Evaluation of a training program on hand hygiene for healthcare workers in a second-level hospital in southern Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Health care-associated infections (HAIs), albeit being the most frequent adverse event in health care, are mostly preventable through hand hygiene (HH). Given the extremely low HH compliance among healthcare workers (HCWs), educational initiatives aimed at this group are crucial. This study used an ultraviolet (UV)-based technology to assess the efficacy of an educational and training program on HH for HCWs in a second-level hospital in southern Italy.

Possible clinical and radiological predictors of haemorrhagic transformation in acute stroke patients undergoing dual antiplatelet therapy: a clinical study.

Background: The predictors of intracranial haemorrhagic transformation (HT) in acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) patients undergoing dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) are not well known.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify the possible clinical and radiological predictors of HT in patients, irrespective of clinical indication for this treatment.

Design: This study is a monocentric cohort retrospective study.

Safety and efficacy of bridging intravenous thrombolysis plus mechanical thrombectomy versus direct mechanical thrombectomy in different age groups of acute ischemic stroke patients.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of bridging intravenous thrombolysis plus mechanical thrombectomy (MT) versus direct MT in different age groups of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) secondary to large vessel occlusion (LVO) of the anterior circulation.

Methods: Consecutive patients from the prospective endovascular stroke registry of the Comprehensive Stroke Center, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy, between January 2015 and June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into age groups (≤ 80 years old and > 80 years old); for each age group, they were further divided in the bridging therapy group and the direct MT group.

CT Perfusion as a Predictor of the Final Infarct Volume in Patients with Tandem Occlusion.

Background: CT perfusion (CTP) is used in patients with anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke (AIS) for predicting the final infarct volume (FIV). Tandem occlusion (TO), involving both intracranial large vessels and the ipsilateral cervical internal carotid artery could generate hemodynamic changes altering perfusion parameters. Our aim is to evaluate the accuracy of CTP in the prediction of the FIV in TOs.

Temporal lobe atrophy as a potential predictor of functional outcome in older adults with acute ischemic stroke.

Background: To explore whether temporal lobe atrophy predicts 3-month functional outcome in a population of patients with anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke (AIS) treated with mechanical thrombectomy (MT).

Methods: We retrospectively selected patients > 65 years from our prospective endovascular stroke registry between June 2013 and August 2018. According to 3-month modified Rankin Scale (mRS), patients were divided in two groups, named good (mRS ≤ 2) and poor (mRS > 2) outcome.

Carotid artery stenting during endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke with tandem occlusion: the Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke.

Purpose: The management of tandem extracranial internal carotid artery and intracranial large vessel occlusion during endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) has been under-investigated. We sought to investigate outcomes of AIS patients with tandem occlusion (TO) treated with carotid artery stenting (CAS) compared to those not treated with CAS (no-CAS) during EVT.

Methods: We performed a cohort study using data from AIS patients enrolled in the Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke.

Epstein-Barr virus reactivation after COVID-19 vaccination in a young immunocompetent man: a case report.

We present the case of a 24-year-old Caucasian man, who developed a scaly erythematous skin rash after the second dose of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination with Comirnaty (BNT162b2, BioNTech/Pfizer; Pfizer, New York, NY, USA) and proved positive for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mRNA vaccines have been associated with an up-regulated T helper type 1-cell response, possibly favoring an immune system imbalance. Also, EBV reactivation has been postulated after COVID-19 vaccination, but only in the immunosuppressed.

Epidemiological, Clinical and Microbiological Characteristics of Patients with Bloodstream Infections Due to Carbapenem-Resistant in Southern Italy: A Multicentre Study.

Background: In the present study, our aim was to evaluate the clinical and microbiological characteristics of a cohort of patients with bloodstream infections (BSI) due to Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and investigate the independent predictors of mortality.

Methods: All episodes of carbapenem-resistant (CREc) or (CRKp) BSI that were subject to a mandatory notification from January to December 2020 in all acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities of the Campania region in southern Italy were enrolled. All carbapenem-resistant strains were assessed through molecular tests for the presence of five carbapenemase gene families, i.

Diagnostic and infection control strategies for Clostridioides difficile infections in a setting of high antimicrobial resistance prevalence.

Clostridioides difficile (CD) is a major nosocomial pathogen and the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. In light of the strong association between antimicrobial use and CD infections (CDI), it may be hypothesised that areas at higher prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, like the region of Campania in southern Italy, could also have a higher rate of CDI. In this multicentre, region-based, prospective study, we analysed such issues, exploiting CDI incidence data collected from local hospitals.

Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Intracranial Carotid Occlusion with Patent Intracranial Arteries : The Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke.

Purpose: Intracranial carotid artery occlusion represents an underinvestigated cause of acute ischemic stroke as well as an indication for mechanical thrombectomy. We investigated baseline and procedural characteristics, outcomes and predictors of outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke secondary to intracranial carotid artery occlusion.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of the Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke was performed.

Use of Ceftazidime-Avibactam and Ceftolozane-Tazobactam After Lung Transplantation.

Introduction: After lung transplantation (LTx), infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are frequent and difficult to treat. Some new antibiotics seem to be effective in treating these infections.

Material And Methods: We describe our experience in treatment of Klebsiella pneumoniae MDR and Pseudomonas aeruginosa MDR infections with ceftazidime-avibactam (CEF-AVI) and ceftazidime-tazobactam (CEFT-TAZ) in patients who underwent LTx.

Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor After Lung Transplant-A Rare and Aggressive Complication: A Case Report.

Introduction: Malignant diseases are well-known complications after lung transplantation (LT). Among these, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare neoplasm with a not well-known and often aggressive biological behavior.

Material And Methods: We hereby describe 2 cases of cystic fibrosis patients who underwent bilateral sequential LT (BSLT) complicated by IMT.

Management of a case of unacknowledged foreign body in the upper airway.

Tracheobronchial foreign body aspiration occurs rarely in adults and may go unrecognized for a long time, but early detection and immediate retrieval of the foreign body are essential to prevent major morbidity. We describe the case of an adult who unusually aspirated part of his dental prosthesis during an attempted strangulation, which was unacknowledged until 6 months later when he was hospitalized with acute respiratory failure and required an emergency surgical tracheotomy. The foreign body was successfully removed via flexible bronchoscopy.

[Critical aspects of the direct distribution of medicines to patients upon discharge at the G. Rummo hospital in Benevento (Italy)].

Delivering prescription drugs directly to patients at the moment of discharge from the hospital is a useful tool for ensuring continuity in patient drug use, improving prescriptive appropriateness, limiting pharmaceutical expenditure and analyzing pharmacoepidemiological data. A project was therefore conducted from April 2005 to January 2007, at the G. Rumino hospital in Benevento (Italy), to encourage the direct delivery of drugs to patients upon discharge.

[Sexually transmitted diseases: a public health issue].

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are a main problem in the public health policy. The importance of these diseases is not only limited to their high incidence but also to the complications they may cause and to their role in the HIV transmission. Control of STDs represents one of the main aims of the World Health Organization.

[New procedures for improving case sheets editing].

Case sheets are very important instruments for improving health care quality in hospitals. Despite their importance, they are very seldom used and filled in the right way. The study is based on an attempt to optimise case sheets editing; it implies multiple steps: 1.