Early and Rapid Identification of COVID-19 Patients with Neutralizing Type I Interferon Auto-antibodies

Journal of Clinical Immunology - Six to 19% of critically ill COVID-19 patients display circulating auto-antibodies against type I interferons (IFN-AABs). Here, we establish a clinically applicable...     

Severe QTc prolongation under mild hypothermia treatment and incidence of arrhythmias after cardiac arrest--a prospective study in 34 survivors with continuous Holter ECG

Background

Mild hypothermia treatment (32-34 °C) in survivors after cardiac arrest (CA) is clearly recommended by the current guidelines. The effects of cooling procedure towards QT interval have not been evaluated so far outside of case series. In a prospective study 34 consecutive survivors after cardiac arrest were continuously monitored with Holter ECG over the first 48 h.

Patients and methods

A total of 34 patients were analysed and received mild therapeutic hypothermia treatment (MTH) according to the current guidelines and irrespective of the initial rhythm. At admission to hospital and in the field in case of OHCA, a 12-lead ECG was performed in all patients.

Results

During cooling the incidence of ventricular tachycardia was low (8.8%) and in none of the patients Torsade de pointes occurred. The QTc interval was within normal range at first patient contact with EMS in the field (440.00 ms; IQR 424.25-476.75; n = 17) but during hypothermia treatment the QTc interval was significantly prolonged at 33 °C after 24 h of cooling (564.47 ms; IQR 512.41-590.00; p = 0.0001; n = 34) and decreased after end of hypothermia to baseline levels (476.74 ms; 448.71-494.97; p = 0.15).

Conclusion

The QTc interval was found to be significantly prolonged during MTH treatment, and some severe prolongations >670 ms were observed, without a higher incidence of life-threatening arrhythmias, especially no Torsade des pointes were detected. However, routine and frequent ECG recording with respect to the QTc interval should become part of any hypothermia standard operation protocol and should be recommended by official guidelines.     

Die extrakorporale Therapie septischer Patienten

Zusammenfassung Trotz zahlreicher Fortschritte in der Intensivmedizin stellt die Behandlung von Patienten mit schwerer Sepsis und septischem Schock eine medizinische Herausforderung dar. In der Pathogenese der systemischen Inflammation (SIRS) kommt es zur exzessiven Freisetzung von multiplen endogenen und exogenen inflammatorischen Mediatoren [z. B. Lipopolysaccharid (LPS), Tumor-Nekrose-Faktor (TNF)-α, Interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6] und zur Entwicklung eines Multi- Organ-Versagen (MOV). Dies führt bekannterma?en zu schlechten überlebenszahlen septischer Patienten. Ein komplexes dynamisches Kontrollsystem führt in der Abfolge meist zur zeitnahen gegen-regulatorischen antiinflammatorischen Antwort mittels Induktion anti-inflammatorischer Mediatoren (IL-10, transforming growth factor-beta [TGF-β]). In einer gro?en Anzahl septischer Patienten kommt es durch eine Persistenz des inflammatorischen Reizes zu einer Deaktivierung von antigenpr?sentierenden Zellen bzw. zu einem Versagen des zellvermittelten Immunsystems („Immunparalyse“). Unselektive und selektive intermittierende und kontinuierliche extrakorporale Therapieverfahren wurden evaluiert, ob diese in der Lage sind, in inflammatorische durch den klinischen Verlauf günstig zu beeinflussen. Technologische Fortschritte im Hinblick auf die Entwicklung von extrakorporalen Plasmapherese- bzw. Adsorptionsverfahren bieten heute neue, effektive M?glichkeiten, Mediatoren aus der Blutbahn septischer Patienten zu entfernen. In der vorliegenden übersichtsarbeit werden aktuell verfügbare und zukünftige adjunktive extrakorporale Therapiestrategien vorgestellt und vor dem Hintergrund aktueller Studien diskutiert.      

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener’s) complicated by splenic rupture and severe acute respiratory distress syndrome: A case report

Even in the absence of disease‐specific radiological signs of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), severe intrapulmonary GPA may be present. Rapidly establishing the diagnosis with a confirmatory biopsy is key to initiate lifesaving therapy.     

Sepsis: time has come to focus on the later stages

Despite numerous advances in intensive care medicine, sepsis remains a deadly disease. Today, conventional therapeutic approaches and mainstream scientific research mostly focus on symptomatic early goal directed organ support therapy. This includes fluid resuscitation, choice and timing of antibiotics and vasopressors, mechanical ventilation, and renal replacement strategies. Furthermore, great effort has been undertaken to investigate whether tightly controlled blood glucose levels, the application of corticosteroids, and early medication using activated protein C improves survival. However, most of these mainstream approaches have recently been shown unsuccessful in large-scale clinical trials. Current data now suggest that besides giving fluids, antibiotics, and symptomatic organ support, little - if at all - can be done to improve mortality from sepsis. This might be due to the fact that in the presence of modern intensive care medicine, most patients with severe sepsis or septic shock will survive the early "shock phase" of the disease. Mounting evidence suggests that in the course of the disease, most septic patients are then subjected to a secondary phase, which is characterised by a failure of cell-mediated immunity. This leads to repeated and uncontrolled infections, "chronic" multiple organ failure, and death in a large number of cases. Here we hypotheses that in order to profoundly influence survival from sepsis, future therapeutic efforts in the field should concentrate on this later "hypo-immune" stage of sepsis, associated immune phenomena, and novel immunomodulatory strategies. This may lead to the development of advanced immunomodulatory therapies available for widespread clinical use. Today, in the era of antibiotics and advanced organ system support therapy, it is not the bug that kills you- survival has become a matter of whether your cellular immune system can cope.     

Impact of Obesity on Operative Morbidity and Clinical Outcome in Primary Epithelial Ovarian Cancer after Optimal Primary Tumor Debulking

Background  

Obesity is a common and increasing condition in Western countries and seems to be associated with increased carcinogenesis and tumor invasiveness. We evaluated operative and clinical outcome in patients operated to treat primary epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) according to their body mass index (BMI).