Pulmonary diffusing capacity among individuals recovering from mild to moderate COVID-19: a cross-sectional study.

Impaired pulmonary diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) following COVID-19 has been consistently reported among individuals recovering from severe-critical infection. However, most long COVID cases follow non-severe COVID-19. We assessed DLCO among individuals with long COVID recovering from mild to moderate acute illness.

One-year follow-up of COVID-19 recoverees with impaired pulmonary function: A prospective cohort study.

Decreased diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) is the most prevalent pulmonary testing abnormality among COVID-19 recoverees. We prospectively followed 51 individuals with impaired DLCO at an average of ∼3 months following COVID-19 and re-examined them at one year. At follow-up, mean DLCO increased from 68.

Longer-term Mortality and Kidney Outcomes of Participants in the Combination Antibiotics for Methicillin-Resistant (CAMERA2) Trial: A Post Hoc Analysis.

Background: The Combination Antibiotic Therapy for Methicillin-Resistant (CAMERA2) trial ceased recruitment in July 2018, noting that a higher proportion of patients in the intervention arm (combination therapy) developed acute kidney injury (AKI) compared to the standard therapy (monotherapy) arm. We analyzed the long-term outcomes of participants in CAMERA2 to understand the impact of combination antibiotic therapy and AKI.

Methods: Trial sites obtained additional follow-up data.

Underrepresentation of women in randomized controlled trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Although regulatory changes towards correcting the underrepresentation of women in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) occurred (National Institutes of Health 1994), concerns exist about whether an improvement is taking place. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to assess the inclusion rates of women in recent RCTs and to explore the potential barriers for the enrollment of women.

Methods: RCTs published in 2017 examining any type of intervention in adults were searched in PubMed and Cochrane Library.

Comment on Huang et al. Colistin Monotherapy versus Colistin plus Meropenem Combination Therapy for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Infection: A Meta-Analysis. . 2022, , 3239.

In the recently published meta-analysis titled "Colistin Monotherapy versus Colistin plus Meropenem Combination Therapy for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Infection: A Meta-Analysis", Huang et al. compared the efficacy and safety of treatment with colistin monotherapy versus colistin plus meropenem combination therapy in patients with drug-resistant infection [..

Characteristics of long-COVID among older adults: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To describe long-COVID symptoms among older adults and to assess the risk factors for two common long-COVID symptoms: fatigue and dyspnea.

Methods: This is a multicenter, prospective cohort study conducted in Israel, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy. Individuals were included at least 30 days after their COVID-19 diagnosis.

Risk Factors and Multidimensional Assessment of Long Coronavirus Disease Fatigue: A Nested Case-Control Study.

Background: Fatigue is the most prevalent and debilitating long-COVID (coronavirus disease) symptom; however, risk factors and pathophysiology of this condition remain unknown. We assessed risk factors for long-COVID fatigue and explored its possible pathophysiology.

Methods: This was a nested case-control study in a COVID recovery clinic.

Large-scale WGS of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates reveals patterns of dissemination of ST clades associated with antibiotic resistance.

Objectives: To describe the population genetics and antibiotic resistance gene distribution of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) isolates causing infections in three Mediterranean countries.

Methods: Isolates were collected during the 2013-17 AIDA clinical trial in six hospitals in Israel, Greece and Italy. WGS, bioinformatic characterization and antibiotic resistance profiling were performed.

Inadequate reporting of participants eligible for randomized controlled trials - A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: to characterize randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that did not report the overall number of participants assessed for eligibility and to identify factors associated with higher enrollment rates.

Study Design And Setting: Systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs in several pre-defined fields in internal medicine. We randomly extracted 360 articles that were published in 2017.

Excluded versus included patients in a randomized controlled trial of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria: relevance to external validity.

Background: Population external validity is the extent to which an experimental study results can be generalized from a specific sample to a defined population. In order to apply the results of a study, we should be able to assess its population external validity. We performed an investigator-initiated randomized controlled trial (RCT) (AIDA study), which compared colistin-meropenem combination therapy to colistin monotherapy in the treatment of patients infected with carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria.

β-Blockers, Tachycardia, and Survival Following Sepsis: An Observational Cohort Study.

Background: Sepsis is associated with excessive release of catecholamines, which causes tachycardia and is correlated with poor clinical outcome. β-Blockers (BBs) may blunt this effect on heart rate (HR). The objective of this study is to assess whether long-term BB therapy is associated with better clinical outcomes in patients with sepsis admitted to internal medicine wards.

Colistin plus meropenem for carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative infections: in vitro synergism is not associated with better clinical outcomes.

Objectives: In vitro models showing synergism between polymyxins and carbapenems support combination treatment for carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative (CRGN) infections. We tested the association between the presence of in vitro synergism and clinical outcomes in patients treated with colistin plus meropenem.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of AIDA, a randomized controlled trial comparing colistin with colistin-meropenem for severe CRGN infections.

Colistin Resistance Development Following Colistin-Meropenem Combination Therapy Versus Colistin Monotherapy in Patients With Infections Caused by Carbapenem-Resistant Organisms.

Background: We evaluated whether carbapenem-colistin combination therapy reduces the emergence of colistin resistance, compared to colistin monotherapy, when given to patients with infections due to carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative organisms.

Methods: This is a pre-planned analysis of a secondary outcome from a randomized, controlled trial comparing colistin monotherapy with colistin-meropenem combination for the treatment of severe infections caused by carbapenem-resistant, colistin-susceptible Gram-negative bacteria. We evaluated rectal swabs taken on Day 7 or later for the presence of new colistin-resistant (ColR) isolates.

Treatment Outcomes of Colistin- and Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Infections: An Exploratory Subgroup Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: We evaluated the association between mortality and colistin resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii infections and the interaction with antibiotic therapy.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial of patients with carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections treated with colistin or colistin-meropenem combination. We evaluated patients with infection caused by carbapenem-resistant A.

Colistin alone versus colistin plus meropenem for treatment of severe infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria: an open-label, randomised controlled trial.

Background: Colistin-carbapenem combinations are synergistic in vitro against carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. We aimed to test whether combination therapy improves clinical outcomes for adults with infections caused by carbapenem-resistant or carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative bacteria.

Methods: A randomised controlled superiority trial was done in six hospitals in Israel, Greece, and Italy.

Secular trends in the appropriateness of empirical antibiotic treatment in patients with bacteremia: a comparison between three prospective cohorts.

The objective of this study was to explore whether the percentage of inappropriate empirical antibiotic treatment in patients with bacteremia changed over time and to understand the factors that brought on the change. Three prospective cohorts of patients with bacteremia in three different periods (January 1st, 1988 to December 31st, 1989; May 1st, 2004 to November 30, 2004; May 1st, 2010 to April 30, 2011) were compared. Analysis was performed on a total of 811 patients.

The Effectiveness and Safety of High-Dose Colistin: Prospective Cohort Study.

Background:  Optimizing colistin dosing should translate to improved patient outcomes.

Methods:  We used data from 2 prospective cohort studies performed between 2006 and 2009 and between 2012 and 2015. In the latter period, a new policy of high-dose colistin (9 million international units [MIU] loading dose followed by 9 MIU daily for normal renal function) was introduced in 2 participating hospitals.

Quality of Reporting Nutritional Randomized Controlled Trials in Patients With Cystic Fibrosis.

Objective: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have a major role in the making of evidence-based guidelines. The aim of the present study was to critically appraise the RCTs that addressed nutritional interventions in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Methods: Embase, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched until July 2015.

Presentation of infection in older patients--a prospective study.

Background: Traditional wisdom suggests that infections in older patients have atypical presentation, including blunted febrile response. Data are scarce.

Design: We analyzed data from a prospectively collected database on presentation of infection in 4,308 patients, and compared the presentation of older patients (≥ 75 years) versus adults (< 75 years).