Viruses and the risk of lung cancer: prevention and treatment

Lung cancer is the most common cancer in males and the second most common among females both in Europe and worldwide. Moreover, lung cancer is the leading cause of death due to cancer in males. The European region accounts for 23% of total cancer cases and 20% of cancer-related deaths. Relationships have been described between a number of infectious agents and cancers, but our knowledge of the role of viruses, both respiratory and systemic, in the pathogenesis of lung cancer is still rudimentary and has been poorly disseminated. In this chapter, we review the available evidence on the involvement of HPV, Epstein-Barr virus, HIV, cytomegalovirus and measles virus in the epidemiology and pathogenesis of lung cancer.Copyright © ERS 2021.

Advances in molecular diagnostic tests for community-acquired pneumonia

The use of a timely and appropriate antibiotic therapy, which requires early and accurate microorganisms' detection in pneumonia. Currently, the identification of microorganisms in pneumonia is limited by the low sensitivity and long response time of standard culture-based diagnostic tools. For this reason, treatment in pneumonia is empirical. An inadequate empirical treatment is related to poor outcomes in patients with pneumonia. The microbiological diagnosis is key to improve the outcomes in patient with pneumonia. Over the past years there was a significant advance in the molecular diagnosis of infectious diseases including pneumonia. Also the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the development and application of these new molecular techniques. This review summarizes the advances in molecular diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia.Copyright © 2022 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA.

Risk factors associated with mortality among elderly patients with COVID-19: Data from 55 intensive care units in Spain.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Critically-ill elderly ICU patients with COVID-19 have poor outcomes. We aimed to compare the rates of in-hospital mortality between non-elderly and elderly critically-ill COVID-19 ventilated patients, as well as to analyze the characteristics, secondary outcomes and independent risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality of elderly ventilated patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a multicentre, observational cohort study including consecutive critically-ill patients admitted to 55 Spanish ICUs due to severe COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation (non-invasive respiratory support [NIRS; include non-invasive mechanical ventilation and high-flow nasal cannula] and invasive mechanical ventilation [IMV]) between February 2020 and October 2021. RESULTS: Out of 5,090 critically-ill ventilated patients, 1,525 (27%) were aged ≥70 years (554 [36%] received NIRS and 971 [64%] received IMV. In the elderly group, median age was 74 years (interquartile range 72-77) and 68% were male. Overall in-hospital mortality was 31% (23% in patients <70 years and 50% in those ≥70 years; p<0.001). In-hospital mortality in the group ≥70 years significantly varied according to the modality of ventilation (40% in NIRS vs. 55% in IMV group; p<0.001). Factors independently associated with in-hospital mortality in elderly ventilated patients were age (sHR 1.07 [95%CI 1.05-1.10], p<0.001); previous admission within the last 30 days (sHR 1.40 [95%CI 1.04-1.89], p = 0.027); chronic heart disease (sHR 1.21 [95%CI 1.01-1.44], p = 0.041); chronic renal failure (sHR 1.43 [95%CI 1.12- 1.82], p = 0.005); platelet count (sHR 0.98 [95% CI 0.98-0.99], p<0.001); IMV at ICU admission (sHR 1.41 [95% CI 1.16- 1.73], p<0.001); and systemic steroids (sHR 0.61 [95%CI 0.48- 0.77], p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Amongst critically-ill COVID-19 ventilated patients, those aged ≥70 years presented significantly higher rates of in-hospital mortality than younger patients. Increasing age, previous admission within the last 30 days, chronic heart disease, chronic renal failure, platelet count, IMV at ICU admission and systemic steroids (protective) all comprised independent factors for in-hospital mortality in elderly patients.

Steroid therapy and antiviral treatment in SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia: clinical contexts and indications.

Critically ill patients with COVID-19 face a higher risk of disease progression and complications. The current standard of care includes supportive care measures and fluid management. The Recovery trial observed a reduction in all-cause, 28-day mortality (p<0.001) when patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen therapy received 6 mg of dexamethasone per day for 10 days. In contrast, in patients not requiring oxygen, no benefit was observed: 28-day mortality rates for the dexamethasone and routine care groups were 17.8% and 14%, respectively. To corroborate these results, the World Health Organization (WHO) performed a meta-analysis. The study showed that the use of systemic corticosteroids compared with routine care placebo was associated with a decrease in all-cause, 28-day mortality. With respect to the effectiveness of remdesivir, the ACTT-1 trial found that the drug conferred a benefit on time to clinical improvement. The subgroup analysis in the clinical trial also showed a benefit per mortality in patients requiring supplemental oxygen, albeit not those in need of mechanical ventilation.

COVID-19 in patients aged 80 years and over during the peaks of the first three pandemic waves at a Spanish tertiary hospital

INTRODUCTION COVID-19 disproportionately impacts patients aged >= 80 years, yet few studies have focused on this population. We aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of very elderly patients with COVID-19 across three consecutive waves in Spain. METHODS We retrospectively evaluated very elderly patients admitted with COVID-19 to a university hospital in Barcelona, Spain, across the three first waves. Main outcomes were ICU admission and 30-day mortality. RESULTS From March 2020 to February 2021, 3105 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were admitted. Of these, 655 (21%) were very elderly patients, 50% were female and median age was 86 (83;89) years. ICU admission and ICU-mortality rates were 11% and 42%, respectively;male sex, respiratory rate >= 25 breaths/min, LDH >= 337.5 U/L and C-reactive protein >= 11.5 mg/dL were significantly associated with ICU admission in the multivariable analysis. Overall, 30-day mortality was 34%. The ICU admission rate was significantly higher during the first wave compared to the third wave (16% vs 8%;p=0.009), whereas no significant differences in 30-day mortality were found between waves (p=0.107). CONCLUSIONS We observed an increase in the percentage of very elderly patients admitted to the ICU during the three first pandemic peaks. ICU admission more likely occurs in very elderly male patients with higher respiratory rate, with elevate LDH and C-reactive protein. Overall, our 30-day mortality rate was lower compared to other series globally.

Community-acquired Pneumonia Severity Assessment Tools in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19: a Validation and Clinical Applicability Study

OBJECTIVE: To externally validate community acquired pneumonia (CAP) tools on patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia from two distinct countries, and compare its performance to recently developed COVID-19 mortality risk stratification tools. METHODS: We evaluated 11 risk stratification scores in a binational retrospective cohort of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia in Sao Paulo and Barcelona: Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), CURB, CURB-65, qSOFA, Infectious Disease Society of America and American Thoracic Society Minor Criteria, REA-ICU, SCAP, SMART-COP, CALL, COVID GRAM and 4C. The primary and secondary outcomes were 30-day in-hospital mortality and seven-day intensive-care unit (ICU) admission respectively. We compared their predictive performance using the area under the ROC curve (AUROC), sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, calibration plots and decision curve analysis. RESULTS: Of 1363 patients, the mean (SD) age was 61 (16) years. The 30-day in-hospital mortality rate was 24.6% (228/925) in Sao Paulo and 21.0% (92/438) in Barcelona. For in-hospital mortality, we found higher AUROCs for PSI (0.79, 95%CI 0.77-0.82), 4C (0.78, 95%CI 0.75-0.81), COVID GRAM (0.77, 95%CI 0.75-0.80), and CURB-65 (0.74 95%CI 0.72-0.77). Results were similar for both countries. For most 1-20% threshold range in decision curve analysis, PSI would avoid a higher number of unnecessary interventions, followed by the 4C score. All scores had poor performance (AUROC<0.65) for seven-day ICU admission. CONCLUSIONS: Recent clinical COVID-19 assessment scores had comparable performance to standard pneumonia assessment tools. Because it is expected that new scores outperform older ones during development, external validation studies are needed before recommending their use.