RESUMO
The SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with increased levels of autoantibodies targeting immunological proteins such as cytokines and chemokines. Reports further indicate that COVID-19 patients may develop a wide spectrum of autoimmune diseases due to reasons not fully understood. Even so, the landscape of autoantibodies induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection remains uncharted territory. To gain more insight, we carried out a comprehensive assessment of autoantibodies known to be linked to diverse autoimmune diseases observed in COVID-19 patients, in a cohort of 248 individuals, of which171 were COVID-19 patients (74 with mild, 65 moderate, and 32 with severe disease) and 77were healthy controls. Dysregulated autoantibody serum levels, characterized mainly by elevated concentrations, occurred mostly in patients with moderate or severe COVID-19 infection, and was accompanied by a progressive disruption of physiologic IgG and IgA autoantibody signatures. A similar perturbation was found in patients with anosmia. Notably, autoantibody levels often accompanied anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody concentrations, being both indicated by random forest classification as strong predictors of COVID-19 outcome, together with age. Moreover, higher levels of autoantibodies (mainly IgGs) were seen in the elderly with severe disease compared with young COVID-19 patients with severe disease. These findings suggest that the SARS-CoV-2 infection induces a broader loss of self-tolerance than previously thought, providing new ideas for therapeutic interventions.
RESUMO
Purpose@#To investigate the effect of botulinum A toxin (BTXA) chemodenervation in paralytic strabismus patients without surgical correction. @*Methods@#A retrospective chart review of 51 patients who were diagnosed as paralytic strabismus and underwent BTXA chemodenervation was performed. The patients were divided into four groups according to the cause of paralytic strabismus of vasculopathy, neoplasm, trauma, and idiopathic. They were also divided into two groups of early and late treatment according to the initiation time of BTXA chemodenervation after the onset of strabismus (3 months), and of the initial strabismus type of exotropia and esotropia. We investigated the changes of angle of deviation and diplopia after BTXA chemodenervation. @*Results@#The average deviation of angles decreased by 25.2 prism diopter (PD) (35.1 to 9.9 PD) in total patients, and the overall success rate was 64.7% (33 by 51), and the there was no statistically significant difference in success rate between each group divided by the cause of paralytic strabismus. According to the treatment timing, the deviation of the angle decreased by 28.0 PD (36.8 to 8.8 PD) in the early treatment group, and 21.3 PD (33.5 to 12.2 PD) in late treatment group at the time of the last postinjective follow-up. According to the initial strabismus type, the average angle of deviation decreased by 20.3 PD (35.6 to 15.3 PD) in exotropia group by cranial nerve 3 palsy, and 24.4 PD (32.5 to 8.1 PD) in esotropia by cranial nerve 6 palsy. @*Conclusions@#BTXA chemodenervation reduced the angle of deviation and the number of patients with diplopia regardless of the cause of paralytic strabismus. Early BTXA chemodenervation can be considered as the first treatment of choice in paralytic strabismus, especially in esotropia patients.
RESUMO
Short-term probabilistic forecasts of the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States have served as a visible and important communication channel between the scientific modeling community and both the general public and decision-makers. Forecasting models provide specific, quantitative, and evaluable predictions that inform short-term decisions such as healthcare staffing needs, school closures, and allocation of medical supplies. Starting in April 2020, the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub (https://covid19forecasthub.org/) collected, disseminated, and synthesized tens of millions of specific predictions from more than 90 different academic, industry, and independent research groups. A multi-model ensemble forecast that combined predictions from dozens of different research groups every week provided the most consistently accurate probabilistic forecasts of incident deaths due to COVID-19 at the state and national level from April 2020 through October 2021. The performance of 27 individual models that submitted complete forecasts of COVID-19 deaths consistently throughout this year showed high variability in forecast skill across time, geospatial units, and forecast horizons. Two-thirds of the models evaluated showed better accuracy than a naive baseline model. Forecast accuracy degraded as models made predictions further into the future, with probabilistic error at a 20-week horizon 3-5 times larger than when predicting at a 1-week horizon. This project underscores the role that collaboration and active coordination between governmental public health agencies, academic modeling teams, and industry partners can play in developing modern modeling capabilities to support local, state, and federal response to outbreaks. Significance StatementThis paper compares the probabilistic accuracy of short-term forecasts of reported deaths due to COVID-19 during the first year and a half of the pandemic in the US. Results show high variation in accuracy between and within stand-alone models, and more consistent accuracy from an ensemble model that combined forecasts from all eligible models. This demonstrates that an ensemble model provided a reliable and comparatively accurate means of forecasting deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic that exceeded the performance of all of the models that contributed to it. This work strengthens the evidence base for synthesizing multiple models to support public health action.
RESUMO
Purpose@#To investigate the postoperative changes in diplopia and evaluate factors that affect diplopia after isolated inferior orbital wall fracture. @*Methods@#A retrospective study was conducted on 200 patients who underwent reconstruction surgery for isolated inferior orbital wall fracture between March 2001 and December 2020. Diplopia was categorized into peripheral, central, and full-degree types based on the history and binocular single vision. The natural course of diplopia was analyzed pre-operatively and at 1 day, 6 weeks, and 6 months postoperatively. We analyzed the orbital computed tomography images to determine fracture size (small, medium, or large), fracture site (anterior, middle, posterior, or mixed), extraocular muscle (EOM) size (swelling or deformity), EOM site (incarcerated or prolapsed), and EOM tenting. @*Results@#Diplopia was seen in 144 out of 200 patients (72.0%) before surgery; peripheral diplopia was seen in 57 patients (39.6%), central diplopia in 46 (24.3%), and full-degree diplopia in 20 (13.9%). Pre-operative diplopia differed according to the pre-operative limitation of range of motion (LOM) (p < 0.001) and EOM site (p = 0.022). Pre-operative diplopia type differed according to the LOM direction (p = 0.018) and EOM size (p = 0.020). Diplopia persisted in 33 patients (16.5%) 6 months after the surgery. Recovery was faster in patients with peripheral diplopia compared to those with central or full-degree diplopia. @*Conclusions@#The presence of diplopia was associated with the pre-operative LOM and EOM site but the type of diplopia was associated with LOM direction and EOM size. These factors can be used to predict the progression of diplopia in patients with isolated inferior orbital wall fracture.
RESUMO
Purpose@#To evaluate the postoperative stereopsis changes in strabismus patients over 10 years of age after surgical correction. @*Methods@#We reviewed, retrospectively, the medical records of 193 patients (99 men and 94 women) who underwent strabismus surgery from March 2002 to August 2019 at our hospital. Patients were classified into an exotropia group, an esotropia group, or a combined strabismus group (having horizontal and vertical strabismus simultaneously), according to their strabismus type. These groups were further divided into three groups based on pre-operative stereopsis findings classified as poor (above 4,000 seconds [s] of arc), fair (between 4,000 to 100 s of arc), or good (below 100 s of arc). The stereopsis conditions before and after surgery were compared. @*Results@#Overall, the stereopsis of patients over 10 years of age who underwent surgery improved from 2.45 ± 0.69 logarcsec to 2.85 ± 0.58 logarcsec (p < 0.001) after surgery regardless of strabismus type. Stereopsis in exotropia patients was 2.33 ± 0.71 logarcsec before surgery and improved to 2.15 ± 0.56 logarcsec (p < 0.001) after surgery. Stereopsis in esotropia patients was 0.85 ± 0.58 logarcsec before surgery and 2.48 ± 0.11 logarcsec after surgery (p = 0.002). Stereopsis of combined strabismus patients was 2.44 ± 0.76 logarcsec before surgery versus 2.20 ± 0.54 logarcsec after surgery (p = 0.133). The degree of stereopsis improvement was highest for the esotropia, group followed by the combined strabismus, and exotropia groups. @*Conclusions@#Surgical correction of various types of strabismus may be helpful for binocular function in patients over 10 years of age.
RESUMO
Purpose@#To evaluate the postoperative stereopsis changes in strabismus patients over 10 years of age after surgical correction. @*Methods@#We reviewed, retrospectively, the medical records of 193 patients (99 men and 94 women) who underwent strabismus surgery from March 2002 to August 2019 at our hospital. Patients were classified into an exotropia group, an esotropia group, or a combined strabismus group (having horizontal and vertical strabismus simultaneously), according to their strabismus type. These groups were further divided into three groups based on pre-operative stereopsis findings classified as poor (above 4,000 seconds [s] of arc), fair (between 4,000 to 100 s of arc), or good (below 100 s of arc). The stereopsis conditions before and after surgery were compared. @*Results@#Overall, the stereopsis of patients over 10 years of age who underwent surgery improved from 2.45 ± 0.69 logarcsec to 2.85 ± 0.58 logarcsec (p < 0.001) after surgery regardless of strabismus type. Stereopsis in exotropia patients was 2.33 ± 0.71 logarcsec before surgery and improved to 2.15 ± 0.56 logarcsec (p < 0.001) after surgery. Stereopsis in esotropia patients was 0.85 ± 0.58 logarcsec before surgery and 2.48 ± 0.11 logarcsec after surgery (p = 0.002). Stereopsis of combined strabismus patients was 2.44 ± 0.76 logarcsec before surgery versus 2.20 ± 0.54 logarcsec after surgery (p = 0.133). The degree of stereopsis improvement was highest for the esotropia, group followed by the combined strabismus, and exotropia groups. @*Conclusions@#Surgical correction of various types of strabismus may be helpful for binocular function in patients over 10 years of age.
RESUMO
PURPOSE: This study evaluated the clinical outcomes of transcanalicular laser-assisted dacryocystorhinostomy (TCL-DCR) using a diode laser in patients with nasolacrimal duct obstruction (NLDO). METHODS: A total of 71 patients (76 eyes) who underwent TCL-DCR between May 2004 and April 2010 were analyzed. The functional and anatomic success rates were evaluated and the causes of failure were analyzed. RESULTS: The anatomic and functional success rates in primary TCL-DCR were 73.9% (51 of 69 eyes) and 62.3% (43 of 69), respectively. The causes of failure were membranous obstruction in 50.0% of the cases, granuloma formation in 38.9%, synechia formation in 5.6%, and canalicular stenosis in 5.6%. The anatomic and functional success rates were both 42.9% (3 of 7eyes) after TCL-DCR revision. CONCLUSIONS: The success rate of TCL-DCR is relatively comparable to that of conventional surgery. Additionally, the advantages of the procedure are its minimal invasiveness and convenience in an outpatient setting, suggesting that TCL-DCR may be an effective procedure for primary and secondary NLDO.
