Fever of Unknown Origin in a Patient With Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) presents a diagnostic challenge, particularly in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to their immunocompromised state. We report a case of a 21-year-old male with HIV who presented with persistent fever and was found to have a positive proteinase-3 antibody, raising suspicion of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). The patient's symptoms, negative infectious workup, and elevated proteinase-3 levels prompted consideration of non-infectious etiologies. Despite the absence of renal involvement, corticosteroid therapy was initiated, leading to the resolution of fever. However, the false positive association of proteinase-3 in HIV patients introduces uncertainty regarding the definitive diagnosis of GPA. A tissue biopsy would have provided further clarity, but it was not performed in this case. Our workup aligns more closely with a diagnosis of GPA, considering the patient's response to treatment and the absence of clinical deterioration. This case highlights the complexity of diagnosing non-infectious causes of FUO in HIV-infected individuals. It emphasizes the need for a multidisciplinary approach involving infectious disease specialists and rheumatologists to ensure accurate diagnosis and appropriate management.

Measured Oxygen Consumption During Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization is More Accurate than Assumed Oxygen Consumption.

When calculating cardiac index (C.I.) by the Fick method, oxygen consumption (VO2) is often unknown, so assumed values are typically used. This practice introduces a known source of inaccuracy into the calculation. Using a measured VO2 (mVO2) from the CARESCAPE E-sCAiOVX module provides an alternative that may improve accuracy of C.I. calculations. Our aim is to validate this measurement in a general pediatric catheterization population and compare its accuracy with assumed VO2 (aVO2). mVO2 was recorded for all patients undergoing cardiac catheterization with general anesthesia and controlled ventilation during the study period. mVO2 was compared to the reference VO2 (refVO2) determined by the reverse Fick method using cardiac MRI (cMRI) or thermodilution (TD) as a reference standard for measurement of C.I. when available. 193 VO2 measurements were obtained, including 71 with a corresponding cMRI or TD measure of cardiac index for validation. mVO2 demonstrated satisfactory concordance and correlation with the TD- or cMRI-derived refVO2 (ρc = 0.73, r2 = 0.63) with a mean bias of - 3.2% (SD ± 17.3%). Assumed VO2 demonstrated much weaker concordance and correlation with refVO2 (ρc = 0.28, r2 = 0.31) with a mean bias of + 27.5% (SD ± 30.0%). Subgroup analysis of patients < 36 months of age demonstrated that error in mVO2 was not significantly different from that observed in older patients. Many previously reported prediction models for assuming VO2 performed poorly in this younger age range. Measured oxygen consumption using the E-sCAiOVX module is significantly more accurate than assumed VO2 when compared to TD- or cMRI-derived VO2 in a pediatric catheterization lab.

The Impact of Interpretation Services Training on Contact Tracing Efforts During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

There is limited research regarding interpretation services training and its benefit in contact tracing programs. This study seeks to assess the impact of optional formal interpretation services training on contact tracers and identify specific barriers tracers face when contacting patients with limited English proficiency, who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Contact Tracing Highlights Disparities: Household Size and Low-English Proficiency.

Although it is known that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities, our study characterizes the connection between COVID-19 susceptibility and both limited English proficiency (LEP) and large household size. We examined demographic and social data for 1130 individuals who tested positive for or were exposed to COVID-19. Analysis revealed that LEP persons were 3.2 times as likely to report difficulty obtaining supplies for quarantine. Individuals in large households were 1.9 times as likely to report difficulty obtaining supplies for quarantine and 2.0 times as likely to report inability to quarantine. This study, therefore, informs interventions targeted to these populations.

System approach to prevent lost studies and improve radiology report turnaround time.

PURPOSE: On our picture archiving and communication system worklist, there was no way to differentiate body imaging (BI) from musculoskeletal (MSK) MR pelvis examinations. They were listed on only the BI worklist. This resulted in 'lost' MSK MR pelvis studies with high report turnaround time (TAT). Some exams had preliminary reports with substantiative changes made days later when found. The goals of this project were to create a solution to prevent 'lost' exams and improve TAT. METHODS: A report of 3 months of MR pelvis studies was reviewed to determine time to first view by MSK radiologists, time of completion, time of preliminary report and time of final signature. Mean TAT was calculated and exams with delays in reporting resident misinterpretation recorded.An MSK reserve flag was created for the BI radiologists to use when they found an MSK study on their worklist. The flag moved them onto the MSK reserve worklist. A second intervention included technologists placing the reserve on examination completion. After this, another 3 months of data was analysed. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement (p=0.0018) in time to view by MSK from preintervention mean of 1125 min (n=107) to postintervention mean of 526 min (n=127). There was also a significant improvement (p=0.0033) in time to view inpatient and Emergency department cases from 927 min to 357 min. Time from study completion to final signature also improved from a mean of 1764 min to 838 min, though not statistically significant (p=0.08). There were five cases of delay in reporting resident misinterpretation preintervention and none postintervention. CONCLUSION: Our intervention shows the importance of modifying human and informatics factors to solve a patient safety issue.

The PI3K/AKT Pathway Inhibitor ISC-4 Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits Growth of Leukemia in Preclinical Models of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Acute myeloid leukemia is a heterogeneous disease with a 5-year survival rate of 28.3%, and current treatment options constrained by dose-limiting toxicities. One of the key signaling pathways known to be frequently activated and dysregulated in AML is PI3K/AKT. Its dysregulation is associated with aggressive cell growth and drug resistance. We investigated the activity of Phenybutyl isoselenocyanate (ISC-4) in primary cells obtained from newly diagnosed AML patients, diverse AML cell lines, and normal cord blood cells. ISC-4 significantly inhibited survival and clonogenicity of primary human AML cells without affecting normal cells. We demonstrated that ISC-4-mediated p-Akt inhibition caused apoptosis in primary AML (CD34+) stem cells and enhanced efficacy of cytarabine. ISC-4 impeded leukemia progression with improved overall survival in a syngeneic C1498 mouse model with no obvious toxic effects on normal myelopoiesis. In U937 xenograft model, bone marrow cells exhibited significant reduction in human CD45+ cells in ISC-4 (~87%) or AraC (~89%) monotherapy groups compared to control. Notably, combination treatment suppressed the leukemic infiltration significantly higher than the single-drug treatments (~94%). Together, the present findings suggest that ISC-4 might be a promising agent for AML treatment.