Haemodynamic effect of a leg compression bandage on the distal posterior tibial artery using 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging: A quantitative study.

The uncertainty concerning the physiological effects of compression bandaging on the peripheral blood flow is a challenge for healthcare professionals. The main objective was to determine the haemodynamic impact on the distal posterior tibial artery after the application of a high-compression leg multicomponent bandaging system using 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging. Leg dominance disparities of the posterior tibial artery before and after the application of the compressive bandage were also analysed. Twenty-eight healthy female volunteers were recruited (mean: 25.71, standard deviation: 4.74 years old) through a non-probability convenience sampling. The 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging of the distal tibial posterior artery was performed in all participants, first under standard resting conditions and after the application of a compression bandage in the leg. When the strong compressive bandage was applied, the area of the assessed artery decreased by 14.2%, whilst the average speed increased by 19.6% and the flow rate increased by 184.8%. There were differences between the haemodynamic parameters of both legs according to dominance, being statistically significantly lower in the dominant leg. The application of strong compressive bandaging significantly increases the arterial flow and mean velocity in the distal segment of the posterior tibial artery, in healthy volunteers by 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging. In this study, leg dominance influenced some of the haemodynamic parameters. According to the results, leg compression bandages cannot be contraindicated in vascular ulcers with arterial compromise.

Assessing the clinical benefit, safety, and patient-reported outcomes with the use of the PAHcare™ digital platform in pulmonary arterial hypertension: a pilot study.

Introduction: Digital health interventions, particularly mobile health platforms, have shown promise in supporting patients with respiratory conditions, but their application in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains limited. We aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and potential clinical benefit of the novel PAHcare™ digital platform as a patient-centred intervention for PAH management through a prospective, single-arm, multicenter pilot study conducted on 53 patients diagnosed with PAH who used the platform for 6 months. Methods: The primary objective was to assess the impact on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) through questionnaires. Secondary objectives included evaluating clinical outcomes, including disease progression, PAH signs and symptoms, the 6-min walking test, and the patient's symptom perception. Additionally, we assessed patient satisfaction and engagement with the PAHcare™ platform, interaction with health coaches, retention, costs and healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU), and safety through monitoring device incidents. Results: Minimal changes in HRQoL and clinical outcomes were observed over 6 months. A noteworthy 92.4% of patients actively used the platform in the first month, maintaining high usage throughout the study. Patient satisfaction was substantial, with more than half of the patients expressing excellence in service quality, willingness to reuse the platform, and fulfilment of their needs. Health coach interaction was high, with 76% of patients initiating contact within the first week. User retention rates were 70%, with prevalent ongoing usage and interaction with healthcare professionals even after the study. In terms of HCRU and costs, the study showed no significant changes in PAH-related hospital admissions, clinical visits, or tests. Finally, the low number of device-related incidents indicated platform safety. Conclusion: This pilot study provides compelling evidence supporting the feasibility and acceptability of the PAHcare™ digital platform to empower patients to manage their disease and significantly enhance their overall experience with PAH.

Patient safety in surgical settings: A study on the challenges and improvement strategies in adverse event reporting from a nursing perspective.

AIMS: To explore adverse event reporting in the surgical department through the nurses' experiences and perspectives. DESIGN: An exploratory, descriptive qualitative study was conducted with a theoretical-methodological orientation of phenomenology. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 nurses, followed by an inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Themes include motives for reporting incidents, consequences, feelings and motivational factors. Key facilitators of adverse event reporting were effective communication, knowledge sharing, a non-punitive culture and superior feedback. CONCLUSION: The study underscores the importance of supportive organisational culture for reporting, communication and feedback mechanisms, and highlights education and training in enhancing patient safety. IMPLICATIONS: It suggests the need for strategies that foster incident reporting, enhance patient safety and cultivate a supportive organisational culture. IMPACT: This study provides critical insights into adverse event reporting in surgical departments from nurses' lived experience, leading to two primary impacts: It offers specific solutions to improve adverse event reporting, which is crucial for surgical departments to develop more effective and tailored reporting strategies. The research underscores the importance of an open, supportive culture in healthcare, which is vital for transparent communication and effective reporting, ultimately advancing patient safety. REPORTING METHOD: The study followed the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research and the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines. PATIENTS OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patients or public contribution.

Early assessment of cardiomyopathy in Duchenne patients by means of longitudinal strain echocardiography.

INTRODUCTION: The diagnosis of Duchenne-linked cardiomyopathy may be challenging. Conventional echocardiographic measurements typically show deterioration beyond the second decade. Global longitudinal strain has been proposed as an earlier marker than left ventricular ejection fraction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective, observational, cross-sectional, case-control study was carried out. Both Duchenne patients and control subjects underwent transthoracic echocardiogram in order to assess left ventricle function. Bayesian linear regression was the main tool for inference. Age effects were parameterised by means of a spline function because of its simplicity to characterise continuous variables and smooth contributions. The posterior distribution of the marginal age effects was used to assess the earliest age of deterioration of each marker. RESULTS: Sixteen Duchenne patients and twenty-two healthy male subjects were enrolled. On overage, cardiac function measures were found for ejection fraction and longitudinal strain among different groups. Age effects on global longitudinal strain are more reliably found at ages of 6 and above, while ejection fraction starts to deteriorate at an older age. Progressive left ventricular dysfunction in Duchenne patients is one of the key issues and starts at an early age with subtle symptoms. CONCLUSION: This cross-sectional study provides supporting evidence that global longitudinal strain is an earlier marker of disease progression than ejection fraction in Duchenne patients.

Right ventricle speckle tracking in bronchopulmonary dysplasia: one-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is still a major concern in preterm infants and adequate screening methods for secondary right ventricle (RV) failure are needed. Early detection could be aided by taking measurements of RV deformation using speckle tracking echocardiography. A prospective longitudinal study was carried out over 28 months at a tertiary care pediatric cardiology center. Preterm infants < 32 weeks gestational age (GA) were eligible for the study. Enrolled patients were separated in two groups: NO-BPD or BPD. At three timepoints over the first year of life, echocardiogram measurements were performed. Right ventricle strain was studied using speckle tracking analysis and compared to conventional function parameters. RESULTS: Fifty patients were enrolled in the study, 22 in the NO-BPD group and 28 in the BPD group. RV strain showed no statistical differences between groups. However, the BPD group showed worse RV function than the NO-BPD group, using speckle tracking analysis and other conventional parameters. During the study follow-up, an improvement trend is shown in RV strain. CONCLUSIONS: RV longitudinal strain and strain rate derived by speckle tracking is feasible in preterm infants. Although there seems to be a good correlation between RV strain and BPD severity, the results of this study were not conclusive. More studies should be carried out to investigate the optimum echocardiographic screening model of RV dysfunction in BPD patients.

Evaluation of a digital health system (PAHcare™) for routine care of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: The CBS-PAH study protocol.

Introduction: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, multifactorial, chronic condition that requires ongoing monitoring and assessment. PAHcare™ is a novel, patient-centered digital platform that provides software intended for use on patients' mobile phones (downloadable application) and web-based dashboards for use by physicians and health coaches (HC). We describe herein the protocol of a clinical study aimed at evaluating the clinical benefit and safety of PAHcare™ for the routine management of patients with PAH. Methods and analysis: In this prospective, single cohort, multicenter study, 50 patients with PAH will be recruited at six specialized PAH units from reference hospitals of the public Spanish healthcare system. The PAHcare™ digital health platform allows patients to log health and lifestyle information while also providing structured content for patient education, medication reminders, and behavioral and lifestyle coaching from a remote HC. Evaluation will be primarily focused on the impact of the platform use on the patient's health-related quality of life (HRQoL) via questionnaires completion through electronic patient-reported outcomes. Moreover, the analysis of the impact on the patient's functional status, signs and symptoms of PAH, patient costs and healthcare resource utilization, satisfaction, knowledge of the disease and its management, and adherence to and safety of the platform will be secondary outcomes. The clinical investigation started in July 2021 and is expected to end by September 2022. Discussion: The PAHcare™ platform is anticipated to provide direct benefits to healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers. These include the simplification of the multidisciplinary approach needed to tailor routine PAH management, enhancement of the patient/healthcare professional interaction, patient's empowerment to become more actively involved in the management and treatment of the disease, and increase of the patient's and caregiver's knowledge on PAH.

More difficult still: Treating severe rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis in the context of COVID-19 pneumonia.

We present the case of a male patient with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, with simultaneous onset of p-ANCA positive rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. We discuss the different therapeutic possibilities, emphasising the appropriateness of their administration according to the time in the course of the infection.

Multicenter Evaluation of a New, Fully Automated Androstenedione Electrochemiluminescence Immunoassay: Precision Analysis, Method Comparison, and Determination of Reference Ranges.

BACKGROUND: Androstenedione (ASD) levels can aid diagnosis of hyperandrogenism together with other clinical/laboratory findings. We evaluated performance of the new, automated Elecsys® ASD assay vs an ASD isotope dilution-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (ID-LC-MS/MS) reference measurement procedure and determined reference ranges. METHODS: Repeatability/intermediate precision were assessed using 3 control levels and 5 human serum pools (n = 75 each; Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute EP05-A3). Method comparisons vs commercially available immunoassays [IMMULITE ASD (Siemens) and LIAISON ASD (DiaSorin)] and an ID-LC-MS/MS measurement procedure method were conducted using 421 serum samples; Passing-Bablok regression and Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated. Reference ranges and distribution of values associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) were determined in five clinical cohorts using samples from several sites/vendors. RESULTS: Repeatability/intermediate precision coefficients of variation across all sites were 2.01% to 3.91% and 2.43% to 4.30%, respectively (mean ASD: 7.80-34.7 nmol/L). The Elecsys ASD assay showed poor agreement with IMMULITE ASD (slope = 0.459; r = 0.856; n = 320), fair agreement with LIAISON ASD (slope = 0.625; r = 0.984; n = 327), and very good agreement with ID-LC-MS/MS (slope = 1.040; r = 0.996; n = 332). Reference ranges (2.5th-97.5th percentiles) were: children (≤8 years; n = 140), <0.525 to 1.81 nmol/L; males (≥18 years; n = 138), 0.979 to 5.32 nmol/L; and postmenopausal females (n = 140), 0.654 to 3.74 nmol/L. Reference range (5th-95th percentiles) for females with fertile cycle (≥18 years; n = 84) was 1.71 to 4.58 nmol/L. The distribution of values (2.5th-97.5th percentiles) in females with PCOS (n = 125) was 2.26 to 12.1 nmol/L. CONCLUSIONS: Elecsys ASD assay demonstrated excellent precision and very good agreement with ID-LC-MS/MS. Reference ranges were established to support results interpretation in routine practice.

Functional Characterization of the Cell Division Gene Cluster of the Wall-less Bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium.

It is well-established that FtsZ drives peptidoglycan synthesis at the division site in walled bacteria. However, the function and conservation of FtsZ in wall-less prokaryotes such as mycoplasmas are less clear. In the genome-reduced bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium, the cell division gene cluster is limited to four genes: mraZ, mraW, MG_223, and ftsZ. In a previous study, we demonstrated that ftsZ was dispensable for growth of M. genitalium under laboratory culture conditions. Herein, we show that the entire cell division gene cluster of M. genitalium is non-essential for growth in vitro. Our analyses indicate that loss of the mraZ gene alone is more detrimental for growth of M. genitalium than deletion of ftsZ or the entire cell division gene cluster. Transcriptional analysis revealed a marked upregulation of ftsZ in the mraZ mutant. Stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC)-based proteomics confirmed the overexpression of FtsZ in MraZ-deprived cells. Of note, we found that ftsZ expression was upregulated in non-adherent cells of M. genitalium, which arise spontaneously at relatively high rates. Single cell analysis using fluorescent markers showed that FtsZ localization varied throughout the cell cycle of M. genitalium in a coordinated manner with the chromosome and the terminal organelle (TMO). In addition, our results indicate a possible role for the RNA methyltransferase MraW in the regulation of FtsZ expression at the post-transcriptional level. Altogether, this study provides an extensive characterization of the cell division gene cluster of M. genitalium and demonstrates the existence of regulatory elements controlling FtsZ expression at the temporal and spatial level in mycoplasmas.

Acute kidney injury in 3182 patients admitted with COVID-19: a single-center, retrospective, case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) may develop in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and may be associated with a worse outcome. The aim of this study is to describe AKI incidence during the first 45 days of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Spain, its reversibility and the association with mortality. METHODS: This was an observational retrospective case-control study based on patients hospitalized between 1 March and 15 April 2020 with SARS-CoV-2 infection and AKI. Confirmed AKI cases were compared with stable kidney function patients for baseline characteristics, analytical data, treatment and renal outcome. Patients with end-stage kidney disease were excluded. RESULTS: AKI incidence was 17.22% among 3182 admitted COVID-19 patients and acute kidney disease (AKD) incidence was 6.82%. The most frequent causes of AKI were prerenal (68.8%) and sepsis (21.9%). Odds ratio (OR) for AKI was increased in patients with pre-existent hypertension [OR 2.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.71-3.89] and chronic kidney disease (CKD) (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.33-3.42) and in those with respiratory distress (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.52-3.70). Low arterial pressure at admission increased the risk for Stage 3 AKI (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.09-2.50). Baseline kidney function was not recovered in 45.73% of overall AKI cases and in 52.75% of AKI patients with prior CKD. Mortality was 38.5% compared with 13.4% of the overall sample population. AKI increased mortality risk at any time of hospitalization (hazard ratio 1.45, 95% CI 1.09-1.93). CONCLUSIONS: AKI is frequent in COVID-19 patients and is associated with mortality, independently of acute respiratory distress syndrome. AKD was also frequent and merits adequate follow-up.

Inability of Laplace's law to estimate sub-bandage pressures after applying a compressive bandage: a clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to compare pressures exerted on the lower limb by a high compression bandage as recorded by sub-bandage sensors and those estimated by Laplace's law. The correlation between pressures obtained in each anatomical zone and the corresponding limb perimeters were explored. METHOD: For the measurement of sub-bandage pressures, four anatomical zones in the lower right limb were determined. Pressures were recorded by nine pneumatic sensors and a PicoPress transducer. A two-layer compression bandage system (UrgoK2, Urgo Group, France) was used for the dressing. Pressures were registered in supine position. Sensor pressures were compared with those estimated by a modified Laplace's equation. RESULTS: A total of 47 female volunteers were recruited (mean age: 21.9±2.3 years) to the study. In the four anatomical segments studied, pressures obtained by the sensors were lower than would be expected by applying Laplace's law (p<0.05). The biggest difference between the two methods was found at the supramalleolar level (42.1% lower by sensors compared with Laplace's equation). The correlation coefficient between pressure recorded by the sensors and that calculated at the perimeters was very weak, ranging from 0.5233 to 0.9634. CONCLUSION: Laplace's law, used to predict the sub-bandage pressure after applying a compressive bandage in the lower limb, was not useful, providing significantly higher pressures than those obtained by pneumatic sensors. Laplace's law underestimates the variable musculoskeletal components at the different segments of lower limb that act as compression damping forces.

More difficult still: Treating severe rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis in the context of COVID-19 pneumonia. / Más difícil todavía: tratar una glomerulonefritis rápidamente progresiva grave en el seno de una neumonía por COVID-19.

We present the case of a male patient with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, with simultaneous onset of p-ANCA positive rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. We discuss the different therapeutic possibilities, emphasising the appropriateness of their administration according to the time in the course of the infection.

Glomerulonefritis necrosante en un paciente con VIH, VHC y leishmaniasis visceral / Necrotizing glomerulonephritis in patients with HIV, HCV and visceral leishmaniasis

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Inmunosupresión como desencadenante de un síndrome de hiperinfestación por Strongyloides stercolaris en la nefropatía membranosa / Immunosuppression as a trigger for hyperinflammatory syndrome due to Strongyloides stercolaris in membranous nephropathy

La relación entre parásitos y glomerulonefritis (GN) está bien documentada en determinadas parasitosis, no así en casos de Strongyloides stercolaris (S. stercolaris), donde hay pocos casos descritos, siendo la mayoría GN de cambios mínimos. Reportamos un caso de hiperinfestación por S. stercolaris en un paciente afectado de una GN membranosa tratado con corticoides por vía oral con resultado fatal para el paciente. Este caso nos aporta una doble enseñanza: en primer lugar, acerca de una asociación rara de estrongiloidiasis y GN membranosa, y en segundo lugar, sobre la importancia de establecer un diagnóstico de sospecha y tratamiento adecuados ante determinadas infecciones o enfermedades con poca expresividad clínica antes de iniciar cualquier tratamiento inmunosupresor

The relationship between parasites and glomerulonephritis (GN) is well documented in certain parasitoses, but not in cases of Strongyloides stercolaris (S. stercolaris) where there are few cases described being the majority GN of minimal changes. We report a case of hyperinfestation by S. stercolaris in a patient affected by a membranous GN treated with oral corticosteroids with fatal outcome for the patient. This case provides a double teaching: first about a rare association of strongyloid and membranous GN and second about the importance of establishing a diagnosis of suspected and appropriate treatment for certain infections or diseases with little clinical expression before starting any immunosuppressive treatment