An Executed Plan to Combat COVID-19 in the United States.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in late 2019. To date, this coronavirus is responsible for greater than 90 million cases in the United States and more than 1 million confirmed deaths. When this virus came to the United States, testing was unorganized, no effective treatments were known, and no vaccines had been discovered.

Use of convalescent plasma in COVID-19 patients with immunosuppression.

In the absence of effective countermeasures, human convalescent plasma has been widely used to treat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the causative agent of novel coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), including among patients with innate or acquired immunosuppression. However, the association between COVID-19-associated mortality in patients with immunosuppression and therapeutic use of convalescent plasma is unknown. We review 75 reports, including one large matched-control registry study of 143 COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancies, and 51 case reports and 23 case series representing 238 COVID-19 patients with immunosuppression.

The Effect of Convalescent Plasma Therapy on Mortality Among Patients With COVID-19: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

To determine the effect of COVID-19 convalescent plasma on mortality, we aggregated patient outcome data from 10 randomized clinical trials, 20 matched control studies, 2 dose-response studies, and 96 case reports or case series. Studies published between January 1, 2020, and January 16, 2021, were identified through a systematic search of online PubMed and MEDLINE databases. Random effects analyses of randomized clinical trials and matched control data demonstrated that patients with COVID-19 transfused with convalescent plasma exhibited a lower mortality rate compared with patients receiving standard treatments.

The Effect of Convalescent Plasma Therapy on COVID-19 Patient Mortality: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

To determine the effect of COVID-19 convalescent plasma on mortality, we aggregated patient outcome data from 10 randomized clinical trials (RCT), 20 matched-control studies, two dose-response studies, and 96 case-reports or case series. Studies published between January 1, 2020 to January 16, 2021 were identified through a systematic search of online PubMed and MEDLINE databases. Random effects analyses of RCT and matched-control data demonstrated that COVID-19 patients transfused with convalescent plasma exhibited a lower mortality rate compared to patients receiving standard treatments.

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients treated with convalescent plasma in a mid-size city in the Midwest.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease, COVID-19, has infected over seven million people world-wide, including two million people in the United States. While many people recover from the virus uneventfully, a subset of patients will require hospital admission, some with intensive care needs including intubation, and mechanical ventilation. To date there is no cure and no vaccine is available.

Unusual Cardiac Presentation of COVID-19 and Use of Convalescent Plasma.

COVID-19 infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been associated with cardiac abnormalities, including conduction abnormalities. Convalescent plasma is emerging as a potentially safe and effective treatment option for patients severely or critically ill with COVID-19. Here, we describe a case of a COVID-19 patient with new-onset cardiac ectopy who had near resolution of his cardiac sequelae following convalescent plasma transfusion.

Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients treated with Convalescent Plasma in a Mid-size City in the Midwest.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease, COVID-19, has infected over seven million people world-wide, including two million people in the United States. While many people recover from the virus uneventfully, a subset of patients will require hospital admission, some with intensive care needs including intubation, and mechanical ventilation. To date there is no cure and no vaccine is available.

Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients treated with Convalescent Plasma in a Mid-size City in the Midwest.

SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease, COVID-19, has infected over seven million people world-wide, including two million people in the United States. While many people recover from the virus uneventfully, a subset of patients will require hospital admission, some with intensive care needs including intubation, and mechanical ventilation. To date there is no cure and no vaccine is available.

Persistent viral RNA shedding after COVID-19 symptom resolution in older convalescent plasma donors.

Introduction: The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is responsible for a worldwide pandemic. While the medical community understands the mode of viral transmission, less is known about how long viral shedding occurs once viral symptoms have resolved. Our objective was to determine how long the SARS-CoV-2 remains detectable following self-reporting of viral symptom resolution.

Percutaneous cryoablation of stage T1b renal cell carcinoma: technique considerations, safety, and local tumor control.

Purpose: To describe the technical methods, safety, and local tumor control rate associated with percutaneous cryoablation of stage T1b renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of a percutaneous renal ablation registry was used to identify 46 patients with a total of 46 biopsy-proven RCC lesions measuring 4.1-7.

BDNF secretion by human pulmonary artery endothelial cells in response to hypoxia.

Within human pulmonary artery, neurotrophin growth factors [NTs; e.g. brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)] and their high-affinity receptors (tropomyosin-related kinase; Trk) and low-affinity receptors p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) have been reported, but their functional role is incompletely understood.

Iatrogenic Left Main Bronchus Injury following Atraumatic Double Lumen Endotracheal Tube Placement.

Tracheobronchial disruption is an uncommon but severe complication of double lumen endotracheal tube placement. The physical properties of a double lumen tube (large external diameter and length) make tracheobronchial injury more common than that associated with smaller single lumen endotracheal tubes. Here we present the case of an iatrogenic left main bronchus injury caused by placement of a double lumen tube in an otherwise unremarkable airway.

Associations between serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms and heat pain perception in adults with chronic pain.

Background: The triallelic serotonin transporter gene linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) has been associated with alterations in thermal pain perception. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the associations between heat pain (HP) perception and the triallelic 5-HTTLPR in a large cohort of adults with chronic pain.

Methods: The cohort included 277 adults with chronic pain who met inclusion criteria, and were consecutively admitted to an outpatient pain rehabilitation program from March 2009 through March 2010.

Intraoperative adrenal insufficiency in a patient with prader-willi syndrome.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PW) is a rare genetic disorder with multi-organ system involvement. These patients present many perioperative challenges including sleep-related breathing disorders, morbid obesity, thick salivary secretions, mental retardation, and difficult intravenous access. PW has been suggested to be associated with central adrenal insufficiency.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor enhances calcium regulatory mechanisms in human airway smooth muscle.

Neurotrophins (NTs), which play an integral role in neuronal development and function, have been found in non-neuronal tissue (including lung), but their role is still under investigation. Recent reports show that NTs such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as well as NT receptors are expressed in human airway smooth muscle (ASM). However, their function is still under investigation.

Oxygen dose responsiveness of human fetal airway smooth muscle cells.

Maintenance of blood oxygen saturation dictates supplemental oxygen administration to premature infants, but hyperoxia predisposes survivors to respiratory diseases such as asthma. Although much research has focused on oxygen effects on alveoli in the setting of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, the mechanisms by which oxygen affects airway structure or function relevant to asthma are still under investigation. We used isolated human fetal airway smooth muscle (fASM) cells from 18-20 postconceptual age lungs (canalicular stage) to examine oxygen effects on intracellular Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](i)) and cellular proliferation.

An underreported consequence of obesity in pregnancy: patient-prosthesis mismatch.

As the rate of obesity increases in childbearing-aged women, so too will the complications of obesity in pregnancy. An uncommon and likely underreported complication occurs in obese women who have received prepregnancy cardiac valve replacement with a prosthesis that is inadequately sized for body habitus, a condition referred to as patient-prosthesis mismatch (PPM). The physiologic changes of pregnancy as well as the increased weight gain combine to exacerbate PPM.

CD38 expression, function, and gene resequencing in a human lymphoblastoid cell line-based model system.

CD38 is an ecto-enzyme that hydrolyzes NAD. Its expression is a prognostic marker for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. We have characterized individual variation in CD38 expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines from 288 healthy subjects of three ethnicities.

Presence of the anti-leukemic nucleotide analog, 2-chloro-2'-deoxyadenosine-5'-monophosphate, in a promoter sequence alters DNA binding of TATA-binding protein (TBP).

2-Chlorodeoxyadenosine (CldAdo, Cladribine), a nucleoside analog used in the treatment of hairy cell leukemia, is phosphorylated and incorporated into DNA, but is not an absolute chain terminator. We hypothesized that the presence of a chlorine molecule projecting into the DNA minor groove would affect DNA:protein-binding interactions. Here, we investigated recognition of and binding to double-stranded CldAMP-substituted TATA promoter sequences by human TATA-binding protein (TBP) using mobility shift assays.

The antileukemia drug 2-chloro-2'-deoxyadenosine: an intrinsic transcriptional antagonist.

The nucleoside analog 2-chloro-2'-deoxyadenosine (CldAdo; cladribine) is effective in the treatment of hairy cell leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. CldAdo is phosphorylated and incorporated into cellular DNA but is not an absolute chain terminator. We demonstrated by in vitro gel-shift assays that binding interactions of the human TATA box-binding protein (TBP) were disrupted on 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine monophosphate (CldAMP)-substituted TATA box consensus sequences.