Predictors of Recurrent Infective Endocarditis in Intravenous Drug Users

Background: Caring for hospitalized patients with infective endocarditis (IE) can be challenging due to the nature of the disease and its complications, underlying medical and psychiatric problems, socioeconomic status and environmental factors.Some of these patients develop recurrent IE after the first episode treated. On-going intravenous (IV) drug use after hospital discharge is the highest predictive factor for recurrent IE. Besides IV drug use, there are limited data of other contributing factors to recurrent IE. Those factors may be modifiable during the first hospitalization to reduce the incidence of recurrent IE. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a large tertiary acute care medical center in Tampa, Florida. All consecutive patients with IE with history of IV drug use from January, 2011 to December, 2017 were included. Basic demographic information, co-morbidities (diabetes, hypertension, chronic lung and kidney diseases, HIV, Hepatitis B and C status, coronary artery diseases), valves involved, length of stay, complications at their first IE episode such as septic shock and stroke were included. Groups were identified based on the first episode, first recurrence and second or more recurrences of IE. Results: A total of 106 patients were identified based on the inclusion criteria. The association between the type of valve infection (right side and left side) and IE recurrence was found to be statistically significant. (P = 0.003). Right side valves are prone to have recurrent IE episodes. People with recurrent IE were more likely to have septic shock (P = 0.02) and requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (P \u3c 0.001) during their first episode There was no statistically significant difference between other demographic information and recurrent endocarditis as well as other parameters such as organisms or type of substance used. (Table 1) Conclusion: Right-sided IE and presence of septic shock during their first episode of IE may be the predictors for recurrent IE. Interventions including closer follow-up, more aggressive septic shock recognition and management, socioeconomic assessment in addition to substance abuse treatments after discharge should be considered to prevent recurrent IE

Predictors of Recurrent Infective Endocarditis in Intravenous Drug Users

Background: Caring for hospitalized patients with infective endocarditis (IE) can be challenging due to the nature of the disease and its complications, underlying medical and psychiatric problems, socioeconomic status and environmental factors.Some of these patients develop recurrent IE after the first episode treated. On-going intravenous (IV) drug use after hospital discharge is the highest predictive factor for recurrent IE. Besides IV drug use, there are limited data of other contributing factors to recurrent IE. Those factors may be modifiable during the first hospitalization to reduce the incidence of recurrent IE. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a large tertiary acute care medical center in Tampa, Florida. All consecutive patients with IE with history of IV drug use from January, 2011 to December, 2017 were included. Basic demographic information, co-morbidities (diabetes, hypertension, chronic lung and kidney diseases, HIV, Hepatitis B and C status, coronary artery diseases), valves involved, length of stay, complications at their first IE episode such as septic shock and stroke were included. Groups were identified based on the first episode, first recurrence and second or more recurrences of IE. Results: A total of 106 patients were identified based on the inclusion criteria. The association between the type of valve infection (right side and left side) and IE recurrence was found to be statistically significant. (P = 0.003). Right side valves are prone to have recurrent IE episodes. People with recurrent IE were more likely to have septic shock (P = 0.02) and requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (P \u3c 0.001) during their first episode There was no statistically significant difference between other demographic information and recurrent endocarditis as well as other parameters such as organisms or type of substance used. (Table 1) Conclusion: Right-sided IE and presence of septic shock during their first episode of IE may be the predictors for recurrent IE. Interventions including closer follow-up, more aggressive septic shock recognition and management, socioeconomic assessment in addition to substance abuse treatments after discharge should be considered to prevent recurrent IE

A single center study of cancer patients with chronic kidney disease

Purpose: It is clinically understood that chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cancer are interrelated. Yet, few studies measure how renal outcomes vary according to common malignancies and common therapeutic agents. We report the incidence and the nature of CKD among cancer patients from a single institution.Methods: A retrospective chart review of cancer patients managed in the onconephrology clinic at the Moffitt Cancer Center from 05/01/2015 to 07/31/2016 was conducted. Patients with kidney injury were included in this study. Renal function was recorded at three-month follow-up intervals for 15-month duration.Results: Out of the total 88 patients with median age of 68 years, 63 patients (~ 72%) were diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD), whereas the remaining had acute kidney injury. Kidney cancer and multiple myeloma represented the single malignancies with the largest proportion of CKD with 12 patients each (~14% each). Patients with kidney cancer had a mean creatinine of (2.35, 1.74 SD) mg/dl compared to patients without kidney cancer with creatinine (1.97, 1.07 SD) mg/dl. Abdominal cancers represented the highest frequency category of malignancies in this sample (n = 38), and about 32 (84%) of these patients had CKD. About 80% of patients with genitourinary cancers (n = 27) had CKD. In terms of prescribed chemotherapeutic agents, patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors had a lower average estimated glomerular filtration rate (28.37, 9.86 SD) mL/min/1.73 m2 compared to other chemotherapeutic agents, though this was weakly significant (p-value = 0.07). Similar renal outcomes per malignancy and chemotherapy are reported.Conclusion: This group of patients demonstrated the frequency of chronic kidney disease differs depending on the type of malignancy or chemotherapy. A multidisciplinary approach involving oncologists and nephrologists should be adopted to prevent further renal damage from cancer and its therapies

Bundling HIV and TB Care at a District-Level Center in Sierra Leone: A high-yield method for diagnosing co-infection with TB and antiretroviral treatment failure among people living with HIV

Background: Protocols for HIV care are widely accepted by all international organizations and are proven to reduce mortality and complications from living with HIV. Unfortunately, executing best practice recommendations in Sierra Leone is difficult due to shortages in staff, training, and medications. Methods: From June 2016 to August 2016, we implemented both an HIV guideline-based clinical evaluation protocol and a patient-centered workflow for TB screening and CD4 testing in the HIV clinic at Koidu Government Hospital (KGH) in rural Sierra Leone. The primary outcome of interest was how often this service center resulted in a clinically significant change in the patients’ HIV regimen. Reasons for changing regimen included diagnosis of co-infection with tuberculosis (TB), diagnosis of clinical or presumed immunologic treatment failure of antiretroviral (ART) medications and, need for adherence to weight-based dosing in pediatric patients. Findings: A total of 188 patients with HIV were seen in the clinic; 49 (26%) of these patients had a clinically significant change in their HIV regimen. The most common reason for regimen change was TB co-infection diagnosis in 38 (20%) patients. The other reasons for HIV regimen changes included: eight children whose ART was adjusted to meet appropriate levels for weight-based guidelines, five patients diagnosed with presumed immunologic treatment failure (some also co-infected with tuberculosis), and two patients with a serious side effect to ART. Interpretation: A comprehensive, patient-centric HIV clinic can result in high rates of case detection for tuberculosis and recognition of immunological ART failure. Keywords: HIV, Immunological failure, Co-infection, Quality, Tuberculosis, Afric