Baselland Cantonal Hospital

Hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS) plays an increasingly important role in managing patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who do not tolerate CPAP therapy and are not eligible for other alternative treatment options, such as mandibular advancement devices or positional therapy. The posterior upper airway space dimensions are crucial in managing patients with HNS in the patient selection process and therapy control. The lateral collapse of the upper airway is of crucial importance. Lateral collapse at the palatal level and of the oropharyngeal walls is a well-established negative predictive factor for therapeutic success. Patients with complete concentric collapse at the palatal level (pCCC) in drug-induced sedation endoscopy (DISE) must be excluded from the implantation of HNS, which is cumbersome and invasive. Endoscopy has the inherent limitation that only one level can be observed at a given time, and assessment is possibly hampered by phlegm.
During activation and titration of HNS, tongue protrusion is observed in the awake patient. However, this method does not allow for assessing the opening of the retroglossal (RG) and retropalatal (RP) airway space, which is the ultimate therapeutic goal. Insufficient opening of the airway is the reason for non-responders with HNS. Insufficient upper airway opening can be either at the retropalatal or retroglossal level. The study aims to identify insufficient airway openings better using sub-mental ultrasonography. Sub-mental standardized and orientated ultrasonography offers a quantitative, reproducible way of assessing transverse upper airway dimensions and anatomic features of the upper airway in a rapid and non-invasive manner. In addition, anatomic characteristics of the airway's adjacent tissue, such as the size and shape of the tongue, may also have an impact on the effectiveness of HNS. Tongue morphology and posterior airway space assessment could be used in preoperative evaluation and during therapeutic titration of HNS. The clinical routine could be included tongue morphology and posterior airway space assessment without additional patient risks. However, the clinical value of assessing posterior airway space and tongue morphology in patients with HNS is yet unknown.

The aim of this randomized, controlled, double-blind, parallel, multicentric trial is to investigate wether the synbiotic food supplement Nagasin® can support the colonization resistance of the gut microbiota after disturbance by antimicrobial treatment.
The main question is whether Nagasin® can prevent any increase in abundance of C.difficile within the first four weeks after antimicrobial treatment for a C. difficile infection.
Participants will receive Nagasin® or the comparator as a food supplement during the first four weeks after antimicrobial treatment for a C. difficile episode.

Acute respiratory infections are a common reason of attendance at emergency departments. It is also the main reason of unnecessary antibiotic prescription. Antibiotics save lives, but can also directly harm patients by causing antibiotic-associated adverse events. Antibiotic use is directly related to resistance, which is one of the major threats of our century. In addition, some microorganisms live in and on the human body and promote many aspects of our health. Antibiotic treatment can disturb those microorganisms and therefore have long-lasting negative effects on our health.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to differentiate between viral infections, which usually heal spontaneously, and bacterial pneumonia, which needs antibiotics treatment. This is one of the reasons of this over-prescribing of antibiotics.
This project aims to reduce widespread use of antibiotics in the emergency department through a new diagnostic strategy of bacterial pneumonia. This strategy includes sequential use of well-known techniques: a clinical score, lung ultrasound and finally a biomarker, procalcitonin. The latter tends to be higher in bacterial infections. The combination of these different tests improves the diagnostic process and allows improved use of targeted antibiotics, with the ultimate goal of better patient management.
The study will compare the antibiotic prescription rate and the clinical course of patients managed using this new diagnostic approach with those managed as usual. The project will also evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of this strategy and its cost-effectiveness. These two aspects are essential for a wider implementation of this innovative diagnostic approach and decrease antibiotic resistance.