-19-free general wards. We compared proportions for categorical variables by using the chi(2) test and performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses to identify the variables associated with the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19. Results: The percentages of current smokers (4.1% vs 16%, p= .00003) and never smokers (71.6% vs 56.8%, p = .0014) were significantly different between COVID-19 and non-COVID 19 patients. COVID-19 patients had lower mean age (69.5 vs 74.2 years, p= .00085) and were more frequently males (59.2% vs 44%, p = .0011). In the logistic regression analysis, current smokers were significantly less likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 compared with nonsmokers (odds ratio = 0.23; 95% confidence interval, 0.11-0.48, p< .001), even after adjusting for age and gender (odds ratio = 0.14; 95% confidence interval, 0.06-0.31, p < .001). Conclusions: We reported an unexpectedly low prevalence of current smokers among COVID-19 patients hospitalized in nonintensive care wards.The meaning of these preliminary findings, which are in line with those currently emerging in literature, is unclear; they need to be confirmed by larger studies.

Introduction and aim of the study: Hospital readmissions represent an increasing and highly expensive cost for National Health Services. Aim of this retrospective case-control study was to compare patients who required one or more repeated hospitalizations to those who had only one, in the year 2018 at the Department of Internal Medicine of Pontedera Hospital (Pisa, Italy). Materials and Methods: All the data were retrieved matching data from our electronic health record with our diagnosis-related group (DRG) software system. Continuous variables were defined means ± standard deviation; categorical variables were given as percentage. The independent sample t test was used for the continuous variables and chi-square test for categorical variables. Significance was inferred for p < 0.05. Results: In 2018 a total of 3012 patients were hospitalized. Among these, 14.1% (n=426; mean age 79.7±11,9; range 23-100) were defined as revolving: data were compared with controls (n=420; 13.9%; mean age 75.9±14.7; range 22-99) who had only one hospitalization. Patients main provenance was in both groups a Home-based health care. Revolving patients showed higher mean age, higher rate of chronic comorbidities and mortality. Cancer was equally distributed in both groups. Sepsis was the most relevant factor associated with re-hospitalizations and mortality. Skin ulcers were present in about half of revolving patients, but they were coded as DRG only in an absolute minority. Conclusions: readmissions to Internal Medicine Departments are frequent and mainly related to the severity of chronic diseases affecting the patients. Sepsis was the most relevant condition associated with readmissions, leading to a very high mortality rate. Skin ulcers affected about half of revolving patients, but their DRG were significantly underestimated. Preventing sepsis and investing resources in chronic diseases assistance, represent a key challenge for the future, especially in an outpatient setting.

BACKGROUND:Guidelines recommend triple therapy (TT) with ACE inhibitors or ARBs, beta-blockers and mineralcorticoid receptor antagonists in symptomatic heart failure patients with ejection fraction <35 % (HFrEF). Nevertheless, many patients remain untreated. This study was aimed to evaluate the use of TT in HFrEF patients discharged from internal medicine wards of Tuscany, Italy.METHODS AND RESULTS:We analyzed the database of a multicenter observational study which included 770 patients consecutively hospitalized for HF in 32out of 36 Internal Medicine Units of Tuscany, Italy. The value of ejection fraction was available in 490 of the 725 patients discharged alive. Of the 117 patients with HFrEF, only 46 (39.3%) were on TT at discharge while 71 (60.7%) were not. In the latter group we observed a significantly greater percentage of patients with cognitive deficit (25.3% vs 10.8%, p=0.05). In the same group there was a slightly greater percentage of patients with hypertension (61.9% vs 58.6%), diabetes (43.6% vs 36.9%), GFR<60 ml/min (74.6% vs 67.3%), anemia (52.1% vs 45.6%) and atrial fibrillation (40.8% vs 34.7%), but the differences were not statistically significant.CONSLUSIONS:These results indicate that TT is underutilized in internal medicine wards of Tuscany. Untreated patients had a greater rate of cognitive deficit and were probably sicker, more complex and fragile.

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare neutrophilic inflammatory skin disease, characterized by recurrent skin ulcers, which in almost 50% of cases are associated with systemic autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, chronic hepatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, paraproteinemias and hematological malignancies. A systematic search of literature for PG was carried out using the PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar databases for the purpose of this review and 2780 articles were retrieved up to February 2017. Inflammation represents the predominant aspect of the disease, but its pathophysiological mechanisms are not completely clear yet, since there are many studies showing only one or more isolated findings of the disease. The goal of PG treatment is to reduce inflammation in order to promote ulcer healing by minimizing side effects of therapy. Several systemic and local treatments are available, but the lack of large randomized double-blind studies results in an absence of a uniform therapeutic standard: thus, more clinical studies are required in order to make head-to-head comparisons between combination and single-drug therapies and to identify specific combination therapies for distinctive clinical patterns of PG.

Background: Prognostic stratification is of utmost importance for management of acute Pulmonary Embolism (PE) in clinical practice. Many prognostic models have been proposed, but which is the best prognosticator in real life remains unclear. The aim of our study was to compare and combine the predictive values of the hemodynamics/biomarkers based prognostic model proposed by European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in 2008 and simplified PESI score (sPESI). Methods: Data records of 452 patients discharged for acute PE from Internal Medicine wards of Tuscany (Italy) were analysed. The ESC model and sPESI were retrospectively calculated and compared by using Areas under Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) Curves (AUCs) and finally the combination of the two models was tested in hemodinamically stable patients. All cause and PE-related in-hospital mortality and fatal or major bleedings were the analyzed endpoints Results: All cause in-hospital mortality was 25% (16.6% PE related) in high risk, 8.7% (4.7%) in intermediate risk and 3.8% (1.2%) in low risk patients according to ESC model. All cause in-hospital mortality was 10.95% (5.75% PE related) in patients with sPESI score ≥1 and 0% (0%) in sPESI score 0. Predictive performance of sPESI was not significantly different compared with 2008 ESC model both for all cause (AUC sPESI 0.711, 95% CI: 0.661-0.758 versus ESC 0.619, 95% CI: 0.567-0.670, difference between AUCs 0.0916, p=0.084) and for PE-related mortality (AUC sPESI 0.764, 95% CI: 0.717-0.808 versus ESC 0.650, 95% CI: 0.598-0.700, difference between AUCs 0.114, p=0.11). Fatal or major bleedings occurred in 4.30% of high risk, 1.60% of intermediate risk and 2.50% of low risk patients according to 2008 ESC model, whereas these occurred in 1.80% of high risk and 1.45% of low risk patients according to sPESI, respectively. Predictive performance for fatal or major bleeding between two models was not significantly different (AUC sPESI 0.658, 95% CI: 0.606-0.707 versus ESC 0.512, 95% CI: 0.459-0.565, difference between AUCs 0.145, p=0.34). In hemodynamically stable patients, the combined endpoint in-hospital PE-related mortality and/or fatal or major bleeding (adverse events) occurred in 0% of patients with low risk ESC model and sPESI score 0, whilst it occurred in 5.5% of patients with low-risk ESC model but sPESI ≥1. In intermediate risk patients according to ESC model, adverse events occurred in 3.6% of patients with sPESI score 0 and 6.65% of patients with sPESI score ≥1. Conclusions: In real world, predictive performance of sPESI and the hemodynamic/biomarkers-based ESC model as prognosticator of in-hospital mortality and bleedings is similar. Combination of sPESI 0 with low risk ESC model may identify patients with very low risk of adverse events and candidate for early hospital discharge or home treatment.

Appendicitis is an acute disease requiring urgent surgical treatment. Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency in children and young adults, with an incidence of about 100-140 cases per 100,000 people. In our study we analyse 501 consecutive appendectomies performed in our department. From June 2003 to December 2008 we performed 501 appendectomies, 287 in male and 214 in female patients. The average age was 27.99 years (range: from 4 to 94 years). We routinely perform a laparoscopic approach with a standard protocol for patient selection. Following a standard protocol, 429 patients were selected for the laparoscopic approach and 72 for an open appendectomy. In 411 patients (95.8%) the surgical procedure was completed in laparoscopy with a conversion rate of about 4.2% (18/429). The conversion rate in the simple appendectomy subgroup was 0.98%, as against about 12.1% in the complex appendectomy subgroup. The open appendectomy group comprised 72 patients, 27 patients treated with an open approach by choice, 26 for necessity and 19 for protocol violation. There were 9 post-appendectomy complications (2.1%) and 3 re-operations (0.5%); the mortality rate was nil. Although 20 years have passed since the first laparoscopic appendectomy, today it is still debated whether or not the laparoscopic approach is the correct surgical procedure for the treatment of acute appendicitis. Several studies have shown that laparoscopic appendectomy presents a number of advantages in terms of a shorter hospital stay, less postoperative pain and fewer wound infections. Some authors, however, have demonstrated that the laparoscopic approach for acute appendicitis is associated with increased operative times and risk of intra-abdominal abscesses (above all if the appendix is perforated). Our experience confirms that the routinely performed laparoscopic approach to treat acute appendicitis is associated with a low rate of abscess complications: in our series some of the complications could be attributed to the surgical learning curve.

BACKGROUND:Ectopic thyroid tissue can be found anywhere between the foramen cecum and the normal position of the thyroid gland, most commonly located in the anterior cervical area, the region of the thyroglossal duct. Although thyroid cancer has been described frequently in thyroglossal duct remnants, thyroid dysfunction related to this tissue is rare. We report a patient with recurrent Graves' disease arising in a thyroglossal duct remnant.SUMMARY:A 40-year-old woman with a history of total thyroidectomy for Graves' disease, presented with a slowly enlarging midline neck mass in association with clinical signs of hyperthyroidism. Serum-free triiodothyronine (6.6 pg/mL) and serum-free thyroxine (2.2 ng/dL) were elevated (normal range, 2.3-4.2 pg/mL and 0.9-1.8 ng/dL, respectively), and thyroid-stimulating hormone was suppressed (<0.01 mIU/mL; normal range, 0.35-5.50 mIU/mL). Neck ultrasonography showed a solid mass, localized at the infrahyoid area; radionuclide scanning confirmed an increased uptake at the same level. A 4 cm solid mass was removed by the Sistrunk technique. Microscopic examination revealed marked follicular hyperplasia, with tall cells, small follicles, scant, and scalloped colloid, in association with patchy lymphocytic infiltrate consistent with Graves' disease.CONCLUSIONS:There appears to be no reason why thyroid cells within thyroglossal duct remnants should not be influenced by the thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins of Graves' disease. Thyrotoxicosis resulting from this must be very rare, however, as were unable to find reports of patients with thyrotoxicosis due to Graves' disease in thyroglossal duct remnants. Although some thyroid tissue can be found within the thyroglossal duct in 1.6% to 40% of normal adults, the risk of thyroid dysfunction from this is far too low to justify new therapeutic approaches.