Publications by authors named "Claudia Libertin"

Background: Few antiviral therapies have been studied in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and kidney impairment. Herein, the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of remdesivir, its metabolites, and sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin excipient were evaluated in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and severe kidney impairment.

Methods: In REDPINE, a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, participants aged ≥12 years hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia with acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, or kidney failure were randomized 2:1 to receive intravenous remdesivir (200 mg on day 1; 100 mg daily up to day 5) or placebo (enrollment from March 2021 to March 2022).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: While 'immuno-competence' is a well-known term, it lacks an operational definition. To address this omission, this study explored whether the temporal and structured data of the complete blood cell count (CBC) can rapidly estimate immuno-competence. To this end, one or more ratios that included data on all monocytes, lymphocytes and neutrophils were investigated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the use of scarce resources, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and mechanical ventilation (MV). The combinatorial features of the immune system may be considered to estimate such needs and facilitate continuous open-ended knowledge discovery.

Materials And Methods: Computer-generated distinct data patterns derived from 283 white blood cell counts collected within five days after hospitalization from 97 COVID-19 patients were used to predict patient's use of hospital resources.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign suggested preferential resuscitation with balanced crystalloids, such as Lactated Ringer's (LR), although the level of recommendation was weak, and the quality of evidence was low. Past studies reported an association of unbalanced solutions, such as normal saline (NS), with increased AKI risks, metabolic acidosis, and prolonged ICU stay, although some of the findings are conflicting. We have compared the outcomes with the preferential use of normal saline vs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Tumor necrosis factor-a inhibitors can be associated with increased risk of infections, particularly reactivation of latent tuberculosis or nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM). However, because disseminated NTM is rare, inborn errors of immunity should be considered. We present three patients with disseminated NTM after tumor necrosis factor-a inhibitor use who were found to have inborn errors of immunity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to considerable morbidity and mortality across the world. Lung transplant is a viable option for a few with COVID-19-related lung disease. Whom and when to transplant has been the major question impacting the transplant community given the novelty of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the Monoclonal Antibody Screening Score performs consistently better in identifying the need for monoclonal antibody infusion throughout each "wave" of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant predominance during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and that the infusion of contemporary monoclonal antibody treatments is associated with a lower risk of hospitalization.

Patients And Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated the efficacy of monoclonal antibody treatment compared with that of no monoclonal antibody treatment in symptomatic adults who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 regardless of their risk factors for disease progression or vaccination status during different periods of SARS-CoV-2 variant predominance. The primary outcome was hospitalization within 28 days after COVID-19 diagnosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Topics expected to influence personalized medicine (PM), where medical decisions, practices, and treatments are tailored to the individual patient, are reviewed. Lack of discrimination due to different biological conditions that express similar values of numerical variables (ambiguity) is regarded to be a major potential barrier for PM. This material explores possible causes and sources of ambiguity and offers suggestions for mitigating the impacts of uncertainties.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern has led to significant phenotypical changes in transmissibility, virulence, and public health measures. Our study used clinical data to compare characteristics between a Delta variant wave and a pre-Delta variant wave of hospitalized patients.

Methods: This single-center retrospective study defined a wave as an increasing number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, which peaked and later decreased.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, great hesitancies regarding the COVID-19 immunization have existed. The most striking adverse events reported include thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), myocarditis, and Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). Post-vaccination GBS is known since the time of Influenza vaccination, but several cases of GBS have also been reported in the current COVID-19 vaccination era.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To rapidly prognosticate and generate hypotheses on pathogenesis, leukocyte multi-cellularity was evaluated in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients treated in India or the United States (152 individuals, 384 temporal observations). Within hospital (<90-day) death or discharge were retrospectively predicted based on the admission complete blood cell counts (CBC). Two methods were applied: (i) a "reductionist" one, which analyzes each cell type separately, and (ii) a "non-reductionist" method, which estimates multi-cellularity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: While COVID-19 immunization programs attempted to reach targeted rates, cases rose significantly since the emergence of the delta variant. This retrospective cohort study describes the correlation between antispike antibodies and outcomes of hospitalized, breakthrough cases during the delta variant surge.

Methods: All patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction hospitalized at Mayo Clinic Florida from 19 June 2021 to 11 November 2021 were considered for analysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Proteeae group (i.e., Proteus species, Morganella morganii, and Providencia species) frequently causes urinary tract infections (UTIs) and is generally resistant to nitrofurantoin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

After more than a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 infection rates with newer variants continue to devastate much of the world. Global healthcare systems are overwhelmed with high positive patient numbers. Silent hypoxia accompanied by rapid deterioration and some cases with septic shock is responsible for COVID-19 mortality in many hospitalized patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The species are Gram positive, coryneform bacteria that belong to the Actinobacteria phylum and have been linked to bacteremia in immunocompromised children. We present the first documented adult case of bacteremia. The patient was a 52-year-old woman with a history of recurrent infection, sinus tachycardia and high-risk AML who had been admitted one month prior to presentation for matched unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplant with reduced intensity fludarabine-melphalan.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The pathophysiology of COVID-19 includes immune-mediated hyperinflammation, which could potentially lead to respiratory failure and death. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is among cytokines that contribute to the inflammatory processes. Lenzilumab, a GM-CSF neutralising monoclonal antibody, was investigated in the LIVE-AIR trial to assess its efficacy and safety in treating COVID-19 beyond available treatments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bed bugs are common urban pests. Unlike many other blood-feeding human ectoparasites, bed bugs are not known to be vectors of human infectious diseases, but clinical and epidemiological studies to directly interrogate this link have been limited. Here, we aimed to determine whether bed bugs were associated with infectious diseases in a set of infested patients presenting to emergency departments (ED) in the greater Cleveland, OH area.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: In the unprecedented era of COVID-19, ongoing research and evolution of evidence has led to ever-changing guidelines for clinical monitoring and therapeutic options. Formulating treatment protocols requires the understanding and application of the evolving research.

Objective: The primary objective of this study is to present a systematic evidence-based approach to synthesize the necessary data in order to optimize the management of COVID-19.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

() is a gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacillus that is associated with gastroenteritis and a host of other extra-intestinal manifestations in humans. However, its impact on the kidneys is unclear. Most literature that has explored this association involves fish, marine life in which inhabits.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To assess the clinical characteristics and clinical outcomes of bradycardic patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia.

Methods: The electronic medical records of 221 consecutive patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia between June and September 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Patient characteristics, electrocardiographic data, and clinical and laboratory information were retrospectively collected.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of acquiring devastating infections with unusual pathogens. Nocardia are aerobic actinomycetes that affect the lungs, brain, skin and soft tissue. Cladophialophora species are dematiaceous fungi that overwhelmingly cause infections in the brain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Severe COVID-19 pneumonia results from a hyperinflammatory immune response (cytokine storm, CS), characterized by GM-CSF mediated activation and trafficking of myeloid cells, leading to elevation of downstream inflammatory chemokines (MCP-1, IL-8, IP-10), cytokines (IL-6, IL-1), and other markers of systemic inflammation (CRP, D-dimer, ferritin). CS leads to fever, hypotension, coagulopathy, respiratory failure, ARDS, and death. Lenzilumab is a novel Humaneered anti-human GM-CSF monoclonal antibody that directly binds GM-CSF and prevents signaling through its receptor.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) created a classification to help stratify surgical wounds based on contamination and risk of developing a surgical site infection. The classification includes four options (I to IV) depending on the level of contamination present. Although universally applied to a variety of surgical specialties, it is unknown whether the current system is reliable when considering orthopaedic surgeries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To report the Mayo Clinic experience with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) related to patient outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients with COVID-19 diagnosed between March 1, 2020, and July 31, 2020, at any of the Mayo Clinic sites. We abstracted pertinent comorbid conditions such as age, sex, body mass index, Charlson Comorbidity Index variables, and treatments received.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Renal transplant recipients are at increased risk for developing complications of vaccine-preventable diseases. They benefit from a comprehensive pre-transplant evaluation when they might safely receive live vaccines. The primary aim of our study was to investigate the number of renal transplant recipients who were evaluated for serologic status against measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), and varicella.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF