Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Breeding More Crops in Less Time: A Perspective on Speed Breeding

Breeding crops in a conventional way demands considerable time, space, inputs for selection, and the subsequent crossing of desirable plants. The duration of the seed-to-seed cycle is one of the crucial bottlenecks in the progress of plant research and breeding. In this context, speed breeding (SB), relying mainly on photoperiod extension, temperature control, and early seed harvest, has the potential to accelerate the rate of plant improvement. Well demonstrated in the case of long-day plants, the SB protocols are being extended to short-day plants to reduce the generation interval time. Flexibility in SB protocols allows them to align and integrate with diverse research purposes including population development, genomic selection, phenotyping, and genomic editing. In this review, we discuss the different SB methodologies and their application to hasten future plant improvement. Though SB has been extensively used in plant phenotyping and the pyramiding of multiple traits for the development of new crop varieties, certain challenges and limitations hamper its widespread application across diverse crops. However, the existing constraints can be resolved by further optimization of the SB protocols for critical food crops and their efficient integration in plant breeding pipelines

Abstracts of AICTE Sponsored International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in Health

This book presents the selected abstracts of the International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in Health, hosted from the 28th to 29th of April 2022 in virtual mode by the LR Institute of Pharmacy, Solan (H.P.)-173223 in Collaboration with AICTE, New Delhi. This conference focuses on the implications of long-term symptoms on public health, ways to mitigate these complications, improve understanding of the disease process in COVID-19 patients, use of computational methods and artificial intelligence in predicting complications, and the role of various drug delivery systems in combating the complications. Conference Title:  International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in HealthConference Sponsor: AICTE, New Delhi.Conference Date: 28-29 April 2022Conference Location: OnlineConference Organizer: LR Institute of Pharmacy, Solan (H.P.)-173223

Abstracts of AICTE Sponsored International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in Health

This book presents the selected abstracts of the International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in Health, hosted from the 28th to 29th of April 2022 in virtual mode by the LR Institute of Pharmacy, Solan (H.P.)-173223 in Collaboration with AICTE, New Delhi. This conference focuses on the implications of long-term symptoms on public health, ways to mitigate these complications, improve understanding of the disease process in COVID-19 patients, use of computational methods and artificial intelligence in predicting complications, and the role of various drug delivery systems in combating the complications. Conference Title:  International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in HealthConference Sponsor: AICTE, New Delhi.Conference Date: 28-29 April 2022Conference Location: OnlineConference Organizer: LR Institute of Pharmacy, Solan (H.P.)-173223