SARS-CoV-2 viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs is not an independent predictor of unfavorable outcome

The aim was to assess the ability of nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load at first patient’s hospital evaluation to predict unfavorable outcomes. We conducted a prospective cohort study including 321 adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 through RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs. Quantitative Synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA cycle threshold values were used to calculate the viral load in log10 copies/mL. Disease severity at the end of follow up was categorized into mild, moderate, and severe. Primary endpoint was a composite of intensive care unit (ICU) admission and/or death (n = 85, 26.4%). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load over the second quartile (≥ 7.35 log10 copies/mL, p = 0.003) and second tertile (≥ 8.27 log10 copies/mL, p = 0.01) were associated to unfavorable outcome in the unadjusted logistic regression analysis. However, in the final multivariable analysis, viral load was not independently associated with an unfavorable outcome. Five predictors were independently associated with increased odds of ICU admission and/or death: age ≥ 70 years, SpO2, neutrophils > 7.5 × 103/µL, lactate dehydrogenase ≥ 300 U/L, and C-reactive protein ≥ 100 mg/L. In summary, nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load on admission is generally high in patients with COVID-19, regardless of illness severity, but it cannot be used as an independent predictor of unfavorable clinical outcome

Disección septal tras infarto de miocardio inferior

Background Septal dissection and rupture are a possible cause of ventricular septal defect after acute myocardial infarction. This presentation reports the case of a 68 year-old man with inferior acute myocardial infarction, who was satisfactorily operated of a septal pseudoaneurysm diagnosed intraoperatively.La disección del septum interventricular y su rotura constituyen una posible causa de la comunicación interventricular luego de un infarto de miocardio. En esta presentación se describe el caso de un varón de 68 años con un infarto agudo de miocardio inferior que fue intervenido en forma satisfactoria de un seudoaneurisma septal diagnosticado intraoperatoriamente

El intervencionismo coronario percutáneo previo no aumenta la mortalidad hospitalaria en cirugía coronaria: análisis de una serie de 63.420 casos

Introducción En diversas publicaciones de los últimos años se señala una mortalidad hospitalaria mayor de la cirugía de revascularización miocárdica en pacientes con antecedente de intervencionismo coronario percutáneo previo exitoso; por su parte, los modelos de riesgo de mortalidad en cirugía cardíaca publicados hasta la actualidad no han incluido este antecedente como factor de riesgo. Objetivo Analizar si el intervencionismo coronario percutáneo previo es un factor de riesgo de mortalidad hospitalaria en la cirugía de revascularización coronaria. Material y métodos Entre enero de 1997 y diciembre de 2007 se analizaron un total de 78.794 pacientes sometidos a cirugía coronaria, recogidos en la base de datos del Ministerio de Sanidad de España. Tras aplicar los criterios de exclusión, el estudio se realizó sobre un total de 63.420 pacientes, de los que 2.942 (4,6%) tenían intervencionismo coronario percutáneo previo. Las variables continuas se compararon con las pruebas de U de Mann-Whitney o de la t de Student y las variables categóricas, mediante chi cuadrado. Se realizó un análisis de regresión logística univariado y multivariado y un análisis multivariado que incluía un índice de propensión. Resultados El intervencionismo coronario percutáneo previo no fue un predictor independiente de mortalidad hospitalaria en el análisis multivariado (odds ratio 0,88; intervalo de confianza del 95% 0,72-1,07; p = 0,20) ni en el modelo que incluía un índice de propensión (odds ratio 0,9; intervalo de confianza 95% 0,75-1,08; p = 0,27). Conclusión El intervencionismo coronario percutáneo previo parece no ser un factor de riesgo independiente de mortalidad hospitalaria en pacientes con intervención quirúrgica coronaria

Malignancies in Deceased Organ Donors: The Spanish Experience.

To better define the risk of malignancy transmission through organ transplantation, we review the Spanish experience on donor malignancies. We analyzed the outcomes of recipients of organs obtained from deceased donors diagnosed with a malignancy during 2013-2018. The risk of malignancy transmission was classified as proposed by the Council of Europe. Of 10 076 utilized deceased donors, 349 (3.5%) were diagnosed with a malignancy. Of those, 275 had a past (n = 168) or current (n = 107) history of malignancy known before the transplantation of organs into 651 recipients. Ten malignancies met high-risk criteria. No donor-transmitted cancer (DTC) was reported after a median follow-up of 24 (interquartile range [IQR]: 19-25) mo. The other 74 donors were diagnosed with a malignancy after transplantation. Within this group, 64 donors (22 with malignancies of high or unacceptable risk) whose organs were transplanted into 126 recipients did not result in a DTC after a median follow-up of 26 (IQR: 22-37) mo, though a prophylactic transplantectomy was performed in 5 patients. The remaining 10 donors transmitted an occult malignancy to 16 of 25 recipients, consisting of lung cancer (n = 9), duodenal adenocarcinoma (n = 2), renal cell carcinoma (n = 2), extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (n = 1), prostate cancer (n = 1), and undifferentiated cancer (n = 1). After a median follow-up of 14 (IQR: 11-24) mo following diagnosis, the evolution was fatal in 9 recipients. In total, of 802 recipients at risk, 16 (2%) developed a DTC, which corresponds to 6 cases per 10 000 organ transplants. Current standards may overestimate the risk of malignancy transmission. DTC is an infrequent but difficult to eliminate complication