Background. Previous reports suggest that community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is associated with an enhanced risk of cardiovascular complications. However, a contemporary and comprehensive ...characterization of this association is lacking. Methods. In this multicenter study, 1182 patients hospitalized for CAP were prospectively followed for up to 30 days after their hospitalization for this infection. Study endpoints included myocardial infarction, new or worsening heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stroke, deep venous thrombosis, cardiovascular death, and total mortality. Results. Three hundred eighty (32.2%) patients experienced intrahospital cardiovascular events (CVEs) including 281 (23.8%) with heart failure, 109 (9.2%) with atrial fibrillation, 89 (8%) with myocardial infarction, 11 (0.9%) with ischemic stroke, and 1 (0.1%) with deep venous thrombosis; 28 patients (2.4%) died for cardiovascular causes. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that intrahospital Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) class (hazard ratio HR, 2.45, P = .027; HR, 4.23, P < .001; HR, 5.96, P < .001, for classes III, IV, and V vs II, respectively), age (HR, 1.02, P = .001), and preexisting heart failure (HR, 1.85, P < .001) independently predicted CVEs. One hundred three (8.7%) patients died by day 30 postadmission. Thirty-day mortality was significantly higher in patients who developed CVEs compared with those who did not (17.6% vs 4.5%, P < .001). Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that intrahospital CVEs (HR, 5.49, P < .001) independently predicted 30-day mortality (after adjustment for age, PSI score, and preexisting comorbid conditions). Conclusions. CVEs, mainly those confined to the heart, complicate the course of almost one-third of patients hospitalized for CAP. More importantly, the occurrence of CVEs is associated with a 5-fold increase in CAP-associated 30-day mortality.
Overwhelming inflammatory reactions contribute to respiratory distress in patients with COVID-19. Ruxolitinib is a JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor with potent anti-inflammatory properties. We report on a ...prospective, observational study in 34 patients with COVID-19 who received ruxolitinib on a compassionate-use protocol. Patients had severe pulmonary disease defined by pulmonary infiltrates on imaging and an oxygen saturation ≤ 93% in air and/or PaO2/FiO2 ratio ≤ 300 mmHg. Median age was 80.5 years, and 85.3% had ≥ 2 comorbidities. Median exposure time to ruxolitinib was 13 days, median dose intensity was 20 mg/day. Overall survival by day 28 was 94.1%. Cumulative incidence of clinical improvement of ≥2 points in the ordinal scale was 82.4% (95% confidence interval, 71-93). Clinical improvement was not affected by low-flow versus high-flow oxygen support but was less frequent in patients with PaO2/FiO2 < 200 mmHg. The most frequent adverse events were anemia, urinary tract infections, and thrombocytopenia. Improvement of inflammatory cytokine profile and activated lymphocyte subsets was observed at day 14. In this prospective cohort of aged and high-risk comorbidity patients with severe COVID-19, compassionate-use ruxolitinib was safe and was associated with improvement of pulmonary function and discharge home in 85.3%. Controlled clinical trials are necessary to establish efficacy of ruxolitinib in COVID-19.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the lower limbs in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia in a non-ICU setting according to the different ...waves of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Multicenter, prospective study of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to Internal Medicine units in Italy during the first (March-May 2020) and subsequent waves (November 2020 -April 2021) of the pandemic using a serial compression ultrasound (CUS) surveillance to detect DVT of the lower limbs.
Three-hundred-sixty-three consecutive patients were enrolled. The pooled incidence of DVT was 8%: 13.5% in the first wave, and 4.2% in the subsequent waves (p = 0.002). The proportion of patients with early (< 4 days) detection of DVT was higher in patients during the first wave with respect to those of subsequent waves (8.1% vs 1.9%; p = 0.004). Patients enrolled in different waves had similar clinical characteristics, and thrombotic risk profile. Less patients during the first wave received intermediate/high dose anticoagulation with respect to those of the subsequent waves (40.5% vs 54.5%; p = 0.005); there was a significant difference in anticoagulant regimen and initiation of thromboprophylaxis at home (8.1% vs 25.1%; p<0.001).
In acutely ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, the incidence of DVT of the lower limbs showed a 3-fold decrease during the first with respect to the subsequent waves of the pandemic. A significant increase in thromboprophylaxis initiation prior to hospitalization, and the increase of the intensity of anticoagulation during hospitalization, likely, played a relevant role to explain this observation.
We analysed the first 84 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients hospitalised in an infectious and tropical disease unit in Florence, Italy, over 30 days after the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in ...Italy. A 12% reduction in the rate of intensive care unit transfer was observed after the implementation of intensity care measures in the regular ward such as increasing the nurse/patient ratio, presence of critical care physicians and using high flow nasal cannulae oxygenation.
Several physiological abnormalities that develop during COVID-19 are associated with increased mortality. In the present study, we aimed to develop a clinical risk score to predict the in-hospital ...mortality in COVID-19 patients, based on a set of variables available soon after the hospitalisation triage.
Retrospective cohort study of 516 patients consecutively admitted for COVID-19 to two Italian tertiary hospitals located in Northern and Central Italy were collected from 22 February 2020 (date of first admission) to 10 April 2020.
Consecutive patients≥18 years admitted for COVID-19.
Simple clinical and laboratory findings readily available after triage were compared by patients' survival status ('dead' vs 'alive'), with the objective of identifying baseline variables associated with mortality. These were used to build a COVID-19 in-hospital mortality risk score (COVID-19MRS).
Mean age was 67±13 years (mean±SD), and 66.9% were male. Using Cox regression analysis, tertiles of increasing age (≥75, upper vs <62 years, lower: HR 7.92; p<0.001) and number of chronic diseases (≥4 vs 0-1: HR 2.09; p=0.007), respiratory rate (HR 1.04 per unit increase; p=0.001), PaO
/FiO
(HR 0.995 per unit increase; p<0.001), serum creatinine (HR 1.34 per unit increase; p<0.001) and platelet count (HR 0.995 per unit increase; p=0.001) were predictors of mortality. All six predictors were used to build the COVID-19MRS (Area Under the Curve 0.90, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.93), which proved to be highly accurate in stratifying patients at low, intermediate and high risk of in-hospital death (p<0.001).
The COVID-19MRS is a rapid, operator-independent and inexpensive clinical tool that objectively predicts mortality in patients with COVID-19. The score could be helpful from triage to guide earlier assignment of COVID-19 patients to the most appropriate level of care.
The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the lower limbs, using serial compression ultrasound (CUS) surveillance, in acutely ill patients with COVID-19 ...pneumonia admitted to a non-ICU setting.
Multicenter, prospective study of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to Internal Medicine units. All patients were screened for DVT of the lower limbs with serial CUS. Anticoagulation was defined as: low dose (enoxaparin 20-40 mg/day or fondaparinux 1.5-2.5 mg/day); intermediate dose (enoxaparin 60-80 mg/day); high dose (enoxaparin 120-160 mg or fondaparinux 5-10 mg/day or oral anticoagulation). The primary end-point of the study was the diagnosis of DVT by CUS.
Over a two-month period, 227 consecutive patients with moderate-severe COVID-19 pneumonia were enrolled. The incidence of DVT was 13.7% (6.2% proximal, 7.5% distal), mostly asymptomatic. All patients received anticoagulation (enoxaparin 95.6%) at the following doses: low 57.3%, intermediate 22.9%, high 19.8%. Patients with and without DVT had similar characteristics, and no difference in anticoagulant regimen was observed. DVT patients were older (mean 77±9.6 vs 71±13.1 years; p = 0.042) and had higher peak D-dimer levels (5403 vs 1723 ng/mL; p = 0.004). At ROC analysis peak D-dimer level >2000 ng/mL (AUC 0.703; 95% CI 0.572-0.834; p = 0.004) was the most accurate cut-off value able to predict DVT (RR 3.74; 95%CI 1.27-10, p = 0.016).
The incidence of DVT in acutely ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia is relevant. A surveillance protocol by serial CUS of the lower limbs is useful to timely identify DVT that would go otherwise largely undetected.
The early identification of patients at risk of clinical deterioration is of interest considering the timeline of COVID-19 after the onset of symptoms.
The aim of our study was to evaluate the ...usefulness of testing serum IL-6 and other serological and clinical biomarkers, to predict a short-term negative clinical course of patients with noncritical COVID-19.
A total of 208 patients with noncritical COVID-19 pneumonia at admission were consecutively enrolled. Clinical and laboratory findings obtained on admission were analyzed by using survival analysis and stepwise logistic regression for variable selection. Three-day worsening as outcome in a logistic model to generate a prognostic score was used.
Clinical worsening occurred in 63 patients (16 = died; 39 = transferred to intensive care unit; 8 worsening of respiratory failure). Forty-five of them worsened within 3 days after admission. The risk of clinical worsening was progressively enhanced along with increasing quartiles of IL-6 levels. Multivariate analysis showed that IL-6 (P = .005), C-reactive protein (CRP) (P = .003), and SaO
/FiO
(P = .014) were the best predictors for clinical deterioration in the first 3 days after admission. The combined score yielded an area under the curve = 0.88 (95% confidence interval: 0.83-0.93). A nomogram predicting the probability of 3-day worsening was generated. The score also showed good performance for 7-day and 14- or 21-day worsening and in predicting death occurring during all the follow-up.
Combining IL-6, CRP, and SaO
/FiO
in a score may help clinicians to identify on admission those patients with COVID-19 who are at high risk for a further 3-day clinical deterioration.
A diagnostic algorithm that allows for the rapid identification of sepsis and possibly guides the appropriate antimicrobial therapy application is the cornerstone to obtaining effective treatment and ...better results. The use of emerging surrogate markers could significantly improve clinical practice, but the validity and clinical utility have been proved only for very few of them, and their availability in clinical routine is limited. For this purpose, numerous scientific evidence has indicated procalcitonin as a marker linked to sepsis and its evolution. This review aims to retrace the main evidence relating to the use of procalcitonin in sepsis. We analyzed the primary studies in the literature and the existing meta-analysis evaluating the behavior of procalcitonin as a marker of bacterial sepsis, its prognostic power, and its ability to influence antibiotic therapy. Recent evidence has suggested that procalcitonin could be an efficient marker for diagnosing sepsis and its therapeutic management in many types of patients. The choice of the appropriate timing to initiate and suspend antibiotic therapy, with obvious clinical advantages, the favorable effects could also include reducing health costs, both avoiding the administration of inappropriate antibiotic therapies, and reducing the duration of hospitalization. Moreover, limited studies reported high procalcitonin levels in coronavirus disease 2019 patients with a worse prognosis. Despite the considerable evidence in favor of the potential of procalcitonin as an index for managing septic patients, there are conflicting data that deserve specific and detailed studies.
Nuova classificazione dello scompenso cardiaco: ridenominazione di Heart failure with mid-range ejection fraction in Heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF), con raccomandazioni ...terapeutiche più precise in questa fascia di pazienti
Il nuovo algoritmo per il trattamento dello scompenso cardiaco a frazione di eiezione ridotta: Simultaneous or Rapid Sequence Initiation of Quadruple Medical Therapy for Heart Failure
Ottimizzazione della terapia: l’ospedalizzazione come opportunità. Impiego precoce di sacubitril/valsartan nel paziente ospedalizzato, stabilizzato. Effetti sulla riduzione della mortalità e delle re-ospedalizzazioni. Effetti sul rimodellamento cardiaco. Effetti sulla QoL
Sicurezza dell’uso di sacubitril/valsartan anche in presenza di comorbidità e gestione dell’ipotensione
Intervento di ottimizzazione della terapia anche nel paziente con scompenso cardiaco cronico ricoverato per altra patologia acuta
Terapia delle comorbidità - non cardiovascolari: diabete, iperkaliemia, carenza di ferro e cancro
Terapia non farmacologica ed educazione/formazione del paziente e del caregiver
Gestione post-ricovero dello scompenso cardiaco: l’ambulatorio divisionale e la rete territoriale
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