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A prospective observational study was conducted to evaluate the impact of delirium on geriatric inpatients in internal medical wards and to identify predisposing factors for the development of delirium. The study included all patients aged 65 years and older, who were consecutively admitted to the internal medicine wards of two public hospitals in Florence, Italy. On admission, 29 baseline risk factors were examined, cognitive impairment was evaluated by Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, and prevalent delirium cases were diagnosed by Confusion Assessment Method (CAM). Enrolled patients were evaluated daily with CAM to detect incident delirium cases. Among the 560 included patients, 19 (3 %) had delirium on admission (prevalent) and 44 (8 %) developed delirium during hospitalization (incident). Prevalent delirium cases were excluded from the statistical analysis. Incident delirium was associated with increased length of hospital stay ( p  < 0.01) and institutionalization ( p  < 0.01, OR 3.026). Multivariate analysis found that cognitive impairment on admission ( p  < 0.0002), diabetes ( p  < 0.05, OR 1.936), chronic kidney failure ( p  < 0.05, OR 2.078) and male gender ( p  < 0.05, OR 2.178) was significantly associated with the development of delirium during hospitalization. Results show that delirium impact is relevant to older patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards. The present study confirms cognitive impairment as a risk factor for incident delirium. The cognitive evaluation proved to be an important instrument to improve identification of patients at high risk for delirium. In this context, our study may contribute to improve application of preventive strategies.

Purpose To evaluate the daily values and trends over time of relevant clinical, ventilatory and laboratory parameters during the intensive care unit (ICU) stay and their association with outcome in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). Methods In this retrospective–prospective multicentric study, we enrolled COVID-19 patients admitted to Italian ICUs from February 22 to May 31, 2020. Clinical data were daily recorded. The time course of 18 clinical parameters was evaluated by a polynomial maximum likelihood multilevel linear regression model, while a full joint modeling was fit to study the association with ICU outcome. Results 1260 consecutive critically ill patients with COVID-19 admitted in 24 ICUs were enrolled. 78% were male with a median age of 63 [55–69] years. At ICU admission, the median ratio of arterial oxygen partial pressure to fractional inspired oxygen (PaO 2 /FiO 2 ) was 122 [89–175] mmHg. 79% of patients underwent invasive mechanical ventilation. The overall mortality was 34%. Both the daily values and trends of respiratory system compliance, PaO 2 /FiO 2 , driving pressure, arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure, creatinine, C-reactive protein, ferritin, neutrophil, neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio, and platelets were associated with survival, while for lactate, pH, bilirubin, lymphocyte, and urea only the daily values were associated with survival. The trends of PaO 2 /FiO 2 , respiratory system compliance, driving pressure, creatinine, ferritin, and C-reactive protein showed a higher association with survival compared to the daily values. Conclusion Daily values or trends over time of parameters associated with acute organ dysfunction, acid–base derangement, coagulation impairment, or systemic inflammation were associated with patient survival.

The COVID-19 outbreak driven by SARS-CoV-2 has caused more than 2.5 million deaths globally, with the most severe cases characterized by over-exuberant production of immune-mediators, the nature of which is not fully understood. Interferons of the type I (IFN-I) or type III (IFN-III) families are potent antivirals, but their role in COVID-19 remains debated. Our analysis of gene and protein expression along the respiratory tract shows that IFNs, especially IFN-III, are over-represented in the lower airways of patients with severe COVID-19, while high levels of IFN-III, and to a lesser extent IFN-I, characterize the upper airways of patients with high viral burden but reduced disease risk or severity; also, IFN expression varies with abundance of the cell types that produce them. Our data point to a dynamic process of inter- and intra-family production of IFNs in COVID-19, and suggest that IFNs play opposing roles at distinct anatomical sites.