The impact of a quality improvement effort in reducing admission hypothermia in preterm infants following delivery / 소아과

PURPOSE: Hypothermia at admission is associated with increased mortality and morbidity in preterm infants. We performed a quality improvement (QI) effort to determine the impact of a decrease in admission hypothermia in preterm infants. METHODS: The study enrolled very low birth weight (VLBW) infants born at Gangnam Severance Hospital between January 2013 and December 2016. This multidisciplinary QI effort included the use of occlusive wraps, warm blankets, and caps; the delivery room temperature was maintained above 23.0℃, and a check-list was used for feedback. RESULTS: Among 259 preterm infants, the incidence of hypothermia (defined as body temperature <36.0℃) decreased significantly from 68% to 41%, and the mean body temperature on neonatal intensive care unit admission increased significantly from 35.5℃ to 36.0℃. In subgroup analysis of VLBW infants, admission hypothermia and neonatal outcomes were compared between the pre-QI (n=55) and post-QI groups (n=75). Body temperature on admission increased significantly from 35.4℃ to 35.9℃ and the number of infants with hypothermia decreased significantly from 71% to 45%. There were no cases of neonatal hyperthermia. The incidence of pulmonary hemorrhage was significantly decreased (P=0.017). Interaction analysis showed that birth weight and gestational age were not correlated with hypothermia following implementation of the protocol. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated a significant reduction in admission hypothermia following the introduction of a standardized protocol in our QI effort. This resulted in an effective reduction in the incidence of massive pulmonary hemorrhage.

Pulmonary Hemorrhage Associated With Severe Leptospirosis – The Role Of Low Dose Intravenous Methylprednisolone

@#Leptospirosis has a wide range of presentation which ranges from mild flu-like symptoms, to severe form including renal failure, liver failure, and hemorrhage. Pulmonary involvement can progress from subtle clinical features to life threatening pulmonary hemorrhage and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Although benefits of corticosteroids in adult respiratory distress syndrome have been proven and accepted, evidence for use of corticosteroids in pulmonary leptospirosis is still limited. Given the vasculitic nature of severe leptospirosis, it has been proposed that addition of intravenous corticosteroid therapy, particularly in cases of pulmonary involvement is beneficial. We report a case of leptospirosis with suspected pulmonary hemorrhage which deteriorates after a few days of admission in our tertiary hospital. We have demonstrated that the prescription of a lower dose of corticosteroid than what was widely reported in the literature can equally led to a satisfactory recovery of the pulmonary hemorrhage.

Leptospirosis among the self-supporting convicts of Andaman Island during the 1920s - the first report on pulmonary haemorrhage in leptospirosis.

Several researchers had carried out investigations on the possibility of existence of Weil’s disease in Andaman Islands during early 20th century. The first report of a series of confirmed cases of leptospirosis that occurred during1929 was published in 1931.There were several reports during 1995 to 2009 that described detailed account of leptospirosis including various clinical syndromes. The possibility of pulmonary involvement in leptospirosis being a manifestation historically overlooked rather than newly emerged during the past two decades is examined in this review in the context of Andaman Islands. Two case series of leptospirosis, one occurred in 1929 and the other in 1996-1997 were reviewed with special emphasis on pulmonary involvement and haemorrhagic manifestations. The similarities and differences in the clinical profile of patients of the two case series were analysed. The review shows that respiratory system involvement and pulmonary haemorrhage as evidenced by presence of haemoptysis as a complication of leptospirosis was occurring during 1920s in Andaman Islands. The incidence of pulmonary involvement, however, rose from 9.4 per cent during 1929 to 52 per cent in 1996-1997. The case fatality ratio in patients with pulmonary involvement, which was 50 per cent during 1929 and 42.9 per cent during 1996-1997, was higher than that in cases without pulmonary involvement.Fever, conjunctival congestion, jaundice, vomiting, diarrhoea, hepatomagaly, haemoptysis, haematemesis and subconjunctival haemorrhage were common in both series. The case series in Andaman Islands in 1929 was probably the first report of pulmonary haemorrhage as a manifestation of leptospirosis. The increase in the incidence of pulmonary involvement in leptospirosis in the recent past is probably due to the increase in the density and diversityof its animal vectors,the broadening of the range of circulating serovars and the interactions between the vector and the agent. An increased virulence of Leptospira through gene acquisition and loss on an evolutionary time scale and the resulting change in the gene content, gene order and gene expression cannot be ruled out.

Avanços no conhecimento da imunopatogênese da leptospirose e a aplicação do método do imprint como ferramenta qualitativa e quantitativa de leptospiras / Advances in understanding the immunopathogenesis of leptospirosis and application of the imprint method as a qualitative and quantitative tool leptospires

A leptospirose é uma zoonose causada por espiroquetas patogênicas pertencentes ao gênero Leptospira. O modelo da doença em camundongos tem vantagens devido à ampla gama de ferramentas genéticas e imunológicas disponíveis para pesquisas básicas. A maior limitação na conduta clínica e na pesquisa experimental da leptospirose é o fraco desempenho dos métodos disponíveis para detecção direta e para quantificação de leptospiras. Foi incluído nesta tese um conjunto de três manuscritos que visam investigar o desfecho da infecção pela cepa virulenta de Leptospira interrogans nas linhagens de camundongos selvagens (A, CBA, BALB/c e C57BL/6)...

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by pathogenic spirochaetes belonging to the genus Leptospira. The mouse disease model is advantagous due to the broad array of immunological and genetic tools available for basic research. A major limitation in the clinical management and experimental research of leptospirosis is the poor performance of the available methods in the direct detection and quantification of leptospires. This thesis includes three manuscripts that investigate the outcome of infection by a virulent strain of Leptospira interrogans in wildtype mice strains: A, CBA, BALB/c and C57BL/6; in iNOS knockout (KO) mice, recombination activating gene 1 (RAG1) KO mice and CB17 severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. To investigate whether the imprint method (IM) of quantification was reliable we compared it with against real time PCR (qPCR) for the detection and quantification of leptospires in kidney samples from rats and hamsters. As expected, none of the wildtype mice were susceptible to lethal leptospirosis. The A and C57BL/6 strains exhibited high leptospiral loads in the kidney samples and the CBA and C57BL/6...

Hemorragia pulmonar en enfermedades del tejido conectivo y comparación con lo descripto en la literatura / Pulmonary hemorrhage in connective tissue diseases and comparison with previous literature reports

Introducción: La hemorragia pulmonar difusa se caracteriza clínicamente por la presencia de disnea y hemoptisis, infiltrados alveolares bilaterales y difusos en la Rx de tórax y caída brusca de los valores de hemoglobina. Esta hemorragia puede ocurrir en el contexto de una enfermedad autoinmune (poliangeítis microscópica, enfermedad de Wegener, LES, síndrome de Goodpasture), síndrome antifosfolípidos, enfermedades infecciosas (leptospirosis y neumonía necrotizante), uremia, insuficiencia cardíaca congestiva, infarto pulmonar, desórdenes de la coagulación y secundaria a drogas (penicilamina). Dada su alta mortalidad y la escasez de síntomas (mucho mayor en pacientes inmunocomprometidos) es necesario un alto índice de sospecha y un rápido tratamiento. Objetivo: Comparar las manifestaciones clínicas, radiológicas y de laboratorio de los pacientes con hemorragia de pulmón con otras series publicadas. Material y métodos: Estudio retrospectivo y descriptivo, realizado revisando las historias clínicas de los pacientes con diagnóstico de hemorragia de pulmón secundaria a enfermedades autoinmunes. Criterios de inclusión (adaptados de Barile y cols.): caída en la hemoglobina de por lo menos 1,5 g/dl o anemia (Hb menor o igual a 11 g/dl), ambas relacionadas al evento; insuficiencia respiratoria de comienzo agudo; hemoptisis; infiltrados en ¾ de los campos pulmonares; hipoxemia y lavado bronquioloalveolar con al menos 20% de macrófagos con hemosiderina o sangre por tubo endotraqueal. Criterios de exclusión: infecciones, tromboembolismo de pulmón, falta de confirmación por lavado bronquioloalveolar o tubo endotraqueal. Resultados: 19 pacientes con hemorragia de pulmón. 5 de ellos excluidos por la presencia de tromboembolismo de pulmón en uno y ausencia de método confirmatorio de hemorragia de pulmón en 4...

Introduction: Pulmonary or diffuse alveolar hemorrhage is clinicallycharacterized by the presence of dypsnea and hemoptysis, bilateraland diffuse alveolar infiltrates on chest X-ray and sudden drop in bloodhemoglobin. This hemorrhage may occur in the setting of autoimmunediseases (microscopic polyarteritis, Wegener’s disease, systemic lupuserythematosus, Goodpasture syndrome), antiphospholipid syndrome,infectious diseases (such as leptospirosis and necrotizing pneumonia),uremia, congestive heart failure, pulmonary infarction, coagulation disordersand hemorrhages secondary to drugs (such as penicilamina).Due to its high mortality and the paucity of symptoms (mostly in theinmunocompromise patients), it is necessary a high index of suspiciousto promptly treat...(AU)Objective: To compare the clinical, radiological and lab tests findings ofthe patients selected with the published series.Material and Method: A retrospective and descriptive analysis wasperformed on the records of all patients with a diagnosis of pulmonaryhemorrhage secondary to autoimmune diseases. Inclusion criteria(adapted of Barile et al): Fall in hemoglobin of at least 1.5 g/dl or anemia(hemoglobin 11 g/dl or less), both related to the event, respiratoryfailure of rapid onset, hemoptysis, dense infiltrates in ¾ or more of thelung fields, hypoxemia and bronchoalveolar lavage, with at least 20% ofmacrophages with hemosiderin inside or the presence of blood in endotrachealtube. Exclusion criteria: Pulmonary infections, tromboembolismdisease, lack of confirmation by method of pulmonary haemorrhage...

Severe Pulmonary Leptospirois Associated With High Fatality Rate: An Autopsy Series in Galle, Southern Sri Lanka

According to statistical unit of the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, Galle, the main tertiary care institution of the Southern Province serving approximately three million population, in 2008, there were 459 patients with clinical diagnosis of leptospirosis, with 25 fatalities, 21 out of which were referred for autopsy examination. Objectives: The present study to study and correlate pathological changes in deaths associated with pulmonary form of leptospirosis with clinico-diagnostic aspects of the infection. Method: There had been 21 leptospirosis related autopsy examinations performed at forensic medicine unit of the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital from January to December 2008. The clinical, laboratory and autopsy findings of these cases were recorded in detail and analyzed. Results: The characteristic autopsy feature of all these cases was a moderate to severe pulmonary haemorrhage in association with hepato-renal, myocardial and cerebral lesions. The histology of the lung tissues in most cases showed extensive alveolar haemorrhages, hyaline like deposits, neutrophilic infiltrations, swollen septa with congested blood vessels. Conclusion: Severe pulmonary complications are mostly responsible for all fatalities due to leptospirosis in our series. Though there are no reliable clinical indicators that suggest probability of developing pulmonary haemorrhages, we emphasize that respiratory functions and haematological parameters need to be closely monitored in all hospitalized patients with leptospirosis for early detection and prevention of haemorrhagic complications.