A Covid -19 Virtual Ward Model: A Preliminary Retrospective Clinical Evaluation From a UK District General Hospital.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the safety, utilization, ability to reduce length of hospitalization and overall outcomes of a COVID-19 virtual ward providing ongoing treatment at home.

Method: A retrospective single-center study of patients discharged to the COVID-19 virtual "step down" ward between January 27th 2021 and March 2nd 2021. The referral process, length of hospitalization, length of stay on the virtual ward, readmissions, and ongoing treatment requirements including supplemental oxygen, antibiotics, and/or steroids were all noted.

Role of advanced respiratory support in acute respiratory failure in clinically frail patients with COVID-19.

The main aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of advanced respiratory support (ARS) for acute respiratory failure in do-not-attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation order (DNACPR) COVID-19 patients. In this single-center study, the impact of different types of ARS modality, PaO/FiO (PF) ratio, clinical frailty score (CFS) and 4C score on mortality was evaluated. There was no significant difference in age, type of ARS modality, PF ratio and 4C scores between those who died and those who survived.

Images of the month 1: 'Soy sauce' pleural effusion: what causes black pleural fluid?

We present a case of black pleural fluid following thoracic trauma. The unusual dark colour most strikingly resembled soy sauce as independently commented upon by multiple treating physicians. The black colouration could not be fully accounted for by haemothorax or cholethorax, so other differential diagnoses were investigated, including infection and malignant melanoma.

Relationship of D-dimer and prediction of pulmonary embolism in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a multicenter study.

COVID-19 is a known risk factor for pulmonary embolism (PE). In this retrospective, multicenter study, we aimed to determine an optimal D-dimer cutoff to predict PE in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. A total of 193 patients underwent computerized tomographic pulmonary angiography imaging and were classified into PE positive and negative groups.

Spontaneous haemopneumothorax.

An 18-year-old man presented with a 2 day history of breathlessness and left-sided chest pain, with no preceding trauma. He had no medical history of note, and had never smoked. He was in hypovolaemic shock, with Hb of 8.

A rearranged form of Epstein-Barr virus DNA is associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

An association between idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and productive Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection has been found previously. Productive EBV replication can be associated with a rearrangement in EBV genomes termed WZhet. We hypothesized that WZhet genomes might be present in patients with IPF.