Journal of investigative medicine : the official publication of the American Federation for Clinical Research
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Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Von Willebrand factor plays an important role in platelet activation and adhesion. It remains unclear whether Von Willebrand disease (vWD) is associated with a decreased risk of developing CVA. ⋯ This suggests that deficiency of Von Willebrand factor is potentially protective against the development of CVA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in humans to compare the RR of CVA in patients with and without vWD. Future studies are needed to explore causal relationships and therapeutic benefits.
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Observational Study
Hematological ratios in coronavirus disease 2019 patients with and without invasive mechanical ventilation.
Patients with the most severe form of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) often require invasive ventilation. Determining the best moment to intubate a COVID-19 patient is complex decision and can result in important consequences for the patient. Therefore, markers that could aid in clinical decision-making such as hematological indices are highly useful. ⋯ All hematological ratios exhibited significant differences between the control group and COVID-19 patients. NLR, d-NLR, SII, and NPR were higher in the IMV group than they were in the NIMV group. The hematological indices addressed in this study demonstrated high potential for use as auxiliaries in clinical decision-making regarding the need for IMV.
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Predictors of adverse outcomes in aged patients critically ill with COVID-19: a retrospective study.
Older patients represent an inordinate proportion of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and ICU mortality associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this retrospective cohort study, we examine 198 patients, aged 18 years or older, admitted to the ICU from March to June 2020. We aim to understand the relationships between age, number of comorbidities, and independent living prior to admission on outcomes of mortality, length of stay, renal failure, respiratory failure, and shock. ⋯ When adjusting for pre-existing chronic kidney disease, age was not associated with development of acute kidney injury (OR: 1.01 (0.99-1.03)). While chronologic age is associated with mortality, it is not associated independently with severe end organ damage. This is consistent with growing evidence suggesting that a complex interplay between multimorbidity, immunosenescence, and physiologic age is primarily responsible for the vulnerability to COVID-19.
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Previous studies have observed that human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-low-positive patients and HER2-zero patients have different prognoses. This study was conducted to investigate whether there are differences in clinicopathological characteristics and the response to neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) defined as systemic treatment prior to surgery between HER2-low-positive patients and HER2-zero patients. We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with HER2-negative breast cancer who received NST at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from 2014 to 2021. ⋯ However, no significant differences were found in pathologic complete response (pCR) rates between the two groups. We draw a conclusion that patients with HER2-low status and HER2-zero status were not found to have different pCR rates after NST, irrespective of HR status. However, differences were observed in some clinicopathological characteristics between the two groups.
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Observational Study
Clinical characteristics, prognostic factors, and outcomes of ventricular septal rupture in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
Ventricular septal rupture (VSR) is a rare but devastating complication in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This was a retrospective single-center observational study which aimed to assess the characteristics and outcomes of VSR patients and identify risk factors for in-hospital mortality of VSR patients in the era of percutaneous intervention. Patients with VSR after AMI at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from January 2016 to December 2020 were enrolled. ⋯ The prognosis of patients with VSR remained poor in this study. Female sex and lower platelet count were independent risk factors of in-hospital death in VSR patients. The long-term survival rate of patients treated with surgical repair was significantly better than that of patients treated conservatively.