ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Most outcome-predictive models for COVID-19 patients use hospital admission data, offering a spontaneous mortality risk estimation. We aimed to elaborate on a tool that could be applied repeatedly, thus being more suitable for these patients' rapidly changing clinical course. METHODS: In this prospective study, we evaluated 560 samples derived from 156 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in a single center. Age >61 years, male sex, comorbidities >2, need for intensive care unit admission, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) >408 U/L, Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) >17, C-reactive protein (CRP) >10 mg/dl, and D-dimers >3,200 ng/ml were incorporated in an eight-scale score (MaD-CLINYC) after optimal scaling, ridge regression, and bootstrapping, which was documented to correlate with outcome independently of one or more samples analyzed, day from admission at sampling, and need for delivery. Validation process was performed over 574 samples derived from three centers. RESULTS: The developing and the validation cohort Area under Curve (AUC) was 0.90 (95 % Confidence Interval: 0.82-0.98) and 0.91 (0.88-0.94), respectively (p =0.822). A MaD-CLINYC score ≥4 had 75 % sensitivity and 81 % specificity to predict fatal outcome. CONCLUSIONS: MaD-CLINYC score is a powerful, feasible, easy-to-use, dynamic tool to assess the risk of the outcome, thus assisting clinicians in close monitoring and timely decisions in COVID-19 hospitalized patients. HIPPOKRATIA 2021, 25 (3):119-125.
ABSTRACT
The representation of perceived space and intended actions in the primate parietal cortex has been the subject of considerable debate. To address this issue, we used the quantitative 14C-deoxyglucose method to obtain maps of the activity pattern in the intraparietal cortex of rhesus monkeys executing saccades to visual and memorized targets. The principal effect induced by memory-guided saccades was found more caudally in the deepest part of the middle third of the lateral bank (within area LIPv) whereas that induced by visually guided saccades extended more rostrally and superficially in the anterior third of the bank (within area LIPd). The memory-saccade-related and the visual-saccade-related regions of activation overlapped only within area LIPv. Besides saccade execution, maximal activity in area LIPd required a visual stimulus. The region activated by visual fixation was located at the border of LIPv and LIPd, extending mainly within area LIPd, and occupying about one third of the neural space of the region activated for visual-saccades. We suggest that the lateral intraparietal cortex represents visual and motor space in segregated, albeit partially overlapping, regions.
