For survivors of severe COVID-19 disease, having defeated the virus is just the beginning of an uncharted recovery path. What follows after the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection depends on the extension and severity of viral attacks in different cell types and organs. Despite the ridiculously large number of papers that have flooded scientific journals and preprinthosting websites, a clear clinical picture of COVID-19 aftermath is vague at best. Without larger prospective observational studies that are only now being started, clinicians can retrieve information just from case reports and or small studies. This is the time to understand how COVID-19 goes forward and what consequences survivors may expect to experience. To this aim, a multidisciplinary post-acute care service involving several specialists has been established at the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCSS (Rome, Italy). Although COVID-19 is an infectious disease primarily affecting the lung, its multi-organ involvement requires an interdisciplinary approach encompassing virtually all branches of internal medicine and geriatrics. In particular, during the post-acute phase, the geriatrician may serve as the case manager of a multidisciplinary team. The aim of this article is to describe the importance of the interdisciplinary approach-coordinated by geriatrician-to cope the potential post-acute care needs of recovered COVID-19 patients.

Lo studio della proteomica salivare, test economico e non invasivo, rappresenta una fonte di numerose informazioni, ed è utile per la diagnosi di svariate malattie. Da quando siamo entrati nell’era della tecnologia genomica e delle scienze “omiche”, la raccolta di campioni salivari è aumentata esponenzialmente. Recenti piattaforme proteomiche hanno analizzato il proteoma salivare umano, caratterizzando circa 3000 peptidi e proteine, espressi in maniera differente: più del 90% in peso deriva dalla secrezione delle tre ghiandole salivari maggiori, mentre la restante parte proviene dalle ghiandole salivari minori, dal fluido crevicolare gengivale, da essudati mucosi e dalla microflora orale. L’obiettivo principale dell’analisi proteomica è discriminare tra condizioni fisiologiche e patologiche. Ad oggi, tuttavia, non esiste un preciso protocollo che permetta di analizzare l’intero proteoma salivare, pertanto sono state realizzate svariate strategie. Innanzitutto, è possibile distinguere due tipologie di piattaforme proteomiche: l’approccio “top-down” prevede l’analisi delle proteine sotto esame come entità intatte; nell’approccio “bottom-up” la caratterizzazione della proteina avviene mediante lo studio dei peptidi ottenuti dopo digestione enzimatica (con tripsina tipicamente). A causa di questa eterogeneità, per una stessa patologia sono stati proposti differenti biomarkers. Il proteoma salivare è stato caratterizzato in numerose malattie: carcinoma squamoso e leucoplachie orali, malattia del trapianto contro l’ospite (GVHD) cronica, sindrome di Sjögren e altri disordini autoimmuni come la sindrome SAPHO (sinovite, acne, pustolosi, iperostosi e osteite), schizofrenia e disordine bipolare, malattie genetiche come la sindrome di Down o la malattia di Wilson. In conclusione, i risultati delle ricerche riportate in questa review suggeriscono che nel prossimo futuro la saliva diverrà un fluido di indubbia rilevanza diagnostica utile per fini clinici, sia diagnostici, sia prognostici.

Objectives: The primary end point of this study was to evaluate the impact of bile acids on severity of laryngo-pharyngeal reflux (LPR) and the possible correlation with esophagitis and upper airway malignancies. The second end point was to evaluate if salivary bile acids and molecules other than pepsin might serve as diagnostic biomarkers of LPR. Design: Observational prospective comparative study. Setting: Otorhinolaryngology unit of a tertiary hospital. Participants: Sixty-two consecutive adult outpatients suspected of LPR. Main outcome measures: Bile acids, bilirubin and pepsinogen I-II were measured in saliva. Patients underwent pH metry and based on the results of bile acids were subdivided as acid, mixed and alkaline LPR. Results: Significantly higher Reflux Findings Score (RFS) and Reflux Symptoms Index (RSI) were seen in patients with alkaline and mixed LPR compared to acid LPR. Salivary bile acids >1 µmol/L seem to be a reliable indicator of the severity of LPR. Compared to those without, patients with esophagitis or a history of upper airway malignancy have high concentrations of bile acids in saliva. Among the molecules studied, bile acids were the most suitable for diagnosis of LPR, with a sensitivity of 86% and a positive predictive value of 80.7%. Conclusions: Our data suggest that high concentrations of bile acids are associated with higher values of RSI and RFS in LPR as well as a higher risk of esophagitis and history of upper airway malignancies. We finally observed that bile acids provided the best biometric parameters for diagnosis of LPR among the molecules tested.

PURPOSE: Surgery, external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), and interventional radiotherapy (IRT, BrachyTherapy BT) are the current therapeutic options for nose vestibule (NV) squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In this article, we evaluate the nose functional parameters of patients affected by SCCs of the NV, primarily treated by interstitial IRT comparing them with healthy controls and with patients treated with intensity-modulated EBRT. METHODS: Ten patients treated by using IRT (group 1), 10 healthy controls and eight patients treated by EBRT (group 2) on the region of the nose were submitted to clinical evaluation (with the NOSE scale score), rhinomanometry, olfactory testing, nasal citology, and evaluation of mucociliary clearance through saccharine test. RESULTS: No long-term skin or cartilaginous toxicity are recorded. The olfactometry threshold discrimination identification TDI is lower in EB group. The mean NOSE scale score was significantly higher in group 2 than in group 1 and healthy controls ( p ! 0.05). The distribution of cytologic patterns resulted significantly different as well. Patients treated by EB have a significantly impaired mucociliary clearance, with a mean time for the transport of the stained marker, which is more than double in the patients treated by EB than in those treated with IRT ( p ! 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Nasal function and cytological findings are significantly better, substantially preserved, in patients treated by IRT than in those treated by EBRT, bringing new relevant evidence for the establishment of interstitial IRT as the new standard for the treatment of the primary lesion in cT1 and cT2 -Wang staging NV SCCs.