Corrigendum to 'A rare case of fibrostenotic endobronchial tuberculosis of trachea' [Ann. Med. Surg. 4 (2015) 479-482].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.amsu.2015.10.007.].

A widened pulse pressure: a potential valuable prognostic indicator of mortality in patients with sepsis.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and the most common cause of death among critically ill patients in non-coronary intensive care units. Previous studies have showed pulse pressure (PP) to be a predictor of fluid responsiveness in patients with sepsis. Additionally, previous studies have correlated PP to cardiovascular risk factors and increase in mortality in end-stage renal disease patients. OBJECTIVES: To determine the correlation between PP and mortality in patients with sepsis. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted on 5,003 patients admitted with the diagnosis of sepsis using ICD-9 codes during the time period from January 2010 to December 2014 at two community-based hospitals in central Pennsylvania. RESULTS: Our study findings showed significant decrease in the mortality when the PP was greater than 70 mmHg of patients with sepsis (p-value: 0.0003, odds ratio: 0.67, 95% confidence limit: 0.54-0.83). CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, we suggest that PP could be a valuable clinical tool in the early assessment of patients admitted with sepsis and could be used as a prognostic factor to assess and implement management therapy for the patients with sepsis.

A rare case of fibrostenotic endobronchial tuberculosis of trachea.

Endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB) is a sequelae of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) that extends to the endobronchial or endotracheal wall causing inflammation, edema, ulceration, granulation or fibrosis of mucosa and submucosa. This case depicts a 20 year old foreign-born woman with a history of active pulmonary TB on anti-TB chemotherapy, who presented with worsening stridor, dyspnea, cough and weight loss. The disease state was diagnosed with multiple modalities including, spirometry, CT scan of the neck, and bronchoscopy. The biopsies of the tracheal web revealed fibrotic tissue without any granulomas or malignancy establishing the diagnosis of EBTB. Serial balloon dilations and anti-neoplastic therapy with Mitomycin C was used to accomplish sufficient airway patency to relieve her symptoms. ETBT is a rare consequence of TB, which although has a low incidence in the United States, so physicians should have a high clinical suspicion based on the need for prompt intervention.