Publications (8)10.96 Total impact
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Article: Linezolid treatment for gram-positive infections: a retrospective comparison with teicoplanin.
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ABSTRACT: In randomized studies linezolid, indicated for Gram-positive infections, was as effective as teicoplanin in critical ill patients or was superior to teicoplanin in skin infection, pneumonia and bacteremia. We performed a 2-year comparative, retrospective study of patients treated with linezolid or teicoplanin in a single hospital for the same indications. We collected information about the type of infection, the responsible pathogen, therapy administered before study drugs, antibiotic associated with the study drugs, length of hospital stay (LOS), adverse events and outcome of the infections. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of linezolid in this retrospective patients series. Overall we identified 169 patients treated with linezolid and 91 with teicoplanin. Response to therapy, (resolution or improvement of infection) was better in patients treated with linezolid compared to teicoplanin (83.9% versus 69.2%, p=0.002). Response to therapy by type of pathogen showed the superior efficacy of linezolid against Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA) and enterococci; although not statistically significant because of the small number of patients enrolled, they were close to significance (p<0.056 for S. aureus, p<0.055 for MRSA, p<0.061 for enterococci). Overall LOS in linezolid-treated patients was 4.6 days (p<0.041) less. Empirical use of linezolid reduced lOS by 6 days (p<0.038), especially in VAP and bacteremia patients (p<0.05). Mortality due to infection was 9.8% in both groups, and adverse events were most frequently documented in linezolid-treated patients. Linezolid was clinically superior to teicoplanin in the treatment of Gram-positive infections.Journal of chemotherapy (Florence, Italy) 07/2009; 21(3):311-6. · 1.08 Impact Factor -
Article: Breakthrough Fusarium spp fungemia during caspofungin therapy in an ABO-incompatible orthotopic liver transplant patient.
Journal of chemotherapy (Florence, Italy) 05/2009; 21(2):236-8. · 1.08 Impact Factor -
Article: Switch to everolimus for sirolimus-induced pneumonitis in a liver transplant recipient--not all proliferation signal inhibitors are the same: a case report.
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ABSTRACT: We report a 62-year-old female liver transplant patient who presented with sirolimus (SIR)-related pneumonitis (SIP) treated with a switch to everolimus (EVER). At 13-month follow-up, the patient is on EVER monotherapy with no recurrence of SIP. Despite common mechanisms of action, the safety profile of EVER is different from SIR, and a switch from SIR to EVER should be contemplated in cases of SIP to allow patients to benefit from the antifibrotic properties of antiproliferative immunosuppressants.Transplantation Proceedings 01/2008; 39(10):3500-1. · 1.00 Impact Factor -
Article: Pacemaker endocarditis with pulmonary cavitary lesion due to Scedosporium prolificans.
Journal of chemotherapy (Florence, Italy) 01/2007; 18(6):667-9. · 1.08 Impact Factor -
Article: Management of cardiac device infections: A retrospective survey of a non-surgical approach combining antibiotic therapy with transvenous removal.
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ABSTRACT: Pacemakers (PMs) and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have become life-saving therapeutic tools for patients with cardiac arrhythmia. Complications include thrombosis, embolism and infections at a highly variable rate. Surgical removal of the infected device has been perceived as the only way to guarantee a successful outcome and to reduce the high risk of mortality. Recently, a transvenous extraction method has been developed to remove infected intracardiac leads without sternotomy. This survey was designed to evaluate the outcome of an approach combining antibiotic therapy with non-surgical transvenous complete removal for the management of cardiac device infections (CDIs). We reviewed case-histories of 121 patients (105 with PM and 16 with ICD infections). The aim of our retrospective survey was to ascertain that a non-invasive transvenous complete removal of the infected devices is safe and effective when associated with appropriate antibiotic therapy starting 10 days before the procedure and extending to at least three weeks after. The infected devices were successfully removed in all patients with a non-surgical transvenous technique. The infections were most frequently caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci (70%), Staphylococcus aureus (14%), and Gram-negative rods (12%). Polymicrobial infections were documented in 19 patients and represent 16% of all device-related infections. The removal of the devices was done during antibiotic therapy, administered for a median of 26 days (range 23 to 45 days). Neither fatalities nor relapse of infections were recorded in the patient population during the one-year follow-up visits. According to our experience, CDIs can be treated with antibiotic therapy and non-surgical removal of the entire infected device, thus allowing a successful reimplantation. This procedure prevents recurrent infections and operative mortality.Journal of chemotherapy (Florence, Italy) 05/2006; 18(2):157-63. · 1.08 Impact Factor -
Article: Efficacy of the combination ampicillin plus ceftriaxone in the treatment of a case of enterococcal endocarditis due to Enterococcus faecalis highly resistant to gentamicin: efficacy of the "ex vivo" synergism method.
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ABSTRACT: The case of a patient with highly gentamicin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis endocarditis treated with an ampicillin + ceftriaxone combination is described. We have designed a method to evaluate synergism between the antibacterial activity of patient's serum taken during a given antibiotic regimen (ampicillin) to which another antibiotic (ceftriaxone) is added in vitro. In this patient the two-drug combination was able to stop the bacteremia and prevent the infection of the prosthetic valve.Journal of chemotherapy (Florence, Italy) 09/2004; 16(4):400-3. · 1.08 Impact Factor -
Article: Bartonella henselae neuroretinitis.
Clinical Microbiology and Infection 08/2001; 7(7):387-8. · 4.54 Impact Factor -
Article: [Prion diseases].
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ABSTRACT: The prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) constitute a group of hereditary or acquired neurodegenerative disorders. The Authors evaluate the etiopathogenetic background, the clinical features and the current concerns with special attention to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and new variant Creutzfeldt Jacob disease.Le infezioni in medicina: rivista periodica di eziologia, epidemiologia, diagnostica, clinica e terapia delle patologie infettive 07/2001; 9(2):72-81.
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2004–2009
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Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana
Pisa, Tuscany, Italy
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