Substernal Chest Pain and Dyspnea in a Female Patient

A 76-year-old female patient presented to the emergency department with substernal chest pain and dyspnea symptoms. She reported that the symptoms started 2 days earlier. These symptoms can arise from both cardiac and noncardiac conditions. It is difficult to ascribe chest pain and dyspnea symptoms to a single cause. Recognizing these symptoms is critical for inpatient cardiac and primary care nurse practitioners to choose the correct diagnosis and facilitate more effective treatment planning.     

Durable remissions with venetoclax monotherapy in secondary AML refractory to hypomethylating agents and high expression of BCL‐2 and/or BIM

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a disease of the elderly population and survival remains poor after failure of hypomethylating agents (HMA). The BCL‐2 inhibitor venetoclax demonstrated activity as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy or HMA in AML. In this case series, patients with secondary AML (sAML) not eligible for intensive chemotherapy and refractory to HMA were treated with venetoclax within a named patient program at our tertiary cancer center in Salzburg, Austria. Between April 2017 and September 2018, seven patients with sAML received venetoclax therapy. Two out of seven patients achieved a complete remission upon venetoclax initiation with a PFS of 505 days and 352 days and another patient achieved complete peripheral blood blast clearing within nine days after start of venetoclax. Among the venetoclax responders, primary refractory disease to prior HMA therapy was documented, 2 patients harbored IDH1/IDH2 mutations and one patient had an antecedent myeloproliferative neoplasm. High BCL‐2 and/or BIM expression in myeloblasts was found in venetoclax responders and response was significantly associated with overall survival (responders: 364 days versus non‐responders: 24 days, P = 0.018). Venetoclax monotherapy is safe and is able to induce durable responses in elderly patients with secondary AML after treatment failure with HMA.     

中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比值预测急性腔隙性脑梗死患者病情进展的临床价值

目的分析中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比值(NLR)对急性腔隙性脑梗死患者病情进展的预测价值。方法根据病情进展与否将2012年2月～2017年1月收治的230例急性腔隙性脑梗死患者分为进展组(40例)与非进展组(190例),记录各组中性粒细胞绝对值、淋巴细胞绝对值等指标,计算NLR。受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线分析NLR等对急性腔隙性脑梗死患者病情进展预测的特异度、敏感度,Pearson相关性分析NLR等指标与mRS评分的关系。结果进展组NLR、白细胞计数、中性粒细胞绝对值均显著高于非进展组(P 0. 05);淋巴细胞绝对值显著低于非进展组(P 0. 05)。NLR对进展性腔隙性脑梗死(PLI)预测曲线下面积(AUC)为0. 800,最佳临界值3. 25,敏感度85. 06%,特异度70. 68%;白细胞计数、中性粒细胞绝对值、淋巴细胞绝对值对PLI预测AUC分别为0. 650、0. 745、0. 615。进展组预后良好率显著低于非进展组(P 0. 05)。NLR、中性粒细胞绝对值、白细胞计数与mRS评分正相关(P 0. 05)。结论 NLR值对急性腔隙性脑梗死患者病情进展有一定的预测价值,有可能作为患者预后评估的有效指标。     

Babesiosis as a cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome: a series of eight cases

Objectives: The characteristics of patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) as a complication of Babesia microti infection have not been systematically described.

Methods: Adult patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit (MICU) of a tertiary care hospital in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York from 1/1/2008 to 8/1/2016 were evaluated for ARDS complicating babesiosis.

Results: Of 22 patients with babesiosis in the MICU, eight (36.4%; 95% CI: 19.7–57.0%) had ARDS. Six patients (75%) developed ARDS following initiation of anti-babesia drug therapy; however, the mean duration of symptoms in these patients exceeded that of patients who developed ARDS prior to initiation of treatment (7.50 ± 3.83d vs. 4.50 ± 0.71d, p = 0.34). Three patients (37.5%; 95% CI: 13.7–69.4%) expired without recovery from ARDS. In comparison, the mortality rate for the 14 MICU babesiosis patients without ARDS was 14.3% (p = 0.31). There was a trend toward younger age in survivors relative to non-survivors (mean age 54.6 ± 13.8y vs. 74.0 ± 6.24y, p = 0.07). Three of the five survivors did not require mechanical ventilation. The mean sequential organ failure assessment score of non-survivors was significantly higher than that of survivors (12.3 ± 1.15 vs. 6.0 ± 1.4, p = 0.0006).

Conclusion: Among 22 critically ill adult patients with B. microti infection, ARDS developed in eight (35.4%), and three (37.5%) expired without resolution of the ARDS. ARDS often followed the initiation of anti-babesia drug therapy, raising the question of whether the death of the parasite per se contributed to its development. However, this observation was confounded by the longer duration of symptoms preceding initiation of drug therapy.     

唐方教授脏腑辨证治疗小儿急性咳嗽经验

小儿急性咳嗽作为儿科常见病,因小儿脏腑娇嫩、形气未充,具有发病急骤、传变迅速的病理特点,故易出现各种变证,建立完善的小儿急性咳嗽诊治体系就显得尤为重要。因咳嗽病程不同,病邪部位有异,辨证论治之法亦有不同,唐方教授通过多年临床实践归纳和总结出小儿咳嗽从"肺胃肝三脏"治疗理论。该理论以脏腑辨证为基础,具有紧抓主症、用药考究、灵活加减的特点。临床用药加减则依据肺主宣发肃降,故多予炙麻黄、桔梗开宣肺气,予桑白皮、葶苈子降气止咳,且小儿生理特点为"脾常不足",故而过量进食之后,损伤脾胃,造成肺胃热盛同病,胃多气多血之腑,故予红景天、地龙、牡丹皮活血凉血清热。通过对临床医案的分析,进一步阐释从"肺胃肝三脏"治疗理论,从而为小儿咳嗽的临床诊治工作提供有益借鉴。     

Safety profile of the adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine: Pooled analysis of two large randomised phase 3 trials

Background

The ZOE-50 (NCT01165177) and ZOE-70 (NCT01165229) phase 3 clinical trials showed that the adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) was ≥90% efficacious in preventing herpes zoster in adults. Here we present a comprehensive overview of the safety data from these studies.

Statin use and medically attended acute respiratory illness among influenza vaccine recipients

BackgroundPrevious studies have suggested that statins decrease influenza vaccine effectiveness and increase risk of medically attended acute respiratory illness (MAARI).ObjectivesTo examine the association of incident statin use and MAARI in a cohort of influenza vaccine recipients.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study evaluated influenza vaccine recipients within the Tricare population. The primary outcome compared MAARI incidence during the follow-up period in a propensity score-matched cohort of incident statin users and statin non-users. Secondary analysis included propensity score-adjusted comparisons between incident statin users and statin non-users in the entire cohort and prespecified sub-cohorts with and without comorbidities. The propensity score was derived from 72 variables encompassing demographics, medical history, comorbidities, medication use, and healthcare utilization.ResultsMAARI incidence in statin users was similar to non-users in the propensity score-matched cohort (odds ratio [OR] 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84–1.01). In contrast, statin users with lower comorbidity had lower OR for MAARI compared to non-users (Charlson Score zero cohort: 0.85 [CI 0.74–0.98]; No Diabetes cohort: 0.88 [CI 0.80–0.96]).ConclusionIncident statin use was not associated with increased MAARI incidence and may be associated with lower incidence of MAARI in those with less comorbidity. This study thus offers reassurance regarding the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in statin users.