The American journal of the medical sciences
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Severe pneumonia is responsible for great mortality and morbidity worldwide, and early-applied effective anti-infective therapy can improve the prognosis of patients. However, identification of infectious agents in severe pneumonia remains a major challenge so far. In this study, the potential utility of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in detecting nonbacterial pathogens in patients with severe pneumonia was retrospectively evaluated. ⋯ Our data support that implementation of TEM could improve the sensitivity for detecting viruses, atypical pathogens and mixed infections in BALF from patient of severe pneumonia. Therefore, TEM may be used as an auxiliary diagnostic method of other microbiological tests in severe pneumonia.
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We aimed to further determine the relationship between the areas of visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and the ratio of VAT to SAT (VAT/SAT) with the outcomes of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients. ⋯ This study suggests that VAT/SAT can contribute to adverse outcomes of patients with ARDS. However, higher SAT and VAT were related to better prognosis of ARDS patients.
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Review Case Reports
Iron Deficiency Anemia Associated With Acid-Modifying Medications: Two Cases and Literature Review.
Iron deficiency anemia is often listed among potential adverse effects of gastric acid-suppressive medications, given that gastric acidity promotes intestinal absorption of nonheme iron. Additionally, the antacid calcium carbonate can inhibit iron absorption. However, there is little direct clinical evidence that proton-pump inhibitors, histamine-2 receptor antagonists, or calcium carbonate cause iron deficiency anemia. ⋯ We present 2 cases-both with detailed, prospective 10-year follow-up-in which combinations of proton-pump inhibitors, histamine-2 receptor antagonists and calcium carbonate were clearly associated with development of iron deficiency anemia. Overt iron-deficiency anemia is probably uncommon in patients who use acid-modifying medications and who have no other conditions that predispose to iron deficiency. Nevertheless, clinicians should be aware of this potential complication, given widespread use of these agents.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the association of intestinal mucosa long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) antisense noncoding RNA in the INK4 locus (ANRIL) expression with disease risk, activity and inflammatory cytokines levels of Crohn's disease (CD). ⋯ lncRNA ANRIL downregulation in intestinal mucosa correlates with increased disease risk, higher disease activity and elevated proinflammatory cytokines levels, and its change associates with infliximab treatment response in patients with CD.