European journal of internal medicine
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Aug 2022
ReviewTreatment strategies of COVID-19: A rheumatology perspective.
The clinical progression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) to critical illness is associated with a systemic and uncontrolled inflammatory response of the innate and adaptive immunity with the release of a plethora of proinflammatory cytokines termed "cytokine storm". In the absence of an effective treatment, many off-label agents from the armamentarium of rheumatology are used. ⋯ In this setting, many agents have been used with promising results but, not all have been approved by the International Authorities and Institutions. In the first step (viral entry), SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies and remdesivir have been approved to be used and, in the second step, corticosteroids along with interleukin-6 inhibitors, or Janus Kinase inhibitors are currently used.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Aug 2022
Impact of cardiac amyloidosis on outcomes of patients hospitalized with heart failure.
Amyloidosis is a multi-systemic disease potentially leading to failure of affected organs. We aimed to investigate prevalence and prognostic implications of cardiac amyloidosis of any etiology on outcomes of hospitalized patients with heart failure (HF) in Germany. ⋯ CA was identified as an independent risk factor for complications and in-hospital mortality in HF patients, whereby it has to be mentioned that amyloidosis subtypes could not differentiated in the present study. Physicians should be aware of this issue concerning treatments and monitoring of CA-patients.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Aug 2022
T-cell immune response predicts the risk of critical SARS-Cov2 infection in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
This study aimed to identify markers of disease worsening in patients hospitalized for SARS-Cov2 infection. ⋯ This study suggests that an elevated percentage of Th17 cells in patients hospitalized for SARS-Cov2 infection is associated with an increased risk of progression to critical disease. If these data are confirmed in a larger study, this marker could be used to better target the population of patients in whom tocilizumab could decrease the risk of progression to critical COVID-19.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Aug 2022
Atrial cardiomyopathy markers and new-onset atrial fibrillation risk in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
New-onset atrial fibrillation (NOAF) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is common and independently correlated with poor prognosis. The purpose of this study is to explore whether atrial cardiomyopathy (ACM) markers improve NOAF risk assessment and contribute to therapy decision-making to improve prognosis. ⋯ Atrial cardiomyopathy markers including PTFV1, LAD, and BNP were strongly associated with NOAF after AMI. The prediction performance of the clinical model for NOAF was increased by the addition of these markers.