Remdesivir for the Treatment of Covid-19 — Preliminary Report

BACKGROUND: Although several therapeutic agents have been evaluated for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), no antiviral agents have yet been shown to be efficacious. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of intravenous remdesivir in adults who were hospitalized with Covid-19 and had evidence of lower respiratory tract infection. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either remdesivir (200 mg loading dose on day 1, followed by 100 mg daily for up to 9 additional days) or placebo for up to 10 days. The primary outcome was the time to recovery, defined by either discharge from the hospital or hospitalization for infection-control purposes only. RESULTS: A total of 1062 patients underwent randomization (with 541 assigned to remdesivir and 521 to placebo). Those who received remdesivir had a median recovery time of 10 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 9 to 11), as compared with 15 days (95% CI, 13 to 18) among those who received placebo (rate ratio for recovery, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.49; P<0.001, by a log-rank test). In an analysis that used a proportional-odds model with an eight-category ordinal scale, the patients who received remdesivir were found to be more likely than those who received placebo to have clinical improvement at day 15 (odds ratio, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.9, after adjustment for actual disease severity). The Kaplan–Meier estimates of mortality were 6.7% with remdesivir and 11.9% with placebo by day 15 and 11.4% with remdesivir and 15.2% with placebo by day 29 (hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.52 to 1.03). Serious adverse events were reported in 131 of the 532 patients who received remdesivir (24.6%) and in 163 of the 516 patients who received placebo (31.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that remdesivir was superior to placebo in shortening the time to recovery in adults who were hospitalized with Covid-19 and had evidence of lower respiratory tract infection. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and others; ACTT-1 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04280705. opens in new tab.

Maternal Age and Child Development.

Although the consequences of teen births for both mothers and children have been studied for decades, few studies have taken a broader look at the potential payoffs-and drawbacks-of being born to older mothers. A broader examination is important given the growing gap in maternal ages at birth for children born to mothers with low and high socioeconomic status. Drawing data from the Children of the NLSY79, our examination of this topic distinguishes between the value for children of being born to a mother who delayed her first birth and the value of the additional years between her first birth and the birth of the child whose achievements and behaviors at ages 10-13 are under study. We find that each year the mother delays a first birth is associated with a 0.02 to 0.04 standard deviation increase in school achievement and a similar-sized reduction in behavior problems. Coefficients are generally as large for additional years between the first and given birth. Results are fairly robust to the inclusion of cousin and sibling fixed effects, which attempt to address some omitted variable concerns. Our mediational analyses show that the primary pathway by which delaying first births benefits children is by enabling mothers to complete more years of schooling

Scwannoma intramedular: relato de caso Intramedullary schwannoma: case report

A localização intramedular de schwannoma é rara, correspondendo a 0,3% dos tumores nesta topografia. Os autores relatam o caso de uma paciente leucoderma de 52 anos, que apresentou sintomas de compressão devido à presença de schwannoma intramedular localizado em nível de C4 a C6. Não foram encontrados sinais de neurofibromatose, enfermidade que tem sido associada ao desenvolvimento da lesão. Os exames de ressonância magnética nuclear e a biópsia transoperatórIa foram fatores decisivos no planejamento e na execução do tratamento, ao estabelecer as características, localização e diagnóstico da lesão. Sua boa delimitação e sua localização posterior facilitaram a exérese total. O exame histopatológico transoperatórIo permitiu a instituição de procedimento cirúrgico adequado. A célula de Schwann não é normalmente encontrada no sistema nervoso central e sua presença neste local tem sido objeto de várias teorias expostas no texto deste trabalho, que aborda também revisão de aspectos clínicos, diagnóstico por imagem, patologia, diagnóstico diferencial e tratamento dos schwannomas. E provável que, com os métodos propedêuticos atualmente disponíveis, venha a ser encontrado maior número destas lesões no futuro.<br>The intramedullary localization of schwannomas is rare, corresponding to 0.3% of all intraspinal tumors. The authors report the case of a 52 year-old white female patient that presented with symptoms of spinal compression by the presence of an intramedullary schwannoma at the level C4-C6. There were no symptoms of neurofibromatosis, entity frequently related to the lesion. The magnetic resonance imaging examination and the per-operatory biopsy were decisive factors in planning and executing the treatment , by establishing the characteristics, location and diagnosis of the lesion. Its delimitation and posterior location have facilitated total surgical exeresis. The transoperatively histopathologic examination allowed adequate surgical procedure. The Schwann cell is not found normally in the central nervous system and its presence in this site has been subject of many theories exposed in this paper, which proposes comprehensive review of the clinical aspects, imaging diagnosis, pathology, differential diagnosis and treatment of schwannomas. It is probable that, with the advances verified in the available diagnostic methods, a greater number of these lesions may be diagnosed in the future