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BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Several scoring systems have been specifically developed for risk stratification in COVID-19 patients. DESIGN: We compared, in a cohort of confirmed COVID-19 older patients, three specifically developed scores with a previously established early warning score. Main endpoint was all causes in-hospital death. SETTING: This is a single-center, retrospective observational study, conducted in the Emergency Department (ED) of an urban teaching hospital, referral center for COVID-19. PARTICIPANTS: We reviewed the clinical records of the confirmed COVID-19 patients aged 60 years or more consecutively admitted to our ED over a 6-week period (March 1st to April 15th, 2020). A total of 210 patients, aged between 60 and 98 years were included in the study cohort. MEASUREMENTS: International Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Consortium Clinical Characterization Protocol-Coronavirus Clinical Characterization Consortium (ISARIC-4C) score, COVID-GRAM Critical Illness Risk Score (COVID-GRAM), quick COVID-19 Severity Index (qCSI), National Early Warning Score (NEWS). RESULTS: Median age was 74 (67-82) and 133 (63.3%) were males. Globally, 42 patients (20.0%) deceased. All the score evaluated showed a fairly good predictive value with respect to in-hospital death. The ISARIC-4C score had the highest area under ROC curve (AUROC) 0.799 (0.738-0.851), followed by the COVID-GRAM 0.785 (0.723-0.838), NEWS 0.764 (0.700-0.819), and qCSI 0.749 (0.685-0.806). However, these differences were not statistical significant. CONCLUSION: Among the evaluated scores, the ISARIC-4C and the COVID-GRAM, calculated at ED admission, had the best performance, although the qCSI had similar efficacy by evaluating only three items. However, the NEWS, already widely validated in clinical practice, had a similar performance and could be appropriate for older patients with COVID-19.

Ultrasound (US) is frequently the first line imaging technique used in patients with abdominal pain and clinical suspicion of chronic pancreatitis (CP), but its role in the diagnosis and follow-up of CP is still controversial.We aimed to develop a dedicated score for the US staging of CP and to evaluate the agreement of this score with standard imaging techniques.Ninety consecutive patients with a diagnosis of CP referred to the pancreatic outpatient clinic of A. Gemelli Hospital between June and September 2018 were recruited in the study. Patients underwent pancreatic US to evaluate different morphological parameters to develop an US based score system, called the Gemelli UltraSound Chronic Pancreatitis (USCP) score.The Gemelli USCP score significantly increased according to the Cambridge score for both mean value (p0.0001) and each parameter evaluated (p0.0001). Moreover, we found a significant correlation between the score and laboratory parameters related to pancreatic exocrine insufficiency such as vitamin D, B9, and B12 deficiency and fecal elastase values (p0.0001).The development of a dedicated US score could be useful in the follow up of patients with CP as alternative non-invasive technique to standard radiological imaging.

Background and aims The COVID‐19 pandemic represents a source of stress and potential burnout for many physicians. This single‐site survey aimed at assessing perceived stress and risk to develop burnout syndrome among physicians operating in COVID wards. Methods This longitudinal survey evaluated stress and burnout in 51 physicians operating in the COVID team of Gemelli Hospital, Italy. Participants were asked to complete the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Perceived Stress Questionnaire on a short run (PSQs) (referring to the past 7 days) at baseline (T0) and then for four weeks (T1‐T4). Perceived Stress Questionnaire on a long run (PSQl) (referring to the past 2 years) was completed only at T0. Results Compared with physicians board‐certified in internal medicine, those board‐certified in other disciplines showed higher scores for the Emotional Exhaustion (EE) score of the MBI scale (P

Backgrounds Validated tools for predicting individual in-hospital mortality of COVID-19 are lacking. We aimed to develop and to validate a simple clinical prediction rule for early identification of in-hospital mortality of patients with COVID-19. Methods and findings We enrolled 2191 consecutive hospitalized patients with COVID-19 from three Italian dedicated units (derivation cohort: 1810 consecutive patients from Bergamo and Pavia units; validation cohort: 381 consecutive patients from Rome unit). The outcome was in-hospital mortality. Fine and Gray competing risks multivariate model (with discharge as a competing event) was used to develop a prediction rule for in-hospital mortality. Discrimination and calibration were assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and by Brier score in both the derivation and validation cohorts. Seven variables were independent risk factors for in-hospital mortality: age (Hazard Ratio [HR] 1.08, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.07–1.09), male sex (HR 1.62, 95%CI 1.30–2.00), duration of symptoms before hospital admission https://sites.google.com/community.unipa.it/covid-19riskpredictions/c19-rp). Conclusions A validated simple clinical prediction rule can promptly and accurately assess the risk for in-hospital mortality, improving triage and the management of patients with COVID-19.

LINKED CONTENT This article is linked to Tian et al and Tian and Rong papers. To view these articles, visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.15731 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.15986

Splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT) is a possible complication of acute pancreatitis (AP). There are no precise guidelines on the use of anticoagulant therapy (AT) in these patients. The aim of the study was to determine the safety and the efficacy of AT in AP-associated SVT. Two hundred twenty-one patients were retrospectively and consecutively enrolled from the Pancreatic Outpatient Clinic of the “A. Gemelli” hospital. Patients had a diagnosis of AP and a diagnostic imaging to evaluate whether they had or not SVT. Twenty-seven out of 221 AP patients had SVT (12.21%) and AT therapy was administered to 16 patients (59.3%), for 5.2 ± 2.2 months. A therapeutic dose of low molecular weight heparin was administered (100 UI/kg b.i.d.) at the diagnosis, with fondaparinux 7.5 mg/day, or vitamin K antagonist, or the novel direct oral anti-coagulants, upon discharge. The presence of SVT resulted significantly associated to male sex (p = 0.002). The recanalization rates were 11/16 (68.7%) in patients who received AT, and 3/11 (27.3%) in patients who did not receive it. There was a significant difference between the recanalization rates with and without AT (p = 0.03, OR 5.87). No SVT recurrence was registered during follow-up. No treated patient developed haemorrhagic complications after AT. No deaths were recorded, either in the group undergoing AT or in the one that was not. In conclusion, AT in AP-associated SVT appears to be safe and effective; yet prospective clinical trials are needed to confirm our results.

Nutritional support is a crucial issue in Acute Pancreatitis (AP) management. Recommendations on nutrition in AP are still not completely translated in the clinical practice. We aimed to compare and evaluate the effects of parenteral nutrition (PN) vs oral/enteral nutrition (EN) on several clinical and economic outcomes in AP. This is a retrospective monocentric study conducted in a tertiary care center for pancreatic diseases. The primary outcomes were length of hospital stay (LOS) and associated costs. The secondary outcomes were the use and cost of antibiotics and fluid therapy, and the complication’s rates. One hundred seventy-one patients were included from January 2015 to January 2018. Patients were 69 (40.4%) in PN group and 102 (59.6%) in EN group. There was a significant reduction in LOS in EN vs PN group in both mild AP (p