The impact of nutritional intervention on quality of life and outcomes in patients with head and neck cancers undergoing chemoradiation.

Introduction: Chemoradiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients has a curative intent but often deteriorates nutritional status leading to sarcopenia and cachexia. Methods: In this observational and single-centered study, a prospective evaluation of several biochemical and anthropometrical parameters, weight loss, handgrip strength, visual analogue scale of appetite, questionnaires associated with malnutrition & quality of life and body composition (obtained by Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis) was performed before and after high-dose cisplatin chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy in 60 patients affected by head and neck cancer. Oral nutritional supplements were used to reach the correct number of daily calories and proteins. Results and discussion: All patients completed radiotherapy as planned and the 96,4% of them did not interrupt chemotherapy for toxicity, reaching a total dose of at least 200mg/m2. Despite a rapid deterioration of body composition during treatment, nutritional support helped patients to maintain (or in some cases improve) anthropometric parameters from the end of chemoradiotherapy to the following 3 months. Low prealbumin and albumin pre-treatment led to higher risk of toxicities with consequent reduction of cisplatin dose intensity, whereas weight at the end of the treatment seems to be an interesting predicting factor for disease free and overall survival (p=0.007; p=0.015).

Two-year multidisciplinary follow-up of COVID-19 patients requiring invasive and noninvasive respiratory support.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 patients frequently develop respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. Data on long-term survival of patients who had severe COVID-19 are insufficient. We assessed and compared two-year survival, CT imaging, quality of life, and functional recovery of COVID-19 ARDS patients requiring respiratory support with invasive (IMV) versus noninvasive ventilation (NIV). METHODS: Patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted up to May 28th, 2020, who required IMV or NIV, and survived to hospital discharge were enrolled. Patients were contacted two years after discharge to assess vital status, functional, psychological, and cognitive outcomes using validated scales. Patients with persistent respiratory symptoms or high burden of residual lung damage at previous CT scan received a two-year chest CT scan. RESULTS: Out of 61 IMV survivors, 98% were alive at two-year follow-up, and 52 completed the questionnaire. Out of 82 survivors receiving NIV only, 94% were alive at two years, and 47 completed the questionnaire. We found no major differences between invasively and noninvasively ventilated patients, with overall acceptable functional recovery. Among the 99 patients completing the questionnaire, 23 have more than moderate exertional dyspnea. Chest CT scans showed that 4 patients (all received IMV) had fibrotic-like changes. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who received mechanical ventilation due to COVID-19 and were discharged from hospital had a 96% survival rate at the two-year follow-up. There was no difference in overall recovery and quality of life between patients who did and did not require IMV, although respiratory morbidity remains high.

Frailty as a predictor of mortality in COVID-19 patients receiving CPAP for respiratory insufficiency.

OBJECTIVE: Exploring the association between frailty and mortality in a cohort of patients with COVID-19 respiratory insufficiency treated with continuous positive airway pressure. METHODS: Frailty was measured using a Frailty Index (FI) created by using the baseline assessment data on comorbidities and body mass index and baseline blood test results (including pH, lactate dehydrogenase, renal and liver function, inflammatory indexes and anemia). FI > 0.25 identified frail individuals. RESULTS: Among the 159 included individuals (81% men, median age of 68) frailty was detected in 69% of the patients (median FI score 0.3 ± 0.08). Frailty was associated to an increased mortality (adjusted HR 1.99, 95% CI 1.02-3.88, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Frailty is highly prevalent among patients with COVID-19, predicts poorer outcomes independently of age. A personalization of care balancing the risk and benefit of treatments (especially the invasive ones) in such complex patients is pivotal.

Outcomes of noninvasive ventilation as the ceiling of treatment in patients with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) is effective for symptom relief and respiratory support in patients with respiratory insufficiency, severe comorbidities and no indication to intubation. Experience with NIV as the ceiling of treatment in severely compromised novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients is lacking. METHODS: We evaluated 159 patients with COVID-19-related acute respiratory syndrome (ARDS), 38 of whom with NIV as the ceiling of treatment, admitted to an ordinary ward and treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and respiratory physiotherapy. Treatment failure and death were correlated with clinical and laboratory parameters in the whole cohort and in patients with NIV as the ceiling of treatment. RESULTS: Patients who had NIV as the ceiling of treatment were elderly, with a low BMI and a high burden of comorbidities, showed clinical and laboratory signs of multiorgan insufficiency on admission and of rapidly deteriorating vital signs during the first week of treatment. NIV failure occurred overall in 77 (48%) patients, and 27/38 patients with NIV as the ceiling of treatment died. Congestive heart failure, chronic benign hematological diseases and inability/refusal to receive respiratory physiotherapy were independently associated to NIV failure and mortality. Need for increased positive end-expiratory pressures and low platelets were associated with NIV failure. Death was associated to cerebrovascular disease, need for CPAP cycles longer than 12 h and, in the subgroup of patients with NIV as the ceiling of treatment, was heralded by vital sign deterioration within 48 h. CONCLUSIONS: NIV and physiotherapy are a viable treatment option for patients with severe COVID-19 and severe comorbidities.

Continuous positive airway pressure and pronation outside the Intensive Care Unit in COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of continuous positive airway pressure and respiratory physiotherapy outside the Intensive Care Unit during a pandemic. METHODS: In this cohort study performed in February-May 2020 in a large teaching hospital in Milan, COVID-19 patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome receiving continuous positive airway pressure (positive end-expiratory pressure =10 cm H2O, FiO2=0.6, daily treatment duration: 4×3h-cycles) and respiratory physiotherapy including pronation outside the Intensive Care Unit were followed-up. RESULTS: Of 90 acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients treated with continuous positive airway pressure (45/90, 50% pronated at least once) outside the Intensive Care Unit and with a median (interquartile) follow-up of 37 (11-46) days, 45 (50%) were discharged at home, 28 (31%) were still hospitalized, and 17 (19%) died. Continuous positive airway pressure failure was recorded for 35 (39%) patients. Patient mobilization was associated with reduced failure rates (P=0.033). No safety issues were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous positive airway pressure with patient mobilization (including pronation) was effective and safe in patients with ARDS due to COVID-19 managed outside the Intensive Care Unit setting during the pandemic.

Six-month respiratory outcomes and exercise capacity of COVID-19 acute respiratory failure patients treated with continuous positive airway pressure.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 long-term sequelae are ill-defined since only a few studies have explored the long-term consequences of this disease so far. AIMS: To evaluate the 6-month respiratory outcome and exercise capacity of COVID-19 acute respiratory failure (ARF) patients treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) during the first wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A retrospective observational study included COVID-19 patients with ARF. Interventions included CPAP during hospitalisation and 6-month follow up. Frailty assessment was carried out through frailty index (FI), pO2 /FiO2 during hospitalisation and at follow up, respiratory parameters, 6-min walking test (6MWT) and the modified British Medical Research Council (mMRC) and Borg scale at follow up. RESULTS: More than half of the patients had no dyspnoea according to the mMRC scale. Lower in-hospital pO2 /FiO2 correlated with higher Borg scale levels after 6MWT (ρ 0.27; P 0.04) at the follow-up visit. FI was positively correlated with length of hospitalisation (ρ 0.3; P 0.03) and negatively with the 6MWT distance walked (ρ -0.36; P 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Robust and frail patients with COVID-19 ARF treated with CPAP outside the intensive care unit setting had good respiratory parameters and exercise capacity at 6-month follow up, although more severe patients had slightly poorer respiratory performance compared with patients with higher PaO2 /FiO2 and lower FI.

Predictors of Pneumothorax/Pneumomediastinum in Mechanically Ventilated COVID-19 Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence, predictors, and outcome of pneumothorax (PNX)/pneumomediastinum (PMD) in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Tertiary-care university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred sixteen consecutive critically ill, invasively ventilated patients with COVID-19 ARDS. INTERVENTIONS: The authors collected demographic, mechanical ventilation, imaging, laboratory, and outcome data. Primary outcome was the incidence of PNX/PMD. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of PNX/PMD. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: PNX/PMD occurred in a total of 28 patients (24.1%), with 22 patients developing PNX (19.0%) and 13 developing PMD (11.2%). Mean time to development of PNX/PMD was 14 ± 11 days from intubation. The authors found no significant difference in mechanical ventilation parameters between patients who developed PNX/PMD and those who did not. Mechanical ventilation parameters were within recommended limits for protective ventilation in both groups. Ninety-five percent of patients with PNX/PMD had the Macklin effect (linear collections of air contiguous to the bronchovascular sheaths) on a baseline computed tomography scan, and tended to have a higher lung involvement at intensive care unit (ICU) admission (Radiographic Assessment of Lung Edema score 32.2 ± 13.4 v 18.7 ± 9.8 in patients without PNX/PMD, p = 0.08). Time from symptom onset to intubation and time from total bilirubin on day two after ICU admission were the only independent predictors of PNX/PMD. Mortality was 60.7% in patients who developed PNX/PMD versus 38.6% in those who did not (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: PNX/PMD occurs frequently in COVID-19 patients with ARDS requiring mechanical ventilation, and is associated with increased mortality. Development of PNX/PMD seems to occur despite use of protective mechanical ventilation and has a radiologic predictor sign.

Circulating chromogranin A reveals extra-articular involvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and curbs TNF-alpha-elicited endothelial activation.

TNF-alpha plays an important role in the natural history of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a systemic disease characterized by endothelial activation and synovial involvement with bone erosions. Neuroendocrine signals contribute as well to RA, but their role is poorly understood. We measured in 104 RA patients and in an equal number of sex- and age-matched, healthy controls the blood levels of chromogranin A (CgA), a candidate marker linking the neuroendocrine system to TNF-alpha-mediated vascular inflammation. CgA levels were significantly higher in patients with RA and remained stable over time. High levels of CgA were significantly associated with severe extra-articular manifestations, namely pulmonary fibrosis, rheumatoid vasculitis, serositis, and peripheral neuropathy. RA sera curbed the response of human microvascular endothelial cells to TNF-alpha, as assessed by the expression of ICAM-1, the release of MCP-1/CCL2, and the export of nuclear high-mobility group box 1; the effect abated in the presence of anti-CgA antibodies. The efficacy of the blockade was significantly correlated with the CgA concentration in the serum. The recombinant aminoterminal portion of CgA, corresponding to residues 1-78, had similar inhibitory effects on endothelial cells challenged with TNF-alpha. Our results suggest that enhanced levels of CgA identify patients with extra-articular involvement and reveal a negative feedback loop that limits the activation of endothelial cells in RA.

Neuroendocrine modulation induced by selective blockade of TNF-alpha in rheumatoid arthritis.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) is a main actor in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), interacting with other molecules in complex mechanisms. The neuroendocrine system is known to be involved and Chromogranin A (CHGA) serum levels are elevated in patients with RA. We evaluated the effect of the selective blockade of TNF-alpha, induced by treatment with anti-TNF-alpha monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), on the serum levels of CHGA and on its correlation with TNF-alpha and TNF-alpha receptors (TNFRs) serum levels. Seven patients with RA have been treated with the anti-TNF-alpha mAb, infliximab. We measured the serum levels of TNF-alpha, its receptors (tumor necrosis factor receptor-I [TNFR-I] and tumor necrosis factor receptor-II [TNFR-II]), and CHGA before and during the treatment. We also measured, as a control, the serum levels of CHGA, TNF-alpha, and soluble TNFRs in 14 patients who were being treated with infliximab, adalimumab, or etanercept and in 20 matching negative controls. The serum levels of TNFR-I and TNFR-II, which are a sensitive marker for the TNF-alpha pathway, correlated with those of CHGA before treatment (Pearson's coefficient, respectively, 0.59 and 0.53). Treatment with anti-TNF-alpha mAb provided a significant clinical response in all patients and the correlation between CHGA and TNFR-I and TNFR-II was no more evident during treatment (respectively, -0.09 and -0.07). TNF-alpha blockade allows a clinical effect in patients with RA and modifies the correlation between CHGA and TNFRs, suggesting that TNF-alpha and CHGA reciprocally interfere in the pathogenesis of RA, through intermediate adaptors, whose identification warrants further studies.