COVID-19 : high-resolution computed tomography findings in the first 64 patients admitted to the Hospital of Cremona, the epicentre of the pandemic in Europe

Purpose: In December 2019, a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as being responsible for the pulmonary infection called COVID-19. On 21 February 2020, the first autochthonous case of COVID-19 was detected in Italy. Our goal is to report the most common chest computed tomography (CT) findings identified in 64 patients, in the initial phase of COVID-19. Methods: Sixty-four chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) examinations performed at the Radiology Unit of the Hospital of Cremona, from 22 to 29 February 2020, of 64 patients during first week of hospitalization for COVID-19 were retrospectively evaluated. All cases were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Image analysis was independently conducted by 2 radiologists with 10 years and 1 year of experience in chest imaging. The inter-observer agreement was obtained by applying a Cohen’s κ test. Results: The average age of patients was 67.1 years (± 12.2); men 42 (66%). HRCT was performed on the 5th (± 1.5) day of hospitalization. More frequently, the initial CT changes of the lung show more or less extensive areas of ground-glass, as single pattern or with parenchymal consolidations. Coronavirus lung involvement appears very frequently multi-lobar, bilateral, and it concerns both subpleural and central regions. An excellent agreement (κ: 0.88-1, CI: 0.79-1.01, p < 0.05) concerning CT findings between the 2 operators was reached. Conclusions: Our data suggest that detection of the most frequent pulmonary CT-scan changes, in the early stages of COVID-19, can be performed, with excellent agreement, among readers with different experience, and consequently attribute their exact diagnostic value, in an appropriate clinical and environmental exposure setting

Neuropsychological and behavioral disorders as presentation symptoms in two brothers with early-infantile Niemann-Pick type C

Background: Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in NPC1 or NPC2 genes. Case presentation: We present two brothers with the same compound heterozygous variants in exon 13 of the NPC1 gene (18q11.2), the first one (c.1955C&gt; G, p. Ser652Trp), inherited from the mother, the second (c.2107T&gt;A p.Phe703Ile) inherited from the father, associated to the classical biochemical phenotype of NPC. The two brothers presented unspecific neurologic symptoms with difference in age of onset: one presented dyspraxia and motor clumsiness at age 7 years, the other showed a systemic presentation with hepatosplenomegaly noted at the age of two months and neurological symptoms onset at age 4 with speech disturbance. Clinical evolution and neuroimaging data led to the final diagnosis. Systemic signs did not correlate with the onset of neurological symptoms. Miglustat therapy was started in both patients. Conclusions: We highlight the extreme phenotypic heterogeneity of NP-C in the presence of the same genetic variant and the unspecificity of neurologic signs at onset as previously reported. We report some positive effects of miglustat on disease progression assessed also with neuropsychological follow-up, with an age-dependent response

LIBER AMICORUM PER ANTONIO MATACENA

Vi sono professori che per spessore scientifico, capacit\ue0 divulgativa e carisma personale si distinguono da tutti gli altri e divengono \u201cmaestri\u201d, proprio come l\u2019etimo della parola richiederebbe. Per questi \u2013 e solo per questi \u2013 \ue8 consuetudine che nell\u2019ultimo anno accademico di ruolo venga curato un libro collettaneo, per celebrare i contributi scientifici e la figura accademica del maestro. La forma pi\uf9 diffusa e istituzionale \ue8 quella degli Scritti in onore di. Chi conosce Antonio Matacena, tuttavia, sa bene che le soluzioni istituzionali e pi\uf9 rassicuranti mal si adattano alla sua personalit\ue0 e al suo impegno intellettuale, sempre attento alla \u201calterit\ue0\u201d e spesso anticonvenzionale. Abbiamo quindi ritenuto che un liber amicorum \u2013 in grado di ospitare contributi eterogenei e non solo accademici \u2013 fosse la soluzione pi\uf9 efficacie per rappresentare la passione per l\u2019insegnamento e la gioia della condivisione che, insieme all\u2019innovazione scientifica, hanno caratterizzato la vita del nostro Maestro Antonio Matacena. In particolare, questo volume pi\uf9 che essere un liber amicorum, vuole essere un liber ab amicis, ossia una testimonianza dagli amici per il prof. Matacena, per ringraziarlo del ruolo che ha saputo svolgere nella vita di ciascuno, come studioso e come docente