The Prognostic Role of RDW in Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients with and Without Chronic Kidney Disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and heart failure (HF) are interrelated conditions that exacerbate each other through mechanisms like fluid retention, neurohormonal activation, and inflammation. Red blood cell distribution width (RDW), a measure of red blood cell size variability, has emerged as a potential prognostic marker in HF. This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of RDW in HF patients, both with and without CKD, focusing on all-cause mortality and HF rehospitalizations.

Clarithromycin For Improved Clinical Outcomes in Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Subgroup Analysis of the ACCESS Study.

Background: In the ACCESS trial the addition of clarithromycin to standard-of-care (SoC) antibiotics enhanced early clinical response and attenuated the inflammatory burden in adults with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) requiring hospitalization. A post-hoc analysis was performed to investigate the benefit in specific subgroups.

Methods: The primary endpoint comprised two conditions to be met during the first 72 hours: ≥50% decrease of respiratory symptom severity score; and any of ≥30% decrease of SOFA score and favourable change of kinetics of procalcitonin (defined as ≥80% PCT decrease or PCT <0.

ANAKINRA EFFICACY IN COVID-19 PNEUMONIA GUIDED BY SOLUBLE UROKINASE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR RECEPTOR: ASSOCIATION WITH THE INFLAMMATORY BURDEN OF THE HOST.

Anakinra was approved by the European Medicines Agency and received Emergency Use Authorization by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia at risk for severe respiratory failure (SRF) with blood levels of suPAR (soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor) ≥ 6 ng/ml. We report the final results of the phase II open-label single-arm SAVE trial in a large population. Patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and suPAR levels ≥6 ng/ml received subcutaneously anakinra 100mg once daily for 10 days.

Association between carpal tunnel syndrome and shoulder pain: a case-control study.

We investigated the prevalence of shoulder pain around the scapular spine in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and in the general population. In those with carpal tunnel syndrome, 63% reported shoulder pain, against 5% in the control group. III.

Hellenic Association for the Study of the Liver (HASL): revised clinical practice guidelines for autoimmune hepatitis.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare liver disease, of unknown origin, characterized by considerable heterogeneity. AIH can affect both sexes, of all ages, ethnicities and races. The revised Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) of the Hellenic Association for the Study of the Liver aim to provide updated guidance to clinicians.

Sepsis pathogenesis and outcome are shaped by the balance between the transcriptional states of systemic inflammation and antimicrobial response.

Patients with sepsis differ in their clinical presentations and immune dysregulation in response to infection, but the fundamental processes that determine this heterogeneity remain elusive. Here, we aim to understand which types of immune dysregulation characterize patients with sepsis. To that end, we investigate sepsis pathogenesis in the context of two transcriptional states: one represents the immune response to eliminate pathogens (resistance, R) and the other is associated with systemic inflammation (SI).

Liver stiffness measurement predicts clinical outcomes in autoimmune hepatitis.

Background & Aims: Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) has been shown to adequately predict outcomes in patients with liver disease. However, the value of LSM as a predictor of disease progression in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) remains to be determined. This study aimed to evaluate the role of LSM as a predictor of disease progression and decompensation of cirrhosis in patients with AIH.

Comprehensive liquid biopsy analysis for monitoring NSCLC patients under second-line osimertinib treatment.

Background: The heterogeneous and complex genetic landscape of NSCLC impacts the clinical outcomes of patients who will eventually develop resistance to osimertinib. Liquid biopsy (LB) analysis as a minimally invasive approach is a key step to efficiently identify resistance mechanisms and adjust to proper subsequent treatments.

Materials And Methods: In the present study, we combined plasma-cfDNA and CTC analysis from 30 NSCLC patients in samples collected before treatment and at the progression of disease (PD).

Serpin Family B Member 2 Polymorphisms in Patients with Diabetic Kidney Disease: An Association Study.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a serious microvascular complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Despite the numerous genetic loci that have been associated with the disease in T2DM, the genetic architecture of DKD remains unclear until today. In contrast to , the contribution of has not been examined in DKD.

TLR4 and TNF-α single nucleotide polymorphisms in patients with brucellosis: Association with infection complications.

Objectives: To investigate associations of the carriage of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of proteins involved in the immune response of patients with brucellosis.

Methods: A case control study of patients with brucellosis upon WHO criteria. Blood genomic analysis was performed by RFLP- PCR for the detection of SNPs: i) at promoters -376 G > A (rs1800750); -308 G > A (rs 1,800,629); -238 G > A (rs361525) of the TNF gene, ii) at -896 A > G Asp299Gly (rs4986790) and -1196 C > T Thr399Ile (rs4986791) positions of the TLR-4 gene.

Modulation of Metabolomic Profile in Sepsis According to the State of Immune Activation.

Objective: To investigate the metabolomic profiles associated with different immune activation states in sepsis patients.

Design: Subgroup analysis of the PROVIDE (a Personalized Randomized trial of Validation and restoration of Immune Dysfunction in severe infections and Sepsis) prospective clinical study.

Setting: Results of the PROVIDE study showed that patients with sepsis may be classified into three states of immune activation: 1) macrophage-activation-like syndrome (MALS) characterized by hyperinflammation, sepsis-induced immunoparalysis, and 3) unclassified or intermediate patients without severe immune dysregulation.

Efficacy and safety of infliximab in patients with autoimmune hepatitis.

Background And Aims: A limited number of drugs are used as standard or alternative therapies in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). No specific recommendations are available for patients failing to respond to these therapies. We analyzed the efficacy and safety of infliximab in patients with AIH.

Safe outpatient discharge after gastrointestinal endoscopy with sedation and analgesia: a systematic literature review.

Sedation and analgesia during gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy increase procedural quality, contributing at the same time to greater patient satisfaction and willingness to undergo the procedure. Although sedation use has been optimized by the advent of efficacious and safe medications, data regarding the minimal criteria for discharge after outpatient endoscopy remain scant. Moreover, the time of discharge after endoscopy can be highly variable, depending not only on the type of procedure and anesthesia administered, but also on postprocedural complications and the patient's comorbidities.

Efficacy of decompressive craniectomy: A retrospective case series study with 321 patients and an update on controversies.

Decompressive craniectomy (DC) is considered a cornerstone in the management of refractory intracranial hypertension. For decades, DC was known as an occasionally lifesaving procedure; however, it was associated with numerous severe complications. The present study is a single-center retrospective case series study on with 321 patients who underwent DC between January, 2010 and December, 2020.

Weaning Outcome is Associated with ELWI and Impaired Diastolic Function.

Objectives: To evaluate hemodynamic profiles of critical care patients undergoing spontaneous t-piece trial (SBT) and present weaning failure.

Methods: Prospective observational study conducted in ready-to-wean non-cardiac ICU patients. Clinical, echocardiographic and thermodilution-derived variables were recorded before and after a 2-hour SBT.

Monkeypox-related ophthalmic disease (MPXROD): Monitoring the antiviral effect of tecovirimat with monkeypox virus detection in tear samples.

Introduction: Although monkeypox-related ophthalmic disease (MPXROD) is rare, visual impairing complications have been reported. At present, tecovirimat is the standard-of-care antiviral treatment. In this MPXROD case, the effect of tecovirimat was assessed with PCR analysis of tear samples and concurrent monitoring of inflammation with laser flare photometry (LFP).