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Objectives : The real incidence of pneumomediastinum (PNM) in adult patients with severe acute asthma exacerbation continues to be unknown. The current study aims to investigate the occurrence of PNM in an adult population of patients presenting a severe asthma attack and to evaluate the risk factors associated to its development. Methods : The 45 consecutive subjects who were admitted to our Division between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016 for severe acute asthma exacerbation underwent a diagnostic protocol including a standard chest X-ray and continuous monitoring of arterial oxygen saturation (SaO 2 ) during the first 24 hours following admission. The patients showing persistence or deterioration of oxyhemoglobin desaturation were prescribed a chest Computed Tomographic (CT) scan. Results : Five out of the 45 patients (11.1%) with severe acute asthma exacerbation were diagnosed with PNM, in one case on the basis of an X-ray image and in four on the basis of a chest CT scan. Data analysis showed that the PNM patients were younger [21 (17-21) vs 49.5 (20-73) yrs; p < 0.001] and more likely to show sensitization to Alternaria (2/5 vs 0/40; p = 0.0101) with respect to their non-PNM counterparts. The duration of hospital stay was similar in the two groups [8 (4-12) vs 7 (3-15) days; p = 0.6939]. Conclusions : PNM is a common clinical entity in young adults with severe acute asthma exacerbation, particularly in those with unsatisfactory response to initial medical therapy. Although generally benign, patients with suspected PNM should be closely monitored because of the risk of developing severe hypoxemia.

Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for the assessment of any therapeutic intervention. Real-life (R-L) studies are needed to verify the provided results beyond the experimental setting. This review aims at comparing RCTs and R-L studies on omalizumab in adult severe allergic asthma, in order to highlight the concurring results and the discordant/missing data. The results of a selective literature research, including "omalizumab, controlled studies, randomized trial, real-life studies" as key words are discussed. Though some similarities between RCTs and R-L studies strengthen omalizumab efficacy and safety outcomes, significant differences concerning study population features, follow-up duration, local adverse events and drop-out rate for treatment inefficacy emerge between the two study categories. Furthermore the comparative analysis between RCTs and R-L studies highlights the need for further research, concerning in particular long-term effects of omalizumab and its impact on asthma comorbidities., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Omalizumab is effective and safe in severe allergic asthma. Few data are available about its impact on lung function and on asthma comorbidities, long-term follow-up of treated patients, adherence, non-responders profile, and optimal treatment duration., Objective: We aimed at evaluating omalizumab-related clinical outcomes and unmet needs in a real-life setting., Methods: We created a collaborative network (NEONet - North East Omalizumab Network) involving 9 Allergy and Respiratory referral centres for severe asthma placed in the North-East of Italy. Patients' data were entered into a common study database shared by all the participating physicians. A preliminary retrospective analysis was performed., Results: Patients come from a common well-defined geographical and environmental district providing a homogeneous population sample. A moderate but statistically significant improvement of the FEV1, and an increasing proportion of exacerbations-free patients were observed since the treatment start. These findings were independent of the baseline severity of bronchial obstruction. A positive impact of omalizumab on rhinitis in patients with both asthma and rhinitis was detected. Moreover the efficacy of omalizumab on asthma seemed not to be affected by the baseline severity of rhinitis., Conclusion: Our retrospective analysis represents a preliminary report from the NEONet activity. It confirmed omalizumab efficacy and provided some new insights about its impact on lung function and on comorbid rhinitis. The network approach, under a prospective view, allows creating a large uniform database, by means of a standardized shared tool for data collecting, and joining a multidisciplinary expertise., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To assess the prevalence of fibromyalgia in primary Sjögren's syndrome and to evaluate the clinical differences between patients affected with both primary fibromyalgia and primary Sjögren's syndrome and those affected only with primary fibromyalgia., Methods: Clinical features of fibromyalgia were evaluated in 100 consecutive outpatients with primary Sjögren's syndrome and, as controls, in 90 patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, in 75 patients with primary fibromyalgia and in 30 healthy subjects., Results: Fibromyalgia was recorded in 22% of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome, in 12.2% with diabetes and in 3.3% of healthy controls. In the primary Sjögren's syndrome group the prevalence was significantly higher than in healthy controls (P < 0.01), but not significantly different than in diabetes. Moreover, primary Sjögren's syndrome with fibromyalgia and primary fibromyalgia patients did not differ with respect to the number of tender points, while the mean pain threshold was lower in the latter (P = 0.05). Purpura, hypergammaglobulinemia, rheumatoid factor, and a focus score > or = 1 on lip biopsy were significantly more frequent in primary Sjögren's syndrome patients without than with fibromyalgia., Conclusions: As recently reported by other authors, our study confirms the moderate increase of fibromyalgia prevalence in primary Sjögren's syndrome. Typical fibromyalgic findings are quite similar to those of primary fibromyalgia, but surprisingly, primary Sjögren's syndrome patients with fibromyalgia show a less severe global involvement than those with primary Sjögren's syndrome alone.

Objective: Felty's syndrome (FS) is defined as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with neutropenia and, in some cases, splenomegaly; the outcome is primarily determined by the risk of infection, which is related to the degree of neutropenia. We analysed whether the clinical manifestations of FS, especially neutropenia, could be explained by abnormalities in cytokine production., Methods: We examined the production in FS of five cytokines involved in the maturation and activation of polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs): IL-1 beta, TNF alpha, IL-8, G-CSF and GM-CSF. Because of the role of systemic IL-8 in neutrophil migration, serum IL-8 levels were also evaluated., Results: Spontaneous and anti-CD16 stimulated cytokine production was similar in FS, RA and healthy controls (NC). However, anti-CD3 stimulated IL-8 production was significantly increased compared to NC in both RA and FS. FS patients who spontaneously produced G-CSF in culture were protected from bacterial infections. Serum IL-8 levels were elevated in FS and RA compared to NC (p < 0.001 for both groups). In FS, serum IL-8 was higher in patients with a history of bacterial infections compared to those without (p < 0.01) and there was a weak inverse correlation between neutropenia and serum IL-8 levels (Kendal's tau B = -0.31, p = 0.05)., Conclusion: The neutropenia of FS cannot be explained by changes in peripheral blood cytokine production, although changes in the bone marrow microenvironment cannot be excluded. Our data do suggest a possible role for G-CSF and IL-8 in the development of certain FS complications.

We report a case of tuberculous arthritis in which the diagnosis was aided by lymphocyte proliferation assay to a panel of bacterial antigens. It illustrates that the lymphocyte proliferation assay may be a useful diagnostic tool in patients with tuberculous and reactive arthritis. It also supports the notion that there is a selective accumulation of antigen specific T cells at the site of inflammation in both septic and reactive arthritides.