Eating disorders (EDs) are characterized by behavioral and cognitive aspects that result in a significant impairment of an individual’s well-being. COVID-19 pandemic consequences negatively impacted healthcare services and people’s mental health. Particularly, in developmental ages, difficulties in coping with the situation could have had an impact on eating behaviors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess EDs’ hospitalization trend before, during and after the pandemic peak to evaluate whether it has been influenced. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on the hospital discharge forms of patients from 5 to 19 years old in Piedmont, which is a region in northern Italy. Overall, hospitalization, age, and gender-specific rates due to EDs that occurred in 2020 and 2021 were compared to those that occurred in 2018–2019. Since 2020, there has been a 55% reduction in overall hospitalizations, while the total proportion of EDs admissions has doubled from 2020 to 2021 (from 13.9‰ to 22.2‰). Significant hospitalization rate increases were observed both in 15–19 and in 10–14 females’ age groups in 2021. Non-significant increases were observed in all males’ age groups. The increase in hospitalizations for EDs should be further investigated, as it might be the tip of an iceberg not yet acknowledged.

Hand hygiene (HH) is one of the most important infection prevention and control strategies at the hospital level. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential COVID-19 pandemic impact on HH practices and rate of healthcare-associated infections. Data on alcohol-based handrub consumption (AHC) and antimicrobial resistance across 27 Italian hospitals over the period 2017–2021 were considered. Data on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteria (CRE) were extracted from the antimicrobial resistance regional surveillance system. A significant increase was highlighted, with a peak in 2020 and a partial fall in 2021 for AHC (p < 0.001). The decrease in MRSA rates in 2021 compared to 2017–2019 was significant (p = 0.013). A significant Spearman’s correlation between AHC and CRE rates was found (Spearman’s ρ −0.646, p = 0.032). This study supports the importance of AHC monitoring and showed that improving AHC was an attainable goal in the COVID-19 era. However, other strategies are needed to maintain the high levels of AHC attained during the pandemic, in order to avoid a progressive drop that has already begun in 2021. Furthermore, our results support the inverse relationship between AHC and infection rates and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

No abstract

1197 Over the past fifteen years FISH has considerably improved our ability to reveal consistent chromosomal changes in M-GUS, MM and plasma cell leukaemia (PCL), providing evidence of common genetic disease mechanisms and parameters to guide therapeutic decisions. In contrast, this information is still limited in AL due to the rarity of the disease, the low burden and the low proliferative index of clonal PCs. However, recent studies have suggested that in AL FISH, either combined with cytoplasmic staining of specific IgL (cIg-FISH) or performed on immuno-selected PCs, can reveal aneuploidies and translocations involving the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus (IGH). Based on these data we applied FISH to study 41 consecutive AL patients in order to establish the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities and their possible correlation with clinical parameters and outcome. In addition, since in every patient FISH was carried out on immuno-selected and immuno-stained PCs a comparison between these two FISH methods ((iFISH and cIg-FISH respectively) was made. The diagnosis of primary AL was based on the demonstration of amyloid deposits in tissues and organs, the identification of a monoclonal protein in serum or urine, the predominance of a monoclonal k or λ plasma cell population in the bone marrow. iFISH and cIg-FISH were carried out with the FGFR3/IGH [t(4;14)] dual color dual fusion, the CCND1/IGH [t(11;14)] dual color dual fusion, the IgH/c-MAF [t(14;16)] dual color dual fusion, the CEP7, the CEP9, the LSI D13S319+LSI 13q34, the LSI ATM+CEP11, the LSI p53+CEP17 probes (Vysis, Downers Grove, IL, USA) and with the ON MM 1q21/8p21.1 and the 4q21 tricolor probes (Kreated, Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Probes cut-off values were calculated by applying a one tail binomial distribution with a 95% confidence interval to the results obtained from the analysis of 1500 nuclei from five normal controls. For monosomies cut-off values were fixed at 8.3%, for trisomies at 3%, for translocations at 10%. The Mann Whitney U test and the Fisher exact test were used to make statistical comparisons. A 2-sided p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Karyotype defects had an incidence of 87.8% on iFISH and of 80.4% on cIg-FISH. An insufficient PCs number in cytospin preparation was the major drawback of cIg-FISH. However, the two FISH approaches revealed similar percentages of abnormal cells. IGH rearrangements were the most frequent karyotype alterations and their incidence was 51.2%. The CCND1 locus was the most common IGH partner being involved in 41.5% of patients and was followed by the c-MAF locus involved in two patients (4.8%). No patient with the t(11;14) translocation presented a FISH pattern suggestive of a 11q13 (CCND1 locus) gain which, instead, was observed in ten t(11;14) negative patients. Monosomy 13/13q deletion and 1q21 amplification were revealed in 34.1% and 31.7% of patients respectively. Hyperdiploidy had a frequency of 24.4%. The t(11;14) was rare in patients with major peripheral nervous system involvement (p=0.027) and was not correlated with cardiac involvement (p=0.5). Moreover, t(11;14) positive patients presented a median bone marrow PCs percentage similar to that of patients with amp1q21 and higher than that of 13q-/-13 patients. No defect correlated with an increased bone marrow PCs infiltration. In conclusion: i) iFISH and cIg-FISH provided very similar results; ii) chromosomal defects had an incidence of 80–88%; iii) the t(11;14) was significantly correlated with absence of peripheral nervous system involvement; iv) no chromosomal defect was associated with a significant increase of median BM PCs infiltration. Our data confirm the relevant role of CCDN1 in AL pathogenesis. Disclosures: Merlini: Millennium: Honoraria; Ortho-Biotech: Honoraria.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic led to important disruptions in surgical activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on abdominal surgery outcomes in the region of Piedmont, in northern Italy. Methods Data were gathered from 42 hospitals participating in the regional surveillance network from 2018 to 2020. SSI, overall mortality and case fatality rates (CFR) were calculated, comparing 2020 to mean 2018-19 data. Chi-squared tests were used to assess both the differences among the proportion of urgent and oncological procedures (based on ICD-9-CM codes) and rates between the two periods. Subgroup analyses on 2020 data were carried out comparing urgent vs. elective and oncological vs. non-oncological procedures using chi-squared tests. Analyses were performed using SPSS v. 28.0.1.0. Results 5407 procedures were recorded in 2018-19; 310 SSIs and 120 deaths were observed. The mean proportions of urgent and oncological operations were, respectively, 21.90% and 43.24%. In 2020, 1057 procedures were recorded, along with 44 SSIs and 29 deaths. 34.44% of procedures were urgent and 39.74% oncological. The mean 2018-2019 SSI rate was 5.73%, with an overall mortality of 2.22% and a CFR of 7.42%. The SSI rate in 2020 was 4.16%, with an overall mortality of 2.74% and a CFR of 9.09%. The proportion of urgent procedures significantly differed between the two periods (p &lt; 0.001), as did the proportion of oncological procedures and SSI rates (both p = 0.05). Considering 2020, significant differences were found comparing overall mortality between urgent vs. elective procedures (4.95% vs. 1.59%, p = 0.002) and comparing SSI rates between oncological vs. non-oncological patients (3.57% vs. 2.20%, p = 0.02). Conclusions During the pandemic, patients undergoing surgical procedures significantly differed, reflecting public health decisions. Even though these differences did not reach statistical significance, overall mortality and CFR increased in 2020. Key messages