Lung water, aeration and function in late preterm/term neonates: subgroup analysis of the ULTRAS study.

Background: We aimed to study the pathophysiology of late preterm and term neonates with respiratory failure, without lung inflammation, and identify features associated with surfactant treatment.

Methods: Ancillary subgroup analysis of a prospective multicenter cohort study. Forty-eight neonates were enrolled.

Severe Myocardial Involvement and Persistent Supraventricular Arrhythmia in a Premature Infant Due to Enterovirus Infection: Case Report and Literature Review.

Enterovirus (EV) infections in neonates can be transmitted vertically or horizontally, with symptoms ranging from mild to severe, including myocarditis, meningoencephalitis, and hepatitis. Neonates with EV-induced myocarditis may present severe cardiovascular disease with sudden onset of arrhythmia. Neonatal arrhythmias, particularly in low birth weight or critically ill infants, can impair cardiac function and worsen outcomes.

Second Attempt for Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) Closure: Room for Acetaminophen? A Retrospective Single-Center Experience at Gaslini Children's Hospital.

: The diagnosis of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hsPDA) occurs in 55% of very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants. There is no agreement on the best approach to ensure a quick hsPDA closure. Drug treatment of hsPDA fails in approximately 20% of cases with an increasing risk of prolonged ventilation, BPD, and NEC, as well as the need for surgical duct ligation.

Three Years of Human Milk Banking: Assessing the Impact on Lactation Rates at Discharge in VLBW Preterm Infants in an Italian Reference NICU.

Human milk (HM) offers critical short- and long-term benefits for preterm and very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. In 2021, a human milk bank (HMB) was established at the IRCCS Giannina Gaslini Institute, aiming to improve HM feeding rates in this vulnerable population. We retrospectively analyzed feeding data from 442 VLBW infants (BW < 1500 g) admitted between 2018 and 2024.

Neonatal Perforator Stroke: Timing, Risk Factors, and Neurological Outcome from a Single-Center Experience.

Perforator stroke (PS) is a subtype of perinatal arterial ischemic stroke (PAIS), in which injuries occur in the territory of the perforator branches of the main cerebral arteries. This study aims to explore the incidence, timing, risk factors, and clinical presentation of PS in both preterm and full-term neonates. We retrospectively analyzed data about all the neonatal brain MRIs carried out in our hospital from March 2012 to March 2023.

Increase in methemoglobin fraction due to the use of glyceryl trinitrate patches in preterm infants: a case report and literature review.

Background: Oxidized heme iron forms methemoglobin (MeHb), impairing the oxygen-binding capability of hemoglobin molecules. Nitric oxide (NO) obtained from glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) patches can cause MeHb formation during limb ischemia topical treatment. This case reports a preterm infant treated with multiple GTN patches who developed elevated MeHb levels, a potential therapy complication.

Adverse Outcomes in Neonates Following Planned Home Births: A Case Report Series and a Narrative Literature Review.

Although home births provide personal and intimate experiences, they pose potential risks that may be better managed in hospital settings. The safety of home birth remains highly debated, with no consensus on its safety or potential adverse events, and its adoption varies widely across the world. In Italy, the Italian Society of Neonatology opposed this practice, resulting in one of the lowest home birth rates in Europe (approximately 0.

Do Different Amounts of Exogenous Surfactant Differently Influence Cerebrovascular Instability in a Consecutive Group of Preterm Babies? Preliminary Results from a Single-Center Experience.

Background: Thirty years ago, the first attempt by Saliba and colleagues was made to reduce the negative effects (hypercarbia) of exogenous surfactant (ES) by slowing its administration. Sixteen years later, we observed the first less invasive surfactant administration (LISA) attempt by Kribs and colleagues. Many studies, since that time, have tried to minimize the invasiveness of ES and subsequent cerebral blood flow perturbations through studies using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

Optimizing haemoglobin measurements in VLBW newborns: Insights from a comparative retrospective study.

Introduction: Haemoglobin levels assessment is a crucial part of neonatal intensive care practice, the painful experience of repeated heel pricks and venepunctures blood sampling may negatively affect neonatal clinical course. To date the reliability of haemoglobin levels obtained by point-of-care testing (POCT) analysis if compared to standard blood cell count remains controversial.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective study conducted on all inborn premature infants (gestational age < 32 weeks) admitted to NICU of the IRCCS Giannina Gaslini Institute during the period May 2021-April 2023.

Point-of-care brain ultrasound and transcranial doppler or color-coded doppler in critically ill neonates and children.

Unlabelled: Point-of-care brain ultrasound and transcranial doppler or color-coded doppler is being increasingly used as an essential diagnostic and monitoring tool at the bedside of critically ill neonates and children. Brain ultrasound has already established as a cornerstone of daily practice in the management of the critically ill newborn for diagnosis and follow-up of the most common brain diseases, considering the easiness to insonate the brain through transfontanellar window. In critically ill children, doppler based techniques are used to assess cerebral hemodynamics in acute brain injury and recommended for screening patients suffering from sickle cell disease at risk for stroke.

Rinmaker: a fast, versatile and reliable tool to determine residue interaction networks in proteins.

Background: Residue Interaction Networks (RINs) map the crystallographic description of a protein into a graph, where amino acids are represented as nodes and non-covalent bonds as edges. Determination and visualization of a protein as a RIN provides insights on the topological properties (and hence their related biological functions) of large proteins without dealing with the full complexity of the three-dimensional description, and hence it represents an invaluable tool of modern bioinformatics.

Results: We present RINmaker, a fast, flexible, and powerful tool for determining and visualizing RINs that include all standard non-covalent interactions.

Diagnostic Methods in Forensic Pathology: A New Sign in Death from Hanging.

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of studying vital injuries at the sternal head insertion of the sternocleidomastoid muscle in the medico-legal assessment of death by hanging.

Materials And Methods: Study material was obtained from eight bodies of people who died from hanging. The control group included as many specimens collected from people who died from traumatic causes other than hanging (precipitation from medium to large heights and traffic accidents).

Forensic Analysis and Identification Processes in Mass Disasters: Explosion of Gun Powder in the Fireworks Factory.

A mass disaster is a situation that involves criticality between the number of victims and resources, in terms of both men and means, present on the site of an event that is mostly unexpected and sudden. In the multidisciplinary teams that intervene, the role of forensic pathologists, who are responsible for the direction and coordination of post-mortem operations, is central, and must remain so. The authors report the case of an explosion of a pyrotechnic artifice factory, as a result of which numerous victims and injuries are recorded.

Magnetic resonance imaging accuracy before surgery in children with retropharyngeal abscesses.

Aims: Retropharyngeal abscess (RPA) is a deep neck infection occurring in childhood. The gold standard technique for diagnosis is computerised tomography (CT) with a contrast medium. The aim of this study is to answer the question of whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be an alternative in diagnosing RPA and predicting pus drainage at surgery.

Type 1 Diabetes and Addison's Disease: When the Diagnosis Is Suggested by the Continuous Glucose Monitoring System.

Our objective is to emphasize the important role of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in suggesting adrenal insufficiency in patients affected by type 1 diabetes. We describe an adolescent girl with type 1 diabetes and subsequent latent Addison's disease diagnosed based on a recurrent hypoglycemic trend detected by CGM. In patients with type 1 diabetes, persistent unexplained hypoglycemic episodes at dawn together with reduced insulin requirement arouse souspicionof adrenal insufficiency.

The Effect of Lockdown and Physical Activity on Glycemic Control in Italian Children and Young Patients With Type 1 Diabetes.

Aims: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of the lockdown established by the Italian government to limit the spread of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on glycemic control in a large sample of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) based on age, type of insulin therapy, number of telemedicine visits and physical activity.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated glycemic control in young T1D patients using the DexcomG6 system before the Italian lockdown (February 10-23, 2020-Time 0) and during lockdown (April 17-30, 2020-Time 1). Data on age, type of insulin therapy, number of telemedicine visits and physical activity of 202 patients with T1D and a median age of 18.

Fatal mauling by tigers.

Lethal injuries due to large animal attack are uncommon in routine forensic practice in Europe. Specifically, few incidents are reported concerning tiger/lion attacks that usually involve captive circus or zoo animals. We present the case of a 61-year old animal tamer who was mauled to death by four tigers while he was training them for a circus performance.

Hypostasis and time since death: state of the art in Italy and a novel approach for an operative instrumental protocol.

Hypostasis is a common postmortem change, whose presence or absence is used by forensic pathologists as a means of determining the approximate time of death. This assessment plays a primary role in Italian forensic practice, but blanching of hypostasis is still estimated only on the basis of subjective impressions. To understand how forensic pathologists test livor mortis on the crime scene and during forensic daily practice in Italy, an inquiry was made into lividity testing.

Elderly sexual offenders: two unusual cases.

The aim of this case report is to describe two cases of sexual abuse by elderly subjects for which the Judge commissioned an expert psychiatric-forensic opinion. The elderly are generally believed to commit nonviolent crimes, whereas the two cases we observed feature forcible rape committed by elderly offenders, who showed no form of mental disease and had rationally planned their offense. They had never previously committed similar acts and had no history of homosexuality; both had been married for many years before the death of their wives and had adult children.

Stress-related temporary hearing loss--evaluation of bio-humoral parameters: forensic and criminological applications.

The body-alarm reaction results from the activation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which can lead to physio-psychological phenomena such as an exclusion/occlusion of the sense of hearing. One hypothesis to explain this alteration consists in a hydromechanical dysfunction of the internal ear attributable to antidiuretic hormone. In this study, we evaluated the perception of acoustic stimuli administered in stressful conditions in 14 phobic patients and in 20 healthy subjects, in order to assess the influence of stress on perceiving capabilities.

Perineal-vaginal injuries in children: accident or abuse?

A large number of conditions have been mistaken for abuse. Differentiating accidental injuries from inflicted injuries is important in the management of injured children. In this work, the authors describe two cases of accidental perineal-vaginal injury in children.

The mummified corpse in a domestic setting.

A mummified body of an 86-year-old white man with a history of coronary atherosclerosis was found in the reception-room of his apartment located in a condominium of the city-center of Bari (Southern Italy) approximately 7 years after disappearance. Unpaid electricity bills caused the power stations to turn off electricity while unpaid condominium bills forced the manager of the condominium to open the apartment where the body was found. The corpse was well preserved through the mummification process and no external injuries were observed.

Compatibility between mental disorder and mental capacity: analysis of a particular case of group sexual homicide.

On the night of August 19, 2000, at the foot of Castel del Monte, an 8-year-old girl was brutally murdered. The perpetrators were identified as five young men who captured their victim and sexually abused her. The policemen found the cadaver by following "Mario," one of the five, who had been discovered lying on the ground, near the castle.