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Background: The comparison of respiratory system compliance (C rs ) between COVID and non-COVID ARDS patients has been the object of debate, but few studies have evaluated it when considering applied positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP), which is one of the known determinants of C rs itself. The aim of this study was to compare C rs taking into account the applied PEEP., Methods: Two cohorts of patients were created: those with COVID-ARDS and those with non-COVID ARDS. In the whole sample the association between C rs and type of ARDS at different PEEP levels was adjusted for anthropometric and clinical variables. As secondary analyses, patients were matched for predicted functional residual capacity and the same association was assessed. Moreover, the association between C rs and type of ARDS was reassessed at predefined PEEP level of 0, 5, 10, and 15 cmH 2 O with a propensity score-weighted linear model., Results: 367 patients were included in the study, 276 patients with COVID-ARDS and 91 with non-COVID ARDS. The association between C rs and type of ARDS was not significant in both the complete cohorts (p = 0.17) and in the matched cohorts (p = 0.92). This was true also for the propensity score weighted association at PEEP 5, 10 and 15 cmH 2 O, while it was statistically significant at PEEP 0 (with a median difference of 3 ml/cmH 2 O, which in our opinion is not clinically significant)., Conclusions: The compliance of the respiratory system is similar between COVID ARDS and non-COVID ARDS when calculated at the same PEEP level and while taking into account patients' anthropometric characteristics., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The Pfizer/BioNtech Comirnaty vaccine (BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19) against SARS-CoV-2 is currently in use in Italy. Antibodies to evaluate SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to administration are not routinely tested; therefore, two doses may be administered to asymptomatic previously exposed subjects. The aim of this study is to assess if any difference in antibody concentration between subjects exposed and not exposed to SARS-CoV-2 prior to BNT162b2 was present after the first dose and after the second dose of vaccine. Data were retrospectively collected from the clinical documentation of 337 healthcare workers who underwent SARS-CoV-2 testing before and after BNT162b2. Total anti RBD (receptor-binding domain) antibodies against SARS-CoV-2's spike protein were measured before and 21 days after the first dose, and 12 days after the second dose of BNT162b2. Twenty-one days after the first dose, there was a statistically significant difference in antibody concentration between the two groups, which was also maintained twelve days after the second dose. In conclusion, antibody response after receiving BNT162b2 is greater in subjects who have been previously exposed to SARS-CoV-2 than in subjects who have not been previously exposed to the virus, both after 21 days after the first dose and after 12 days from the second dose. Antibody levels, 21 days after the first dose, reached a titer considered positive by the test manufacturer in the majority of subjects who have been previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. Evaluating previous infection prior to vaccination in order to give the least effective number of doses should be considered.

A combined 14CO2 bile-salt breath and scintigraphic test has proved useful in determining the site of bile-salt deconjugation by bacteria. Data suggest that the procedure can be shortened to less than 8 hr with Tc-99m sulfur colloid abdominal scintigrams added to locate the labeled meal. Moreover the cumulative 14CO2 excretion, which is an indes of the rate of bile-salt deconjugation, gives clearer separation than peak specific activity between normals and either high or low deviations from normal, The test should be helpful in a number of difficult diagnostic problems involving chronic diarrhea, and offers as well both as well both a guide to appropriate therapy and a monitor for relapse in enfected blind-loop syndromes,