Effect of level of sedation on outcomes in critically ill adult patients: a systematic review of clinical trials with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.

Background: Sedation is routinely administered to critically ill patients to alleviate anxiety, discomfort, and patient-ventilator asynchrony. However, it must be balanced against risks such as delirium and prolonged intensive care stays. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of sedation in critically ill adults.

Tocilizumab in chronic active antibody-mediated rejection: rationale and protocol of an in-progress randomized controlled open-label multi-center trial (INTERCEPT study).

Background: Chronic active antibody-mediated rejection (caAMR) in kidney transplants is associated with irreversible tissue damage and a leading cause of graft loss in the long-term. However, the treatment for caAMR remains a challenge to date. Recently, tocilizumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the human interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor, has shown promise in the treatment of caAMR.

Including the liver in the visceral allograft: Impact on donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies and long-term outcomes.

Humoral immunity emerges as a risk factor for graft failure after visceral transplantation (VTx) and development of donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies (DSAs) has been linked with poor outcomes. In most cases, a simultaneous liver transplant can be safely performed in sensitized patients with DSA and appears protective against lymphocytotoxic antibodies. We investigated the incidence of acute (AR) and chronic rejection (CR) in 32 VTx without any B cell-depleting pre-treatment (6 isolated intestinal transplants (IT) and 26 liver-containing, multivisceral transplants (MVT) and assessed the presence of donor-specific antibodies (DSA) pre- and post-transplantation.

Heart transplantation in patients bridged with mechanical circulatory support: outcome comparison with matched controls.

Aims: Due to the shortage of heart donors, increasing numbers of heart transplantation (HTx) candidates are receiving long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS) as bridge-to-transplantation. Treatment with MCS is associated with increased formation of anti-human leukocyte antigen antibodies (allosensitization), but whether this affects post-HTx outcomes is unclear.

Methods And Results: We included all adult patients who received long-term MCS as bridge-to-transplantation and underwent subsequent HTx at our centre between 2008 and 2018.

Drug interventions for prevention of COVID-19 progression to severe disease in outpatients: a systematic review with meta-analyses and trial sequential analyses (The LIVING Project).

Objectives: To assess the effects of interventions authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for prevention of COVID-19 progression to severe disease in outpatients.

Setting: Outpatient treatment.

Participants: Participants with a diagnosis of COVID-19 and the associated SARS-CoV-2 virus irrespective of age, sex and comorbidities.