Danzo Fiammetta

• Bachelor of Medicine
• Resident at University of Milan

Respiratory viral infections trigger immune and inflammatory responses that can be associated with excessive oxidative stress, glutathione (GSH) depletion, and a cytokine storm that drives virus-induced cell/tissue damage and severe disease. Erdosteine is a thiol-based drug with proven mucolytic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial pr...

Which patients should be monitored for coinfections or should receive empirical antibiotic treatment, in patients with an acute viral respiratory infection, is largely unknown. We evaluated the prevalence, characteristics, outcomes of coinfected patients, and risk factors associated with a coinfection among patients with an acute viral infection. A...

Background Patients with severe asthma frequently have comorbid chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with or without nasal polyps, that can increase the symptom burden and complicate treatment. Real-life clinical data on the impact of biologic treatments on CRS-specific quality-of-life questionnaires are still lacking. Materials and methods In this retros...

Introduction: The proportion of elderly people among hospitalized patients is rapidly growing. Between 7% to 25% of ICU patients are aged 85 and over and noninvasive respiratory support is often offered to avoid the risks of invasive mechanical ventilation or in patients with a 'do-not-intubate' order. However, while noninvasive respiratory suppor...

N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) was initially introduced as a treatment for mucus reduction and widely used for chronic respiratory conditions associated with mucus overproduction. However, the mechanism of action for NAC extends beyond its mucolytic activity and is complex and multifaceted. Contrary to other mucoactive drugs, NAC has been found to exhib...

Background Glutathione (GSH) depletion characterizes several viral infections and various molecules have been suggested to restore GSH levels1. Erdosteine (ERD) seems to be useful in treating patients with these infections such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)2. Aims The main objective was to evaluate effects of ERD in RSV in vitro infection....

Background Vascular involvement in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is known to start even before clinical diagnosis, to drive Digital Ulcer (DU) disease and, later in the disease natural history, to cause Pulmonary Artery Hypertension (PAH), among other manifestations. Reliable outcome measures of vascular disease activity are a deep unmet need in SSc. O...

Artificial intelligence (AI) can make intelligent decisions in a manner akin to that of the human mind. AI has the potential to improve clinical workflow, diagnosis, and prognosis, especially in radiology. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a very diverse illness that is characterized by interstitial opacities, mostly in the dependent ar...

The artificial intelligence (AI) is a machine or computing platform that is capable of making intelligent decision similarly to the human mind. The AI could improve diagnosis, treatment prognosis, and clinical workflow, particularly in the field of radiology. Concerning acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a rather heterogeneous syndrome c...

Background: Predictors of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infection and determinants of RSV unfavorable outcomes are still unclear. We assessed RSV burden and investigated the risk factors associated with RSV positive swab and RSV severe disease. Methods: A retrospective, single center, cohort study included all consecutive patients referred t...

Background In Systemic Sclerosis, beyond the value of Nailfold capillaroscopy, there is still a deeply unmet need in quantitative imaging surrogate outcome measures to assess activity and/or severity of peripheral vascular disease. This has been halting the implementation of trials targeting vascular disease beyond crude endpoints such as number of...

Acute respiratory failure (ARF) is a common life-threatening medical condition, with multiple underlying etiologies. In these cases, many factors related to systemic inflammation, prolonged use of steroids, and lung mechanical abnormalities (such as hyperinflation or increased elastic recoil due to pulmonary oedema or fibrosis) may act as synergic...

It is not known if the degrees of improvement in oxygenation obtained by CPAP can predict clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. This was a retrospective study conducted on patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia treated with CPAP in three University hospitals in Milan, Italy, from March 2020 to March 2021. Arterial gas analysis was...

This article explores current evidence on the role of oxidative stress in viral infections, and on the use of antioxidant drugs as adjunctive treatment. MEDLINE/PubMed was searched for appropriate keywords, and preclinical and clinical studies with reviews were retrieved and examined by authors. Old and current evidence shows that GSH content red...

Introduction: In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), static and dynamic hyperinflation, together with expiratory flow limitation and gas exchange abnormalities, is one of the major causes of dyspnea, decreased exercise performance and ventilatory failure. An increase in functional residual capacity (FRC) is accompanied by a...

If short acting β2-agonists and muscarinic antagonists (SABA/SAMA) may have proarrhythmic effects during acute COPD exacerbations (AECOPD) is still unknown. The primary objective of the study was to investigate the incidence of new onset arrhythmias in hospitalized patients shifted to SABA/SAMA during an AECOPD compared with continuing chronic inha...

Background Neointima proliferation is a key pathologic feature of Systemic Sclerosis (SSc), causing arterial vessel narrowing and being the recognised culprit pathological lesion in Digital Ulcers (DUs), pulmonary artery hypertension and renal crisis. Nevertheless, there are no validated imaging techniques to assess the severity of vascular involve...

Background Lung involvement is very common is systemic sclerosis (SSc). Approximately one quarter of patients develops pulmonary problems within the first 3 years of diagnosis and still represents the leading cause of death in these patients. In a recent clinical trail, the reduction of FVC was not accompanied by a benefit with respect to health-re...

Background Arthritic involvement in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a common manifestation impacting on the quality of life. A wide range of articular involvement is recognised including from arthralgia to inflammatory joint and tendon disease. Objectives To assess the weight of patient reported ‘’arthritis activity’’ in determining Patient Reported O...

Background The association between hyperuricemia and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is actually generally accepted. Previous studies have demonstrated that uric acid suppress 25(OH)D metabolism [1]. More evidence is required to demonstrate the immune modulatory effects in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. In particular, the p...

Background In a recent clinical trail the reduction of FVC was not accompanied by a benefit with respect to health-related quality of life and patient-reported outcomes (PROs). The aim of this study is to assess how the change in Pulmonary Function Test (PFTs) parameters correlates with the patient reported outcomes (PROs) in an observational cohor...

Background Sjogren syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease which involves the nervous system in about 20% of SS cases, whilst in 25-92% neurological symptoms may precede the onset of sicca syndrome. Methods A 65-year-old male came to our observation due to a 7-month history of near-syncope episodes, constipation, hypohidrosis, fatigue and asthenia....

Background Arthritic involvement is a common manifestation in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The aim of this study is to assess the weight of patient reported arthritis activity in determining Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in an observational cohort of SSc patients. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of 330 clinic episodes from 121...

Background Neointima proliferation is a key pathologic feature of systemic sclerosis (SSc), causing arterial vessel narrowing and being the recognised culprit pathological lesion in digital ulcers (DUs), pulmonary artery hypertension and renal crisis. Nevertheless, there are no validated imaging techniques to assess the severity of vascular involve...

Background Digital Ulcer Disease is a main vascular manifestation of Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) caused by progressive narrowing of digital arteries with consequent tissue ischemia. Time of flight angiography (TOF) is an MRI technique based on flow-related enhancement of spins entering into an imaging slice. It can visualise flow within vessels, witho...

Background The ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes (NRL) is considered a novel inflammatory marker. Recently studies are ongoing for objective and easy markers (1) Objectives In this study, we aimed to identify the possible relationship between NRL and clinical characteristics inn patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) Methods Our study is based...

Objectives The aim of the present study was to evaluate the body composition by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and to assess the nutritional status by BMI and possible correlations with epidemiological and clinical characteristics in patients with SSc Methods Malnutrition was defined as BMI <18.5 kg/m 2 or unintentional weight loss >10% in...

Background The six minute walking test (6MWT) is a standardised measure of submaximal exercise capacity. It is a surrogate measure of heart and lung involvement. There are no studies on relationship between 6MWT and quality of life evaluated by Short form 36. Objectives To evaluate the relationships between of the 6 min walking distance (6MWD) and...

Background The metabolic syndrome is an independent risk factor for ischaemic heart disease. Patients with systemic lupus eriythematosus have un increased prevalence of the metabolic syndrome.¹ There are no controlled studies of the metabolic syndrome in patients with SSc. Objectives To compare the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in patients...