Salvatore Di Somma

By Hanah Kim, Mina Hur, Hee-Won Moon and Salvatore Di Somma

The umbilical cord blood (UCB) can be used for early detection of neonatal diseases. The UCB can be used for early detection of neonatal diseases. Establishing reference intervals is essential for appropriate interpretation of results of laboratory tests using UCB and for correct medical decisions of pediatricians and neonatologists. The use of proper reference intervals provides reliable information to pediatricians and neonatologists; thus, they could make correct medical decisions for neonates. This chapter discussed reference intervals of platelets, lymphocytes, and cardiac biomarkers in UCB according to the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Except iatrogenic anemia, thrombocytopenia is the most common hematologic abnormality in neonates. Immature platelet fraction is a novel parameter to estimate megakaryopoiesis and can be useful to understand the mechanism of thrombocytopenia, platelet destruction or bone marrow failure, in neonates. Lymphocyte counts, T cell and B cell, can reflect status of immune system in fetus and neonates. Especially Tregs in UCB may contribute to maintain the immune homeostasis in the feto‐maternal relationship, and the presence of Tregs would be essential to prevent immune dysregulation in fetus and neonates. Congenital heart disease or defect is the most common birth defect in newborns. Cardiac biomarkers are essential to evaluate heart function and to give information of myocardial injury, necrosis, or myocardial stretch. There are no current guidelines for their routine use in children.

Part of the book: Umbilical Cord Blood Banking for Clinical Application and Regenerative Medicine

By Lorenza Murgia, Ottavia Stalio, Alyexandra Arienzo, Valeria Ferrante, Valentina Cellitti, Salvatore Di Somma, Paolo Visca and Giovanni Antonini

In clinically suspected urinary tract infections (UTIs), empirical antibiotic treatment is usually started long before the laboratory results of urine culture and antibiogram are available. Although molecular diagnostic approaches are being applied to the diagnosis of many infections, UTIs are generally diagnosed by traditional culture methods. Patient care could greatly benefit from the development of a rapid, accurate, inexpensive test that could be done at patient’s bedside, allowing the practitioner to plan targeted, more effective therapy. Such a test would potentially reduce incorrect or unnecessary use of antibacterial drugs and reduce the emergence of bacterial resistance. In response to this pressing and unmet clinical need, several methods have been developed in the last few years. Among these, the new point-of-care test (POCT) for detecting UTIs named Micro Biological Survey (MBS) UTI CHECK holds promise, as it allows semi-quantitative determination of bacterial load in urine leading to a fast detection of UTIs and to evaluation of bacterial antibiotic susceptibility. This new technology operates through a colorimetric survey performed in low-cost, ready-to-use, disposable vials, in which 1 ml of urine is inoculated without any preliminary treatment and requiring neither specialized personnel nor a specialized equipment.

Part of the book: Urinary Tract Infection

By Agustin Iskandar, Hani Susianti, Muhammad Anshory and Salvatore Di Somma

Sepsis is a global problem in either developing or developed countries and it is expected that the number of patients with sepsis and septic shock will tremendously increase in next decades also because of the antibiotic resistance growing issue worldwide. Criteria for sepsis diagnosis and prognosis have been recently established, but still a further understanding of the role of biomarkers in this setting is needed. Better utilization of biomarkers such as white blood cell count, CRP, lactate, procalcitonin, presepsin and bioadrenomedullin in sepsis patients, a state of the art on how to use them is needed. This review will focus on the actual recognized role of sepsis biomarkers not only for diagnosis purpose but also to improve patients treatment results in order to reduce mortality, hospital length of stay and cost related.

Part of the book: Biomarker