Convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19 - Donor selection strategies and establishment of a plasma bank.

Background: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, convalescent plasma (CP) emerged as a potentially effective treatment neutralising SARS-CoV-2. Early CP therapy with high neutralising antibody (NAb) titre may benefit COVID-19 outpatients and, in sufficient quantities even some hospitalised patients. This study details the process of setting up a CP bank, containing high- and low-titre CP for a clinical trial.

Impact of Visceral and Hepatic Fat on Cardiometabolic Health.

Purpose Of Review: Body fat distribution plays a significant role in the cardiometabolic consequences of obesity. We review the impact of visceral and hepatic fat and highlight important interventions.

Recent Findings: Several epidemiologic studies have established a clear association between visceral fat and cardiovascular disease.

Double-blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of convalescent plasma for COVID-19: analyses by neutralising antibodies homologous to recipients' variants.

Introduction: Convalescent plasma (CP) emerged as potential treatment for COVID-19 early in the pandemic. While efficacy in hospitalised patients has been lacklustre, CP may be beneficial at the first stages of disease. Despite multiple new variants emerging, no trials have involved analyses on variant-specific antibody titres of CP.

Outcomes With Intravascular Ultrasound and Optical Coherence Tomography Guidance in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Intracoronary imaging has become an important tool in the treatment of complex lesions with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This retrospective cohort study identified 1,118,475 patients with PCI from the Nationwide Readmissions Database from 2017 to 2019. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were identified with appropriate International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes.

Causes and Predictors of 30-Day Readmission in Patients With COVID-19 and ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction in the United States: A Nationwide Readmission Database Analysis.

Background Rates, causes, and predictors of readmission in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) during COVID-19 pandemic are unknown. Methods and Results All hospitalizations for STEMI were selected from the US Nationwide Readmissions Database 2020 and were stratified by the presence of COVID-19. Primary outcome was 30-day readmission.

Surgical and transcatheter left atrial appendage closure in patients with atrial fibrillation and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and atrial fibrillation (AF) are at increased stroke risk in comparison to those with non-valvular AF not affected by HCM.

Objectives: To investigate the role of left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) in patients with HCM and AF.

Methods And Results: We identified patients with HCM and AF using the National Readmission Dataset.

Safety and immunogenicity of ETVAX®, an oral inactivated vaccine against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diarrhoea: a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial amongst Finnish travellers to Benin, West Africa.

Background: No licensed human vaccines are available against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), a major diarrhoeal pathogen affecting children in low- and middle-income countries and foreign travellers alike. ETVAX®, a multivalent oral whole-cell vaccine containing four inactivated ETEC strains and the heat-labile enterotoxin B subunit (LTB), has proved promising in Phase 1 and Phase 1/ 2 studies.

Methods: We conducted a Phase 2b double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial amongst Finnish travellers to Benin, West Africa.

Coronary artery calcium, hepatic steatosis, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: Results from the Dallas heart study.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk amongst those with type 2 diabetes (T2D) is heterogenous. The role of imaging-based cardiometabolic biomarkers (e.g.

Percutaneous thrombectomy in patients with intermediate- and high-risk pulmonary embolism and contraindications to thrombolytics: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Catheter-directed interventions have slowly been gaining ground in the treatment of pulmonary embolism (PE), especially in patients with increased risk of bleeding. The goal of this study is to summarize the evidence for the efficacy and safety of percutaneous thrombectomy (PT) in patients with contraindications to systemic and local thrombolysis. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis using MEDLINE, Cochrane, Scopus and the Web of Science databases for studies from inception to March 2022.

Prevalence of thoracic aortic aneurysm in patients referred for no/low-charge coronary artery calcium scoring: Insights from the CLARIFY registry.

Objective: Low-dose cardiac-gated chest CTs allow for simultaneous evaluation of coronary artery calcification and aortic size. We sought to evaluate the prevalence of thoracic aortic dilation (TAD) and thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) in a large cohort of patients undergoing coronary artery calcium (CAC) screening.

Methods: We reviewed all patients from a large, prospective no-charge CAC screening program (CLARIFY, Clinicaltrials.

Cholesterol Pericarditis.

Cholesterol pericarditis is a rare condition characterized by a large, chronic cholesterol-rich pericardial effusion that often manifests with symptoms of heart failure. We report a case of an asymptomatic 51-year-old man with a massive cholesterol-rich pericardial effusion with echocardiographic evidence of impending tamponade. ().

Role of Coronary CT Angiography in the Evaluation of Acute Chest Pain and Suspected or Confirmed Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Advances in CT technology have resulted in improved imaging of the coronary anatomy in patients with stable coronary artery disease, using coronary CT angiography (CCTA). Recent data suggest that CCTA may play a role in higher risk patients, such as those evaluated in the emergency room with acute chest pain. Data thus far support the use of CCTA in low-risk patients with acute chest pain.

European hospitals as source of multidrug-resistant bacteria: analysis of travellers screened in Finland after hospitalization abroad.

Background: As hospitals have a high prevalence of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO), hospitalization abroad indicates for travellers an increased risk of acquiring MDRO-and carrying the strains home. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rates are highest in the (sub)tropics, whereas Europe is considered a lower risk region. Since AMR prevalences vary within Europe, we aimed to gather country-specific data on the risks for hospitalized travellers.

Import of multidrug-resistant bacteria from abroad through interhospital transfers, Finland, 2010-2019.

BackgroundWhile 20-80% of regular visitors to (sub)tropical regions become colonised by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing (ESBL-PE), those hospitalised abroad often also carry other multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria on return; the rates are presumed to be highest for interhospital transfers.AimThis observational study assessed MDR bacterial colonisation among patients transferred directly from hospitals abroad to Helsinki University Hospital. We investigated predisposing factors, clinical infections and associated fatalities.

Acute epiglottitis after COVID-19 infection.

In patients with acute epiglottitis, the possibility of COVID-19 should be ruled out. Repeated nasofiberoscopy examinations or a tracheostomy, which may produce infectious aerosols, may be required.

Cellular Senescence and Vitamin D Deficiency Play a Role in the Pathogenesis of Obesity-Associated Subclinical Atherosclerosis: Study of the Potential Protective Role of Vitamin D Supplementation.

The exact link between obesity, vitamin D deficiency, and their relation to cellular senescence in the pathogenesis of subclinical atherosclerosis is still under debate. Therefore, the current study aims to verify the possible role of vitamin D deficiency and cellular senescence in the pathogenesis of obesity-related subclinical atherosclerosis. Moreover, it aims to investigate the possible protective role of vitamin D supplementation.

Patients hospitalized abroad as importers of multiresistant bacteria-a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The pandemic spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria poses a threat to healthcare worldwide, with highest prevalence in indigent regions of the (sub)tropics. As hospitalization constitutes a major risk factor for colonization, infection control management in low-prevalence countries urgently needs background data on patients hospitalized abroad.

Methods: We collected data on 1122 patients who, after hospitalization abroad, were treated at the Helsinki University Hospital between 2010 and 2013.

Louse-borne relapsing fever in Finland in two asylum seekers from Somalia.

We report two cases of louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) in young Somali asylum seekers having recently arrived to Finland. They had sought medical attention for a febrile illness. Blood smears were examined for suspected malaria, but instead, spirochete shaped bacteria were observed.

Relapsing fever.

Relapsing fewer is an infection to be considered in the differential diagnosis of an immigrant´s febrile illness. It is a severe, tick-borne or body louse-borne infection caused by the relapsing fever associated borrelia species. The body louse-borne infection is in particular encountered in the Horn of Africa region due to poor hygiene, and has during the past year been described in several European countries as imported by refugees coming from this region.