What's Eating You? Phlebotomine Sandflies and Leishmania Parasites.

Phlebotomine sandflies of the Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia genera are vectors for the spread of Leishmania parasites. Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection most common in the Middle East and Central and South America. Few cases have been reported in the United States, with most patients presenting after returning from travel to other countries; however, the parasite has been locally acquired in Texas and Oklahoma. Clinical presentation varies depending on the species of Leishmania. There are 4 general clinical classifications of leishmaniasis: cutaneous, diffuse cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral.

Migrated Bulking Material (Solesta) Presenting as a Vaginal "Cyst": Histopathologic and Chemical Analytical Features.

Performing injections with a bulking agent consisting of nonanimal stabilized hyaluronic acid and dextranomer is a well-tolerated and efficacious treatment for mild to moderate fecal incontinence. Here, we discuss a case of a patient with a history of a bulking procedure for fecal incontinence who presented to the obstetrics/gynecology clinic for evaluation of a new vaginal "cyst," which was excised. Histopathologic examination revealed migrated bulking agent within the excised specimen.

Exenatide-induced granulomatous panniculitis associated with poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide).

The extended-release formulation of exenatide for treatment of Type II diabetes mellitus is encapsulated in microspheres composed of poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and administered weekly. This medication has been reported to potentially cause injection-site reactions such as pruritus, transient nodules, and foreign body reaction. Here, we report a case of exenatide-induced granulomatous panniculitis. Our patient is a 63-year-old female with Type II diabetes presenting for concerns about painful nodules on her abdomen, developing approximately every week over the past year and migrating. Of note, the lesions appeared following exenatide injections in the same locations. Two deep-seated nodules of 1 cm were identified on examination. There were no overlying skin changes, and the lesions were tender to palpation. Punch biopsies of the two lesions were performed, which revealed a septal panniculitis containing amorphous material, along with a mixed inflammatory infiltrate. Gomori methenamine silver (GMS) and acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stains were negative for organisms. On infrared (IR) spectroscopy examination of the biopsy tissue, the spectral characteristics of (tissue) protein and PLGA were seen. Evaluation of the clinical and histopathologic findings, along with the IR spectroscopy match, determined that exenatide-induced panniculitis was the cause of the patient's nodules. This case highlights the importance of clinicians' awareness regarding injection-site reactions.

Prehospital shock index and systolic blood pressure are highly specific for pediatric massive transfusion.

BACKGROUND: While massive transfusion protocols (MTPs) are associated with decreased mortality in adult trauma patients, there is limited research on the impact of MTP on pediatric trauma patients. The purpose of this study was to compare pediatric trauma patients requiring massive transfusion with all other pediatric trauma patients to identify triggers for MTP activation in injured children. METHODS: Using our level I trauma center's registry, we retrospectively identified all pediatric trauma patients from January 2015 to January 2018. Massive transfusion (MT) was defined as infusion of 40 mL/kg of blood products in the first 24 hours of admission. Patients missing prehospital vital sign data were excluded from the study. We retrospectively collected data including demographics, blood utilization, variable outcome data, prehospital vital signs, prehospital transport times, and Injury Severity Scores. Statistical significance was determined using Mann-Whitney U test and χ2 test. p Values of less than 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: Thirty-nine (1.9%) of the 2,035 pediatric patients met the criteria for MT. All-cause mortality in MT patients was 49% (19 of 39 patients) versus 0.01% (20 of 1996 patients) in non-MT patients. The two groups significantly differed in Injury Severity Score, prehospital vital signs, and outcome data.Both systolic blood pressure (SBP) of <100 mm Hg and shock index (SI) of >1.4 were found to be highly specific for MT with specificities of 86% and 92%, respectively. The combination of SBP of <100 mm Hg and SI of >1.4 had a specificity of 94%. The positive and negative predictive values of SBP of <100 mm Hg and SI of >1.4 in predicting MT were 18% and 98%, respectively. Based on positive likelihood ratios, patients with both SBP of <100 mm Hg and SI of >1.4 were 7.2 times more likely to require MT than patients who did not meet both of these vital sign criteria. CONCLUSION: Pediatric trauma patients requiring early blood transfusion present with lower blood pressures and higher heart rates, as well as higher SIs and lower pulse pressures. We found that SI and SBP are highly specific tools with promising likelihood ratios that could be used to identify patients requiring early transfusion. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic/care management, level V.

Shock index and pulse pressure as triggers for massive transfusion.

BACKGROUND: Hemorrhage is the most common cause of preventable death in trauma patients. These mortalities might be prevented with prehospital transfusion. We sought to characterize injured patients requiring massive transfusion to determine the potential impact of a prehospital whole blood transfusion program. The primary goal of this analysis was to determine a method to identify patients at risk of massive transfusion in the prehospital environment. Many of the existing predictive models require laboratory values and/or sonographic evaluation of the patient after arrival at the hospital. Development of an algorithm to predict massive transfusion protocol (MTP) activation could lead to an easy-to-use tool for prehospital personnel to determine when a patient needs blood transfusion. METHODS: Using our Level I trauma center's registry, we retrospectively identified all adult trauma patients from January 2015 to August 2017 requiring activation of the MTP. Patients who were younger than 18 years, older than 89 years, prisoners, pregnant women, and/or with nontraumatic hemorrhage were excluded from the study. We retrospectively collected data including demographics, blood utilization, variable outcome data (survival, length of stay, intensive care unit days, ventilator days), prehospital vital signs, prehospital transport times, and Injury Severity Score. The independent-samples t test and χ test were used to compare the group who died to the group who survived. p < 0.05 was considered significant. Based on age and mechanism of injury, relative risk of death was calculated. Graphs were generated using Microsoft Excel software to plot patient variables. RESULTS: Our study population of 102 MTP patients had an average age of 42 years and average Injury Severity Score of 29, consisted of 80% males (82/102), and was 66% blunt trauma (67/102). The all-cause mortality was 67% (68/102). The positive predictive value of death for patients with pulse pressure of less than 45 and shock index of greater than 1 was 0.78 for all patients, but was 0.79 and 0.92 for blunt injury and elderly patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate a high mortality rate in trauma patients who require MTP despite short transport times, indicating the need for early intervention in the prehospital environment. Given our understanding that the most severely injured patients in hemorrhagic shock require blood resuscitation, this study demonstrates that this subset of trauma patients requiring massive transfusion can be identified in the prehospital setting. We recommend using Emergency Medical Services pulse pressure in combination with shock index to serve as a trigger for initiation of prehospital whole blood transfusion. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic/care management, level V.

Give the trauma patient what they bleed, when and where they need it: establishing a comprehensive regional system of resuscitation based on patient need utilizing cold-stored, low-titer O+ whole blood.

BACKGROUND: Despite countless advancements in trauma care a survivability gap still exists in the prehospital setting. Military studies clearly identify hemorrhage as the leading cause of potentially survivable prehospital death. Shifting resuscitation from the hospital to the point of injury has shown great promise in decreasing mortality among the severely injured. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our regional trauma network (Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council) developed and implemented a multiphased approach toward facilitating remote damage control resuscitation. This approach required placing low-titer O+ whole blood (LTO+ WB) at helicopter emergency medical service bases, transitioning hospital-based trauma resuscitation from component therapy to the use of whole blood, modifying select ground-based units to carry and administer whole blood at the scene of an accident, and altering the practices of our blood bank to support our new initiative. In addition, we had to provide information and training to an entire large urban emergency medical system regarding changes in policy. RESULTS: Through a thorough, structured program we were able to successfully implement point-of-injury resuscitation with LTO+ WB. Preliminary evaluation of our first 25 patients has shown a marked decrease in mortality compared to our historic rate using component therapy or crystalloid solutions. Additionally, we have had zero transfusion reactions or seroconversions. CONCLUSION: Transfusion at the scene within minutes of injury has the potential to save lives. As our utilization expands to our outlying network we expect to see a continued decrease in mortality among significantly injured trauma patients.

A Review of Traumatic Brain Injury and the Gut Microbiome: Insights into Novel Mechanisms of Secondary Brain Injury and Promising Targets for Neuroprotection.

The gut microbiome and its role in health and disease have recently been major focus areas of research. In this review, we summarize the different ways in which the gut microbiome interacts with the rest of the body, with focus areas on its relationships with immunity, the brain, and injury. The gut⁻brain axis, a communication network linking together the central and enteric nervous systems, represents a key bidirectional pathway with feed-forward and feedback mechanisms. The gut microbiota has a central role in this pathway and is significantly altered following injury, leading to a pro-inflammatory state within the central nervous system (CNS). Herein, we examine traumatic brain injury (TBI) in relation to this axis and explore potential interventions, which may serve as targets for improving clinical outcomes and preventing secondary brain injury.

Prehospital low-titer cold-stored whole blood: Philosophy for ubiquitous utilization of O-positive product for emergency use in hemorrhage due to injury.

The mortality from hemorrhage in trauma patients remains high. Early balanced resuscitation improves survival. These truths, balanced with the availability of local resources and our goals for positive regional impact, were the foundation for the development of our prehospital whole blood initiative-using low-titer cold-stored O RhD-positive whole blood. The main concern with use of RhD-positive blood is the potential development of isoimmunization in RhD-negative patients. We used our retrospective massive transfusion protocol (MTP) data to analyze the anticipated risk of this change in practice. In 30 months, of 124 total MTP patients, only one female of childbearing age that received an MTP was RhD-negative. With the risk of isoimmunization very low and the benefit of increased resources for the early administration of balanced resuscitation high, we determined that the utilization of low-titer cold-stored O RhD-positive whole blood would be safe and best serve our community.