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  use strict;    # use em if
  use warnings;  #   you're not already
...

  $html->param(_TOPICS => \@loop);
  $html->output;

  my $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT item1 as _first_item, item2 as _seco
+nd_item, item3 as _third_item FROM table WHERE topic = ? ORDER BY id 
+ASC");
  my @loop = map {
    $sth->execute( $_ );
    {  _TOPIC => $_,  _ITEMS => $sth->fetchall_arrayref({})  };
  } @topic[0 .. $x-1];