Purpose Patients affected by COVID-19 are assumed to be at high risk of developing swallowing disorders. However, to our best knowledge, data on the characteristics and incidence of dysphagia associated with COVID-19 are lacking, especially in non-intubated patients. Therefore, we investigated the onset of swallowing disorders in patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection who have not been treated with invasive ventilation, in order to evaluate how the virus affected swallowing function regardless of orotracheal intubation. Methods We evaluated 41 patients admitted to the COVID department of our Hospital when they had already passed the acute phase of the disease and were therefore asymptomatic but still positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA by RT-PCR. We examined patients’ clinical history and performed the Volume-Viscosity Swallow Test (VVST). Each patient also answered the Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire (SDQ). After 6 months, we performed a follow-up in patients with swallowing disorders. Results Eight of 41 patients (20%) presented with dysphagia symptoms during hospitalization and 2 of them (25%) still presented a SDQ high score and swallowing disorders with liquid consistency after 6 months. Conclusion Non-intubated patients can experience various grades of swallowing impairment that probably directly related to pulmonary respiratory function alterations and viral direct neuronal lesive activity. Although these symptoms show natural tendency to spontaneous resolution, their impact on a general physical impaired situation should not be underestimated, since it can adversely affect patients’ recovery from COVID-19 worsening health outcomes.

Introduction There is, so far, no universal definition of severe asthma. This definition usually relies on: number of exacerbations, inhaled therapy, need for oral corticosteroids, and respiratory function. The use of such parameters varies in the different definitions used. Thus, according to the parameters chosen, each patient may result in having severe asthma or not. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the choice of a specific definition of severe asthma can change the allocation of patients. Methods Data collected from the Severe Asthma Network Italy (SANI) registry were analyzed. All the patients included were then reclassified according to the definitions of U-BIOPRED, NICE, WHO, ATS/ERS, GINA, ENFUMOSA, and TENOR. Results 540 patients, were extracted from the SANI database. We observed that 462 (86%) met the ATS/ERS criteria as well as the GINA criteria, 259 (48%) the U-Biopred, 222 (41%) the NICE, 125 (23%) the WHO, 313 (58%) the Enfumosa, and 251 (46%) the TENOR criteria. The mean eosinophil value were similar in the ATS/ERS, U-Biopred, and Enfumosa (528, 532 and 516 cells/mcl), higher in WHO and Tenor (567 and 570 cells/mcl) and much higher in the NICE classification (624 cells/mcl). Lung function tests resulted similarly in all groups, with WHO (67%) and ATS/ERS-GINA (73%), respectively, showing the lower and upper mean FEV1 values. Conclusions The present observations clearly evidence the heterogeneity in the distribution of patients when different definitions of severe asthma are used. However, the recent definition of severe asthma, provided by the GINA document, is similar to that indicated in 2014 by ATS/ERS, allowing mirror reclassification of the patients examined. This lack of homogeneity could complicate the access to biological therapies. The definition provided by the GINA document, which reflects what suggested by ATS/ERS, could partially overcome the problem.

The study by Kiranantawat et al. “Clinical role, safety and diagnostic accuracy of percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy in the evaluation of pulmonary consolidation” highlights how “pulmonary consolidation can be safely evaluated with CT-guided percutaneous needle biopsy”. Even if we agree about the role of CT guidance, we would like to point out how Thoracic Ultrasound could be better than CT for biopsy of subpleural lesions that could easily be detected and reached with this “real-time” and quicker technique.

Background and aims Severe asthma is burdened by frequent exacerbations and use of oral corticosteroids (OCS) which worsen patients’ health and increase healthcare spending. Aim of this study was to assess the clinical and economic effect of adding mepolizumab (MEP) for the treatment of these patients. Methods Patients >18 years old, referred to 8 asthma clinics, starting MEP between May 2017 and December 2018, were enrolled and followed-up for 12 months. Information in the 12 months before mepolizumab were collected retrospectively. The evaluation parameters included: OCS use, number of exacerbations/hospitalizations, concomitant therapies, comorbidity, and annual number of working days lost due to the disease. The primary objective was to compare the annual total cost per patient pre- and post-MEP. Secondary outcomes included rates of exacerbations and number of OCS-dependent patients. Results 106 patients were enrolled in the study: 46 male, median age 58 years. Mean annual cost pre- and post-MEP (cost of biologic excluded) was €3996 and €1,527, respectively. Total savings due to MEP resulted in €2469 (95%CI 1945–2993), 62% due to exacerbations reduction and 33% due to productivity increase. Such savings could fund about 22% of the total cost of MEP for one year. The introduction of MEP induced a clinical benefit by reducing both OCS-dependent patients (OR = 0.12, 95%CI 0.06–0.23) and exacerbation rate (RR = 0.19, 95%CI 0.15–0.24). Conclusions Patients with severe eosinophilic asthma experienced a clinical benefit in asthma control adding MEP to standard therapy. Biologic therapy can be, partially, funded by the savings produced by patients’ improvement.

Transthoracic ultrasound (TUS) is a validate complementary technique widely used in everyday medical practice. TUS is the gold-standard for studying pleural effusion and for echo-guided thoracentesis, moreover, it is employed in detection of pleural and pulmonary lesions adherent to pleural surface and their ccho-guided percutaneous needle biopsy (PTNB). 1 We used TUS technique to study severe asthma patients. We found that several patterns are constant in these patients. One of these patterns, i.e. lack of gliding sign, mimic pneumothorax (PNX). In this study, we attempted an echographic approach to asthma, trying to lay the first stone for the individuation of common ultrasound patterns in this disease.