Response to the letter by Meng-jun Zhan et al. regarding the paper \u201cA technical report from the Italian SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Postmortem sampling and autopsy investigation in cases of suspected or probable COVID-19\u201d

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Comparative efficacy and safety of 3-day azithromycin and 10-day penicillin V treatment of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis in children

The efficacy and safety of a 3-day course of azithromycin oral suspension (10 mg/kg of body weight once daily) were compared with those of penicillin V (50,000 U/kg/day in two divided doses) in children aged 3 to 12 years for the treatment of symptomatic pharyngitis caused by the group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS), For the 154 evaluable patients, the original infecting strain of GABHS was eliminated at the end of follow-up (34 to 36 days after treatment started) from 67 (85.8%) of 78 penicillin-treated patients and 41 (53.9%) of 76 azithromycin-treated patients (P < 0.0001), Overall clinical success was achieved in 71 (91.0%) of 78 penicillin V-treated patients and 57 (75.0%) of 76 azithromycin-treated patients (P < 0.05). Potential drug-related adverse events were reported for 5.5 and 8.6% of the penicillin V- and azithromycin-treated patients, respectively (P = 0.6), In the present study, a once-daily (10 mg/kg), 3-day oral regimen of azithromycin was as safe as a 10-day course of penicillin but did not represent an effective alternative to penicillin for the treatment of GABHS pharyngitis, even for those children with azithromycin-susceptible strains

Pancreatic transplant surgery and stem cell therapy: Finding the balance between therapeutic advances and ethical principles

The latest achievements in the field of pancreas transplantation and stem cell therapy require an effort by the scientific community to clarify the ethical implications of pioneering treatments, often characterized by high complexity from a surgical point of view, due to transplantation of multiple organs at the same time or at different times, and from an immunological point of view for stem cell therapy. The fundamental value in the field of organ transplants is, of course, a solidarity principle, namely that of protecting the health and life of people for whom transplantation is a condition of functional recovery, or even of survival. The nature of this value is that of a concept to which the legal discipline of transplants entrusts its own ethical dignity and for which it has ensured a constitutional recognition in different systems. The general principle of respect for human life, both of the donor and of the recipient, evokes the need not to put oneself and one's neighbor in dangerous conditions. The present ethical reflection aims to find a balance between the latest therapeutic advances and several concepts including the idea of the person, the respect due to the dead, the voluntary nature of the donation and the consent to the same, the gratuitousness of the donation, the scientific progress and the development of surgical techniques, and the policies of health promotion

Cytokine storm and histopathological findings in 60 cases of COVID-19-related death: from viral load research to immunohistochemical quantification of major players IL-1\u3b2, IL-6, IL-15 and TNF-\u3b1

This study involves the histological analysis of samples taken during autopsies in cases of COVID-19 related death to evaluate the inflammatory cytokine response and the tissue localization of the virus in various organs. In all the selected cases, SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR on swabs collected from the upper (nasopharynx and oropharynx) and/or the lower respiratory (trachea and primary bronchi) tracts were positive. Tissue localization of SARS-CoV-2 was detected using antibodies against the nucleoprotein and the spike protein. Overall, we tested the hypothesis that the overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines plays an important role in the development of COVID-19-associated pneumonia by estimating the expression of multiple cytokines (IL-1\u3b2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-15, TNF-\u3b1, and MCP-1), inflammatory cells (CD4, CD8, CD20, and CD45), and fibrinogen. Immunohistochemical staining showed that endothelial cells expressed IL-1\u3b2 in lung samples obtained from the COVID-19 group (p < 0.001). Similarly, alveolar capillary endothelial cells showed strong and diffuse immunoreactivity for IL-6 and IL-15 in the COVID-19 group (p < 0.001). TNF-\u3b1 showed a higher immunoreactivity in the COVID-19 group than in the control group (p < 0.001). CD8 + T cells where more numerous in the lung samples obtained from the COVID-19 group (p < 0.001). Current evidence suggests that a cytokine storm is the major cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organ failure and is consistently linked with fatal outcomes

A brief anatomo-surgical dissection guide to human neck: results of the collaboration between the university of Palermo and the university of Malta

The aim of this article is to show methods for dissection of the neck. In the summer of 2017 a group of students of the University of Palermo that have already passed the exam of Human Anatomy took a 4 weeks dissection course at the University of Malta. The students were provided with a dissection kit, video recording equipment and cameras for taking pictures. They dissected the skin, the subcutaneous tissue, the muscular bundles, the muscles, the vascular and nervous bundles, the nerves, the larynx, the trachea and the esophagus. This paper presents the results of the dissection course and a small and simple guide to young students and medical doctors who want to learn the bases of neck dissection

Physician–Patient Relationship, Assisted Suicide and the Italian Constitutional Court

In 2017, Italy passed a law that provides for a systematic discipline on informed consent, advance directives, and advance care planning. It ranges from decisions contextual to clinical necessity through the tool of consent/refusal to decisions anticipating future events through the tools of shared care planning and advance directives. Nothing is said in the law regarding the issue of physician assisted suicide. Following the DJ Fabo case, the Italian Constitutional Court declared the constitutional illegitimacy of article 580 of the criminal code in the part in which it does not exclude the punishment of those who facilitate the suicide when the decision has been freely and autonomously made by a person kept alive by life-support treatments and suffering from an irreversible pathology, the source of physical or psychological suffering that he/she considers intolerable, but fully capable of making free and conscious decisions. Such conditions and methods of execution must be verified by a public structure of the national health service, after consulting the territorially competent ethics committee. This statement admits, within strict and regulated bounds, physician assisted suicide, so widening the range of end-of-life decisions for Italian patients. Future application and critical topics will be called into question by the Italian legislator

A technical report from the Italian SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Postmortem sampling and autopsy investigation in cases of suspected or probable COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is a coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) which resulted in a cluster of cases of pneumonia that originated in China around 31 December 2019 and has subsequently spread across the globe. Currently, COVID-19 represents a health emergency worldwide, leading, in severe cases, to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, multiorgan dysfunction or failure, and death. In the context of limited scientific knowledge and evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, guidance is becoming increasingly necessary for pathologists who have to perform postmortem investigations on COVID-19 cases. The aim of the present report is to share a procedure applicable to cases of COVID-19-related death, particularly in cases of death without medical intervention and in the absence of an ascertained SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or COVID-19 diagnosis, therefore providing support for diagnostic activity in the present COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, a standard operating procedure for correct swab collection, autopsy investigation and tissue sampling is provided

Fatal food-induced anaphylaxis: determination of tryptase and specific IgE on cadaveric blood samples. What else for a better methodological standard?

Post-mortem investigation in cases of fatal anaphylaxis is required to provide clarifications on the presence of macroscopic pathological changes, histological features, and immunohistochemical positivity suggestive of the diagnosis, on biochemical evidence of anaphylaxis and on the presence of serological data indicative of the allergen responsible for the anaphylactic reaction. We describe the case of a 16-year-old boy with a medical history of allergic asthma, celiac disease, and known food-induced allergy for fish, fresh milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, apples, kiwis, and peaches. Acute onset of dyspnea followed by cyanosis of the lips and respiratory failure was described immediately after having an ice cream sandwich. Unsuccessful rescues were immediately attempted with oral administration of betamethasone, intramuscular injection of adrenaline, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A complete post-mortem examination was performed. Serum dosage of mast cell beta-tryptase from femoral blood detecting serum values of 41.4 mg/l. Determination of specific IgE on cadaveric blood samples confirmed the anamnestic data related to sensitization for several food allergens, including cod parvalbumin, tropomyosin, brazil nut, omega-5-gliadin of foods derived from wheat and gluten. The cause of death was identified in a cardiorespiratory failure due to anaphylactic shock in a poly-allergic subject and anaphylaxis was ascribed to the wheat contained in the ice cream sandwich eaten immediately before the onset of respiratory symptoms. The need is to implement an interdisciplinary approach capable to ascertain the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic tests currently in use as well as to evaluate the possibility of introducing new biomarkers in practice

Supporting decision making in intensive care: ethical principles for managing access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic

The pandemic from COVID-19 causes a health threat for many countries and requires an internationally coordinated response due to the high spread of the infection. The current local and international situation gives rise to logistical and ethical considerations regarding the imbalance between needs for assistance and availability of health resources in the continuation of the emergency. A shortage condition will require healthcare professionals to choose between patients who will have access to respiratory support and those who will have to continue without. The sharing of criteria for the introduction of patients to the different therapeutic paths is fundamental to prevent the onset of ethical issues. The present paper analyzes the critical issues related to the scarcity of healthcare resources and the limitation of access to intensive care with the aim of proposing ethically sustainable principles for the management of the current pandemic situation