Blood glucose variability during the first 24 hours and prognosis in acute stroke patients treated with IV thrombolysis

INTRODUCTION: Hyperglycemia in acute ischemic stroke decreases the effectiveness of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) and increases its hemorrhagic complications. Therefore, optimization of blood glucose (BG) is suggested. But, no consensus is achieved on which of the BG parameters to be used such as admission BG, post-treatment BG, first day maximum and average BG (maxBG and aveBG), or BG variability indices such as the standard deviation of mean BG (SDBG), coefficient of variation of BG (CVBG) and J-index. METHODS: Admission and 24h BG were measured in 145 acute stroke patients (55% female, age: 70±13 yr; NIHSS: 14 ± 6, symptom-to-needle time: 160 ± 58 minutes) treated with IV tPA. BG variability indices were evaluated in 107 patients with serial BG measurement available. RESULTS: AveBG was significantly higher in patients with 3rd month mRS>2 (46.2%), but admission BG, SDBG, CVBG and J-index were not significantly different. An exploratory regression analysis indicated that the connection of aveBG to worse prognosis (β=-0.155, p=0.045) persisted after adjustment for admission NIHSS, age and DM history. No BG parameter predicted symptomatic tPA-associated type-II intracerebral hemorrhage (6.7%), albeit these patients had marginally higher average BG levels (p=0.045). Presence of diabetes, HbA1c, admission BG, average first day BG and variability indices had not modified the beneficial (52%) and dramatic response (28%) to IV tPA. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Sustained hyperglycemia, not glucose variability, during the first 24 hour predicts poor prognosis in acute stroke patients treated with IV thrombolysis

Comparison of critically ill COVID-19 and influenza patients with acute respiratory failure

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the biggest pandemic causing acute respiratory failure (ARF) in the last century. Seasonal influenza carries high mortality, as well. The aim of this study was to compare features and outcomes of critically-ill COVID-19 and influenza patients with ARF. Methods Patients with COVID-19 and influenza admitted to intensive care unit with ARF were retrospectively analyzed. Results Fifty-four COVID-19 and 55 influenza patients with ARF were studied. Patients with COVID-19 had 32% of hospital mortality, while those with influenza had 47% (P=0.09). Patients with influenza had higher Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, Clinical Frailty Scale, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II and admission Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores than COVID-19 patients (P<0.01). Secondary bacterial infection, admission acute kidney injury, procalcitonin level above 0.2 ng/ml were the independent factors distinguishing influenza from COVID-19 while prone positioning differentiated COVID-19 from influenza. Invasive mechanical ventilation (odds ratio [OR], 42.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.45–187.97), admission SOFA score more than 4 (OR, 5.92; 95% CI, 1.85–18.92), malignancy (OR, 4.95; 95% CI, 1.13–21.60), and age more than 65 years (OR, 3.31; 95% CI, 0.99–11.03) were found to be independent risk factors for hospital mortality. Conclusions There were few differences in clinical features of critically-ill COVID-19 and influenza patients. Influenza cases had worse performance status and disease severity. There was no significant difference in hospital mortality rates between COVID-19 and influenza patients