Documented growth of an intracranial capillary hemangioma: A case report.

Intracranial capillary hemangiomas in adults are rare, and diagnosis can be challenging. Hemangiomas, in general (and particularly in the skin), are more often noted in the pediatric population. Due to the lack of imaging undertaken in the presymptomatic phase, the literature provides few clues on the rate of growth of these unusual tumors. Therefore, we report a case of a 64-year-old man with a medical history of Lyme disease who presented with exhaustion and confusion. Imaging demonstrated an intra-axial lesion with vascularity in the posterior right temporal lobe, raising the possibility of a glioma. Imaging two years prior revealed a very small lesion in the same location. The patient underwent a craniectomy, total resection of the lesion was completed, and his symptoms of confusion resolved. Biopsy revealed a capillary hemangioma composed of small vascular channels lined by endothelial cells and pericytes without smooth muscle. Features of glioma, vascular neoplasms or neuroborreliosis (cerebral Lyme disease) were not identified. Our case documents the growth over two years of a rare intracranial capillary hemangioma in an older adult male.

Prophylactic cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor drugs for the prevention of morbidity and mortality in preterm infants: a network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in preterm infants. Cyclooxygenase inhibitors (COX-I) may prevent PDA-related complications. Controversy exists on which COX-I drug is the most effective and has the best safety profile in preterm infants. OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness and safety of prophylactic COX-I drugs and 'no COXI prophylaxis' in preterm infants using a Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA). SEARCH METHODS: Searches of Cochrane CENTRAL via Wiley, OVID MEDLINE and Embase via Elsevier were conducted on 9 December 2021. We conducted independent searches of clinical trial registries and conference abstracts; and scanned the reference lists of included trials and related systematic reviews. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that enrolled preterm or low birth weight infants within the first 72 hours of birth without a prior clinical or echocardiographic diagnosis of PDA and compared prophylactic administration of indomethacin or ibuprofen or acetaminophen versus each other, placebo or no treatment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used the standard methods of Cochrane Neonatal. We used the GRADE NMA approach to assess the certainty of evidence derived from the NMA for the following outcomes: severe intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH), mortality, surgical or interventional PDA closure, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), gastrointestinal perforation, chronic lung disease (CLD) and cerebral palsy (CP). MAIN RESULTS: We included 28 RCTs (3999 preterm infants). Nineteen RCTs (n = 2877) compared prophylactic indomethacin versus placebo/no treatment, 7 RCTs (n = 914) compared prophylactic ibuprofen versus placebo/no treatment and 2 RCTs (n = 208) compared prophylactic acetaminophen versus placebo/no treatment. Nine RCTs were judged to have high risk of bias in one or more domains.We identified two ongoing trials on prophylactic acetaminophen. Bayesian random-effects NMA demonstrated that prophylactic indomethacin probably led to a small reduction in severe IVH (network RR 0.66, 95% Credible Intervals [CrI] 0.49 to 0.87; absolute risk difference [ARD] 43 fewer [95% CrI, 65 fewer to 16 fewer] per 1000; median rank 2, 95% CrI 1-3; moderate-certainty), a moderate reduction in mortality (network RR 0.85, 95% CrI 0.64 to 1.1; ARD 24 fewer [95% CrI, 58 fewer to 16 more] per 1000; median rank 2, 95% CrI 1-4; moderate-certainty) and surgical PDA closure (network RR 0.40, 95% CrI 0.14 to 0.66; ARD 52 fewer [95% CrI, 75 fewer to 30 fewer] per 1000; median rank 2, 95% CrI 1-2; moderate-certainty) compared to placebo. Prophylactic indomethacin resulted in trivial difference in NEC (network RR 0.76, 95% CrI 0.35 to 1.2; ARD 16 fewer [95% CrI, 42 fewer to 13 more] per 1000; median rank 2, 95% CrI 1-3; high-certainty), gastrointestinal perforation (network RR 0.92, 95% CrI 0.11 to 3.9; ARD 4 fewer [95% CrI, 42 fewer to 137 more] per 1000; median rank 1, 95% CrI 1-3; moderate-certainty) or CP (network RR 0.97, 95% CrI 0.44 to 2.1; ARD 3 fewer [95% CrI, 62 fewer to 121 more] per 1000; median rank 2, 95% CrI 1-3; low-certainty) and may result in a small increase in CLD (network RR 1.10, 95% CrI 0.93 to 1.3; ARD 36 more [95% CrI, 25 fewer to 108 more] per 1000; median rank 3, 95% CrI 1-3; low-certainty). Prophylactic ibuprofen probably led to a small reduction in severe IVH (network RR 0.69, 95% CrI 0.41 to 1.14; ARD 39 fewer [95% CrI, 75 fewer to 18 more] per 1000; median rank 2, 95% CrI 1-4; moderate-certainty) and moderate reduction in surgical PDA closure (network RR 0.24, 95% CrI 0.06 to 0.64; ARD 66 fewer [95% CrI, from 82 fewer to 31 fewer] per 1000; median rank 1, 95% CrI 1-2; moderate-certainty) compared to placebo. Prophylactic ibuprofen may result in moderate reduction in mortality (network RR 0.83, 95% CrI 0.57 to 1.2; ARD 27 fewer [95% CrI, from 69 fewer to 32 more] per 1000; median rank 2, 95% CrI 1-4; low-certainty) and leads to trivial difference in NEC (network RR 0.73, 95% CrI 0.31 to 1.4; ARD 18 fewer [95% CrI, from 45 fewer to 26 more] per 1000; median rank 1, 95% CrI 1-3; high-certainty), or CLD (network RR 1.00, 95% CrI 0.83 to 1.3; ARD 0 fewer [95% CrI, from 61 fewer to 108 more] per 1000; median rank 2, 95% CrI 1-3; low-certainty). The evidence is very uncertain on effect of ibuprofen on gastrointestinal perforation (network RR 2.6, 95% CrI 0.42 to 20.0; ARD 76 more [95% CrI, from 27 fewer to 897 more] per 1000; median rank 3, 95% CrI 1-3; very low-certainty). The evidence is very uncertain on the effect of prophylactic acetaminophen on severe IVH (network RR 1.17, 95% CrI 0.04 to 55.2; ARD 22 more [95% CrI, from 122 fewer to 1000 more] per 1000; median rank 4, 95% CrI 1-4; very low-certainty), mortality (network RR 0.49, 95% CrI 0.16 to 1.4; ARD 82 fewer [95% CrI, from 135 fewer to 64 more] per 1000; median rank 1, 95% CrI 1-4; very low-certainty), or CP (network RR 0.36, 95% CrI 0.01 to 6.3; ARD 70 fewer [95% CrI, from 109 fewer to 583 more] per 1000; median rank 1, 95% CrI 1-3; very low-certainty). In summary, based on ranking statistics, both indomethacin and ibuprofen were equally effective (median ranks 2 respectively) in reducing severe IVH and mortality. Ibuprofen (median rank 1) was more effective than indomethacin in reducing surgical PDA ligation (median rank 2). However, no statistically-significant differences were observed between the COX-I drugs for any of the relevant outcomes. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Prophylactic indomethacin probably results in a small reduction in severe IVH and moderate reduction in mortality and surgical PDA closure (moderate-certainty), may result in a small increase in CLD (low-certainty) and results in trivial differences in NEC (high-certainty), gastrointestinal perforation (moderate-certainty) and cerebral palsy (low-certainty). Prophylactic ibuprofen probably results in a small reduction in severe IVH and moderate reduction in surgical PDA closure (moderate-certainty), may result in a moderate reduction in mortality (low-certainty) and trivial differences in CLD (low-certainty) and NEC (high-certainty). The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of acetaminophen on any of the clinically-relevant outcomes.

Improving research personnel's hand hygiene adherence in the pediatric acute care setting during the COVID-19 pandemic: a quality improvement initiative.

Introduction: Hand hygiene is critical in preventing the spread of healthcare-associated infections. Routine hand hygiene surveillance and education are common for clinical staff in pediatric acute care settings. However, nonclinical staff, including research personnel, are often excluded from these programs and therefore represent a gap in ongoing infection control efforts. This project aimed to evaluate the impact of evidence-based interventions on improving hand hygiene adherence among research personnel in the pediatric emergency department to meet provincial targets set for clinical staff. Methods: We used a Plan-Do-Study-Act approach to carry out a peer-driven, multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy involving education, surveillance, and feedback targeted to research assistants working in a pediatric emergency department. Two anonymous peer evaluators observed hand hygiene practices in several specific instances (eg, before/after patient interactions) and determined adherence a priori. Results: In an open sample of clinical research assistants (Ntotal = 22), hand hygiene adherence increased from 12.5% to 89.1% over 11 months. Increases in adherence were particularly notable before entering the patient environment compared to exiting. Conclusions: Hand hygiene interventions targeting research personnel show potential success in acute care. Further quality improvement initiatives in larger research personnel samples must robustly evaluate the framework's effectiveness.